The Day We Discovered Reagan Wasn’t Bulletproof

By Craig Andresen on March 30, 2012 at 12:43 pm

It was a sunny Monday and I was a Junior at the University of Nebraska. I’ll never forget that day, March 30^th, 1981.

I had arrived at my Econ 101 class a few minutes early, I suppose around 12:20pm. It was a 12:30 class. I had stopped at the vending machine in the hall, as normal, and was drinking a Pepsi and chatting with classmates.

I checked my watch and noted to the guy sitting next to me that Professor Reiffler was late. Reiffler was never late but, it had only been a few minutes so, no big deal, I thought.

Reiffler entered the auditorium from the front as he always did at 12:35pm, went straight to the lectern and made the announcement.

“I am cancelling today’s class. I suggest you all find the closest TV and watch the news. President Reagan was shot just a few minutes ago. Again, I am canc…”

He didn’t need to tell me twice. Nor for that matter, did he need to tell anyone more than once. Before Professor Reiffler could finish his sentence, I, and better than 100 others, were out the door.

I made a bee line to the Student Union where I found a silent crowd gathered in the media room.

To read the FULL article and see the video, please CLICK HERE!!