@izzythepush,
I was unaware of that monument. Kennedy was assassinated on a Friday, November 1963 and I remember vividly exactly where I was, who I was with when the announcement came over the PA system. It got very quiet, none of the students spoke, it was the end of the day and we all headed home. Oppressive somberness swept over the school and our life. Everything just stopped for a few days. Hopefully we never see anything like that again.