http://wink.com/p/Vince-Palamara
Vince Bugliosi letter to Vince Palamara dated 7/14/07:
"I want you to know that I am very impressed with your research
abilities and the enormous amount of work you put into your
investigation of the Secret Service regarding the assassination. You
are, unquestionably, the main authority on the Secret Service with
regard to the assassination. I agree with you that they did not do a
good job protecting the president (e.g. see p. 1443 of my book)..." [see below, as well]
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http://www.reclaiminghistory.com/?page_id=8
“Vince Bugliosi’s masterful Reclaiming History is a devastating knock-out blow to those who, like me, once believed there was a conspiracy in the death of JFK. Bugliosi finishes and completes, in exhaustive and impressive detail, the work of the Warren Commission, the House Select Committee on Assassinations, and, quite frankly, all the other writers who have ever delved into the crime of the twentieth century. It is time to get a life, America: Oswald did indeed kill Kennedy, acting alone. Vince Bugliosi has done what I once thought was the impossible: he has convinced me of this notion. The conspiracy community was able to survive the Warren Commission Report, as well as the Report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The question is whether it will be able to survive Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History.”—Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert and former JFK conspiracy theorist
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Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F.
Kennedy" (2007) by Vincent Bugliosi:
Six pages (inc. the Bibliography) in Talbot's fine book and (book 42-- in) in Bugliosi's new massive tome (at 15 pages, inc. the Bibliography). Vince was suprisingly pretty nice to me---oh, don't get me wrong: he DOES criticize me, but he was far kinder than I could have ever imagined (esp. compared to Groden et al); only Aguilar and Tink seem to have fared better in the
"conspiracy crowd," so to speak. I guess because the bottom line is this: OSWALD OR NO OSWALD, CONSPIRACY OR NO
CONSPIRACY, THE SECRET SERVICE FAILED AND JFK WAS KILLED...which is why ***my*** work holds up, either way. But, like I said, despite my troubled feelings, I am still on your side and I haven't converted!!!
pages XV [page 3, endnotes disc] "One should not confuse the literally thousands of conspiracy buffs---who, it must be said, here and there have come up with worthwhile information overlooked by the authorities, but who desperately want there to be a conspiracy and are allergic to anthing that points away from one---with the much smaller number of assassination researchers, serious students of the assassination whose primary agenda (though many are fervently hoping to find a conspiracy) is to ferret out the truth." Among names such as Paul Hoch, Josiah Thompson, Drs. Aguilar & Mantik, and Walt Brown: Vince Palamara.
page146 [source notes disc]: 3 references, including my work in "Murder In Dealey Plaza", my book, and my Sept 1997 "Fourth Decade" article
page 347 [endnotes disc]: quotes from my Greer article in MIDP
page 403 footnote: credits my letter to Dr. Donald Seldin (see also the index, page 1599)
page 404: nicely credits my original research on Dr. William Zedelitz (see also the final page in his book, page 1612 index)
page 408: credits my letter to Dr. Ronald Coy Jones
page 691 [endnotes disc]: re: my interview with Marty Underwood
page 711 [endnotes disc] "no index or even page numbers: In 2005, Vincent Palamara put out a revised edition of his book with page numbers and changed the title to Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the Failure to Protect the President."
page 998 footnote: I am one of the select few noted as one of the "new wave" of researchers and, when speaking of Fetzer, Bugliosi states that he "wisely gathered the best technical minds of the conspiracy community to write scholarly essays in the books that he edits"...and, as we know, I have TWO chapters in MIDP [plus favorable mentions in several of the other essays](and several sentences, here and there, in his other two books).
pages 1242-1243: mentions my work--- "Only one book I am aware of, Vince Palamara's "Third Alternative- Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service & The JFK Murder", is devoted solely to the Secret Service's role in the case. From his EXHAUSTIVE
INVESTIGATION [my emphasis], Palamara ENDS UP FINDING THE SECRET SERVICE GUILTY OF INCOMPETENCE [my emphasis], not complicity in the murder. Although Palamara SEEMS HONEST AND INTELLIGENT [my emphasis--- thanks, Vince also-of-Italian-heritage-who-has-8-letters- in-his-last name lol], and his 1993 book IS REASONABLY WELL RESEACHED [my
emphasis---thanks, again; high praise, indeed]..."Vince B. goes on to say that my book was difficult to read and had no page
numbers [again, he recieved a 'special' 1998 'deluxe' edition, largely a compilation of articles (shoe-string budget and sacrificed
form for content)...still better than the even-slimmer 1993 version: yuk! (see page 711, above) ]. He lists some of my areas of contention and ends with "and so on"...all his criticisms are addressed and refuted, in detail, in my ***2005*** book. Also, among several former Secret Service agents who AGREE with my take on the bubbletop, another can now be added to the list:
William Carter ["I assume your theory on the bubbletop was that had it been on the car it was not bullet proof. True, however, I contend at the angle of the shot it would have altered the course of the bullet... I did the advance with Win Lawson in Little Rock 6 weeks prior to Dallas and I had complete confidence in him and considered him one of our best agents."---4/6/07 e-mail from Carter to Palamara] ALSO: disc, PAGE 22, Endnote 25 re: bubbletop---Vince B contradicts himself a little…
Vince B. then writes: "Palamara, moving almost exclusively in the world of conspiracy theorists...PROCEEDED REASONALY WELL IN HIS ASSASSINATION RESEARCH [my emphasis; again, thanks, Vince; I am a saint compared to what he thinks of Groden, Horne, Lifton et al LOL]..." then mentions SAIC of the Miami office John Marshall [former WHD agent, friend of Floyd Boring since PA State Trooper days!] STATEMENT TO THE HSCA THAT, FOR ALL HE KNEW, SOMEONE IN THE SECRET SERVICE COULD HAVE BEEN INVOLVED [AS I DULY NOTE IN MY WORK]!!!! Vince B.'s conclusion????---
"Could have, schmood have."---?!?!?!
So, needless to say, I am delighted with my treatment.
page 1276: (rightly) criticizes my lack of specific source for walkie- talkie statement, a hazard of the original, inferior 1993
Kinko's self- published Cliff Notes version (although Bugliosi had a SLIGHTLY better "deluxe"--for the time [1998]---version to work with, which he called Andy and purchased by request, much to my bemused delight back then lol)...THE SOURCE IS "CROSSFIRE", PAGE 250, since noted from 2000 onward [Bugliosi DOES note, on page 711 of his source note disc, that I came out with a page-numbered [!!!], updated version of my book-- with different title---in 2005];
page 1529 (Bibliography): lists my book
page1592 (index)-me
page 1603 (index)---one title of my book
page 1604 (index)---other title of my book
Also:
page 59 note: while buying the 'official' notion that JFK ordered the agents off the car [!], Bugliosi notes "the agent standing on the
RIGHT REAR [his emphasis] step would have blocked Oswald's sight on Kennedy's head," once again proving my point
His small Secret Service chapter (pages 1239-1247)--- page 1241:
offers the caveat "even if it could be shown that the Secret Service WAS [my emphasis] responsible for selection of
luncheon site and motorcade route," what would be their motive?---see my work
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Robert DeProspero: Wikipedia written BY Vince Palamara (and praised by John Barletta)!
http://www.powerset.com/explore/go/Vince-Palamara
Robert DeProspero (full name Robert Lee DeProspero, a.k.a. Bob, Bobby, and Bobby D), arguably one of the most respected protection agents the United States Secret Service has ever been honored to employee [1], graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) with a Bachelor's Degree (BS) in physical education in 1959 and a master's degree (MA) in education in 1960 [2] and later joined the United States Secret Service (USSS), serving from 1965-1986 [3]. He was the Special Agent In Charge (SAIC) of the Presidential Protective Division (PPD) during a large part of the President Reagan era (January 1982 to April 1985), succeeding Jerry S. Parr [4]. In fact, the SAIC of President Reagan's detail on the fateful day of 3/30/81, the aforementioned Parr, had half a mind to have his deputy, DeProspero, go in his place to the Washington Hilton, but elected to go anyway. [Parr became a hero, protecting Reagan by shoving him into the open limousine along with Ray Shaddick (ATSAIC/ Shift Leader and later appointed by DeProspero to replace himself as SAIC of PPD in early 1985)]. [5]. Parr chose a good replacement: DeProspero was the perfect agent to head Reagan's detail in the wake of the assassination attempt [6].Fellow former agents Walt Coughlin, Jerry Kivett, Howell Purvis, Robert Snow, Darwin Horn, Mike Maddaloni, and a host of others waxed on about DeProspero's virtues to Secret Service expert Vince Palamara in unique interviews that Palamara conducted between 1991-2007 [7].
DeProspero devised several very important and innovative security measures during his time in the Secret Service (while SAIC of PPD) that are used to this very day: the "hospital agent" (stationing an agent at the nearest primary trauma hospital on a presidential movement) [8], to which he received from the agency, among his many other awards, the prestigious Special Recognition for the Establishment of the Presidential Trauma Protocol [9], as well as the creation of magnetometer (metal detector) checkpoints to screen every individual who could get a view of the president [10], earning yet another agency award, Special Recognition for Improved Security Measures [11]
As a result of his outstanding achievements as SAIC of PPD, DeProspero was appointed assistant to the director in the Office of Training [12], directing both a 20 million dollar expansion of the physical training facility and the administration of literally hundreds of courses [13].
The tremendous influence of DeProspero's time and talents in the Secret Service can still be felt today: not only have many of the assistant directors, deputy directors, and even some directors of the Secret Service (Lewis C. Merletti, Brian L. Stafford, Barbara S. Riggs, Stephen M. Sergek, George Opfer, and David G. Carpenter, to name a few) come out of DeProspero's PPD [14], Robin L. Deprospero (Philpot) is currently the chief of the Personnel Security Branch, Special Investigations and Security Division, of the Secret Service, extending the proud legacy of the Deprospero family from the 1960's through and including the millennium [15].
DeProspero can be seen holding onto the rear handrails of Reagan's limousine (along with George Opfer, head of Nancy Reagan's detail), during the January 1981 inaugural [16]. A light-hearted moment: during Reagan's attendance at the 1984 Olympics, Reagan turned to the unmoving, stern-faced DeProspero and said "Gee, Bobby, mine is ticking" [17]
[edit] References
^ See, for example, the book "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 140-142, 202-204, & 206-207. See also: http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ Please see: http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ 6/14/05 e-mail from George D. Rogers, Assistant Director, Office of Government and Public Affairs, to Vince Palamara
^ Please see: The New York Times, 1/4/82: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E5D71338F937A35752C0A964948260 and The Washington Post, May 15, 1998,page A01: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/service051598.htm
^ http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/secretservice/pdf/interview_parr.pdf
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 141. See also Syracuse Herald Journal, 4/10/85: "AN AWESOME JOB Agent was willing to die to keep Reagan alive WASHINGTON (AP) As the man who walked one step behind President Reagan for 4 years, Robert L. DEPROSPERO began every day knowing he could be called upon to place his body between the president and a bullet. There never was any doubt that he'd do it. "I always felt I was the guy he said." Also, please see: Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/27/98; NY Times, 5/19/82; Frederick Post, 4/3/84.
^ Please see: http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 141, 205-206
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 141
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 202; "Looking Back and Seeing The Future: The United States Secret Service, 1865-1990" by Marcia Roberts (AFAUSSS), pages 110, 111, 114, 122, 123, 126, & 127 . See also: http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 203. Vince Palamara interviews/ correspondence with former agents Mike Maddaloni, Walt Coughlin, & Robert Snow: see also http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/pdf/Sep171998.pdf See also: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-13942.pdf
^ See the video "Inside The Secret Service", Discovery Channel, 1995, as well as photo section of former agent John Barletta's 2005 book "Riding With Reagan"
^ Bucknell World, 9/04: http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/BucknellWorld/BWSept04.pdf
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_DeProspero"
Robert DeProspero (full name Robert Lee DeProspero, a.k.a. Bob, Bobby, and Bobby D), arguably one of the most respected protection agents the United States Secret Service has ever been honored to employee [1], graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) with a Bachelor's Degree (BS) in physical education in 1959 and a master's degree (MA) in education in 1960 [2] and later joined the United States Secret Service (USSS), serving from 1965-1986 [3]. He was the Special Agent In Charge (SAIC) of the Presidential Protective Division (PPD) during a large part of the President Reagan era (January 1982 to April 1985), succeeding Jerry S. Parr [4]. In fact, the SAIC of President Reagan's detail on the fateful day of 3/30/81, the aforementioned Parr, had half a mind to have his deputy, DeProspero, go in his place to the Washington Hilton, but elected to go anyway. [Parr became a hero, protecting Reagan by shoving him into the open limousine along with Ray Shaddick (ATSAIC/ Shift Leader and later appointed by DeProspero to replace himself as SAIC of PPD in early 1985)]. [5]. Parr chose a good replacement: DeProspero was the perfect agent to head Reagan's detail in the wake of the assassination attempt [6].Fellow former agents Walt Coughlin, Jerry Kivett, Howell Purvis, Robert Snow, Darwin Horn, Mike Maddaloni, and a host of others waxed on about DeProspero's virtues to Secret Service expert Vince Palamara in unique interviews that Palamara conducted between 1991-2007 [7].
DeProspero devised several very important and innovative security measures during his time in the Secret Service (while SAIC of PPD) that are used to this very day: the "hospital agent" (stationing an agent at the nearest primary trauma hospital on a presidential movement) [8], to which he received from the agency, among his many other awards, the prestigious Special Recognition for the Establishment of the Presidential Trauma Protocol [9], as well as the creation of magnetometer (metal detector) checkpoints to screen every individual who could get a view of the president [10], earning yet another agency award, Special Recognition for Improved Security Measures [11]
As a result of his outstanding achievements as SAIC of PPD, DeProspero was appointed assistant to the director in the Office of Training [12], directing both a 20 million dollar expansion of the physical training facility and the administration of literally hundreds of courses [13].
The tremendous influence of DeProspero's time and talents in the Secret Service can still be felt today: not only have many of the assistant directors, deputy directors, and even some directors of the Secret Service (Lewis C. Merletti, Brian L. Stafford, Barbara S. Riggs, Stephen M. Sergek, George Opfer, and David G. Carpenter, to name a few) come out of DeProspero's PPD [14], Robin L. Deprospero (Philpot) is currently the chief of the Personnel Security Branch, Special Investigations and Security Division, of the Secret Service, extending the proud legacy of the Deprospero family from the 1960's through and including the millennium [15].
DeProspero can be seen holding onto the rear handrails of Reagan's limousine (along with George Opfer, head of Nancy Reagan's detail), during the January 1981 inaugural [16]. A light-hearted moment: during Reagan's attendance at the 1984 Olympics, Reagan turned to the unmoving, stern-faced DeProspero and said "Gee, Bobby, mine is ticking" [17]
[edit] References
^ See, for example, the book "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 140-142, 202-204, & 206-207. See also: http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ Please see: http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ 6/14/05 e-mail from George D. Rogers, Assistant Director, Office of Government and Public Affairs, to Vince Palamara
^ Please see: The New York Times, 1/4/82: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E5D71338F937A35752C0A964948260 and The Washington Post, May 15, 1998,page A01: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/service051598.htm
^ http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/secretservice/pdf/interview_parr.pdf
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 141. See also Syracuse Herald Journal, 4/10/85: "AN AWESOME JOB Agent was willing to die to keep Reagan alive WASHINGTON (AP) As the man who walked one step behind President Reagan for 4 years, Robert L. DEPROSPERO began every day knowing he could be called upon to place his body between the president and a bullet. There never was any doubt that he'd do it. "I always felt I was the guy he said." Also, please see: Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/27/98; NY Times, 5/19/82; Frederick Post, 4/3/84.
^ Please see: http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 141, 205-206
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, pages 141
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 202; "Looking Back and Seeing The Future: The United States Secret Service, 1865-1990" by Marcia Roberts (AFAUSSS), pages 110, 111, 114, 122, 123, 126, & 127 . See also: http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/1995/robert_deprospero/
^ "Standing Next To History" (2005) by former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro, page 203. Vince Palamara interviews/ correspondence with former agents Mike Maddaloni, Walt Coughlin, & Robert Snow: see also http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
^ http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/pdf/Sep171998.pdf See also: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-13942.pdf
^ See the video "Inside The Secret Service", Discovery Channel, 1995, as well as photo section of former agent John Barletta's 2005 book "Riding With Reagan"
^ Bucknell World, 9/04: http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/BucknellWorld/BWSept04.pdf
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_DeProspero"
JFK's Texas Trip: Secret Service Agent Rosters & Duties
http://www.powerset.com/explore/go/Vince-Palamara
JFK's Texas Trip: Secret Service
Agent Rosters & Duties
By Vince Palamara
"In order to establish as complete a record as possible, I have compiled a detailed listing of each and every Secret Service agent connected to the Texas trip---their rosters and their duties. In addition, the infamous drinking incident of 11/21-11/22/63 is explored in full, as is the limousine confiscation/ inspection of 11/22-11/23/63. Finally, I have added comprehensive descriptions of many of President Kennedy's higher-profile pre-Texas trips from 1963, in regard to security
issues and the Secret Service. Much of this data is new, coming from the recent releases furnished by the ARRB (Assassination Records Review Board)."
I. San Antonio, TX, 11/21/63:
(San Antonio International Airport, Aerospace Medical Center, Kelly AFB)
[Sources-RIF#154-10002-10424: Survey report ; 1541000110104;
1541000110058; 1541000110184; 1541000110033; 17 H 618;"Kennedy In Texas"
video; "Four Days In November" video]
1) Dennis R. Halterman (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in San Antonio
11/12/63)
2) J. Walter Coughlin (WHD): assisted in the advance (apparently still
in San Antonio on 11/22/63---listed as being there and, later, as part
of the 4p.m.-12 mid shift at the Kennedy residence in Middleburg, VA)
3) ASAIC of WHD (#3) Roy H. Kellerman: rode in SS-100-X [limousine]
(front passenger seat)
4) William R. Greer (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-100-X
5) Henry J. Rybka (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X FROM
Aerospace Medical Center (AMC)[follow-up car]
6) ATSAIC of WHD Stewart G. "Stu" Stout: Entrance to Headquarters Bldg.,
AMC
7) Samuel E. Sulliman (WHD): Entrance to speaker's stand, AMC
8) Richard E. Johnsen (WHD): Speaker's platform, AMC
9) Ernest E. Olsson, Jr. (WHD): same as above
10) Andrew E. Berger (WHD): same as above
11) ATSAIC of WHD Emory P. Roberts: commander of follow-up car (front
passenger seat)
12) John D. "Jack" Ready (WHD): follow-up car
13) Donald J. Lawton (WHD): follow-up car
14) William "Tim" McIntyre (WHD): follow-up car
15) Glenn A. Bennett (PRS): follow-up car
16) SAIC of San Antonio office Luis Benavides: assisted in the advance
17) [fnu] McCully (San Antonio office): Supervision of Aerospace Medical
Center (AMC)
18) John J. "Muggsy" O'Leary (WHD/ Luggage-Effects [see also 25 H 788])
19) Clinton J. Hill (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
20) Samuel A. Kinney (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X TO AMC
[Rybka: passenger]
21) Paul E. Landis, Jr. (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
22) George W. Hickey, Jr (WHD/ Garage Detail): follow-up car [passenger]
23) ASAIC (#2) of V.P./ LBJ Detail Rufus W. Youngblood (came from LBJ
Ranch w/ Johns and Taylor)
24) ATSAIC OF V.P./ LBJ Detail Thomas "Lem" Johns
25) Warren "Woody" Taylor (Lady Bird Johnson Detail)
FORTY members of the military police from Ft. Sam Houston, Texas:
traffic control, motorcade route security, and intersection control;
police helicopter utilized along route;
many flanking motorcycles;
PRS subjects: 0
II. Houston, TX, 11/21/63:
(Houston International Airport, Rice Hotel, Coliseum/ Congressman Albert
Thomas Dinner)
[Sources: RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110042; 1541000110044
(Daily Shift report, V.P. Detail, 11/21/63); 1541000110031;
180-10083-10419; 180-10078-10493; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; author's
10/9/92 interview with DNC advance man Marty Underwood; DNC Advance man
Jerry Bruno's notes, JFK Library]
26) Ronald M. Pontius (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Houston
11/12/63); rode in lead car in motorcade
27) Lubert F. "Bert" de Freese (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived
in Houston 11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip); departed at 7:00 p.m. on
11/21/63 to go back to Washington, D.C.
28) DNC Advance Man Martin E. "Marty" Underwood (also the DNC advance
man for Austin: see below)
29) Jim Goodenough (WHD/ V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail;
rode in V.P. follow-up car in motorcade; went to the LBJ Ranch afterward
30) SAIC of Houston office Lane Bertram: rode in lead car in motorcade
Ready: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Berger: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Rybka: driver of follow-up car
Stout: follow-up car
Sulliman: follow-up car
Johnsen: follow-up car
Olsson: follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
O'Leary: rode in station wagon in motorcade (near the rear)
Youngblood: rode in LBJ's car
Johns: rode in V.P. follow-up car
Taylor
[note: Kinney was not in Houston, as he proceeded to Dallas on 11/21/63
after JFK's departure from San Antonio, presumably with Hickey, who also
does not appear to have been in Houston, either. In addition, Roberts,
Lawton, McIntyre, and Bennett are unaccounted for, although they may
have had duties ahead at the Coliseum]
III. Fort Worth, TX, evening of 11/21/63, morning of 11/22/63:
(Carswell Air Force Base, Hotel Texas)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110104; 1541000110043; 2 H 133; 18 H
674-675, 678, 679, 686, 697, 730, 761; captioned photo of Duncan in
"Fort Worth Press", 11/22/63; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; 18 H 678-679,
681-682; 25 H 787-788]
31) William L. Duncan (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Fort Worth
11/12/63); still in Fort Worth as of 11/22/63 and after the
assassination [25 H 787]
32) Ned Hall II (WHD): assisted in the advance (also arrived in Fort
Worth 11/12/63)
33) James F. "Mike" Howard (Dallas office): assisted in the advance; in
Fort Worth until 4:00 a.m. 11/22/63 [18 H 675]
34) Jerry D. Kivett (WHD/ V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail
(probably arrived in Fort Worth on 11/12/63 [17 H 618]
35) William H. Patterson (Dallas office): in Fort Worth on the morning
of 11/22/63: assigned to drive LBJ's car [25 H 788]; went to Love Field
afterwards
36) ATSAIC of WHD Arthur L. Godfrey: arrived in Fort Worth from
Washington, D.C. at 2:15 p.m. on 11/21/63 w/ Blaine, Giannoules, Burns,
O'Rourke, and Faison for duty at the Hotel Texas 4p.m.-12 min (JFK
arrived 11:50 p.m.)
37) Gerald S. Blaine (WHD)
38) Kenneth S. Giannoules (WHD)
39) Paul A. Burns (WHD)
40) Gerald W. O'Rourke (WHD)
41) Robert R. Faison (WHD) [African-American]
42) Michael J. Shannon (V.P./ LBJ Detail): on duty at LBJ Ranch on
11/21/63; went to Hotel Texas on the night of 11/21/63 [12 Mid-8 a.m.
11/22/63]; went back to Johnson City, TX afterwards
Johnsen: follow-up car 11/21/63
[note: Kinney and Hickey were not in Fort Worth on 11/21/63: they were
in Dallas with the two cars]
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo (NOT SS-100-X but a rented car)
Hill
Landis
O'Leary
Rybka: follow-up car to Carswell AFB 11/22/63 (NOT the driver)
Stout
Sulliman
Olsson
Berger [see also 18 H 672, 675, 698]
Ready
Lawton
McIntyre
Roberts
Bennett
Youngblood [note: he would go on to leave in the early morning hours of
11/22/63 to visit a childhod acquaintance (18 H 681-682)]
Johns
Taylor
Drinking Incident Involving The Secret Service:
the drinking incident of 11/21-11/22/63 involving the Secret Service at
the Fort Worth Press Club AND the "Cellar":
Chief James J. Rowley-headed investigation;
SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels-reported to Rowley
along with
Inspector Gerard B. McCann;
Inspector Thomas J. Kelley-also involved in investigation
THE AGENTS WHO FILED REPORTS-
The Supervisors :
a)ATSAIC Arthur L. Godfrey-shift leader; mentions agents Blaine, Giannoules, Burns,
O'Rourke, and Faison in his report: none of Godfrey's men -- including
Godfrey-participated in consuming any alcoholic beverages;
b)ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman- mentions agents Greer, Kinney, Duncan, Hall,
and Grant: only Grant consumed alcohol;
c)ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts-shift leader;mentions agents Ready, Lawton,
McIntyre, Bennett, Hill, Landis, Kinney[2nd mention], and Hickey[Kinney
and Hickey were in Dallas with the automobiles, so they obviously did
not participate in any drinking]: only Roberts and McIntyre did NOT
drink-this was the most irresponsible shift of all;
d)ATSAIC Stewart G. Stout, Jr.-shift leader;mentions agents Sulliman,
Johnsen, Olsson, and Berger: all but Stout and Sulliman consumed
alcoholic beverages, making Stout's shift second to Roberts as the worst offender in the drinking incident;
e)ASAIC of V.P. Detail Rufus W. Youngblood-mentions agents
Johns(ATSAIC),
Kivett, Taylor, and Shannon:NONE of the V.P. Detail participated in the
drinking incident!;
The agents who submitted individual reports:
f)Glenn A. Bennett(PRS agent)-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the
Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
g)Andrew E. Berger-same as above;
h)Gerald S. Blaine-although he went to both establishments, Blaine
states that he did NOT consume alcohol;
i)Paul A. Burns-although he went to the "Cellar", Burns states(like
Blaine) that he did NOT consume alcohol;
j)David B. Grant-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the Fort
Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
k)Clinton J. Hill-same as above;
l)Richard E. Johnsen-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort Worth
Press Club;
m)Paul E. Landis,Jr.-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the
Fort Worth Press Club;went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
n)Donald J. Lawton-admitted to drinking "three beers" at the Fort Worth
Press Club;went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
o)Ernest E. Olsson,Jr.-admitted to drinking "one and a half
mixed drinks" at the Fort Worth Press Club;
p)Gerald W. O'Rourke-although he went to the "Cellar", O'Rourke
states(like Blaine and Burns above) that he did NOT consume alcohol;
q)John "Jack" D. Ready-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort
Worth Press Club;
went to the "Cellar" afterwards...
Conclusion-Rowley did not punish these men in any way whatsoever, even
though (according to the Secret Service manual) drinking while in travel
status is grounds for REMOVAL from the agency( four of the above-mentioned
agents-Bennett, Hill, Landis, and Ready-had critical duties in the Secret Service follow-up
car, directly behind
JFK's limousine)![see Volume 18 of Warren Commission]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Dallas, TX, 11/22/63:
(Love Field, Trade Mart)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110100; 1541000110065; 1541000110044; 16 H 950-951
(same as 1541000110032); 1541000110190; "Inside The Secret Service"
video 1995 (Lawson); author's interview with Lawson 9/27/92; 17 H 601,
618; 18 H 789; author's interviews with Godfrey 5/30/96, 6/7/96, and
letter dated 11/24/97 ]
43) Winston G. Lawson (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Dallas 11/12/63);
rode in lead car in motorcade; remains in Dallas after AF1 departs to
assist in the investigation [18 H 788]
44) David B. Grant (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived in Dallas
11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital;
remains in Dallas after AF1 departs until the early morning hours of
11/24/63 [18 H 788]; although seemingly removed from the immediate area,
Grant was involved in the drinking incident [18 H 684]
45) SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels: assisted in the advance;
rode in lead car
46) DNC Advance Man Jacob L. "Jack" Puterbaugh (arrived in Dallas
11/12/63); rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kivett: Advance Agent, LBJ Detail (11/18-11/22 [17 H 601]); rode in V.P.
follow-up car in motorcade
47)Robert A. Steuart (Dallas Office): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
48) John Joe Howlett (Dallas office): Trade Mart, then Parkland
Hospital; rode in limousine as it was taken back to the C-130 (Hickey,
driver; Kinney drove the follow-up car back)
49) Roger C. Warner (Dallas office): Love Field
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Roberts: commander of follow-up car
Kinney: driver of follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
McIntyre: follow-up car
Ready: follow-up car
Landis: folow-up car
Bennett: follow-up car
Hickey: follow-up car
Youngblood: LBJ's car
Johns: V.P. follow-up car
Taylor: V.P. follow-up car
Stout: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+rode in hearse)
Berger: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+drove hearse)
Johnsen: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+CE399)
Olsson: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Sulliman: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Lawton: Love Field
O'Leary: Love Field
Rybka: Love Field
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. Austin, TX, 11/22/63:
(inc. Bergstrom AFB, 40 Acre Club, Governor Connally's mansion/
fundraiser/ dinner, Commodore-Perry Hotel, Johnson City, LBJ Ranch)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110057; 1541000110050;
1541000110044; 1541000110033; 18 H 779; Air Force One radio tapes/
transcripts; Bill Moyers' interview on A&E 1992; "Death of a President",
p. 317 (1988 edition)]
50) William B. Payne (WHD): Advance agent for Austin(arrived in Austin
11/12/63)
51) Robert R. Burke (WHD): assisted in the advance; specifically, for
the LBJ Ranch in Austin City, TX (arrived in Austin for the LBJ Ranch
11/18/63)
52) John F. Yeager (WHD): assisted in the advance for Austin, Texas
(arrived in TX 11/18/63)
Underwood [still in Houston on 11/22/63]
Shannon: see above
53) Donald Bendickson (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
54) Gerald Bechtle (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
Goodenough: see above
55) Robert Lockwood (V.P./ LBJ Detail) [see 18 H 779]
Godfrey: Austin (Commodore-Perry Hotel; depart for Washington at 3:15
p.m.)
Blaine: same
Giannoules: same
Burns: same
O'Rourke: same
Faison: same
56) Howard K. Norton (PRS) [see CD80 and 1541000110033, cited above]: same
(this is the first and only time Norton's name appears anywhere in the
Shift reports. He would go on to photograph the bloody limousine at the
White House garage with fellow PRS photographer James K. "Jack" Fox)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"VI." Chicago, IL, slated for sometime shortly AFTER 11/22/63:
[Sources-RIF#1541000110065]
57) Joseph Paolella (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Chicago 11/18/63)
[had been on JFK's 3/23/63 Chicago trip; interviewed for Seymour Hersh's
"The Dark Side of Camelot" 1997]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shift Summary-
a)12 Midnight to 8 a.m. shift:
ATSAIC Godfrey-shift leader,
SA Blaine,
SA Giannoules,
SA O'Rourke,
SA Burns,
SA Faison
HOTEL TEXAS ( went to Austin after JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth);
b)8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift:
ATSAIC Roberts-shift leader,
SA Lawton,
SA Ready,
SA McIntyre,
SA Bennett(PRS),
SA Hill(First Lady Detail),
SA Landis(First Lady Detail),
SA Kinney(Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas),
SA Hickey(Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas)
FOLLOW-UP CAR (except Lawton-Love Field;Lawton rode in follow-up car AND
back of JFK's limo on 11/18/63);
c)4 p.m. to 12 Midnight shift:
ATSAIC Stout-shift leader,
SA Sulliman,
SA Johnsen,
SA Olsson,
SA Berger
TRADE MART (later, Parkland Hospital;all in Houston motorcade's follow-up
car except Berger:in pilot car);
d)V.P. Detail:
ASAIC Youngblood,
ATSAIC Johns,
SA Kivett,
SA Taylor(assigned to Lady Bird),
SA Shannon
HOTEL TEXAS (Youngblood-LBJ's car;Johns, Kivett, Taylor-V.P.
follow-up car;
Shannon-back to LBJ Ranch where he came)
e)? shift:
ASAIC Kellerman,
SA Greer(Garage/Chauffeur),
SA Hall,
SA Duncan,
SA Grant
Kellerman and Greer-HOTEL TEXAS;JFK LIMOUSINE (all stops;later,Grey Navy
ambulance and Bethesda;worked the WHOLE day without being relieved!)...
Hall-HOTEL TEXAS
Duncan-HOTEL TEXAS(advance agent for Fort Worth stop)...
Grant-HOTEL TEXAS (advance agent for Florida[11/18/63] AND Texas
trips;later, Trade Mart and Parkland Hospital);
ALSO:Dallas agents James F. "Mike" Howard and William H. Patterson also
in Fort Worth(Howard assisted in advance arrangements at Fort Worth-on
duty at the Hotel Texas from JFK's arrival until 4 a.m. on 11/22/63...later,questioned Marina Oswald;Patterson helped in security
at JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth-drove LBJ's car in Fort Worth on
11/22/63...later, Love Field);
Conclusion :
Chief Rowley told the Warren Commission that 28 members of the WHITE HOUSE DETAIL accompanied JFK to Fort Worth-he's correct(Kinney and Hickey would make 30 if counted, but they were in Dallas, as previously mentioned).Advance agent Winston G. Lawson, SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels, and the remainder of Sorrels' men were in Dallas-leaving John J. Muggsy" O'Leary(Garage/Chauffeur) andHenry J. Rybka(Garage/Chauffeur) [both were in the Houston motorcade of 11/21/63- O'Leary rode in the Station Wagon, while Rybka drove the
follow-up car;both men were stationed at Love Field on 11/22/63] to round out the
WHD agents.
JFK's Texas Trip: Secret Service
Agent Rosters & Duties
By Vince Palamara
"In order to establish as complete a record as possible, I have compiled a detailed listing of each and every Secret Service agent connected to the Texas trip---their rosters and their duties. In addition, the infamous drinking incident of 11/21-11/22/63 is explored in full, as is the limousine confiscation/ inspection of 11/22-11/23/63. Finally, I have added comprehensive descriptions of many of President Kennedy's higher-profile pre-Texas trips from 1963, in regard to security
issues and the Secret Service. Much of this data is new, coming from the recent releases furnished by the ARRB (Assassination Records Review Board)."
I. San Antonio, TX, 11/21/63:
(San Antonio International Airport, Aerospace Medical Center, Kelly AFB)
[Sources-RIF#154-10002-10424: Survey report ; 1541000110104;
1541000110058; 1541000110184; 1541000110033; 17 H 618;"Kennedy In Texas"
video; "Four Days In November" video]
1) Dennis R. Halterman (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in San Antonio
11/12/63)
2) J. Walter Coughlin (WHD): assisted in the advance (apparently still
in San Antonio on 11/22/63---listed as being there and, later, as part
of the 4p.m.-12 mid shift at the Kennedy residence in Middleburg, VA)
3) ASAIC of WHD (#3) Roy H. Kellerman: rode in SS-100-X [limousine]
(front passenger seat)
4) William R. Greer (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-100-X
5) Henry J. Rybka (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X FROM
Aerospace Medical Center (AMC)[follow-up car]
6) ATSAIC of WHD Stewart G. "Stu" Stout: Entrance to Headquarters Bldg.,
AMC
7) Samuel E. Sulliman (WHD): Entrance to speaker's stand, AMC
8) Richard E. Johnsen (WHD): Speaker's platform, AMC
9) Ernest E. Olsson, Jr. (WHD): same as above
10) Andrew E. Berger (WHD): same as above
11) ATSAIC of WHD Emory P. Roberts: commander of follow-up car (front
passenger seat)
12) John D. "Jack" Ready (WHD): follow-up car
13) Donald J. Lawton (WHD): follow-up car
14) William "Tim" McIntyre (WHD): follow-up car
15) Glenn A. Bennett (PRS): follow-up car
16) SAIC of San Antonio office Luis Benavides: assisted in the advance
17) [fnu] McCully (San Antonio office): Supervision of Aerospace Medical
Center (AMC)
18) John J. "Muggsy" O'Leary (WHD/ Luggage-Effects [see also 25 H 788])
19) Clinton J. Hill (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
20) Samuel A. Kinney (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X TO AMC
[Rybka: passenger]
21) Paul E. Landis, Jr. (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
22) George W. Hickey, Jr (WHD/ Garage Detail): follow-up car [passenger]
23) ASAIC (#2) of V.P./ LBJ Detail Rufus W. Youngblood (came from LBJ
Ranch w/ Johns and Taylor)
24) ATSAIC OF V.P./ LBJ Detail Thomas "Lem" Johns
25) Warren "Woody" Taylor (Lady Bird Johnson Detail)
FORTY members of the military police from Ft. Sam Houston, Texas:
traffic control, motorcade route security, and intersection control;
police helicopter utilized along route;
many flanking motorcycles;
PRS subjects: 0
II. Houston, TX, 11/21/63:
(Houston International Airport, Rice Hotel, Coliseum/ Congressman Albert
Thomas Dinner)
[Sources: RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110042; 1541000110044
(Daily Shift report, V.P. Detail, 11/21/63); 1541000110031;
180-10083-10419; 180-10078-10493; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; author's
10/9/92 interview with DNC advance man Marty Underwood; DNC Advance man
Jerry Bruno's notes, JFK Library]
26) Ronald M. Pontius (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Houston
11/12/63); rode in lead car in motorcade
27) Lubert F. "Bert" de Freese (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived
in Houston 11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip); departed at 7:00 p.m. on
11/21/63 to go back to Washington, D.C.
28) DNC Advance Man Martin E. "Marty" Underwood (also the DNC advance
man for Austin: see below)
29) Jim Goodenough (WHD/ V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail;
rode in V.P. follow-up car in motorcade; went to the LBJ Ranch afterward
30) SAIC of Houston office Lane Bertram: rode in lead car in motorcade
Ready: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Berger: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Rybka: driver of follow-up car
Stout: follow-up car
Sulliman: follow-up car
Johnsen: follow-up car
Olsson: follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
O'Leary: rode in station wagon in motorcade (near the rear)
Youngblood: rode in LBJ's car
Johns: rode in V.P. follow-up car
Taylor
[note: Kinney was not in Houston, as he proceeded to Dallas on 11/21/63
after JFK's departure from San Antonio, presumably with Hickey, who also
does not appear to have been in Houston, either. In addition, Roberts,
Lawton, McIntyre, and Bennett are unaccounted for, although they may
have had duties ahead at the Coliseum]
III. Fort Worth, TX, evening of 11/21/63, morning of 11/22/63:
(Carswell Air Force Base, Hotel Texas)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110104; 1541000110043; 2 H 133; 18 H
674-675, 678, 679, 686, 697, 730, 761; captioned photo of Duncan in
"Fort Worth Press", 11/22/63; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; 18 H 678-679,
681-682; 25 H 787-788]
31) William L. Duncan (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Fort Worth
11/12/63); still in Fort Worth as of 11/22/63 and after the
assassination [25 H 787]
32) Ned Hall II (WHD): assisted in the advance (also arrived in Fort
Worth 11/12/63)
33) James F. "Mike" Howard (Dallas office): assisted in the advance; in
Fort Worth until 4:00 a.m. 11/22/63 [18 H 675]
34) Jerry D. Kivett (WHD/ V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail
(probably arrived in Fort Worth on 11/12/63 [17 H 618]
35) William H. Patterson (Dallas office): in Fort Worth on the morning
of 11/22/63: assigned to drive LBJ's car [25 H 788]; went to Love Field
afterwards
36) ATSAIC of WHD Arthur L. Godfrey: arrived in Fort Worth from
Washington, D.C. at 2:15 p.m. on 11/21/63 w/ Blaine, Giannoules, Burns,
O'Rourke, and Faison for duty at the Hotel Texas 4p.m.-12 min (JFK
arrived 11:50 p.m.)
37) Gerald S. Blaine (WHD)
38) Kenneth S. Giannoules (WHD)
39) Paul A. Burns (WHD)
40) Gerald W. O'Rourke (WHD)
41) Robert R. Faison (WHD) [African-American]
42) Michael J. Shannon (V.P./ LBJ Detail): on duty at LBJ Ranch on
11/21/63; went to Hotel Texas on the night of 11/21/63 [12 Mid-8 a.m.
11/22/63]; went back to Johnson City, TX afterwards
Johnsen: follow-up car 11/21/63
[note: Kinney and Hickey were not in Fort Worth on 11/21/63: they were
in Dallas with the two cars]
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo (NOT SS-100-X but a rented car)
Hill
Landis
O'Leary
Rybka: follow-up car to Carswell AFB 11/22/63 (NOT the driver)
Stout
Sulliman
Olsson
Berger [see also 18 H 672, 675, 698]
Ready
Lawton
McIntyre
Roberts
Bennett
Youngblood [note: he would go on to leave in the early morning hours of
11/22/63 to visit a childhod acquaintance (18 H 681-682)]
Johns
Taylor
Drinking Incident Involving The Secret Service:
the drinking incident of 11/21-11/22/63 involving the Secret Service at
the Fort Worth Press Club AND the "Cellar":
Chief James J. Rowley-headed investigation;
SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels-reported to Rowley
along with
Inspector Gerard B. McCann;
Inspector Thomas J. Kelley-also involved in investigation
THE AGENTS WHO FILED REPORTS-
The Supervisors :
a)ATSAIC Arthur L. Godfrey-shift leader; mentions agents Blaine, Giannoules, Burns,
O'Rourke, and Faison in his report: none of Godfrey's men -- including
Godfrey-participated in consuming any alcoholic beverages;
b)ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman- mentions agents Greer, Kinney, Duncan, Hall,
and Grant: only Grant consumed alcohol;
c)ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts-shift leader;mentions agents Ready, Lawton,
McIntyre, Bennett, Hill, Landis, Kinney[2nd mention], and Hickey[Kinney
and Hickey were in Dallas with the automobiles, so they obviously did
not participate in any drinking]: only Roberts and McIntyre did NOT
drink-this was the most irresponsible shift of all;
d)ATSAIC Stewart G. Stout, Jr.-shift leader;mentions agents Sulliman,
Johnsen, Olsson, and Berger: all but Stout and Sulliman consumed
alcoholic beverages, making Stout's shift second to Roberts as the worst offender in the drinking incident;
e)ASAIC of V.P. Detail Rufus W. Youngblood-mentions agents
Johns(ATSAIC),
Kivett, Taylor, and Shannon:NONE of the V.P. Detail participated in the
drinking incident!;
The agents who submitted individual reports:
f)Glenn A. Bennett(PRS agent)-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the
Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
g)Andrew E. Berger-same as above;
h)Gerald S. Blaine-although he went to both establishments, Blaine
states that he did NOT consume alcohol;
i)Paul A. Burns-although he went to the "Cellar", Burns states(like
Blaine) that he did NOT consume alcohol;
j)David B. Grant-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the Fort
Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
k)Clinton J. Hill-same as above;
l)Richard E. Johnsen-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort Worth
Press Club;
m)Paul E. Landis,Jr.-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the
Fort Worth Press Club;went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
n)Donald J. Lawton-admitted to drinking "three beers" at the Fort Worth
Press Club;went to the "Cellar" afterwards;
o)Ernest E. Olsson,Jr.-admitted to drinking "one and a half
mixed drinks" at the Fort Worth Press Club;
p)Gerald W. O'Rourke-although he went to the "Cellar", O'Rourke
states(like Blaine and Burns above) that he did NOT consume alcohol;
q)John "Jack" D. Ready-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort
Worth Press Club;
went to the "Cellar" afterwards...
Conclusion-Rowley did not punish these men in any way whatsoever, even
though (according to the Secret Service manual) drinking while in travel
status is grounds for REMOVAL from the agency( four of the above-mentioned
agents-Bennett, Hill, Landis, and Ready-had critical duties in the Secret Service follow-up
car, directly behind
JFK's limousine)![see Volume 18 of Warren Commission]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Dallas, TX, 11/22/63:
(Love Field, Trade Mart)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110100; 1541000110065; 1541000110044; 16 H 950-951
(same as 1541000110032); 1541000110190; "Inside The Secret Service"
video 1995 (Lawson); author's interview with Lawson 9/27/92; 17 H 601,
618; 18 H 789; author's interviews with Godfrey 5/30/96, 6/7/96, and
letter dated 11/24/97 ]
43) Winston G. Lawson (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Dallas 11/12/63);
rode in lead car in motorcade; remains in Dallas after AF1 departs to
assist in the investigation [18 H 788]
44) David B. Grant (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived in Dallas
11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital;
remains in Dallas after AF1 departs until the early morning hours of
11/24/63 [18 H 788]; although seemingly removed from the immediate area,
Grant was involved in the drinking incident [18 H 684]
45) SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels: assisted in the advance;
rode in lead car
46) DNC Advance Man Jacob L. "Jack" Puterbaugh (arrived in Dallas
11/12/63); rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kivett: Advance Agent, LBJ Detail (11/18-11/22 [17 H 601]); rode in V.P.
follow-up car in motorcade
47)Robert A. Steuart (Dallas Office): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
48) John Joe Howlett (Dallas office): Trade Mart, then Parkland
Hospital; rode in limousine as it was taken back to the C-130 (Hickey,
driver; Kinney drove the follow-up car back)
49) Roger C. Warner (Dallas office): Love Field
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Roberts: commander of follow-up car
Kinney: driver of follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
McIntyre: follow-up car
Ready: follow-up car
Landis: folow-up car
Bennett: follow-up car
Hickey: follow-up car
Youngblood: LBJ's car
Johns: V.P. follow-up car
Taylor: V.P. follow-up car
Stout: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+rode in hearse)
Berger: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+drove hearse)
Johnsen: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+CE399)
Olsson: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Sulliman: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Lawton: Love Field
O'Leary: Love Field
Rybka: Love Field
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. Austin, TX, 11/22/63:
(inc. Bergstrom AFB, 40 Acre Club, Governor Connally's mansion/
fundraiser/ dinner, Commodore-Perry Hotel, Johnson City, LBJ Ranch)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110057; 1541000110050;
1541000110044; 1541000110033; 18 H 779; Air Force One radio tapes/
transcripts; Bill Moyers' interview on A&E 1992; "Death of a President",
p. 317 (1988 edition)]
50) William B. Payne (WHD): Advance agent for Austin(arrived in Austin
11/12/63)
51) Robert R. Burke (WHD): assisted in the advance; specifically, for
the LBJ Ranch in Austin City, TX (arrived in Austin for the LBJ Ranch
11/18/63)
52) John F. Yeager (WHD): assisted in the advance for Austin, Texas
(arrived in TX 11/18/63)
Underwood [still in Houston on 11/22/63]
Shannon: see above
53) Donald Bendickson (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
54) Gerald Bechtle (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
Goodenough: see above
55) Robert Lockwood (V.P./ LBJ Detail) [see 18 H 779]
Godfrey: Austin (Commodore-Perry Hotel; depart for Washington at 3:15
p.m.)
Blaine: same
Giannoules: same
Burns: same
O'Rourke: same
Faison: same
56) Howard K. Norton (PRS) [see CD80 and 1541000110033, cited above]: same
(this is the first and only time Norton's name appears anywhere in the
Shift reports. He would go on to photograph the bloody limousine at the
White House garage with fellow PRS photographer James K. "Jack" Fox)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"VI." Chicago, IL, slated for sometime shortly AFTER 11/22/63:
[Sources-RIF#1541000110065]
57) Joseph Paolella (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Chicago 11/18/63)
[had been on JFK's 3/23/63 Chicago trip; interviewed for Seymour Hersh's
"The Dark Side of Camelot" 1997]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shift Summary-
a)12 Midnight to 8 a.m. shift:
ATSAIC Godfrey-shift leader,
SA Blaine,
SA Giannoules,
SA O'Rourke,
SA Burns,
SA Faison
HOTEL TEXAS ( went to Austin after JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth);
b)8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift:
ATSAIC Roberts-shift leader,
SA Lawton,
SA Ready,
SA McIntyre,
SA Bennett(PRS),
SA Hill(First Lady Detail),
SA Landis(First Lady Detail),
SA Kinney(Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas),
SA Hickey(Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas)
FOLLOW-UP CAR (except Lawton-Love Field;Lawton rode in follow-up car AND
back of JFK's limo on 11/18/63);
c)4 p.m. to 12 Midnight shift:
ATSAIC Stout-shift leader,
SA Sulliman,
SA Johnsen,
SA Olsson,
SA Berger
TRADE MART (later, Parkland Hospital;all in Houston motorcade's follow-up
car except Berger:in pilot car);
d)V.P. Detail:
ASAIC Youngblood,
ATSAIC Johns,
SA Kivett,
SA Taylor(assigned to Lady Bird),
SA Shannon
HOTEL TEXAS (Youngblood-LBJ's car;Johns, Kivett, Taylor-V.P.
follow-up car;
Shannon-back to LBJ Ranch where he came)
e)? shift:
ASAIC Kellerman,
SA Greer(Garage/Chauffeur),
SA Hall,
SA Duncan,
SA Grant
Kellerman and Greer-HOTEL TEXAS;JFK LIMOUSINE (all stops;later,Grey Navy
ambulance and Bethesda;worked the WHOLE day without being relieved!)...
Hall-HOTEL TEXAS
Duncan-HOTEL TEXAS(advance agent for Fort Worth stop)...
Grant-HOTEL TEXAS (advance agent for Florida[11/18/63] AND Texas
trips;later, Trade Mart and Parkland Hospital);
ALSO:Dallas agents James F. "Mike" Howard and William H. Patterson also
in Fort Worth(Howard assisted in advance arrangements at Fort Worth-on
duty at the Hotel Texas from JFK's arrival until 4 a.m. on 11/22/63...later,questioned Marina Oswald;Patterson helped in security
at JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth-drove LBJ's car in Fort Worth on
11/22/63...later, Love Field);
Conclusion :
Chief Rowley told the Warren Commission that 28 members of the WHITE HOUSE DETAIL accompanied JFK to Fort Worth-he's correct(Kinney and Hickey would make 30 if counted, but they were in Dallas, as previously mentioned).Advance agent Winston G. Lawson, SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels, and the remainder of Sorrels' men were in Dallas-leaving John J. Muggsy" O'Leary(Garage/Chauffeur) andHenry J. Rybka(Garage/Chauffeur) [both were in the Houston motorcade of 11/21/63- O'Leary rode in the Station Wagon, while Rybka drove the
follow-up car;both men were stationed at Love Field on 11/22/63] to round out the
WHD agents.
59 Witnesses: Delay on Elm Street
http://www.powerset.com/explore/go/Vince-Palamara
-UPI's "Four Days," 1964, p. 17 - "In the right hand picture [a frame from the Muchmore film], the driver slams on the brakes and the police escort pulls up."
-"Newsweek," 12/2/63, p. 2 - "For a chaotic moment, the motorcade ground to an uncertain halt."
-"Time," 11/29/63, p. 23 - "There was a shocking momentary stillness, a frozen tableau."
-"Case Closed" by Gerald Posner, 1993, p. 234 - "Incredibly, Greer, sensing that something was wrong in the back of the car, slowed the vehicle to almost a standstill."
AND
-Gerald Posner, with Dan Rather, on CBS' "Who Killed JFK: The Final Chapter?" 11/19/93 - By turning around the second time and looking at JFK as the car slows down, Posner says that, "What he [Greer] has done is inadvertantly given Oswald the easiest of the three shots."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Houston Chronicle Reporter Bo Byers (rode in White House Press Bus) - twice stated that the Presidential Limousine "almost came to a stop, a dead stop"; in fact, he has had nightmares about this. [C-SPAN, 11/20/93, "Journalists Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the 1/94 "Fourth Decade" article by Sheldon Inkol]
2) ABC Reporter Bob Clark (rode in the National Press Pool Car) - Reported on the air that the limousine stopped on Elm Street during the shooting [WFAA/ ABC, 11/22/63]
3) UPI White House Reporter Merriman Smith (rode in the same car as Clark, above) - "The President's car, possibly as much as 150 or 200 yards ahead, seemed to falter briefly..." [UPI story, 11/23/63, as reported in "Four Days", UPI, p. 32]
4) DPD motorcycle officer James W. Courson (one of two mid-motorcade motorcycles) - "The limousine came to a stop and Mrs. Kennedy was on the back. I noticed that as I came around the corner at Elm. Then the Secret Service agent [Clint Hill] helped push her back into the car, and the motorcade took off at a high rate of speed." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 129]
5) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Joe Dale (one of two rear mid-motorcade motorcycles) - "After the shots were fired, the whole motorcade came to a stop. I stood and looked through the plaza, noticed there was commotion, and saw people running around his [JFK's] car. It started to move, then it slowed again; that's when I saw Mrs. Kennedy coming back on the trunk and another guy [Clint Hill] pushing her back into the car." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 134]
6) Clemon Earl Johnson - "You could see it [the limo] speed up and then stop, then speed up, and you could see it stop while they [sic; Clint Hill] threw Mrs. Kennedy back up in the car. Then they just left out of there like a bat of the eye and were just gone." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 80]
7) Malcolm Summers - "Then there was some hesitation in the caravan itself, a momentary halt, to give the Secret Service man [Clint Hill] a chance to catch up with the car and jump on. It seems to me that it started back up by the time he got to the car…"["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 104]
8) NBC reporter Robert MacNeil (rode in White House Press Bus)---"The President's driver slammed on the brakes - after the third shot…" ["The Way We Were, 1963: The Year Kennedy Was Shot" by Robert MacNeil (1988), p. 193]
9) AP photographer Henry Burroughs (rode in Camera Car #2) - "…we heard the shots and the motorcade stopped." [letter, Burroughs to Palamara, dated 10/14/98]
10) DPD Earle Brown - "…The first I noticed the [JFK's] car was when it stopped..after it made the turn and when the shots were fired, it stopped." [6 H 233]
11) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Hargis (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists)---"…At that time [immediately before the head shot] the Presidential car slowed down. I heard somebody say 'Get going.' I felt blood hit me in the face and the Presidential car stopped almost immediately after that." [6 H 294; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71.
6/26/95 videotaped interview with Mark Oakes & Ian Griggs: "That guy (Greer) slowed down, maybe his orders was to slow down…slowed down almost to a stop." Like Posner, Hargis feels Greer gave Oswald the chance to kill Kennedy.]
12) DPD D.V. Harkness - "…I saw the first shot and the President's car slow[ed] down to almost a stop…I heard the first shot and saw the President's car almost come to a stop and some of the agents [were] piling on the car." [6 H 309]
13) DPD James Chaney (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists)---stated that the Presidential limousine stopped momentarily after the first shot (according to the testimony of Mark Lane; corroborated by the testimony of fellow DPD motorycle officer Marion Baker: Chaney told him that "…at the time, after the shooting, from the time the first shot rang out, the car stopped completely, pulled to the left and stopped…Now I have heard several of them say that, Mr. Truly was standing out there, he said it stopped. Several officers said it stopped completely." [2 H 44-45 (Lane)---refering to Chaney's statement as reported in the "Houston Chronicle" dated 11/24/63; 3 H 266 (Baker)]
14) DPD motorcycle officer B.J. Martin (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists) - saw JFK's car stop "…just for a moment." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
15) DPD motorcycle officer Douglas L. Jackson (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists) - stated "…that the car just all but stopped…just a moment." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
16) Texas Highway Patrolman Joe Henry Rich (drove LBJ's car) - stated that "…the motorcade came to a stop momentarily." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
17) DPD J.W. Foster - stated that "…immediately after President Kennedy was struck…the car in which he was riding pulled to the curb." [CD 897, pp. 20, 21; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
18) Secret Service Agent Sam Kinney (driver of the follow-up car behind JFK's limo)---indicates, via his report to Chief Rowley, that Greer hit the gas after the fatal head shot to JFK and after the President's slump to the left toward Jackie. [18 H 731-732]. From the HSCA's 2/26/78 interview of Kinney: "He also remarked that 'when Greer (the driver of the Presidential limousine) looked back, his foot must have come off the accelerator'…Kinney observed that at the time of the first shot, the speed of the motorcade was '3 to 5 miles an hour.'" [RIF#180-10078-10493; author's interviews with Kinney, 1992-1994]
19) Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (follow-up car, rear of limo)---"…I jumped from the follow-up car and ran toward the Presidential automobile. I heard a second firecracker-type noise…SA Greer had, as I jumped onto the Presidential automobile, accelerated the Presidential automobile forward." [18 H 742; Nix film; "The Secret Service" and "Inside The Secret Service" videos from 1995]
20) Secret Service Agent John Ready (follow-up car) - "…I heard what sounded like fire crackers going off from my post on the right front running board. The President's car slowed…" [18 H 750]
21) Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett (follow-up car) - after the fatal head shot "the President's car immediately kicked into high gear." [18 H 760; 24 H 541-542]. During his 1/30/78 HSCA interview, Bennett said the follow-up car was moving at "10-12 m.p.h.", an indication of the pace of the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF#180-10082-10452]
22) Secret Service Agent "Lem" Johns (V.P. follow-up car) - "…I felt that if there was danger [it was] due to the slow speed of the automobile." [18 H 774]. During his 8/8/78 HSCA interview, Johns said that "Our car was moving very slowly", a further indication of the pace of the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF# 180-10074-10079; Altgens photo]
23) Secret Service Agent Winston Lawson (rode in the lead car) - "…I think it [the lead car on Elm Street] was a little further ahead [of JFK's limo] than it had been in the motorcade, because when I looked back we were further ahead." [4 H 352], an indication of the lag in the limo during the assassination.
24) Secret Service Agent William "Tim" McIntyre (follow-up car) - "He stated that Greer, driver of the Presidential limousine, accelerated after the third shot." [RIF#180-10082-10454: 1/31/78 HSCA interview]
25) Mrs. Earle "Dearie" Cabell (rode in the Mayor's car) - the motorcade "stopped dead still when the noise of the shot was heard." [7 H 487; "Accessories After the Fact" by Sylvia Meagher (1967), p. 4; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
26) Phil Willis - "…The [Presidential] party had come to a temporary halt before proceeding on to the underpass." [7 H 497; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 24]
27) Mrs. Phil Willis - Marilyn - after the fatal head shot, "she stated the Presidential limousine paused momentarily and then sped away under the Triple Underpass." [FBI report dated 6/19/64; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 179]
28) Mrs. John Connally - Nellie (rode in JFK's limo) - JFK's car did not accelerate until after the fatal head shot. [4 H 147; WR 50; "Best Evidence" by David Lifton (1988), p. 122]
29) Texas Governor John Connally (rode in JFK's limo and himself a victim of the assassination) - "…After the third shot, I heard Roy Kellerman tell the driver, 'Bill, get out of line.' And then I saw him move, and I assumed he was moving a button or something on the panel of the automobile, and he said 'Get us to a hospital quick'…at about this time, we began to pull out of the cavalcade, out of line." [4 H 133; WR50; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 13];
30) Dallas Morning News reporter Robert Baskin (rode in the National Press Pool Car) - stated that "…the motorcade ground to a halt." ["Dallas Morning News", 11/23/63, p. 2; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
31) Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward (Pillsworth) - "…Instead of speeding up the car, the car came to a halt."; she saw the President's car come to a halt after the first shot. Then, after hearing two more shots, close together, the car sped up. [2 H 43 (Lane); "Dallas Morning News," 11/23/63; 24 H 520; "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988]. She spoke forcefully about the car almost coming to a stop and the lack of proper reaction by the Secret Service in 1993. [C-SPAN, 11/20/93, "Journalists Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the 1/94 "Fourth Decade" article by Sheldon Inkol]
32) AP photographer James Altgens - "He said the President's car was proceeding at about ten miles per hour at the time [of the shooting]…Altgens stated the driver of the Presidential limousine apparently realized what had happened and speeded up toward the Stemmons Expressway." [FBI report dated 6/5/64; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 203] "The car's driver realized what had happened and almost if by reflex speeded up toward the Stemmons Expressway." [AP dispatch, 11/22/63; "Cover-Up" by Stewart Galanor (1998), Document 28]
33) Alan Smith - "…the car was ten feet from me when a bullet hit the President in the forehead…the car went about five feet and stopped." ["Chicago Tribune," 11/23/63, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
34) Mrs. Ruth M. Smith - confirmed that the Presidential limousine had come to a stop. [CD 206, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
35) TSBD Supervisor Roy Truly - after the first shot "…I saw the President's car swerve to the left and stop somewheres down in the area…[it stopped] for a second or two or something like that…I just saw it stop." [3 H 221, 266]
36) L.P. Terry - "…The parade stopped right in front of the building [TSBD]." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 26]
37) Ochus V. Campbell - after hearing shots, "he then observed the car bearing President Kennedy to slow down, a near stop, and a motorcycle policeman rushed up. Immediately following this, he observed the car rush away from the scene." [22 H 845]
38) Peggy Joyce Hawkins - she was on the front steps of the TSBD and "…estimated that the President's car was less than 50 feet away from her when he was shot, that the car slowed down almost coming to a full stop." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
39) Billy Lovelady - "I recall that following the shooting, I ran toward the spot where President Kennedy's car had stopped." [22 H 662];
40) An unnamed witness - from his vantage point in the courthouse building, stated that, "The cavalcade stopped there and there was bedlam." ["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
41) Postal Inspector Harry Holmes (from the Post Office Annex, while viewing through binoculars) - "…The car almost came to a stop, and Mrs. Kennedy pulled loose of him and crawled out over the turtleback of this Presidential car." [7 H 291]. He noticed the car pull to a halt, and Holmes thought: "They are dodging something being thrown." ["The Day Kennedy Was Shot" by Jim Bishop (1967), p. 176]
42) Peggy Burney - she stated that JFK's car had come to a stop. ["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97.
Interestingly, during the 11/20/93 C-SPAN "Journalists Remember" conference, Vivian Castleberry of the Dallas Times Herald made the claim that her first cousin, Peggy Burney, was Abraham Zapruder's assistant "and was next to him when he shot his famous film. She called and said, 'Vivian, today I saw the President die.'"! See Sheldon Inkol's article on this conference in the January 1994 "Fourth Decade"]
43) David Broeder - "…The President's car paused momentarily, then on orders from a Secret Service agent, spurted ahead." ["Washington Evening Star", 11/23/63, p. 8]
44) Sam Holland - stated that the Presidential limousine slowed down on Elm Street. [taped interview with Holland conducted in April, 1965]
45) Maurice Orr - noted that the motorcade stopped. [Arch Kimbrough, Mary Ferrell, and Sue Fitch, "Chronology," unpublished manuscript; see also "Conspiracy" by Anthony Summers, pages 20 & 23]
46) Mrs. Herman (Billy P.) Clay - "…When I heard the second and third shots I knew someone was shooting at the President. I did not know if the President had been hit, but I knew something was wrong. At this point the car President Kenedy was in slowed and I, along with others, moved toward the President's car. As we neared the car it sped off." [22 H 641]
47) Mrs. Rose Clark - "…She noted that the President's automobile came almost to a halt following the three shots, before it picked up speed and drove away." [24 H 533]
48) Hugh Betzner - "…I looked down the street and I could see the President's car and another one and they looked like the cars were stopped…then the President's car sped on under the underpass." [19 H 467]
49) John Chism - after the shots he saw "the motorcade beginning to speed up." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 29]
50) Bill Newman - after the fatal head shot "the car momentarily stopped and the driver seemed to have a radio or phone up to his ear and he seemed to be waiting on some word. Some Secret Service men reached into their car and came out with some sort of machine gun. Then the cars roared off…"; "I've maintained that they stopped. I still say they did. It was only a momentary stop, but…" ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 70; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 96]
"I believe Kennedy's car came to a full stop after the final shot." ["JFK: Breaking The Silence" by Bill Sloan (1993), p. 169]
"…I believe it was the passenger in the front seat [Roy Kellerman]---there were two men in the front seat---had a telephone or something to his ear and the car momentarily stopped. Now everywhere that you read about it, you don't read anything about the car stopping. And when I say "stopped" I mean very momentarily, like they hit the brakes and just a few seconds passed and then they floorboarded [sic] and accelerated on." [11/20/97 videotaped interview with Bill Law, Mark Row, & Ian Griggs, as transcribed in "November Patriots" by Connie Kritzberg & Larry Hancock (1998), p. 362]
"One of the two men in the front seat of the car had a telephone in his hand, and as I was looking back at the car covering my son, I can remember seeing the tail lights of the car, and just for a moment they hesitated and stopped, and then they floorboarded [sic] the car and shot off." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 96]
51) Charles Brehm - "Brehm expressed his opinion that between the first and third shots, the President's car only seemed to move some 10 or 12 feet. It seemed to him that the automobile almost came to a halt after the first shot…After the third shot, the car in which the President was riding increased its speed and went under the freeway overpass and out of sight." [22 H 837-838]
52) Mary Moorman - "She recalls that the President's automobile was moving at the time she took the second picture, and when she heard the shots, and has the impression that the car either stopped momentarily or hesistated and then drove off in a hurry." [22 H 838-839]
53) Jean Hill - "…The motorcade came to almost a halt at the time the shots rang out and I would say it [JFK's limo] was just approximately, if not - it couldn't have been in the same position, I'm sure it wasn't, but just a very, very short distance from where it had been. It [JFK's limo] was just almost stunned." [6 H 208-209; Hill's testimony on this matter was dramatized in the Oliver Stone movie "JFK" (1991): "The driver had stopped - I don't know what was wrong with that driver." See also "JFK: The Book of the Film" (1992), p. 122. Therein is referenced a March 1991 conversation with Jean Hill.]
54) James Leon Simmons - "…The car stopped or almost stopped." [2/15/69 Clay Shaw trial testimony; "Forgive My Grief Vol. III" by Penn Jones, p. 53; "High Treason" by Groden & Livingstone (1990 Berkley Edition), p. 22]
55) Norman Similas - "…The Presidential limousine had passed me and slowed down slightly." ["Liberty" Magazine, 7/15/64, p. 13; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 233];
56) Presidential Aide Ken O'Donnell (rode in the follow-up car) - "…If the Secret Service men in the front had reacted quicker to the first two shots at the President's car, if the driver had stepped on the gas before instead of after the fatal third shot was fired, would President Kennedy be alive today? [as quoted in Marrs' "Crossfire," p. 248, based off a passage from O'Donnell & Powers' book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye"]. On page 40 of O'Donnell's book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye," the aide reports that "Greer had been remorseful all day, feeling that he could have saved President Kenendy's life by swerving the car or speeding suddenly after the first shots." Indeed, William E. Sale, an airman first class aircraft mechanic assigned to Carswell AFB and who was stationed at Love Field before, during, and after the assassination, stated that "when the agent who was driving JFK's car came back to Air Force One he was as white as a ghost and had to be helped back to the plane *[undated Sale letter, provided to the author by Martin Shackelford]
57) Presidential aide Dave Powers (rode in the follow-up car) - "…At that time we were traveling very slowly…At about the time of the third shot, the President's car accelerated sharply." [7 H 473-475]. On 11/22/88, Powers was interviewed by CBS' Charles Kuralt. Powers remarked about the remorse Greer felt about not speeding up in time to save JFK"s life and agreed with Kuralt that, if Greer had sped up BEFORE the fatal head shot instead of afterwards, JFK might still be alive today [CBS, 11/22/88---this is a very dramatic and compelling short interview]. If that weren't enough, the ARRB's Tom Samoluk told me that, during the course of an interview he conducted in 1996 in which the Board was in the process of obtaining Powers' film, Powers said that he agreed with my take on the Secret Service!
58) Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough (rode in LBJ's car) - "…When the noise of the shot was heard, the motorcade slowed to what seemed to me a complete stop (though it could have been a near stop)…After the third shot was fired, but only after the third shot was fired, the cavalcade speeded up, gained speed rapidly, and roared away to the Parkland Hospital."; "…The cars all stopped. I put in there [his affidavit], 'I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but for the protection of future Presidents, they [the Secret Service] should be trained to take off when a shot is fired." [7 H 439-440; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 482; see also "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988: "The Secret Service in the car in front of us kind of casually looked around and were rather slow to react."]
59) First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (rode in the Presidential limousine) - "We could see a tunnel in front of us. Everything was really slow then…[immediately after shooting] And just being down in the car with his head in my lap. And it just seemed an eternity…And finally I remember a voice behind me, or something, and then I remember the people in the front seat, or somebody, finally knew something was wrong, and a voice yelling, which must have been Mr. Hill, "Get to the hospital," or maybe it was Mr. Kellerman, in the front seat…We were really slowing turning the corner [Houston&Elm]…I remember a sensation of enormous speed, which must have been when we took off…those poor men in the front…" [5 H 179-181] Mary Gallagher reported in her book: "She mentioned one Secret Service man who had not acted during the crucial moment, and said bitterly to me, 'He might just as well have been Miss Shaw!'" ["My Life With Jacqueline Kennedy" by Mary Barelli Gallagher (1969), p. 342---Secret Service Agent Marty Venker and Jackie biographer C. David Heymann confirm that this unnamed agent was indeed Greer ("Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent", p. 25; "A Woman Called Jackie", p. 401)] Jackie also told Gallagher that "You should get yourself a good driver so that nothing ever happens to you" [Ibid., p. 351]
* William Manchester, who interviewed Greer, tells us what the driver told Jackie on 11/22/63 at Parkland Hospital: "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my God, oh my God. I didn't mean to do it[?!?!], I didn't hear[who, Kellerman?], I should have swerved the car[how about hitting the gas!], I couldn't help it[!]. Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it[?] I swerved. If only I'd seen it in time! Oh!" (Manchester, p.290). 59 witnesses (10 police officers, 7 Secret Service agents, 37 spectators, 2 Presidential aides, 1 Senator, Governor Connally, and Jackie Kennedy) and the Zapruder film document Secret Service agent William R. Greer's deceleration of the presidential limousine, as well as his two seperate looks back at JFK during the assassination (Greer denied all of this to the Warren Commission-2HGREER[see his entire testimony]). By decelerating from an already slow 11.2 mph, Greer greatly endangered the President's life, and, as even Gerald Posner admitted, Greer contributed greatly to the success of the assassination. When we consider that Greer disobeyed a direct order from his superior, Roy Kellerman, to get out of line BEFORE the fatal shot struck the President's head, it is hard to give Agent Greer the benefit of the doubt. As ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman said: "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe me"("The Death of a President" by William Manchester, p.160). Clearly, Greer was responsible, at fault, and felt remorse. In short, Greer had survivor's guilt.
But, then, stories and feelings changed.
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/22/63: "Greer stated that he first heard what he thought was possibly a motorcycle backfire and glanced around and noticed that the President had evidently been hit [notice that, early on, Greer admits seeing JFK, which the Zapruder proves he did two times before the fatsal head shot occurred]. He thereafter got on the radio and communicated with the other vehicles, stating that they desired to get the President to the hospital immediately [in reality, Greer did not talk on the radio, and Greer went on to deny ever saying this during his WC testimony]…Greer stated that they (the Secret Service) have always been instructed to keep the motorcade moving at a considerable speed inasmuch as a moving car offers a much more difficult target than a vehicle traveling at a very slow speed. He pointed out that on numerous occasions he has attempted to keep the car moving at a rather fast rate, but in view of the President's popularity and desire to maintain close liaison with the people, he has, on occasion, been instructed by the President to "slow down". Greer stated that he has been asking himself if there was any thing he could have done to have avoided this incident, but stated that things happened so fast that he could not account for full developments in this matter(!) [the "JFK-as-scapegoat" theme…and so much for Greer's remorse from earlier the same day!]."(Sibert & O'Neil Report, 11/22/63)
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/27/63: "…he heard a noise which sounded like a motorcycle backfire. On hearing this noise he glanced to his right toward Kellerman and out of the corner of his eye noticed that the Governor appeared to be falling toward his wife [notice that Greer now mentions nothing about seing JFK hit---he does the same thing in his undated report in the WC volumes (18 H 723)] He thereafter recalls hearing some type of outcry after which Kellerman said, "Let's get out of here." He further related that at the time of hearing the sound he was starting down an incline which passes beneath a railroad crossing and after passing under this viaduct, he closed in on the lead car and yelled to the occupants and a nearby police motorcyclist, "Hospital, Hospital! [nothing about using the radio this time out]" Thereafter follows a complete physical description of Greer, as if the FBI agents considered him a suspect, inc. age, height, and color of eyes! (Sibert & O'Neil Report, 11/29/63)
Critical excerpts from Greer's 3/9/64 Warren Commission testimony before Arlen Specter:
Mr. Specter.
Were you able to see anything of President Kennedy as you glanced to the rear?
Mr. Greer.
No, sir; I didn't see anything of the President, I didn't look, I wasn't far enough around to see the President.
Mr. Specter.
When you started that glance, are you able to recollect whether you started to glance before, exactly simultaneously with or after that second shot?
Mr. Greer.
It was almost simultaneously that he had--something had hit, you know, when I had seen him. It seemed like in the same second almost that something had hit, you know, whenever I turned around. I saw him start to fall.
Mr. Specter.
Did you step on the accelerator before, simultaneously or after Mr. Kellerman instructed you to accelerate?
Mr. Greer.
It was about simultaneously.
Mr. Specter.
So that it was your reaction to accelerate prior to the time--
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter.
You had gotten that instruction?
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir; it was my reaction that caused me to accelerate.
Mr. Specter.
Do you recollect whether you accelerated before or at the same time or after the third shot?
Mr. Greer.
I couldn't really say. Just as soon as I turned my head back from the second shot, right away I accelerated right then. It was a matter of my reflexes to the accelerator.
Mr. Specter.
Was it at about that time that you heard the third shot?
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir; just as soon as I turned my head
[…]
Mr. Specter.
To the best of your current recollection, did you notice that the President had been hit?
Mr. Greer.
No, sir; I didn't know how badly he was injured or anything other than that. I didn't know.
Mr. Specter.
Did you know at all, from the glance which you have described that he had been hit or injured in any way?
Mr. Greer.
I knew he was injured in some way, but I didn't know how bad or what.
Mr. Specter.
How did you know that?
Mr. Greer.
If I remember now, I just don't remember how I knew, but I knew we were in trouble. I knew that he was injured, but I can't remember, recollect, just how I knew there were injuries in there. I didn't know who all was hurt, even.
Mr. Specter.
Are you able to recollect whether you saw the President after the shots as you were proceeding toward Parkland Hospital?
Mr. Greer.
No; I don't remember ever seeing him any more until I got to the hospital, and he was lying across the seat, you know, and that is the first I had seen of him.
Mr. Specter.
Your best recollection is, then, that you had the impression he was injured but you couldn't ascertain the source of that information?
Mr. Greer.
Right. I couldn't ascertain the source.
Warren Commission finding: "The driver, Special Agent William R. Greer, has testified that he accelerated the car after what was probably the second shot...The Presidential car did not stop or almost come to a complete halt after the firing of the first shot or any other shots."(WC Report, page 641)
11/19/64 interview with "Death of a President" author William Manchester [RIF#180-10116-10119]---"After the second shot I glanced back. I saw blood on the Governor's white shirt, and I knew we were in trouble. The blood was coming out of his right breast. When I heard the first shot, I had thought it was a backfire. I was tramping on the accelerator and at the same time Roy was saying, let's get out of here fast."
But remember what Roy Kellerman said: "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe me"("The Death of a President" by William Manchester, p.160).
2/28/78 HSCA interview [RIF#180-10099-10491]---"The first shot sounded to him like a backfire. He did not react to it. After the second shot he turned to his right and saw blood on Governor Connally's shirt. At the same moment he heard Kellerman say "We're hit. Let's get out of here," or words to that effect. He said he immediately accelerated and followed the pilot car to Parkland Hospital [However, DNC Advance man Jack Puterbaugh, who rode in the pilot car, said they "pulled over and let the motorcade pass" (HSCA interview 4/14/78). The Washington Post from 2/28/85 reported Greer as saying that "I just looked straight ahead at the car in which the police chief was leading our way to the hospital"---this is the lead car. Nevertheless, the Daniel film and still photos depict the limousine AHEAD of the lead car, as it appear it was the lead motorcyclists who actually guided Greer to Parkland! (see pp. 21-22 and 59 of "The Third Alternative" by the author)]
Bill Greer passed away from Cancer on 2/23/85.
The End?---
>From a 9/17/91 interview with Bill's son Richard:
When asked, "What did your father think of JFK," Richard did not respond the first time. When this author asked him a second time, he responded: "Well, we're Methodists..and JFK was Catholic..." (Bill Greer was born and raised in County Tyrone, Ireland; 2 H 112 - 113)
"My father certainly didn't blame himself; it's not one of those things - if only I was driving one mile per hour faster
"My father had absolutely no survivor's guilt...he figured that events were kind out of their control...it was pretty common knowledge that a person riding in an open car was subject to a bullet at any time..."
The End.
-UPI's "Four Days," 1964, p. 17 - "In the right hand picture [a frame from the Muchmore film], the driver slams on the brakes and the police escort pulls up."
-"Newsweek," 12/2/63, p. 2 - "For a chaotic moment, the motorcade ground to an uncertain halt."
-"Time," 11/29/63, p. 23 - "There was a shocking momentary stillness, a frozen tableau."
-"Case Closed" by Gerald Posner, 1993, p. 234 - "Incredibly, Greer, sensing that something was wrong in the back of the car, slowed the vehicle to almost a standstill."
AND
-Gerald Posner, with Dan Rather, on CBS' "Who Killed JFK: The Final Chapter?" 11/19/93 - By turning around the second time and looking at JFK as the car slows down, Posner says that, "What he [Greer] has done is inadvertantly given Oswald the easiest of the three shots."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Houston Chronicle Reporter Bo Byers (rode in White House Press Bus) - twice stated that the Presidential Limousine "almost came to a stop, a dead stop"; in fact, he has had nightmares about this. [C-SPAN, 11/20/93, "Journalists Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the 1/94 "Fourth Decade" article by Sheldon Inkol]
2) ABC Reporter Bob Clark (rode in the National Press Pool Car) - Reported on the air that the limousine stopped on Elm Street during the shooting [WFAA/ ABC, 11/22/63]
3) UPI White House Reporter Merriman Smith (rode in the same car as Clark, above) - "The President's car, possibly as much as 150 or 200 yards ahead, seemed to falter briefly..." [UPI story, 11/23/63, as reported in "Four Days", UPI, p. 32]
4) DPD motorcycle officer James W. Courson (one of two mid-motorcade motorcycles) - "The limousine came to a stop and Mrs. Kennedy was on the back. I noticed that as I came around the corner at Elm. Then the Secret Service agent [Clint Hill] helped push her back into the car, and the motorcade took off at a high rate of speed." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 129]
5) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Joe Dale (one of two rear mid-motorcade motorcycles) - "After the shots were fired, the whole motorcade came to a stop. I stood and looked through the plaza, noticed there was commotion, and saw people running around his [JFK's] car. It started to move, then it slowed again; that's when I saw Mrs. Kennedy coming back on the trunk and another guy [Clint Hill] pushing her back into the car." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 134]
6) Clemon Earl Johnson - "You could see it [the limo] speed up and then stop, then speed up, and you could see it stop while they [sic; Clint Hill] threw Mrs. Kennedy back up in the car. Then they just left out of there like a bat of the eye and were just gone." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 80]
7) Malcolm Summers - "Then there was some hesitation in the caravan itself, a momentary halt, to give the Secret Service man [Clint Hill] a chance to catch up with the car and jump on. It seems to me that it started back up by the time he got to the car…"["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 104]
8) NBC reporter Robert MacNeil (rode in White House Press Bus)---"The President's driver slammed on the brakes - after the third shot…" ["The Way We Were, 1963: The Year Kennedy Was Shot" by Robert MacNeil (1988), p. 193]
9) AP photographer Henry Burroughs (rode in Camera Car #2) - "…we heard the shots and the motorcade stopped." [letter, Burroughs to Palamara, dated 10/14/98]
10) DPD Earle Brown - "…The first I noticed the [JFK's] car was when it stopped..after it made the turn and when the shots were fired, it stopped." [6 H 233]
11) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Hargis (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists)---"…At that time [immediately before the head shot] the Presidential car slowed down. I heard somebody say 'Get going.' I felt blood hit me in the face and the Presidential car stopped almost immediately after that." [6 H 294; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71.
6/26/95 videotaped interview with Mark Oakes & Ian Griggs: "That guy (Greer) slowed down, maybe his orders was to slow down…slowed down almost to a stop." Like Posner, Hargis feels Greer gave Oswald the chance to kill Kennedy.]
12) DPD D.V. Harkness - "…I saw the first shot and the President's car slow[ed] down to almost a stop…I heard the first shot and saw the President's car almost come to a stop and some of the agents [were] piling on the car." [6 H 309]
13) DPD James Chaney (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists)---stated that the Presidential limousine stopped momentarily after the first shot (according to the testimony of Mark Lane; corroborated by the testimony of fellow DPD motorycle officer Marion Baker: Chaney told him that "…at the time, after the shooting, from the time the first shot rang out, the car stopped completely, pulled to the left and stopped…Now I have heard several of them say that, Mr. Truly was standing out there, he said it stopped. Several officers said it stopped completely." [2 H 44-45 (Lane)---refering to Chaney's statement as reported in the "Houston Chronicle" dated 11/24/63; 3 H 266 (Baker)]
14) DPD motorcycle officer B.J. Martin (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists) - saw JFK's car stop "…just for a moment." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
15) DPD motorcycle officer Douglas L. Jackson (one of the four Presidential motorcyclists) - stated "…that the car just all but stopped…just a moment." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
16) Texas Highway Patrolman Joe Henry Rich (drove LBJ's car) - stated that "…the motorcade came to a stop momentarily." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
17) DPD J.W. Foster - stated that "…immediately after President Kennedy was struck…the car in which he was riding pulled to the curb." [CD 897, pp. 20, 21; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
18) Secret Service Agent Sam Kinney (driver of the follow-up car behind JFK's limo)---indicates, via his report to Chief Rowley, that Greer hit the gas after the fatal head shot to JFK and after the President's slump to the left toward Jackie. [18 H 731-732]. From the HSCA's 2/26/78 interview of Kinney: "He also remarked that 'when Greer (the driver of the Presidential limousine) looked back, his foot must have come off the accelerator'…Kinney observed that at the time of the first shot, the speed of the motorcade was '3 to 5 miles an hour.'" [RIF#180-10078-10493; author's interviews with Kinney, 1992-1994]
19) Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (follow-up car, rear of limo)---"…I jumped from the follow-up car and ran toward the Presidential automobile. I heard a second firecracker-type noise…SA Greer had, as I jumped onto the Presidential automobile, accelerated the Presidential automobile forward." [18 H 742; Nix film; "The Secret Service" and "Inside The Secret Service" videos from 1995]
20) Secret Service Agent John Ready (follow-up car) - "…I heard what sounded like fire crackers going off from my post on the right front running board. The President's car slowed…" [18 H 750]
21) Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett (follow-up car) - after the fatal head shot "the President's car immediately kicked into high gear." [18 H 760; 24 H 541-542]. During his 1/30/78 HSCA interview, Bennett said the follow-up car was moving at "10-12 m.p.h.", an indication of the pace of the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF#180-10082-10452]
22) Secret Service Agent "Lem" Johns (V.P. follow-up car) - "…I felt that if there was danger [it was] due to the slow speed of the automobile." [18 H 774]. During his 8/8/78 HSCA interview, Johns said that "Our car was moving very slowly", a further indication of the pace of the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF# 180-10074-10079; Altgens photo]
23) Secret Service Agent Winston Lawson (rode in the lead car) - "…I think it [the lead car on Elm Street] was a little further ahead [of JFK's limo] than it had been in the motorcade, because when I looked back we were further ahead." [4 H 352], an indication of the lag in the limo during the assassination.
24) Secret Service Agent William "Tim" McIntyre (follow-up car) - "He stated that Greer, driver of the Presidential limousine, accelerated after the third shot." [RIF#180-10082-10454: 1/31/78 HSCA interview]
25) Mrs. Earle "Dearie" Cabell (rode in the Mayor's car) - the motorcade "stopped dead still when the noise of the shot was heard." [7 H 487; "Accessories After the Fact" by Sylvia Meagher (1967), p. 4; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
26) Phil Willis - "…The [Presidential] party had come to a temporary halt before proceeding on to the underpass." [7 H 497; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 24]
27) Mrs. Phil Willis - Marilyn - after the fatal head shot, "she stated the Presidential limousine paused momentarily and then sped away under the Triple Underpass." [FBI report dated 6/19/64; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 179]
28) Mrs. John Connally - Nellie (rode in JFK's limo) - JFK's car did not accelerate until after the fatal head shot. [4 H 147; WR 50; "Best Evidence" by David Lifton (1988), p. 122]
29) Texas Governor John Connally (rode in JFK's limo and himself a victim of the assassination) - "…After the third shot, I heard Roy Kellerman tell the driver, 'Bill, get out of line.' And then I saw him move, and I assumed he was moving a button or something on the panel of the automobile, and he said 'Get us to a hospital quick'…at about this time, we began to pull out of the cavalcade, out of line." [4 H 133; WR50; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 13];
30) Dallas Morning News reporter Robert Baskin (rode in the National Press Pool Car) - stated that "…the motorcade ground to a halt." ["Dallas Morning News", 11/23/63, p. 2; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
31) Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward (Pillsworth) - "…Instead of speeding up the car, the car came to a halt."; she saw the President's car come to a halt after the first shot. Then, after hearing two more shots, close together, the car sped up. [2 H 43 (Lane); "Dallas Morning News," 11/23/63; 24 H 520; "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988]. She spoke forcefully about the car almost coming to a stop and the lack of proper reaction by the Secret Service in 1993. [C-SPAN, 11/20/93, "Journalists Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the 1/94 "Fourth Decade" article by Sheldon Inkol]
32) AP photographer James Altgens - "He said the President's car was proceeding at about ten miles per hour at the time [of the shooting]…Altgens stated the driver of the Presidential limousine apparently realized what had happened and speeded up toward the Stemmons Expressway." [FBI report dated 6/5/64; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 203] "The car's driver realized what had happened and almost if by reflex speeded up toward the Stemmons Expressway." [AP dispatch, 11/22/63; "Cover-Up" by Stewart Galanor (1998), Document 28]
33) Alan Smith - "…the car was ten feet from me when a bullet hit the President in the forehead…the car went about five feet and stopped." ["Chicago Tribune," 11/23/63, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
34) Mrs. Ruth M. Smith - confirmed that the Presidential limousine had come to a stop. [CD 206, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
35) TSBD Supervisor Roy Truly - after the first shot "…I saw the President's car swerve to the left and stop somewheres down in the area…[it stopped] for a second or two or something like that…I just saw it stop." [3 H 221, 266]
36) L.P. Terry - "…The parade stopped right in front of the building [TSBD]." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 26]
37) Ochus V. Campbell - after hearing shots, "he then observed the car bearing President Kennedy to slow down, a near stop, and a motorcycle policeman rushed up. Immediately following this, he observed the car rush away from the scene." [22 H 845]
38) Peggy Joyce Hawkins - she was on the front steps of the TSBD and "…estimated that the President's car was less than 50 feet away from her when he was shot, that the car slowed down almost coming to a full stop." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
39) Billy Lovelady - "I recall that following the shooting, I ran toward the spot where President Kennedy's car had stopped." [22 H 662];
40) An unnamed witness - from his vantage point in the courthouse building, stated that, "The cavalcade stopped there and there was bedlam." ["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
41) Postal Inspector Harry Holmes (from the Post Office Annex, while viewing through binoculars) - "…The car almost came to a stop, and Mrs. Kennedy pulled loose of him and crawled out over the turtleback of this Presidential car." [7 H 291]. He noticed the car pull to a halt, and Holmes thought: "They are dodging something being thrown." ["The Day Kennedy Was Shot" by Jim Bishop (1967), p. 176]
42) Peggy Burney - she stated that JFK's car had come to a stop. ["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97.
Interestingly, during the 11/20/93 C-SPAN "Journalists Remember" conference, Vivian Castleberry of the Dallas Times Herald made the claim that her first cousin, Peggy Burney, was Abraham Zapruder's assistant "and was next to him when he shot his famous film. She called and said, 'Vivian, today I saw the President die.'"! See Sheldon Inkol's article on this conference in the January 1994 "Fourth Decade"]
43) David Broeder - "…The President's car paused momentarily, then on orders from a Secret Service agent, spurted ahead." ["Washington Evening Star", 11/23/63, p. 8]
44) Sam Holland - stated that the Presidential limousine slowed down on Elm Street. [taped interview with Holland conducted in April, 1965]
45) Maurice Orr - noted that the motorcade stopped. [Arch Kimbrough, Mary Ferrell, and Sue Fitch, "Chronology," unpublished manuscript; see also "Conspiracy" by Anthony Summers, pages 20 & 23]
46) Mrs. Herman (Billy P.) Clay - "…When I heard the second and third shots I knew someone was shooting at the President. I did not know if the President had been hit, but I knew something was wrong. At this point the car President Kenedy was in slowed and I, along with others, moved toward the President's car. As we neared the car it sped off." [22 H 641]
47) Mrs. Rose Clark - "…She noted that the President's automobile came almost to a halt following the three shots, before it picked up speed and drove away." [24 H 533]
48) Hugh Betzner - "…I looked down the street and I could see the President's car and another one and they looked like the cars were stopped…then the President's car sped on under the underpass." [19 H 467]
49) John Chism - after the shots he saw "the motorcade beginning to speed up." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 29]
50) Bill Newman - after the fatal head shot "the car momentarily stopped and the driver seemed to have a radio or phone up to his ear and he seemed to be waiting on some word. Some Secret Service men reached into their car and came out with some sort of machine gun. Then the cars roared off…"; "I've maintained that they stopped. I still say they did. It was only a momentary stop, but…" ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 70; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 96]
"I believe Kennedy's car came to a full stop after the final shot." ["JFK: Breaking The Silence" by Bill Sloan (1993), p. 169]
"…I believe it was the passenger in the front seat [Roy Kellerman]---there were two men in the front seat---had a telephone or something to his ear and the car momentarily stopped. Now everywhere that you read about it, you don't read anything about the car stopping. And when I say "stopped" I mean very momentarily, like they hit the brakes and just a few seconds passed and then they floorboarded [sic] and accelerated on." [11/20/97 videotaped interview with Bill Law, Mark Row, & Ian Griggs, as transcribed in "November Patriots" by Connie Kritzberg & Larry Hancock (1998), p. 362]
"One of the two men in the front seat of the car had a telephone in his hand, and as I was looking back at the car covering my son, I can remember seeing the tail lights of the car, and just for a moment they hesitated and stopped, and then they floorboarded [sic] the car and shot off." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 96]
51) Charles Brehm - "Brehm expressed his opinion that between the first and third shots, the President's car only seemed to move some 10 or 12 feet. It seemed to him that the automobile almost came to a halt after the first shot…After the third shot, the car in which the President was riding increased its speed and went under the freeway overpass and out of sight." [22 H 837-838]
52) Mary Moorman - "She recalls that the President's automobile was moving at the time she took the second picture, and when she heard the shots, and has the impression that the car either stopped momentarily or hesistated and then drove off in a hurry." [22 H 838-839]
53) Jean Hill - "…The motorcade came to almost a halt at the time the shots rang out and I would say it [JFK's limo] was just approximately, if not - it couldn't have been in the same position, I'm sure it wasn't, but just a very, very short distance from where it had been. It [JFK's limo] was just almost stunned." [6 H 208-209; Hill's testimony on this matter was dramatized in the Oliver Stone movie "JFK" (1991): "The driver had stopped - I don't know what was wrong with that driver." See also "JFK: The Book of the Film" (1992), p. 122. Therein is referenced a March 1991 conversation with Jean Hill.]
54) James Leon Simmons - "…The car stopped or almost stopped." [2/15/69 Clay Shaw trial testimony; "Forgive My Grief Vol. III" by Penn Jones, p. 53; "High Treason" by Groden & Livingstone (1990 Berkley Edition), p. 22]
55) Norman Similas - "…The Presidential limousine had passed me and slowed down slightly." ["Liberty" Magazine, 7/15/64, p. 13; "Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 233];
56) Presidential Aide Ken O'Donnell (rode in the follow-up car) - "…If the Secret Service men in the front had reacted quicker to the first two shots at the President's car, if the driver had stepped on the gas before instead of after the fatal third shot was fired, would President Kennedy be alive today? [as quoted in Marrs' "Crossfire," p. 248, based off a passage from O'Donnell & Powers' book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye"]. On page 40 of O'Donnell's book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye," the aide reports that "Greer had been remorseful all day, feeling that he could have saved President Kenendy's life by swerving the car or speeding suddenly after the first shots." Indeed, William E. Sale, an airman first class aircraft mechanic assigned to Carswell AFB and who was stationed at Love Field before, during, and after the assassination, stated that "when the agent who was driving JFK's car came back to Air Force One he was as white as a ghost and had to be helped back to the plane *[undated Sale letter, provided to the author by Martin Shackelford]
57) Presidential aide Dave Powers (rode in the follow-up car) - "…At that time we were traveling very slowly…At about the time of the third shot, the President's car accelerated sharply." [7 H 473-475]. On 11/22/88, Powers was interviewed by CBS' Charles Kuralt. Powers remarked about the remorse Greer felt about not speeding up in time to save JFK"s life and agreed with Kuralt that, if Greer had sped up BEFORE the fatal head shot instead of afterwards, JFK might still be alive today [CBS, 11/22/88---this is a very dramatic and compelling short interview]. If that weren't enough, the ARRB's Tom Samoluk told me that, during the course of an interview he conducted in 1996 in which the Board was in the process of obtaining Powers' film, Powers said that he agreed with my take on the Secret Service!
58) Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough (rode in LBJ's car) - "…When the noise of the shot was heard, the motorcade slowed to what seemed to me a complete stop (though it could have been a near stop)…After the third shot was fired, but only after the third shot was fired, the cavalcade speeded up, gained speed rapidly, and roared away to the Parkland Hospital."; "…The cars all stopped. I put in there [his affidavit], 'I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but for the protection of future Presidents, they [the Secret Service] should be trained to take off when a shot is fired." [7 H 439-440; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 482; see also "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988: "The Secret Service in the car in front of us kind of casually looked around and were rather slow to react."]
59) First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (rode in the Presidential limousine) - "We could see a tunnel in front of us. Everything was really slow then…[immediately after shooting] And just being down in the car with his head in my lap. And it just seemed an eternity…And finally I remember a voice behind me, or something, and then I remember the people in the front seat, or somebody, finally knew something was wrong, and a voice yelling, which must have been Mr. Hill, "Get to the hospital," or maybe it was Mr. Kellerman, in the front seat…We were really slowing turning the corner [Houston&Elm]…I remember a sensation of enormous speed, which must have been when we took off…those poor men in the front…" [5 H 179-181] Mary Gallagher reported in her book: "She mentioned one Secret Service man who had not acted during the crucial moment, and said bitterly to me, 'He might just as well have been Miss Shaw!'" ["My Life With Jacqueline Kennedy" by Mary Barelli Gallagher (1969), p. 342---Secret Service Agent Marty Venker and Jackie biographer C. David Heymann confirm that this unnamed agent was indeed Greer ("Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent", p. 25; "A Woman Called Jackie", p. 401)] Jackie also told Gallagher that "You should get yourself a good driver so that nothing ever happens to you" [Ibid., p. 351]
* William Manchester, who interviewed Greer, tells us what the driver told Jackie on 11/22/63 at Parkland Hospital: "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my God, oh my God. I didn't mean to do it[?!?!], I didn't hear[who, Kellerman?], I should have swerved the car[how about hitting the gas!], I couldn't help it[!]. Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it[?] I swerved. If only I'd seen it in time! Oh!" (Manchester, p.290). 59 witnesses (10 police officers, 7 Secret Service agents, 37 spectators, 2 Presidential aides, 1 Senator, Governor Connally, and Jackie Kennedy) and the Zapruder film document Secret Service agent William R. Greer's deceleration of the presidential limousine, as well as his two seperate looks back at JFK during the assassination (Greer denied all of this to the Warren Commission-2HGREER[see his entire testimony]). By decelerating from an already slow 11.2 mph, Greer greatly endangered the President's life, and, as even Gerald Posner admitted, Greer contributed greatly to the success of the assassination. When we consider that Greer disobeyed a direct order from his superior, Roy Kellerman, to get out of line BEFORE the fatal shot struck the President's head, it is hard to give Agent Greer the benefit of the doubt. As ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman said: "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe me"("The Death of a President" by William Manchester, p.160). Clearly, Greer was responsible, at fault, and felt remorse. In short, Greer had survivor's guilt.
But, then, stories and feelings changed.
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/22/63: "Greer stated that he first heard what he thought was possibly a motorcycle backfire and glanced around and noticed that the President had evidently been hit [notice that, early on, Greer admits seeing JFK, which the Zapruder proves he did two times before the fatsal head shot occurred]. He thereafter got on the radio and communicated with the other vehicles, stating that they desired to get the President to the hospital immediately [in reality, Greer did not talk on the radio, and Greer went on to deny ever saying this during his WC testimony]…Greer stated that they (the Secret Service) have always been instructed to keep the motorcade moving at a considerable speed inasmuch as a moving car offers a much more difficult target than a vehicle traveling at a very slow speed. He pointed out that on numerous occasions he has attempted to keep the car moving at a rather fast rate, but in view of the President's popularity and desire to maintain close liaison with the people, he has, on occasion, been instructed by the President to "slow down". Greer stated that he has been asking himself if there was any thing he could have done to have avoided this incident, but stated that things happened so fast that he could not account for full developments in this matter(!) [the "JFK-as-scapegoat" theme…and so much for Greer's remorse from earlier the same day!]."(Sibert & O'Neil Report, 11/22/63)
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/27/63: "…he heard a noise which sounded like a motorcycle backfire. On hearing this noise he glanced to his right toward Kellerman and out of the corner of his eye noticed that the Governor appeared to be falling toward his wife [notice that Greer now mentions nothing about seing JFK hit---he does the same thing in his undated report in the WC volumes (18 H 723)] He thereafter recalls hearing some type of outcry after which Kellerman said, "Let's get out of here." He further related that at the time of hearing the sound he was starting down an incline which passes beneath a railroad crossing and after passing under this viaduct, he closed in on the lead car and yelled to the occupants and a nearby police motorcyclist, "Hospital, Hospital! [nothing about using the radio this time out]" Thereafter follows a complete physical description of Greer, as if the FBI agents considered him a suspect, inc. age, height, and color of eyes! (Sibert & O'Neil Report, 11/29/63)
Critical excerpts from Greer's 3/9/64 Warren Commission testimony before Arlen Specter:
Mr. Specter.
Were you able to see anything of President Kennedy as you glanced to the rear?
Mr. Greer.
No, sir; I didn't see anything of the President, I didn't look, I wasn't far enough around to see the President.
Mr. Specter.
When you started that glance, are you able to recollect whether you started to glance before, exactly simultaneously with or after that second shot?
Mr. Greer.
It was almost simultaneously that he had--something had hit, you know, when I had seen him. It seemed like in the same second almost that something had hit, you know, whenever I turned around. I saw him start to fall.
Mr. Specter.
Did you step on the accelerator before, simultaneously or after Mr. Kellerman instructed you to accelerate?
Mr. Greer.
It was about simultaneously.
Mr. Specter.
So that it was your reaction to accelerate prior to the time--
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Specter.
You had gotten that instruction?
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir; it was my reaction that caused me to accelerate.
Mr. Specter.
Do you recollect whether you accelerated before or at the same time or after the third shot?
Mr. Greer.
I couldn't really say. Just as soon as I turned my head back from the second shot, right away I accelerated right then. It was a matter of my reflexes to the accelerator.
Mr. Specter.
Was it at about that time that you heard the third shot?
Mr. Greer.
Yes, sir; just as soon as I turned my head
[…]
Mr. Specter.
To the best of your current recollection, did you notice that the President had been hit?
Mr. Greer.
No, sir; I didn't know how badly he was injured or anything other than that. I didn't know.
Mr. Specter.
Did you know at all, from the glance which you have described that he had been hit or injured in any way?
Mr. Greer.
I knew he was injured in some way, but I didn't know how bad or what.
Mr. Specter.
How did you know that?
Mr. Greer.
If I remember now, I just don't remember how I knew, but I knew we were in trouble. I knew that he was injured, but I can't remember, recollect, just how I knew there were injuries in there. I didn't know who all was hurt, even.
Mr. Specter.
Are you able to recollect whether you saw the President after the shots as you were proceeding toward Parkland Hospital?
Mr. Greer.
No; I don't remember ever seeing him any more until I got to the hospital, and he was lying across the seat, you know, and that is the first I had seen of him.
Mr. Specter.
Your best recollection is, then, that you had the impression he was injured but you couldn't ascertain the source of that information?
Mr. Greer.
Right. I couldn't ascertain the source.
Warren Commission finding: "The driver, Special Agent William R. Greer, has testified that he accelerated the car after what was probably the second shot...The Presidential car did not stop or almost come to a complete halt after the firing of the first shot or any other shots."(WC Report, page 641)
11/19/64 interview with "Death of a President" author William Manchester [RIF#180-10116-10119]---"After the second shot I glanced back. I saw blood on the Governor's white shirt, and I knew we were in trouble. The blood was coming out of his right breast. When I heard the first shot, I had thought it was a backfire. I was tramping on the accelerator and at the same time Roy was saying, let's get out of here fast."
But remember what Roy Kellerman said: "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe me"("The Death of a President" by William Manchester, p.160).
2/28/78 HSCA interview [RIF#180-10099-10491]---"The first shot sounded to him like a backfire. He did not react to it. After the second shot he turned to his right and saw blood on Governor Connally's shirt. At the same moment he heard Kellerman say "We're hit. Let's get out of here," or words to that effect. He said he immediately accelerated and followed the pilot car to Parkland Hospital [However, DNC Advance man Jack Puterbaugh, who rode in the pilot car, said they "pulled over and let the motorcade pass" (HSCA interview 4/14/78). The Washington Post from 2/28/85 reported Greer as saying that "I just looked straight ahead at the car in which the police chief was leading our way to the hospital"---this is the lead car. Nevertheless, the Daniel film and still photos depict the limousine AHEAD of the lead car, as it appear it was the lead motorcyclists who actually guided Greer to Parkland! (see pp. 21-22 and 59 of "The Third Alternative" by the author)]
Bill Greer passed away from Cancer on 2/23/85.
The End?---
>From a 9/17/91 interview with Bill's son Richard:
When asked, "What did your father think of JFK," Richard did not respond the first time. When this author asked him a second time, he responded: "Well, we're Methodists..and JFK was Catholic..." (Bill Greer was born and raised in County Tyrone, Ireland; 2 H 112 - 113)
"My father certainly didn't blame himself; it's not one of those things - if only I was driving one mile per hour faster
"My father had absolutely no survivor's guilt...he figured that events were kind out of their control...it was pretty common knowledge that a person riding in an open car was subject to a bullet at any time..."
The End.
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