BAKERSFIELD, CA -- Nearly two generations later, Bakersfield residents clearly remember the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For some, the pain is very much alive, 50 years later.
"Well my father came and said President Kennedy has been assassinated and I started crying," said Bonnie Roe.
"Is the pain still there? Absolutely, I watched a little bit of it on television this morning and I turned it off. Made me cry," said Tommy Russell.
But for one Bakersfield resident, he didn't need a television to know what happened.
"I was there. I was there, yes," said Eugene Butler.
Butler was a student in Dallas working at Union Bus Terminal. He decided to walk two blocks to Main Street which was the motorcade route.
"By the time we got back to the bus terminal it was like the entire city had just turned upside down," said Butler.
He remembers police cars racing through the streets.
"It was just a constant siren. The sound of sirens for it seemed like at least 30 minutes or so after it happened," said Butler.
Butler, who is from Dallas, says the city mourned the President's death for several days. To Tommy Russell, a Catholic man of Irish decent, JFK was like a family member. He says while the rest of the nation mourned, things were different in Kern County.
"President Kennedy was hated in Kern County, in Bakersfield especially and the reason is, he was Catholic and he talked of changing America. There was a kid I went to high school with, his parents threw a block party in their neighborhood and people came from all over the neighborhood to celebrate the death of the president and this kid was proud of it," said Russell.
Despite the differences in memories, residents feel like it just happened yesterday.
"It will always will be very vivid in my mind those memories and the feel of that day will always be with me," said Butler.
Kennedy was the youngest president to be elected, he was also the youngest president to die in office.
"Well my father came and said President Kennedy has been assassinated and I started crying," said Bonnie Roe.
"Is the pain still there? Absolutely, I watched a little bit of it on television this morning and I turned it off. Made me cry," said Tommy Russell.
But for one Bakersfield resident, he didn't need a television to know what happened.
"I was there. I was there, yes," said Eugene Butler.
Butler was a student in Dallas working at Union Bus Terminal. He decided to walk two blocks to Main Street which was the motorcade route.
"By the time we got back to the bus terminal it was like the entire city had just turned upside down," said Butler.
He remembers police cars racing through the streets.
"It was just a constant siren. The sound of sirens for it seemed like at least 30 minutes or so after it happened," said Butler.
Butler, who is from Dallas, says the city mourned the President's death for several days. To Tommy Russell, a Catholic man of Irish decent, JFK was like a family member. He says while the rest of the nation mourned, things were different in Kern County.
"President Kennedy was hated in Kern County, in Bakersfield especially and the reason is, he was Catholic and he talked of changing America. There was a kid I went to high school with, his parents threw a block party in their neighborhood and people came from all over the neighborhood to celebrate the death of the president and this kid was proud of it," said Russell.
Despite the differences in memories, residents feel like it just happened yesterday.
"It will always will be very vivid in my mind those memories and the feel of that day will always be with me," said Butler.
Kennedy was the youngest president to be elected, he was also the youngest president to die in office.