Remembering the day Martin Luther King Jr. died

Xernona Clayton remembers Coretta Scott King being unable to tell her children their father was dead. Abraham L. Davis remembers the vast crowds at the funeral. And Lawrence G. Campbell remembers a memorial service that left mourners more determined to continue the struggle for civil rights.

All three had connections to Martin Luther King Jr. and, like millions of Americans, his assassination on April 4, 1968, was seared into their memories. On the 50th anniversary of his death, Clayton, Davis and Campbell reflected on how they learned the terrible news and what happened next.

Clayton, a civil rights activist, was dining at an Atlanta restaurant when a waitress brought a note to her table. Clayton, not realizing it was urgent, ignored it and continued with her meal until the woman came back.

"I hate to interrupt," Clayton recalled her saying, "but I got the news that