The 8 agents involved in "The Kennedy Detail" documentary

GERALD S. BLAINE

Jerry Blaine was born in Boise, Idaho and served in the Korean War. After the war, he graduated from University of Colorado and commissioned by the U.S. Secret Service to work on the protection detail for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. When John F. Kennedy was elected in November 1960, Special Agent Blaine was immediately transferred to the President-elect detail and, for the next three years, traveled with President Kennedy all over the world — through Europe and Central America, from Hyannis Port to Palm Beach — and the occasional weekend at Bing Crosby's home in California.

In 1964, Jerry Blaine resigned from the Secret Service.

TOBY CHANDLER

Toby Chandler was born in Groesbeck, Texas and worked on Texas oilfields as a teenager. Chandler was an expert marksman at Texas A&M and later served in U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. Chandler was commissioned by the Los Angeles field office of U.S. Secret Service in 1959 and transferred to Washington field office in January 1961. Special Agent Chandler worked the Inauguration and joined President Kennedy's Detail in March of 1961. On November 22, 1963, SA Toby Chandler was giving the commencement address at the Secret Service School — he had just finished training with a Special Forces/Secret Service task force. That afternoon, SA Chandler answered phones at the White House and handled security for the Speaker of the House, John McCormick.

In 1980, Toby Chandler retired from the Secret Service as Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Houston, Texas.

DAVID GRANT

David Grant was born in Chicago, Illinois, a Korean War Veteran and graduate of Iowa Wesleyan University. In 1957, the Secret Service commissioned Special Agent Grant to work the Chicago and Denver field offices, as well as the Children's Detail for President Eisenhower. Special Agent Grant joined the Kennedy Detail shortly after the election. SA Grant assisted SA Win Lawson with the Dallas advance and was stationed at the Trade Mart at the time of the assassination. During his career, SA Grant served Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Vice Presidents, Rockefeller, and Mondale.

In 1980, David Grant retired from the Secret Service as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Vice Presidential Division.

CLINTON J. HILL

Clint Hill was born in North Dakota, served in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps and graduated from Concordia College. Hill's first assignment with the U.S. Secret Service was in the Denver office, protecting President Eisenhower's mother-in-law. Special Agents Clint Hill and Jerry Blaine were transferred from the Eisenhower Detail to the President-Elect Detail in November 1960. Hill went immediately to work with Mrs. Kennedy and spent the Inauguration with Caroline and the infant John Jr. He also accompanied Mrs. Kennedy on trips abroad, including Italy, Morocco, Greece, France, India, and Pakistan. Hill was promoted to Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) of the First Lady's Detail during the Pakistan trip. On November 22, 1963, SAIC Hill dove onto the Presidential limo and to Mrs. Kennedy's aid moments after shots were fired in Dealey Plaza. SAIC Hill continued to lead Mrs. Kennedy's protective detail until November 1964.

In 1975, Clint Hill retired from the Secret Service as Assistant Director of Special Forces.

PAUL E. LANDIS, JR.

Paul Landis grew up in Worthington, Ohio, and earned a degree in geology from Ohio Wesleyan University. After college, Landis signed up with the Air National Guard and joined the Secret Service field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1959. Special Agent Landis' first protection assignment was with the Eisenhower grandchildren, then Landis was transferred to the Children's Detail early in President Kennedy's administration, followed by the First Lady's Detail with Special Agent in Charge Clint Hill. Along with Special Agent Tom Wells and Special Agent in Charge Clint Hill, Special Agent Landis often traveled with Mrs. Kennedy and her children to the family's homes in Rhode Island, Florida, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Paul Landis left the Secret Service shortly after President Kennedy's assassination.

WINSTON LAWSON

Win Lawson grew up in western New York and graduated from the University of Buffalo. In 1950, Lawson joined the Army Counter Intelligence Reserves and served two years as an investigator on active duty. In 1959, the Secret Service commissioned Lawson as Special Agent. Special Agent Lawson attended Treasury School and Secret Service School, and in 1961 was transferred to the White House Detail. SA Lawson served under Presidents Kennedy & Johnson, and Vice Presidents Humphrey & Agnew before being transferred to Secret Service Headquarters in various jobs.

Win Lawson retired in 1981 as Deputy Assistant Director of Inspection.

RONALD PONTIUS

Ron Pontius was born and raised in Chicago and graduated from Loyola University of Chicago. He served in the US Army during the Korean War and joined the US Secret Service in the Chicago field office in 1958. In late 1959 he was transferred to the White House Detail during the Eisenhower administration. Special Agent Pontius planned many advances for the President and Mrs Kennedy, including her trip in 1962 to Rome, India, and Pakistan, and the Houston advance during the first family's visit to Texas in 1963. He continued his career at the White House under Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge.

In 1976 he was assigned as the Agent in Charge of the former President Nixon's Detail in San Clemente, California where he ended his career in 1980.

THOMAS WELLS

Tom Wells grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, served in the U.S. Coast Guard and graduated from Florida State University. In 1959, the U.S. Secret Service hired Tom Wells; he worked as a Special Agent in the Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, and Miami Field Offices before being assigned full time to the First Lady/Family Detail. SA Wells accompanied Mrs. Kennedy and her children on frequent trips to family homes in Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia. SA Wells spent November 22, 1963 at the White House with Caroline and John Jr. Along with SAIC Clint Hill, SA Wells remained on the protective duty for Mrs. Kennedy and her children through September 1964.

Tom Wells retired as the Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham Field Office in 1981.

Agent Toby Chandler Sixth Floor Museum oral history highlight

Agent Toby Chandler Sixth Floor Museum oral history highlight (11/20/10):

"They [Presidents, including JFK] have all, in my experience, listened to us. Almost all of them, within reason, have made their point or, in the end, accepted our advice. I don't know of anybody who deliberately or blatantly over-ruled a Secret Service suggestion. Most of them observe our suggestions."

"Don't waste your money" on "The Kennedy Detail"

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, May 16, 2011
By
Glenn E. Patch "57Guy" (Branson, Mo, United States) - Amazon Verified Purchase(This review is from: The Kennedy Detail (Kindle Edition)

This book was very boring. If you are interested in Kennedy's personal life, you will not find one word about it here.
It was filled with self serving hero worship of the Kennedy's and too much detail about the agents personal life.

Notes from Sixth Floor Museum Oral History interviews of Blaine and Hill

Blaine 11/19/10: Blaine DENIES that either himself or Floyd Boring were interviewed by William Manchester! Blaine WAS indeed interviewed for Manchester's book "The Death of a President", on May 12, 1965, as Manchester's raw notes confirm (as does the book's endnotes), while Blaine confirms that Boring wasn't interviewed for that book, leaving agent Emory Roberts as, ostensibly, the only very questionable "source" for the Tampa tale of JFK having the agents remove themselves from the limo, which is patently false to begin with, based on the written and taped statements of many former agents (including FLOYD BORING) and non-agents (such as Congressman Sam Gibbons, who rode IN the limo with JFK in Tampa). Either Blaine is fibbing about being interviewed or he is telling the truth...either way, something stinks.
Hill 11/19/10: Clint Hill tells the truth about JFK: he did NOT order the agents to do anything; they did what they wished to do, security-wise. "He can tell you what he wants done and he can tell you certain things but that doesn't mean you have to do it. What we used to do was always agree with the President and then we'd do what we felt was best anyway."; identifies President Obama's SAIC of PPD as Joe Clancy


Blaine 11/18/10: claims to have spoken to Art Godfrey, a Shift Leader on the Kennedy Detail, during the writing of his book, which began in June 2005. The problem? Art Godfrey DIED ON 5/12/2002 !!!!; "We were violating our fellow agents who have passed on"-?!?!?; "I have alot of opponents as far as the book goes"

Most of the 83 5 star reviews for "The Kennedy Detail": fake/ planted; most of the below 5 star reviews are GENUINE and negative

260 of 367 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars The coverup continues, November 6, 2010
By
Fmr. Agent Abraham Bolden - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I just finished reading the 448 page "Cover Your Ass" book by agent Blaine. As a former Secret Service Agent and the first African American to be appointed to the White House Detail, I was dismayed at the continued attempts by former agents to deny culpability in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The attack upon my credibility in the book, "The Kennedy Detail" was expected; but I was hoping that the former Kennedy body guards would show a modicum of contriteness in the book instead of trying to blame Kennedy's assassination on the President himself. Unlike the general reading public, I was an agent during the critical period on November 22, 1963. In my book, "The Echo from Dealey Plaza", I relate to the public what I saw while serving on the white house detail and the disrespect and hatred towards the President that I heard expressed by some of my fellow agents.

Although, Blaine refers my claims of racism in the secret service white house detail in 1961 as being unfounded, on page 25 of my book, I document by secret service file memo 3-11-602-111 the stark racism that prevented me from carrying out my protective responsibilities in Miami Florida. Mr. Blaine also states in his "cya" book that Agent Faison, who was the first African American permanently, assigned to the White House Detail in 1963 took issue with my "unbelievable" charges of racism in the secret service. If there was no racism in the secret service in 1963 then how is it that just eight years ago, 57 African American Agents filed a class action suit, (that is still pending in federal district court) charging overt racism by the agency.(see [...])?

Blaine and other agents can feed the public with the "cya" account of the secret service actions during the Kennedy area but I was there and was a witness to the incompetence, laxity of certain agents surrounding the president, the drinking and cavalier attitude among many of the agents on the detail, the references to President Kennedy as being a Ni---r lover and their disdain for his stand for racial justice and equal opportunity for All Americans. I was present among a few agents who were discussing the protection of President Kennedy in which the statement was made that if an attempt were made on the life of the President, they would take no action.

Blaine states in his book that I said that I discussed the conduct of my fellow agents on the detail with Chief James Rowley. I make no such claim. On page 45 of The Echo from Dealey Plaza, I specifically state that I discussed the problems of Kennedy's protection with Chief U. E. Baughman. I did not go to Rowley because I knew that he already knew of the conduct of the agents and would do nothing about it.

As far as agents being forbidden to ride on the special running boards of the presidential vehicle, that rumor was not circulated until "after" the assassination of the president. There was no official memorandum or other notification of such an order advising agents of this change in protective policy. This rumor is no more than a scandalous assertion put forth by agents who failed in their duty to properly protect the President of these United States.

Lastly, Blaine derides me concerning the Kennedy investigations that took place in Chicago during November, 1963; however, he has no knowledge of the chicanery that took place in the Chicago office of the secret service during that time. Unlike Blaine, I was there. I was there when in early November, 1963 the Chicago office of the secret service investigated a character named Echevarria. Echevarria stated that President Kennedy was about to be assassinated. I heard the investigating agent dictating the reports in early November, 1963. The investigation took place prior to the assassination in Dallas. On the afternoon of November 26, 1963, Inspector Kelly, SAIC James Burke,and representatives of the FBI had a meeting in the Chicago office of the secret service. Kelly and Burke were the lead investigators representing the secret service in Dallas prior to the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald. The Echevarria investigation took place during the first two weeks in November. I was there in the office when the reports that had already been dictated by the investigating agents and typed by the secretaries were rounded up and banded in a single stack in the office of SAIC Martineau. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these collected investigative reports were dictated by the agents PRIOR to the assassination of Kennedy. However, after Kelly and Burke ended their conference, these same reports were restructured and the dates of the investigation were changed to indicate that the Echevarria investigation was conducted AFTER the assassination and had reference to the concern for the protection of President Johnson as Blaine claims in his "CYA" book. I was there. I know what happened and Blaine may fool the general public, but he can't fool me.

Blaine refers to me as the convicted felon and uses that phrase in an attempt to discredit me and my autobiography, The Echo from Dealey Plaza. I may well be a convicted felon but I sleep well at night knowing that I did everything that I could do to save the life of President Kennedy. Can the agents standing on the running board of the follow-up car in Dallas, Texas and watching the president's head blown to pieces, say the same thing? I doubt it. They know the truth too.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars UTTERLY ANNOYING, May 10, 2011
By
rkh (MI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail (Kindle Edition)
I couldn't wait to read this book. I was very interested in hearing the actual accounts from people who were witnesses to history. Instead I found the 'hero worship' tone of the book for JFK and Jackie to be incredibly annoying. They were a part of our history but they were also real people! The authors had no problems showing other presidents as real people. Come on! And that 'worship' continued for many, many years after Dallas. On the whole, I found the agents to be so incredibly wrapped up in JFK and his family that they totally ignored and turned their backs on their own families! Incredible to read Agent Hill's comments about waking up to 'find his wife in a coma from a blood sugar crisis' and then a few short paragraphs later, he's calling a sitter to come take care of his children so he can rush to the White House-WHAT?! I think that Jackie Kennedy was not your wife, her name was Gwen, remember? Sorry, the hero factor does not really cover the crappy husband and father factor. Too bad the anguish Agent Hill felt for JFK, Jackie and their children wasn't a wake-up call to pay attention to HIS family. Couldn't even finish the book I was so annoyed. In all fairness, I understand that there is not room in a book to recount and detail the agents personal family lives but unfortunately, they shared so little that it made them look very, very cold and unfeeling to anyone but the Kennedys. Don't waste your money.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars This book was written to counter Vince Palamara's work: epic FAIL, October 31, 2010
By
r-devic-saint (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Researcher Vince Palamara interviewed and corresponded with many former agents, including Gerald Blaine. They ALL told him that JFK never interfered with their actions at all and DID NOT order the agents off his limousine. Blaine, in a panic because the truth hurts, hastily wrote this book as a result. Notice how defensive it is in tone and how Blaine goes on and on about the fraudulent notion that President Kennedy ordered the agents off his limo on 11/18/63, which somehow became a standing order to be applied to the upcoming Dallas trip...false! SAIC Gerald Behn, ASAIC Floyd Boring, ATSAIC Art Godfrey, GERALD BLAINE, and many other former agents and non-agency personnel debunked this years before this book was written. What's more, Blaine, without having the courage to name Palamara (pages 359-360), seeks to denigrate his massively researched work via the alleged misidentification of the agent who was recalled at Love Field...as if THAT alone overrides all the damning evidence of Blaine's lies about JFK throughout the work. Mr. Blaine, with all due respect, you should be ashamed of yourself for this book. You know the real story, as does Palamara and many of your colleagues. The agents who protected President Reagan on 3/30/81 put your men to shame. Irony: you have made major amounts of money on this case, much more than 99 percent of the critical research community you seek to denigrate. No one is buying it, but they sure are BUYING it...guess huge profits are nice, huh?
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Lame, April 8, 2011
By
Keith D. Bertrand (Haslett, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Lame. This is the most pragmatic word that I can think up to describe this book. At best, it is a book that is superficial, lacking in details and substance, and is an attempt by the author to rewrite history the way he wishes it should be remembered. He makes up quotes (how did you know what two people were saying when he was not there), he leaves out important details and facts that are now supportable by known truths because it makes him and the Secret Service look better. He complains about hard and under paid he and other agents were (if he was why not leave).

Overall, this book represents a poor excuse on what should have been a define historical point in American history. Instead, the author attempts to bush aside the facts and details and giver his own subjective opinion about people, events, and actual occurrences. Read Ron Kessler's book, "Inside The Secret Service," for a more authoritive account of the Secret Service. Mr. Blaine should hand his head in shame and, moreover, the publisher should list this book as fiction.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight, April 5, 2011
By
Micknmass - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail (Kindle Edition)
A book about the great bunch of hard working agents with no flaws, nothing but solid ethics, true respect for all and blameless. A JOKE of a book. On reviewer wrote it reads like a puff piece for Woman's day or Life that Joe K could have bought before any of JFKs campaigns. That sums it up from start to finish. Somebody made some big mistake somewhere because the man got shot. Your job was to protect him and he got shot. Someone didn't do their job but you won't find it here.
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7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars The JFK Detail, March 24, 2011
By
W. Joe Hartmann (Michigan - ugh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Although, I've just now heard of this book, from only reading the back cover, etc., this book appears to be self-serving. The author's assertion that the Secret Service detail in Dallas was all it should have been, seems to omit one very important and beyond debate one fact: what were so many of JFK's detail doing at The Cellar nightclub/after-hours drinking establishment the night before the assassination? Regardless of the consumption of any individual there, they flagrantly broke a vital regulation that for very obvious reasons was enforce. Did Kennedy, in addition to the author's claim that he ordered the detail to get off the rear of the car as well as condoning two other breaches of protocol by making the sharp turn onto Huston and then the even more dangerous and obviously ridiculous 120 degree turn onto Elm, a turn that necessitated Agent Greer to nearly go up on the sidewalk in front of the TSBD having to slow to a virtually a crawl. Then too, there is considerable evidence that after the first or second shot was fired, the Lincoln slowed, nearly stopped, or by numerous accounts, actually came to a momentary stop, affording a far better shot for any sniper. All of these actions are unconscionable, if not deliberate. I don't care to read of excuses for such conduct, nor a sob story intended to apologize for a total lack of doing their sworn duty. P.S. I had to add at least one star in order to post this. There are no minuses available.
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15 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, November 22, 2010
By
FIJake - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I was very disappointed in this book. I bought the book based on the tag line "agents break their silence". The author writes in a creepy third-person vernacular. I thought the author's condescending and dismissive tone toward the various alternate conspiracy theories (including the House Subcomittee on Assasinations which found a conspiracy was 'probable') was very self-serving. The author appears to not grasp that the 'Oswald as lone gunman' and its attendant 'magic bullet' and inability for anyone to duplicate Oswald's alledged markmanship is also just a 'theory'. Of course, any viable conspiracy account would compound the degree of failure of the Secret Service to not identify the threat.

I was particularly disappointed with the lack of detail regarding witness testimony in Dealey Plaza, detail surrounding the autopsy, the custody chain and evidence collected from the limosine and follow car after they left Parkland Hospital.

Maybe most troubling for me was the authors admission that agents originally lied about the President demanding that they not ride on the limo which may hae protected him from the line of fire. The author's apparent 'justification' for the lying was that the agents didn't want any blame put on Kennedy himself for their failure to protect him. But if the SS agents lied about that, IMO, it begs the question about what else they may have lied about. The author repeats testimony that Kennedy said, "get those charlatan ivy leaguers off the car"... If true, that is a puzzling statement. Could his use of the term 'charlatan' mean that he questioned their credentials???

The bottom line for me is that I wanted much more detail and just don't feel I got it.
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14 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Not For Your Reading OR Listening Pleasure, November 24, 2010
By
Carolyn L. House "Clh" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (MP3 CD)
Unlike a preponderance of the reviews of this item, I will not be commenting on the historical accuracy, conspiracy theories et cetera. My review is strictly focused on the literary work and it is abominable. Were it possible to give less than one star, I would have done so.
The narrative jumps all over the place. One cannot keep track of which date is being referred to ergo place goes completely out the window.
There is an annoying repetition of information, which quite often contradicts the one preceding it.
It is mystifying how conversations are quoted fifty years after having supposedly taken place.
Some of the minutiae is mind numbing.
As I have the audio version, the reading cannot go without comment. The feeble attempts to speak in JFK's accent are worse than those of a third rate Vegas lounge celebrity imitator. The Southern accents can be described as nothing more than degrading, demeaning and thoroughly insulting to even the lowest form of "Bubbaism" known to the spoken word. There is no consistency in the pronunciation of words such as Caroline - Carolyn. Come on pick one and stick with it!
I am about half way through this, the combination of the sloppy writing and awful narration have slaughtered my interest in finishing. So many books, so little time = why waste another moment on something as disappointing as this?
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11 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Absolve your Guilt/Blame book, December 27, 2010
By
Dave S (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
President Kennedy did not order the agents off the car. No mention of the planning of the motorcade through Dallas. No mention of the other plots in Chicago or Tampa Bay. No mention of the late hour of drinking before the assassination. Only one agent responded to the shooting. No mention of the limo coming to a complete stop before the fatal head shot. The agent that responded look like he was in slow motion-too much drinking the night before?. Where was President Kennedy's secret service agent? Revisionist history. Don't waste your money or time reading this sanitized work.
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18 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Blaine Contradicts Himself, December 27, 2010
By
K. Good (Monroeville, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
First off, I will openly state that I have not yet read this book, but am rather disturbed by the splashy taglines that are associated with it. First off, the Secret Service Agents have not just now "broken their silence." That was done years ago through Vince Palamara's "Survivor's Guilt", which still holds the record for the largest number of interviews conducted with agents associated with the JFK assassination. Included among those interviewed and quoted in that book was Gerald Blaine.

Perhaps Mr. Blaine's current story is along the lines of what former agent Abe Bolden has alleged in his review (and Mr. Bolden is also among those quoted in Palamara's work) - a late-breaking attempt at CYA. It is interesting to note that it appears that this book - again, based on its own publicity descriptions - once more sets forth the accusation that JFK compromised his own safety in Dallas on 22 Nov. '63 by ordering agents off his open limo. Also that he exhibited a pattern of recklessly interfering with the SSA's efforts to protect him. This has become something of an urban legend, first set forth in the popular conscience by Wm. Manchester's "The Death of a President." Yet as Palamara's extensive interviews have revealed, the majority of agents interviewed refuted that notion, some being rather upset that Manchester had put this forth in his book.

The general consensus of the agents Palamara got to go on the record stated something far different - that JFK was relatively easy-going with the Secret Service and did not interfere with their efforts. Here is how Blaine himself described the situation to Palamara (a direct quote from "Survivor's Guilt"): "Blaine told the author on February 7, 2004 that President Kennedy was 'very cooperative. He didn't interfere with our actions. President Kennedy was very likeable--he never had a harsh word for anyone. He never interfered with our actions.' [Emphasis added.] When the author asked Blaine how often the agents rode on the back of JFK's limousine, the former agent said it was a 'fairly common' occurrence that depended on the crowd and the speed of the cars."

It should be noted that nowhere in Palamara's book did any secret service agent admit to having heard personally from JFK that the agents should back off their accepted protection practices of closely covering the president's limo. Several directly stated their doubts that he would have done so. And agents Boring and Behn refuted previous reports they had made (supporting the notion of JFK's "orders to back off"), by likewise telling Palamara that JFK did not interfere with the SSA's protection schemes.

I will reserve further comment and judgment on Mr. Blaine's book, but I must regard it with mistrust when it is now being promoted with expressed positions that contradict what the author has previously stated in published material on this topic.
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5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Rehash of Controversy - Nothing New, March 1, 2011
By
Greg Wagner (New Albany, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail (Kindle Edition)
I purchased this book in large part due to some of the excellent reviews. Don't be suckered - it's a waste of money and a waste of time. No credible new info here. Slapped together as a money grab, apparently. Very disappointing.
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34 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars More Mainstream Disinformation, October 29, 2010
By
don jeffries "dajeffries" (virginia, usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
"The Kennedy Detail" is inacurate and self-serving fluff, and merely another in a long series of attempts to distort the truth about what really happened on November 22, 1963. For those of us who have studied the JFK assassination in some depth, one of the few indisputable facts about that day is the complete lack of response on the part of President Kennedy's Secret Service detail. The fact remains that, if the Secret Service agents had been doing their job, John F. Kennedy would not have died in Dealey Plaza.

Vince Palamara is THE expert on the Secret Service's performance, or lack thereof, the day of the assassination. It is a sad indictment of our mainstream press that pablum like this, or "Case Closed," or Vincent Bugliosi's magnus ridiculotus, gets published and massively marketed, while Palamara's ground breaking research remains available for free online, due to the generosity of the author.

Deapite these perpetual efforts to promote the impossible official fairy tale, the public remains largely unconvinced. In the case of this book, we have now reached the height of absurdity, as the victim (JFK) is now being blamed for his own murder. This is incredible gall on the part of the author, to say the least. I would urge anyone interested in the real truth about the way the Secret Service performed in Dallas that day to read Vince Palamara's online work.

Those expecting answers to the numerous questions about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, will most certainly not find them in this book.
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10 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written, November 18, 2010
By
Bookhog (Indy) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I can't believe I pre-ordered this book. Although I can't tell what was written by Agent Blaine and what was written by his co-author, the writing is poor. A lot of the chronology is odd, which makes it difficult to tell what time period Blaine is describing. Choosing to write about himself in the third person is also an odd choice by Blaine. Very amateur job.
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14 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Complete Whitewash, December 1, 2010
By
J. Ariel "DVD Fan" (San Pedro, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Except for Clint Hill, these guys were a complete failure on Nov 22nd, 1963. Don't believe what you read here. Not only did they drink at a bar in Fort Worth the night before the assassination until 3 AM (violation of code), they removed vital protection from JFK. As it has been proven, JFK never requested removal of SS men from the running boards of the limousine. Worst of all, these men had almost 6 seconds to react and throw themselves on JFK, which they did not. They let him get assassinated. These men were racists and bigots who hated Kennedy for his stance on civil rights. Read Abraham Bolden's excellent book "Echo From Dealey Plaza"
The Echo from Dealey Plaza: The true story of the first African American on the White House Secret Service detail and his quest for justice after the assassination of JFK
and you'll find out what really happened. The men who are responsible for this book are accessories to the murder of our president.
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14 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A disservice to the Secret Service, November 12, 2010
By
Eric Lund (Charlottesville, Va) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
It's about time someone wrote a book on the assassination from the perspective of the Secret Service. Unfortunately this book is simply embarrassing. The quality of the writing borders on amateurish. The author comes across as defensive- and his portrayal of his colleagues is so over the top in trying to make them all out to be boy scouts that much of it comes off as simply not believable. I'm sure almost every agent was loyal, hard working, and committed to protecting the President, however there's way too much evidence that a handful of agents were compromised if not complicit in the assassination or the coverup...or both. Dismissing that evidence out of hand without so much as doing any independent research eliminates the credibility of much of what's written here.
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34 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A Few "Whoppers" To Hide The Ultimate Truth, October 31, 2010
By
E. H. Pitcher - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
When compared and contrasted with their prior protective actions, the Kennedy detail's actions and inaction that created the uniquely insecure operation in Dallas on 11/22/63 is enough to undermine some of the claims in this book. Strangely, the Secret Service destroyed their records as the AARB was drafting a request for them.

If what appears to be a blatant dereliction of duty is not enough to at least raise the possibility of criminally negligent homicide, ask yourself this question: How is it possible--statistically or otherwise--that every single highly trained protective agent on Elm Street during the 6-8 seconds of gunfire on 11/22/63 could have possibly all failed to move simultaneously? Are we to believe that Kennedy forbade agents from leaping on to his body protecting him as they immediately did with Johnson at the sound of the first shots? Poppycock!

Fred Newcomb, Perry Adams, Vince Palamara, and many others have thoroughly documented a strong case against the Secret Service for complicity in the murder of JFK. Now, in Volumes IV and V of his work, Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government's Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK (Volume 4), AARB researcher--and highly credible--Doug Horne points to William Greer as a possible assassin and states his observations clearly and with supporting material--including some interesting new information. As sensational and tired as this theory may sound, not a single individual has explained why high quality versions of the Zapruder film show this agent turn rapidly in his seat and move his hands and arms in a manner that makes it appear as though he is shooting Kennedy. Dan Robertson claims to have corrected Cooper's erroneous location of Greer's weapon in his book Definitive Proof: The Secret Service Murder of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the newly stabilized Zapruder film Image of an Assassination - A New Look at the Zapruder Film fails to debunk Robertson's claim, while it does appear to contradict Greer's WC testimony. Equally disturbing are the myriad of claims of how Greer slowed or stopped the limo at nearly the exact moment Robertson claims he is shooting Kennedy--are these two pieces of the crime fitting together? Vince Palamara calls Greer "the most important agent". And although Blaine and McCubbin painstakingly narrate and profess his most minute sensitivities and actions behind the wheel, they somehow fail to mention "Driver agent" Greer's second and critical rapid turn toward JFK leading up to Zapruder Frame 312--perhaps forgetting that the Zapruder film is now available for a comparison. Study high a high resolution version of Z312 showing Greer's second turn and decide for yourself--why don't Blaine and McCubbin mention the second turn?[...]

ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts shares equal blame for highly suspect actions on the 11/23/63 Dallas trip. In addition to calling off the agent's assigned to the rear steps of the limo--as seen in archival footage shot at Love Field--it was also widely reported that Roberts ordered agents in the follow up car not to move during the shooting--even recalling one agent, SA Ready, who leaped from the car to save Kennedy. Blaine's (or McCubbin's) third person narrative describing these event in the shooting sequence relates to ATSAIC Robert's own excuse that he didn't want to the vehicle he was commanding to run over SA Ready. So, rather than have SA Ready risk personal injury, we are to believe that ATSAIC Roberts felt it better not to run to shield President Kennedy? As Blaine and McCubbin report it, the agents closest to Kennedy made all these split second calculations--as we believe they could--only these calculations prevented them from taking action to shield Kennedy? Poppycock! Dear reader, are you seeing a pattern yet?

Also worthy of study are the widely reported violent actions of the Secret Service at Parkland. More than one commentator has stated that the agents protected JFK's corpse far more aggressively as they were stealing it from the local coroner--at gunpoint, who was merely trying to maintain the chain of evidence, than they had just moments before. See J F K: A Conspiracy of Silence (Signet).

Why are there corroborating reports that Greer stayed with JFK's corpse without interruption so long after the shooting instead of staying with the limo? Why were he and SAIC Kellerman present at the forensic exam in Bethesda and why did they guide the process? Why are there reports that SA Greer locked JFK's clothing in his locker in the White House garage? Why in the hell were the Secret Service in charge of all of these matters at all? Why did so much evidence--body, limo, forensic tissues, x-rays, autopsy photos, clothing--wind up in the possession of the Secret Service at White House of JFK's successor within just fifteen hours of the crime? SAIC Kellerman and SA Greer's own self-described and uninterrupted direct and highly disciplined involvement in all of these matters--seizing and controlling most of the prima facie evidence and then delivering it to Johnson's White House when they had no legal authority to do so--amounts to nothing less than the original cover up of the crime that gave birth to all of the conspiracy theories in the first place!

Why were there reports that none of the agents were reprimanded? Why were some given positions of greater responsibility? Were they rewarded for their failure or for a job well done?

In the face of all of this information and by blaming JFK, this book serves as the ultimate revision of the exact cause of the death--the failure of the US Secret Service to perform has they had consistently on prior occasions. Perhaps as some researchers and authors have suggested, Dallas was uniquely insecure because that is exactly what was required to remove an independent chief executive who could not be easily manipulated by the military and intelligence apparatus.

We should all read and re-read Vince Palamara's work and look forward to the long overdue release of "Murder From Within" (or go read the copy of the original manuscript housed in the Library of Congress) before we take the word of those who blame their failure on the victim. Personally, I feel that "The Kennedy Detail" is a sickening and despicable work--the Discovery Channel program will no doubt follow suit.

And no review should fail to addresses the second component of the described premise of this book--"often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning". Here the author(s) expect us to believe that the Secret Service required some type of advanced notice that JFK would stop to shake hands with the masses--and by using the word "plunge" we are to envision JFK making a sudden and literal dive into the crowds--specifically conjuring a picture of an irresponsible and out of control man. First, the authors know full well that working a room or line of political supporters is a primary duty of any politician. Second, footage of JFK's behavior at Love Field could not be more to the contrary of the proposition that he was a "crowd plunger". JFK appears to simply walk up to the crowd and shake as many hands as possible--was this REALLY a surprise to the alert guardians of the president's life? More poppycock!

JFK died on 11/22/63 because he simply and rightly trusted his detail to do their job--but failed to observe the unique and fatal changes afoot in Dallas. It is both chilling and sobering to watch ALL of the film footage that irrefutably illustrates how his protection was systematically peeled away--starting at Love Field and then as his vehicle turned on Elm. The hand rails and rear bumper were vacant and the motorcycle outriders fell back at the the perfect moment. JFK's driver, Special Agent William Robert Greer slowed and perhaps even stopped the limo at the exact moment of the fatal head shot (initially reported as frontal) and, strangely, is the only agent in the motorcade to make any rapid movement toward the president during the fatal 6-8 seconds--despite the fact that he was the only one who was not supposed to! Only and idiot or a liar would fail to see how this footage provides the evidence that this assassination was carefully orchestrated to succeed as it did. It is horribly tragic to watch as both the President and First Lady of The United States sit unaware of the treachery at work around them--and exposed to death from virtually every angle. We need to focus away from the head shot and Grassy Knoll and simply watch the actions and reaction of the Kennedy Detail during the assassination to understand who is to blame. The possibility exists that this book, while perceived as a "cover your ass" effort, is actually an effort to hide something far more sinister than most observers would care to imagine.

When you continually insist on defending the indefensible, your position grows more desperate and your actions more despicable. The Kennedy Detail is the ultimate revision of the core issue in the JFK assassination--that specific agents in charge and in control of events, including SAIC Kellerman, ATSAIC Roberts, and SA Greer participated in a conspiracy to either strip JFK's protection, assassinate him through direct action, or both. These agents were closest to the President and in total control of events during and after the assassination--all the way up until 3 AM the following day--study their actions and inactions carefully across all documents pertaining to the assassination and aftermath and you may observe a very sinister pattern.

The Kennedy Detail is a necessary answer to the work of Newcomb, Adams, and Palamara. The myth that JFK was difficult to protect is a necessary and desperate construct designed to insulate the mechanics of the crime for all time. Watch the films of the assassination and read every critical analysis that you can find on the subject--including the Warren Report--and then re-read The Kennedy Detail.

In the final analysis, President John F. Kennedy's Secret Service Protective Services Division Detail was not comprised of "Boy Scouts" controlled by the whim of the president. Nor were they geriatric, caught off guard or by sudden surprise when the president engaged crowds, or by the sound of gunfire--THESE SCENARIOS ARE EXACTLY AND ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WHAT THE PRESIDENT'S PROTECTIVE AGENTS TRAINED FOR ON A REGULAR BASIS--and their failure on Elm Street in Dallas on 11/22/63 was far too systemic to have been mere error. SA Greer's rapid turns and hand movements--and his intense concentration on JFK .05 seconds before the fatal head shot--are far too deliberate and well-timed to be dismissed. The subsequent and self-evident obstruction of justice on the part of SAIC Kellerman and SA Greer was far too extensive and disciplined to have been an improvisation.

Despite the allure of the insider account, the "Kennedy Detail" authors' premise that President Kennedy hindered his own protection--which cost him is life--is a deplorable insinuation. The underlying truth that multiple failures by the Kennedy Detail on 11/22/63 caused the death of JFK is not the whole story, either. The ultimate truth of the murder of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy--and its immediate cover up--exists within the recorded details of the behavior of SA William Robert Greer and SAIC Roy Herman Kellerman on 11/22 and 11/23, 1963. It is the inaction and actions of these two men that spawned 47 awful years of conspiracy theory--and the unfortunate legacy of the Kennedy detail.
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12 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars I Hope I Know The Truth In My Life Time, November 22, 2010
By
Clara Ellen Morris - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
When I heard about this book coming out I was so excited.I guess I thought someone could tell the truth about November 22,1963. This book was all about how wonderful the Secret Service was and and how President Kennedy caused his own death.
I am sure most of these agents collect a nice penison today.

Clint Hill said he never seen Jackie Kennedy after he left her detail.I wonder why ? But I can guess why.
Kenny O Donnell said President Kennedy never told the Secret Service to stay off the car. Kenny was Best friends with John and Robert Kennedy why would he lie?

I guess it to much to hope someone could tell the truth after 47 years.
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8 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Fact and Fiction, December 11, 2010
By
A. Marciniszyn (Detroit, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
The author writes well for the most part. The majority of the book covers the relationship between himself and fellow members of the Secret Service and the Kennedy family. It is a moving and intimate portrayal. The book falls apart when he relies on the conclusions of the Warren Commission Report to explain how and why President Kennedy was shot but they are simply untenable. There is no reason to blame the Secret Service for any lapses. He is surprised and hurt by the many conspiracies that are believed by as much as 75% of the American public regarding some type of cover up regarding the assassination. He regards one conclusion from the House Select Committee on Assassinations, published in 1979, that "President Kennedy was 'probably' assassinated as the result of a conspiracy" as "irresponsible." Considering the pains he went through to assemble this book, I wonder why he didn't attempt to set the record 'straight' by contacting someone that had been on the committee to get their reasoning. Either Oswald acted alone or he didn't. There can't be two right answers.

For those who wish to know more, I suggest Trauma Room One, written by Dr. Crenshaw who was there at Parkland Memorial Hospital on the day of the assassination. The other is Rush to Judgment by Mark Lane. It is a worthwhile critique of the Warren Commission and raises important questions. Lane's book was published in 1966.
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13 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars This Is Not The Truth, November 29, 2010
By
THE EAGLE "Victorious" (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I had reservations about this book before I even purchased it. Every year since the early Nineties, a heralded book was published that "proved that the Warren Commission got it right...except for the part about..."

Let me say that Blaine tries to portray the agents as "brothers" but there are instances throughout the book where agents suddenly disappear or are criticized. The authors use an almost saccarine tone to describe how this group of agents managed their protection of the president.

I have some questions:

There is a list of potential threats listed before an early November trip to Florida. But, despite the authors stating that Dallas was much more dangerous, there were no threats on the list? How could a Lee Harvey Oswald be missed, after his so called Fair Play for Cuba handouts abd interface with the Dallas FBI? Not one threat on those index cards?

Several times, the authors discuss the motorcade route, open windows, etc but did nothing about it?

What really happened at The Cave club the night before?

Why was there no mention of the FACT that detail agents stated their dislike of JFK--especially his policies around civil rights?

Last night, I saw Blaine and Hill on Q&A on C-SPAN with Brian Lamb. I must say that when Hill mentioned that the first thing he sees in his mind's eye when he thinks about that day, "is what I saw on that back seat. I can imagine the horror.

But I never got the sense in this book that they were writing about an American tragedy of monumental importance.

I wanted cold, hard, honest facts and instead got meandering pablum and a story that just stinks.

This sort of book will just feed the critics to do more research--good, good for our country, good for JFK---and good for The Truth!
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5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this book!; instead buy Abraham Bolden's Echo From Dealey Plaza, February 17, 2011
By
Robert P. Morrow "Email me at Morrow321 [at] ... (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
[Robert Morrow - researcher into the 1963 Coup d'Etat. I have 200+ books related to the JFK assassination. Google my essay "LBJ-CIA Assassination of JFK"]

This is a bad book - very disappointing. If you are looking for insight into the JFK assassination, I suggest reading: 1) LBJ: Mastermind of JFK's Assassination by Phillip Nelson 2) JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why it Matters by James Douglass 3) Brothers: the Hidden History of the Kennedy Years by David Talbot 4) The Dark Side of Camelot by Seymour Hersh 5) Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty by Russ Baker. Google my essay "LBJ-CIA Assassination of JFK." Google "National Security State by Andrew Gavin Marshall." Google "Chip Tatum Pegasus."

If you are going to buy a "Secret Service" book, buy Abraham Bolden's Echo from Dealey Plaza and you can learn about the oppression that occurred to a truth teller in the JFK assassination and national hero. http://www.amazon.com/Echo-Dealey-Plaza-American-assassination/dp/0307382028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298004809&sr=1-1

On page 63, Blaine lists all the possible security threats to President Kennedy in 1963: one a disabled veteran, one a picketer, a potential gate crasher, a communist, a teenage, a mental case... Well, now that is all very interesting.

Did it ever occur to Blaine and the Secret Service that much more significant security threats to the health and well being of JFK might come from Vice President Lyndon Johnson, the CIA, FBI J. Edgar Hoover, a JCS that hated Kennedy, especially Gen. Curtis LeMay, Allen Dulles, anti-Casto Cubans, oil baron Clint Murchison, Sr., H.L. Hunt, Nelson Rockefeller, George Herbert Walker Bush, .... And even James Rowley, head of the Secret Service and a close friend to Lyndon Johnson?

The latter group was your REAL threat to the health and well being of John Kennedy!

Basically, this is BORING book ... and I slogged through most of it for this review. Not only do you get the loopy disinfo "lone nutter" theory thrown at you, you don't get any really good personal insights into the politicians they worked for. You get none of JFK's numerous sexual excursions, no stories about what a malevolent, crude psychopath Lyndon Johnson was. Read any book by Ron Kessler to get some entertaining, informative anecdotes from Secret Service agents.

Agent Gerald Blaine wrote this book because he read some stories on the internet saying that some Secret Service agents were involved in the JFK assassination and one big reason for writing this book was to debunk that. Ditto Clint Hill and the other agents participating as sources.

Well, folks, the reality of it is that there probably WERE some Secret Service agents involved as facilitators in the JFK assassination. And certainly, without a doubt, the Secret Service, along with FBI, CIA, LBJ, Hoover, Warren Commission farce all covered up the JFK assassination for the elite LBJ/CIA murderers of John Kennedy.

That is a fact. Most JFK researchers don't think Blaine or Clint Hill themselves were personally involved in the 1963 Coup d'Etat ... but it really is pathetic of Blaine to try and shove the discredited "lone nutter" fantasy down the readers' throats.

The SS agents in the field were up against a massive, well organized murder plot emanating from the highest reaches of American power: people at the highest levels of government: LBJ/CIA/military and their ultra wealthy outside supporters.

Here is info you can use:

From Defrauding America, Rodney Stich, 3rd edition 1998 p. 638-639]:

"The Role of deep-cover CIA officer, Trenton Parker, has been described in earlier pages, and his function in the CIA's counter-intelligence unit, Pegasus. Parker had stated to me earlier that a CIA faction was responsible for the murder of JFK ... During an August 21, 1993, conversation, in response to my questions, Parker said that his Pegasus group had tape recordings of plans to assassinate Kennedy. I asked him, "What group were these tapes identifying?" Parker replied: "Rockefeller, Allen Dulles, Johnson of Texas, George Bush, and J. Edgar Hoover." I asked, "What was the nature of the conversation on these tapes?"

I don't have the tapes now, because all the tape recordings were turned over to [Congressman] Larry McDonald. But I listened to the tape recordings and there were conversations between Rockefeller, [J. Edgar] Hoover, where [Nelson] Rockefeller asks, "Are we going to have any problems?" And he said, "No, we aren't going to have any problems. I checked with Dulles. If they do their job we'll do our job." There are a whole bunch of tapes, because Hoover didn't realize that his phone has been tapped. Defrauding America, Rodney Stich, 3rd edition p. 638-639]

Madeleine Duncan Brown was the most beloved mistress of Lyndon Johnson for 21 years from 1948 until 1969. Madeleine is one of the truth tellers and keys to understanding the ugly reality of the JFK assassination. She had a son Steven Mark with Lyndon in 1950. Madeleine lived from 1925 to 2002 and was madly in love with Lyndon Johnson when she wrote the book Texas in the Morning 24 years after the death of LBJ. She makes some BLOCKBUSTER revelations in this book, such as:

In the night of 12/31/63 morning of January 1, 1964, just 6 weeks after the JFK assassination, Madeleine asked Lyndon Johnson:

"Lyndon, you know that a lot of people believe you had something to do with President Kennedy's assassination."
He shot up out of bed and began pacing and waving his arms screaming like a madman. I was scared!
"That's bull___, Madeleine Brown!" he yelled. "Don't tell me you believe that ____!"
"Of course not." I answered meekly, trying to cool his temper.
"It was Texas oil and those %$%& renegade intelligence bastards in Washington." [said Lyndon Johnson, the new president; Texas in the Morning, p. 189] [LBJ told this to Madeleine on 1/1/64 in the locally famous Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX in room #254. They spent New Year's Eve `64 together here (12/31/63). Room #254 was the room that LBJ used to have rendezvous' with his girlfriends - today it is known as the LBJ Room, and rents for $600-1,000/night as a Presidential suite at the Driskill; located on the Mezzanine Level.]

What Lyndon Johnson did not tell Madeleine was that Texas Oil (read Clint Murchison, Sr, H.L. Hunt) and the CIA (especially the Gen Ed Lansdale, Operation 40/Operation Mongoose crowd) were murdering John Kennedy with the full knowledge, approval and participation of VP Lyndon Johnson.
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10 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars perhaps one point of view, December 9, 2010
By
taking exception - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
This book strongly reminds me of Gerald Posner's Warren Commision apology of some years back. I suppose both might
be comforting to somone who is able to ignore and/or dismiss very basic physics as well as the overwhelming volume
of eyewitness testimony. It probably should also be borne in mind that this is the work of a member of a group
who utterly failed in their sworn duty. I think it should be read if only to point out to any elementary observer
how mistaken (if not repugnant) its conclusions are.
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7 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist History - there's a better read, December 2, 2010
By
katy - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Hundreds of documents have disproved the "lone shooter" theory and have discredited the Warren Commission's findings, so it's surprising that some people would still be pushing this theory.

I would recommend "JFK and the Unspeakable" by James Douglass for a thorough description, fully documented, of what was going on at the time both around the assassination, and around Kennedy's attempts to end the Cold War, get us out of Viet Nam, and control the spread of nuclear weapons.

The book provides a redemptive theme to the tragedy, by citing Thomas Merton's writings about the President and also about his ability to face death, as indicated in his love of the poem "Rendezvous" by Alan Seeger ("I have a rendezvous with death..."). It was a theme for his life that he recited to Jackie early in their marriage, and taught to his children. The poem seemed to demonstrate his acceptance of death as a constant companion and possibility.

A poignant moment in the book is when his daughter Caroline interrupts his meeting with national security advisors to recite the poem word-for-word to him. Indeed, the author acknowledges Kennedy for working with Khrushchev to pull us back from the brink of nuclear holocaust during the Cuban Missile Crises, against the urging and advice of his military advisors. He feels he saved us all from death at that time, at the possible cost of his own life.
JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters
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5 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars As said before: revisionist history, February 9, 2011
By
Ellzeena (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
It just happens, call it serendipitous, that the day JFK was targeted (literally) and murdered, the Secret Service detail did NOT ride along (they were all in COVERED VEHICLES), inexplicably unable to protect JFK even though THEY DESPERATELY CARED (as if we are going to believe this self serving pap), their lives were seriously affected (oh yeah? look what this politically driven murder did to OUR COUNTRY), etc. ad nauseam. Pahleeeeze! Almost fifty years and we're still being fed this nonsense despite eyewitness accounts and exquisite investigation done by highly credible professionals, it's OUTRAGEOUS that anyone expects the American public to be so stupid, so ignorant as to buy into this stuff. You can't exonerate yourselves, you are not BLAMELESS, you were COMPLICIT.
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34 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Historically inadequate, November 22, 2010
By
Michael W. Perry "Michael W. Perry, author of... (Author of Untangling Tolkien, Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
As you may have noticed, the reviews of this book are all over the place. Some liked it, others did not. I'm in the latter category.

This problem isn't, as some have claimed, that this book was written in the third person by a first-person source, Gerald Blaine. That's explained in the Introduction. It's that the book bears little evidence of having been written by someone with Blaine's background in security and technology. It gushes, it emotes, and it burdens readers with overabundance of trivial detail like travel writers. And, judging by her website, that is precisely what the "with author," Lisa McCubbin typically does for a living. It isn't hard to conclude that she was not the person who should have written this book.

That's unfortunate, because it could have been an important resource for historians for generations to come. Numerous interviews were conducted with the agents involved, but what we learn from them is the clothes they wore, the food they ate, and their feelings at particular moments. That's the stuff of travelogues but not of serious history.

Even worse, at critical points in the narrative the author seems unaware of the historical significance of what is taking place. One example is the clash that takes place between the local medical examiner and Secret Service agents over what is to be done with the President's body. Her focus isn't on what matters, the serious blunders that were being made by removing the President's body and limousine from the scene of the crime, it's on what Jacqueline Kennedy may have been feeling at that particular moment. McCubbin, whose adoration of the Kennedy's leaves her less than objective at times, seems unaware that in every other crime the victim's family simply have to cope with what criminal investigations require. Many of the conspiracies theories, which McCubbin clumsily dismisses near the end of the book, were born out of those blunders.

Finally, like others, I feel this book reads all too much like something that might have been written for Woman's Day magazine circa 1965. This book, in which "JFK's Secret Service Agents Break their Silience" contains almost nothing that those agents needed to be silent about. No one cares what they had for breakfast on that fateful day, and the details of the motorcade in which they participated have been known for decades. Others have described how the morale of JFK's Secret Service agents were destroyed by his pathological womanizing, which required unknown women to be smuggled into the White House or his hotel room at strange hours. But you will find not a word about that here. In this bit of romantic fiction, JFK was an ideal father in a storybook marriage. Lisa McCubbin didn't have to dwell on that sordid side of the Kennedy Presidency. But she should have at least shown us she was aware of it and discussed those aspects of it that were relevant to his Secret Service protection.

In short, this book fails to deliver on its promises.

--Michael W. Perry, editor of Chesterton on War and Peace: Battling the Ideas and Movements that Led to Nazism and World War II
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars disapointing, March 14, 2011
By
irish gary - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Chapters 11 thru 1y are a pretty good read. The rest of it is redundant and defensive and becomes boring. You will read repeatedly that Secret Service men never eat and never sleep. Denial about conspiracy but lacking in detail, just critical of those who think there is a conspiracy. Several errors in the book, Blaine claims all sports events were cancelled, the NFL played the Sunday after the assasination. He also states every president since Kennedy has had an assasination attempt, I don't recall Nixon, Carter, Clinton or either Bush having attempts on their lives while in office.
blaine gets very Whinny in this book especially for a guy with only 3 years service, also complains that the Secret Service would not buy his IBM equipment.
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars High Hopes Not Fulfilled, November 24, 2010
By
Christel S. Hachigian "Buffy's Mom" (Pasadena) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I am fascinated by the Kennedys and their public service and have read many books that provide a "you are there" timeline of the days leading up to the assassination. I was interested in learning more about the advance work of the Secret Service and how they handled the motorcade on November 22nd. I also wanted to know what happened behind the scenes in the days following.

The book does provide a reasonably detailed picture of the advance work and describes the conflict between protecting the life of a president and allowing a politician to practice his craft. Domino after domino falls in Dallas until you realize everything that could have gone wrong did. It also gives a candid discussion of what happened at Parkland Hospital during those awful minutes before the president was declared dead -- and how each key player reacted once he was gone.

There were a few things that drove me crazy. One was the use of the third person by the author and the numerous quotes that can only be recollections/summaries. I think his hope was to give the story a novel-like feel, but it detracts from what should be a factual account. The prose is also purple when describing the agents -- heroes for sure, but they are rendered as cartoon heroes. And he never met an adjective or adverb that he didn't think could pep up his writing.

The events after the assassination are less coherent than the initial narrative and have a fragmented feel. I started skipping around -- unheard of for me and a Kennedy book! Unless you are completely new to these historical events, I would not recommend this book.

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28 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Kennedys fault for his assassination ?, October 29, 2010
By
Michael Flower "Parkside" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
So I guess if someone puts a bullet in your head , someone can come along nearly a half century later and blame this murder on the president involved ? WOW ! Wake up America , there have been 3 investigations into the Kennedy assassination , and the last OFFICIAL one spelled CONSPIRACY (House select committee on assassinations)their conclusion that the JFK assassination probably was a conspiracy. HSCA recommended that the FBI look into this charge , yet the FBI and state dept. chose to IGNORE the HSCA recommendation ? Now this joker comes along and blames it on the man (JFK) who was murdered ? Pretty sick ...
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5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars big disappointment, November 21, 2010
By
Joey - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
This book is not the "Tell All' book it says it is. There is tons of inane stories of previous Secret Service details that have nothing to do with the JFK assassination. Very disapponiting. Mostly a book about how great the Secret Service is , despite the fact that they really dropped the ball in protecting JFK.
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14 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars to proposterous to swallow even for an amateur conspiracy buff, November 1, 2010
By
Joe Movie "Ken" (Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
The proposition that the President was somehow vicariously responsible for his own assassination in that he ALLEGEDLY told his Secret Service Agents to back off normal procedures in respect of his safety is beyond the pale and typical of the mistruths that have been the hallmark of the assassination investigation UNOFFICIAL one should stress all the way along. I suppose if one accepts this scenario then one must also accept that Kennedy told his Agents to ignore ALL normal procedures including not positioning themselves in tall overlooking buildings, not placing themselves between the crowd and the President either on the car or running alongside,driving the limousine at a slower speed on Elm St, not identifying Dealy Plaza itself as an obvious hazard to the Presidents safety, in short a complete and utter failure on all and every count and we are supposed to believe that Kennedy ordered all this. Kennedy may have been many things but a fool I doubt particularly where his and his wifes safety was concerned especially when death threats had been noted and where the South at that time could be aptly termed a clear and present danger to kennedy. This was the only time this lack of security took place during the whole of Kennedys term, the question is why and who engineered it. I am afraid this is a poor attempt to alter history next Hoover and Johnson will come back from the grave and tell us they had clean skins in the assassination when all reasonable half intelligent people clearly see their respective culpable actions or non action in the case of Hoover. The research by serious observers has moved on down the road much much too far for this fairy tale to be taken even half seriously.
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10 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars The book's version of shooting implies a Second gunman !!!, November 8, 2010
By
ROCANDRIK - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
The Kennedy Detail has many flaws and falsehoods in it, as noted by the many critical reviews. The book is not footnoted, which I found strange for a book that was written to set the record straight. It is not history but a rewriting of history.
One thing that really bothered me about the book is the narrative of the shooting that implies that President Kennedy and Governor Connally were hit by separate bullets. Is it possible that the Secret Service author and his co-writer are unaware that just such a scenario implies that there was more than one gunman firing at the motorcade.

Oh the irony!! >> The Kennedy Detail intends to set conspiracy theories to rest, yet winds up implying one.
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6 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting tidbits and a lot of excuses, November 29, 2010
By
STEVEN O BLACK - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I would highly recommend reading "Inside The Assassination Records Review Board" by Douglas Horne prior to reading this book. Especially those sections that deal with Secret Service protocols used prior to and during the Dallas motorcade. The most commonly and and frequently used words in this book are, "exhausted", "worn out", "nearly asleep on our feet", "spread too thin". It may be true that prior to the death of the president, the Secret Service was underfunded and under manned, but this was a common difficulty for many government agencies, such as air traffic control, or medical staffing in V.A. hospitals, and was not a unique experience. The theme of this book seems to be that "it wasn't our fault" and there is no other explanation then the single shooter from behind theory. The book appears to be an attempt to refute, almost point by point the information in Mr Horne's book, but is done so very tangentially rather then in direct confrontation. I would certainly caution the reader to not limit their inquiry to just this work.
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1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been incredible, February 2, 2011
By
geno19002 - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Interesting but very self-serving account describing how wonderful all the agents and the Kennedys were. Nothing about JFK's womanizing or his assassination plans for various foreign figures.These agents could have written an incredible book.
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3 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A glossed over version of what happened, December 3, 2010
By
Douglas E. Potvin (Suffield, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I had tired of the whole JFK Assassination story after wasting 20 years of my life researching the case- only to find out that Lee Harvey Oswald really did fire three shots at JFK's limo, missing his first shot (that John Connally heard), hitting JFK and Connally with his second shot, and unfortunately connecting again with his third shot. Just for ha-ha's I decided to pick up 'The Kennedy Detail' this past November, and see if there was anything new I could chew on. I have read every Secret Service Agent's testimony from the Warren Report and House Select Committee reports, and those are far more interesting than anything in this book. This book is pretty much a generic version of what happened. I don't think the Secret Service had anything to do with JFK's Assassination, but some mistakes were made: (1) Several witnesses spotted Oswald before, during, and after the shooting in the window, yet none of the SS agents were able to (2) Even though Connally knew the first shot was gunfire, according to the book, many of the SS agents were slow to realize this, especially limo driver SS Greer, who doesn't look back at JFK until after the second shot, and then, unbelievably, after being told by SS agent Kellerman that 'We're hit- get us out of here', Greer looks back at JFK a second time- only to see JFK's head explode- and only then does Greer turn, put his head down and put the pedal to the metal. None of this is in the 'Kennedy Detail', yet it is all there to see in the Zapruder film. There was one SS agent who showed remarkable eye-witness capabilities: Glen Bennett was in the follow-up car, and he described in his notes after the Assassination exactly what had happened, even though the facts were not known at that point. Also, SS agent Clint Hill made a valiant effort, sprinting from the follow-up car as the bullets were flying, trying to get to JFK, but unable to make it in time. If you want to know everything about the JFK Assassination, just pick up Vince Bugliosi's book, 'Reclaiming History', and you'll be all set.
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2 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Tunnel Vision: Try JFK and the Unspeakable: compare the scholarship!, December 31, 2010
By
Arbor Days 1953 - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Sure subjective opinions of participants can be valuable sources of information. But this book is almost aggressively subjective. By this I mean that the book is so sparse in context that one has to wonder what the writers motive is. For example, assertions suggesting JFK alone was responsible for the Bay of Pigs Failure are just tossed out there in clauses, even though all research of the last 20 years directly contradicts this.

It is fine to have bumper perspectives and say leave the rest to other books. The problem is that this book takes that laissez faire view, but it is superficial. It actually includes much information that has been proven wrong, all while pretending to stay away from the "big picture."

The book is written in a really childish style that simplifies things to the point of picture book. It is just not worth the time.

A much better investment in terms of time is the incredible book JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. THis book is getting no mass media coverage, even though experts on JFK and VIetnam policy such as Daniel Ellsberg and top McGeorge Bundy aid Marcus Raskin have said it radically changed their views on both JFKs policies-- his radical break from Cold War orthodoxies-- and the assassination itself. No wonder that John Perkins, author of Diary of An Economic Hitman has called JFK and the Unspeakable "Arguably the best book written yet written about an american president"

Wait. "..the best book written about an american president"? Hyperbole. Nope. Wait till you see the footnotes under THATJFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters hood!
"A remarkable story that changed the way I view the world."--JAMES BRADLEY, author of Flags of Our Fathers Also compare this book to the views of another Secret Service agent who was removed from the Kennedy Detail by constant harassment. The Echo from Dealey Plaza: The true story of the first African American on the White House Secret Service detail and his quest for justice after the assassination of JFK

Individual perspectives on a national tragedy are important. in this case, however the myopia is so great as to make the opportunity cost too great. Spend time on better books about the assassination!
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5 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Wanted to Read..., November 9, 2010
By
Zirondelle - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I wanted DIRT and I know that these fellas must know plenty. So, if like me, you're looking for juicy details skip this book.
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11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Clearly written to seek and give absolution for failing, December 27, 2010
By
Dawn Alger - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I have always been a "Kennedy buff" so reading the gripping details of peoples perceptions that fateful day and lining them up with what I have learned, knew, and even thought I knew was absolutely fascinating. While reading your sense of "why was Kennedy killedon November 22 1963" is replaced with the knowledge that it is a miracle it hadn't happened sooner. There is a point, from "6 seconds in Dallas" through some part of the funeral that is as utterly gripping as it was heartbreaking. That being said, it becomes painfully obvious, especially toward the end of the book, that the writer Gerald Blaine (who writes the book in the third person, and was NOT in the motorcade) is seeking absolution for himself, Clint Hill, and the Secret Service as a whole.

Blaine wasn't there at the moment of the assassination so absolution for himself seems unnecessary. Clint Hill was Jackie Kennedy's agent and the only person to try and DO something that day, jumping onto the presidents limousine. But this brings us directly to the failure of the Secret Service.

We read excuse after excuse as to why 1 out of the 4 Secret Service agents ran to the car when the shots were fired and while many of the explanations make sense, you simply can not absolve the Secret Service for failing miserably. ie: If it was the policy of the Secret Service follow-up-car to "turn away" from an agent jumping off the left running board, thereby blocking the agent on the right running board from assisting lest he be run over by the turning vehicle as is claimed in the book, then what you have is a moronic policy that may have cost the president his life.

Under what training regiment would a Secret Service agent hear a loud bang and assume it was a firecracker, tire blowout, or motorcycle backfire and not assume a gunshot given your entire life revolves around protecting the president from a gunshot? Yet we read that Kennedy's driver, William Greer, HIT THE BRAKES of the presidential limousine to see "if the vehicle was responding properly." While I believe the explanation, it vividly demonstrates how woefully under-trained the agent was and that is a failure of the Secret Service. This continues beyond Kennedy as the author describes a time they flew President Johnson into a mob... as if that was a good idea.

All in all a good read, if you keep in mind that this is the perceptions of a man who wasn't there for some of what happened. A man who wouldn't have knowledge of a "conspiracy" unless he were involved in one, and who glosses over any theory but his own as to what happened that day. He does clear up a few issues (like the motorcade route's inability to drive straight down Main and why) whitch definitely shed light on the chaos of that day, but nothing will ever take away the fact that the Secret Service had one job, to protect the president. A job on which November 22, 1963 they failed spectacularly.

I closed the book, closed my eyes and prayed that the Secret Service is a better, more competent agency today than it was back then.





3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Well-Written, But Obviously Sanitized, April 3, 2011
By
Da Judge - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
I enjoyed reading this book, but gradually realized that the "loyalty" of Mr. Blaine would result in a book that would not include details about the Kennedys that might prove personal or embarrasing. That's o.k. It is still a good read as long as the reader simply respects it as a "partial" account of the truth.

What disturbs me, however, is its even less objective view toward those who believe in (or at least allow for) a conspiracy behind President Kennedy's assassination. Mr. Blaine only defends the Warren Commission Report against the crazier conspiracy notions and theorists. He doesn't talk about why Kennedy's head moved backwards upon the fatal shot, why everyone who could tell us the truth like Oswald and Ruby were ultimately silenced (and both believed they were patsies), why so many people ran to the grassy knoll, why doctors at Parkland hospital initially felt the final shot came from the front as an entrance wound (and blew out the back of his head), why Oswald had so many curious relationships with right-wingers in New Orleans, etc.,etc., etc.

It would have also been interesting if he spent more time discussing why the Secret Service allowed for all the open windows along the motorcade route.
He alludes to the complexity of requiring these windows to be shut, but is it really that complex? (Couldn't non-compliant building owners be fined?)

It is this lack of deeper thinking and intellectual honesty that makes this book a 3-star read at best. I doubt if we will ever know what truly happened that day in Dealey Plaza, but most conspiracy theorists are simply reacting to an extraordinary number of suspicious happenings and strange coincidences.
As such, we deserve a little more respect!




3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not entirely accurate, February 22, 2011
By
William F. Lee - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
The first two thirds or so of the book is incredibly interesting. It is inaccurate in depicting the Marine Escort for the hearse in tears as they marched up the driveway at Port Arms. They were at Port Arms, not in tears. Not the case at all. Makes good story perhpas, but just not true. Like the book "Death of a President" which told of that same detail bowing their heads in prayer which was not true, this book states an inaccuracy as fact. Perhaps all of the authors should have talked to the leader of that escort, or some of the Marines involved. They would have found that all the young men in that detail, were rousted out of their bunks in their barracks in Building 58 in the Navy Yard at "O=dark-thirty" in the morning, got up, dressed in Dress Blues, and got to the WH to form this escort detail in less than forty-five minutes. And, when there and formed up, performed flawlessly, like one could always expect from the 1963 Marine Corps Silent Drill Team, which had most of the remainder of that DT inside, waiting to serve on Death Watch at the casket. Anyway, as stated, the first portion of the book was ineresting. The latter parts seemed like a over dose of salad dressing on a originally pretty good salad. It just seemed to try to hard to make all the agents "princes".




89 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Oswald did it...and JFK helped, too?, October 28, 2010
By
Vince Palamara "SECRET SERVICE/JFK/STEELERS/M... (South Park/Bethel Park, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)






This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
As the leading civilian authority on the Secret Service, especially regarding the JFK/ LBJ era, and as someone who interviewed and/ or corresponded with close to 80 former agents between 1990-2006 (roughly double the number of former agents interviewed for this book), I was, needless to say, very much interested in what former agent and author Gerald Blaine (a nice gentleman I spoke to twice and corresponded with several times via e-mail), along with co-author Lisa McCubbin and fellow former agent Clint Hill (a very close friend of Blaine's to whom I had sent a 22-page letter to and spoke to very briefly and who also wrote the Foreword), had to say about President Kennedy and the tragic events of November 22, 1963, when the Secret Service failed in the worst way, costing the nation the life of our President. As a total stranger and an outsider, my contacts with the former agents were very much in the "cross examination" mode (often eliciting begrudging, not-too-friendly responses), while, as a trusted insider, it is fair to say that Blaine's contacts would be of the "direct/ friendly examination" variety. This dichotomy will become important for a number of reasons.

I am as certain as a human being can be that it was my lengthy letter to Clint Hill that led to the genesis of this book----I sent it in June of 2005 and received a very cantankerous "non-reply" when I phoned the gentleman this same time period. Also, during this very same time period, as Blaine admitted to the Daily Sentinel's Bob Silbernagel for his 5/23/10 article, Blaine began contacting as many living former agents who served President Kennedy for his book as he could (it is important to note that I also made contacts with Mr. Blaine during this time period, as well). Why am I so certain that my letter was a catalyst? As an ardent critic of the Secret Service's performance in Dallas (going much further than the two government "investigations", the Warren Commission and the HSCA), I sent Mr. Hill, in effect, a "Cliff Notes" version of my research for my own book ("Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service & The Failure To Protect The President"), spelling out why I came to be certain that fellow former agents Floyd Boring (the number two agent on the Kennedy Detail and the Secret Service planner of the Texas trip), Shift Leader Emory Roberts (the commander of the agents in the follow-up car in Dallas), and William Greer (the driver of JFK's limousine on 11/22/63) were grossly negligent before, during, and after JFK was assassinated. Judging by Mr. Hill's "response" (or lack thereof), my attempt to address my concerns did not go over very well, to put it mildly.

As it bears directly on "The Kennedy Detail" , just what specifically are my concerns? Simply put: many of these former agents (and several White House aides), including several who passed away years before this book was even a thought, such as the number one agent on the Kennedy Detail, Gerald Behn; one of the three Shift Leaders, Arthur Godfrey; the number two agent on LBJ's detail (who ALSO had protected JFK), Rufus Youngblood; Sam Kinney, the driver of the follow-up car in Dallas; Robert Bouck, the Special-Agent-In-Charge of the Protective Research Section; Frank Stoner of the Protective Research Section; Maurice Martineau, the Acting-Special- Agent- In- Charge of the Chicago Office who protected JFK from '61-'63 whenever he came to the area; John Norris of the Uniformed Division; Dave Powers, the former curator of the JFK Library who rode in the follow-up car many times, including on 11/22/63; author Helen O'Donnell, daughter of the late Ken O'Donnell, JFK's Chief of Staff (based on her memory and her father's many audio tapes); and many others, told me, in no uncertain terms, that President Kennedy was a very nice man, NEVER interfered with the actions of the Secret Service, and, most importantly, DID NOT ORDER THE AGENTS OFF HIS CAR (nor did O'Donnell, as verified by the aforementioned Helen O'Donnell, Art Godfrey, and Sam Kinney and, by extension, Dave Powers)! With regard to the Tampa, FL trip of 11/18/63, not only do many existing films and photos all along the long motorcade route depict agents on the rear of JFK's car, Congressman Sam Gibbons, who RODE IN THE CAR WITH JFK, told me that he heard no such order from JFK for the agents to be removed in the first place AND that the agents rode the rear bumper all the way. Surprisingly, the number two agent, Floyd Boring (who passed away 2/1/08 and to whom I spoke to twice and corresponded with once), told me the same thing: namely, that the "Get-The-Ivy-League-Charlatans-Off-The-Limo" tale (first told by the late author William Manchester, who had interviewed Gerald Blaine, Clint Hill, and Emory Roberts, but not Boring) is false---Boring never said that to him, never spoke to Manchester in any case, the tale is not true, and that, once again, JFK was a very nice man, very cooperative with the Secret Service, and never interfered with their actions at all! Agents of the Kennedy Detail who conveyed similar knowledge to myself---that JFK never interfered with their actions--- were Walt Coughlin, Winston Lawson (the lead advance agent for Dallas), Don Lawton (who rode on the rear of the car 11/18/63), Abe Bolden, Robert Lilley, Frank Yeager, Gerald O'Rourke, Sam Sulliman, Vince Mroz (now deceased), Larry Newman, and, quite surprisingly, Gerald Blaine himself, a little over a year before he began writing his book!

Although very well written, along with some nice photographs, as well, "The Kennedy Detail" is really a thinly veiled attempt to rewrite history (a la Gerald Posner and Vince Bugliosi, who believe 11/22/63 was the act of a single lone man) and absolve the agents of their collective survivor's guilt (and to counter the prolific writings of a certain reviewer). In the eyes of those from "The Kennedy Detail", the assassination was the act of TWO "lone men": Oswald, who pulled the trigger, and JFK, who set himself up as the target. Simply put: President Kennedy WAS indeed a very nice man, did not interfere with the actions of the Secret Service, did not order the agents off his limousine (in Tampa, in Dallas, or elsewhere), and did not have his staff convey any anti-security sentiments, either. The sheer force and power of what these men all told me, a complete stranger, in correspondence and on the phone, is all the more strong because, not only did they have a vested interest to protect themselves, the vast majority believe that Oswald acted alone and that all official "stories" are correct. Floyd Boring, as agency planner of the fateful trip, in spite of what he forcefully stated to me, did indeed convey the exaggerated---some would say false--notion that JFK had asked that the agents remove themselves from the car 4 short days before Dallas, taking it upon himself to tell several Dallas agents, depending on who you choose to believe, either as an "anecdote" of alleged presidential kindness and consideration in not wanting to have the agents "over exert" themselves (what Boring told the ARRB's Doug Horne in 1996) or a strict "presidential admonition" to stay off the car (as Clint Hill conveyed to the Warren Commission's Arlen Specter, under oath, in 1964). In addition, the motorcycle escort was reduced to (as the HSCA put it) a "uniquely insecure" smaller formation for Dallas, allegedly because, as Boring told the ARRB (and as Win Lawson, assigned to the Dallas trip by Boring [and who would have been merely following orders], told the Warren Commission under oath), JFK allegedly didn't like alot of noise from motorcycles, although he had no problem in countless prior motorcades, including that very same morning in Fort Worth and the day before in San Antonio and Houston. Emory Roberts ordered an agent back from JFK's limo at Love Field (as this reviewer discovered back in 1991 and had popularized for the first time back in 1995 and, again, in 2003 on The History Channel, long before this clip became something of an internet sensation), recalled an agent during the shooting and, as Sam Kinney told me, ordered the men on the follow-up car not to move! For his part, Bill Greer slowed the President's car down during the shooting, twice looked back at JFK, and disobeyed Roy Kellerman's order to get out line (and denied all of this to the Warren Commission). Coupled with several---many?---of the agent's stated anger about JFK's private life (as stated to author Seymour Hersh, among others), these actions, inactions, and feelings are cause for concern.

That said, the vast majority of these men (Blaine included) are honorable former government employees that were merely following orders on that fateful day in Dallas. In light of the work of this reviewer, future pensions, professional and personal reputations, and so forth, "The Kennedy Detail" makes perfect sense. After the reviewer's letter to Clint Hill, it truly WAS "a book that HAD to be written".

[...]





8 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The truth hurts..., October 28, 2010
By
Vince "music/ Secret Service/Steelers fanatic" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
"The Kennedy Detail" takes poetic license regarding some crucial matters. For one, there was NO morning-of-JFK's-funeral meeting with Chief Rowley OTHER than to discuss the security for Jackie's walk to St. Matthews Cathedral. Everyone from this 47-year-old meeting---other than Blaine--- is conveniently dead and there is no documentation for this meeting to discuss JFK's alleged comments ("order") to remove the agents in Tampa on 11/18/63, used as a very lame excuse for why the agents weren't there on 11/22/63 (as agent Win Lawson said, there were no standing orders for the agents to stay off the back of the car and the matter never came to his attention---so much for the advance agents getting wind of these "orders"). Many agents and NON AGENTS (a crucial distinction Blaine doesn't get) have denied that JFK ever interfered with the Secret Service (what "code" would the NON SECRET SERVICE AGENTS have been following, Mr. Blaine?). In addition, Blaine makes a big deal about CE1025, the 5 reports submitted to Chief Rowley in April 1964 (only because the Warren Commission asked) regarding any statements JFK may have made regarding agents being on the rear of his car. Besides the fact that two of the agents---SAIC Behn & ASAIC Boring---denied the substance of their reports to the self-described "Secret Service expert" Blaine seeks to denigrate in "The Kennedy Detail", these reports were NOT just released in 1992, as Blaine alleges, but have been available since 1964, when the Warren Commission released their 26 volumes of hearings and exhibits for sale and library holdings. If that weren't enough, many major newspapers (such as The New York Times) and massive best-selling books (such as Jim Bishop's "The Day Kennedy Was Shot") made a great issue out of these after-the-fact reports; nothing whatsoever hidden there (and the aforementioned "Secret Service expert" [unnamed: Vince Palamara] has discussed these reports many times, as have others). As for the supposed Rybka misidentification, Rybka's family and a couple former agents were fooled, as well (especially considering the fact that both Emory Roberts and Win Lawson 'mistakenly' placed Rybka IN the follow-up car in their reports, only to 'correct' the record later). This also does not address the fact that Emory Roberts can clearly be seen rising in his seat and, using hand gestures, tells the agents (whether Rybka or, as Blaine states, Don Lawton) to fall back from the car, the agent raises his hands several times in response, Paul Landis makes room for the agent in the follow-up car, and the agents and aides in the follow-up car, without smiling, follow the agents' seeming perplexed reaction as the cars move on without him. Finally, with regard to the figurative "back stabbing" (not intended) Blaine states the "Secret Service expert" made with regard to documenting what the former agents said, keep in mind: if there was NO record, WHO would choose to believe what was said to a total stranger (especially over the word of former agents)? In the vernacular of today, "it is what it is": the former agents---AND NON AGENTS---said what they said and wrote what they wrote.

With that in mind, "The Kennedy Detail" is a book I recommend everyone buy and read---some very good information and photos, written by a good and honorable man who is obviously a very good and caring friend of his former comrades in arms, who, with a few noteable exceptions, are equally good and honorable men who were just doing their jobs and following orders when JFK was killed.
[...]




4 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Sugar-Coated Facts, December 22, 2010
By
Mark Miller - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
We've all heard about the "dark side of Camelot." In fact, it's the title of another Kennedy book by Seymore Hirsch published almost a decade ago. While we might not expect the authors of this tome to rehash what the public now knows, I found the sugar-coating and incompletness of Kennedy history presented here rather strange.

Where to start. Well, we can start with the authors' mention of the Cuban Missle Crisis. Author McCubbin (the book is written in her narrative voice) states that the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missles from Cuba if the U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba. In fact, the crisis ended only after our negotiators agreed to pull our missles out of Turkey. Qid Pro Quo. Secondly, the author states, in a passage about Jackie's miscarriage, that JFK and Jacqueline were "always close." The miscarriage did in fact bring the President and his wife closer. However, the marriage up to that point was anything but close. The President's philandering and Jackie's big spending created distance and tension in a marriage that might have broken up if JFK had not been in politics. Which brings me to perhaps the most egregious omission of all; that is, no mention, not one hint, of secret service agents doing double duty pimping for a very horny JFK. This is well known, yet its conspicuous absence here makes you wonder: why?

This book had a decidedly retro feel to it, as if it were written over forty years ago, when the public still idolized JFK, when his flaws had not yet been exposed, when this nation still clung to the myth of Camelot.




Initial post: Oct 29, 2010 6:39:24 AM PDT
MCW says:
I'm so glad that someone is setting the record straight; the film is clear about the agents being ordered off of the bumper at Love Field. The complicity by at least a few of the agents seems blatantly clear in all of their actions that day. Is it also customary for the President's car to be out front in a motorcade? In our collective hindsight's, it seems very apparent that assassination was a very well orchestrated coup', not the rash impulse of a political activist.
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Posted on Oct 29, 2010 6:41:19 AM PDT
E. M. Whitten says:
Vince has done his homework on this !!
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Posted on Oct 29, 2010 12:04:00 PM PDT
Walter A. Anderson says:
Well done and I actually ordered the book after reading your review.
Posted on Nov 7, 2010 4:00:51 PM PST
r-devic-saint says:
Thank you for speaking the truth amidst a lot of propaganda. Anyone familiar with your exhaustive research on the subject, can point numerous changes in security protocol that occurred that day in Dallas that were not in effect on any of the other stops on this campaign trail, no motorcycles on the side of the car, no agents on the back of the car, no bubble-top on the car. Are we to believe that President Kennedy chose Dallas, a city where he was despised, to make these changes in his security? While we're at it, are we to believe he told the agents to stay out all night and get drunk the evening before?

This is all very far fetched but understandable in light of the incompetence these agents showed that day. The fact is wether you believe in a conspiracy or not, these men screwed up and the president was killed. That has to be a lot of guilt to cary around for 47 years and I can accept their wish to avoid responsibility for their own incompetence, what can't accept is their passing this denial off as history.
Posted on Nov 8, 2010 7:18:41 AM PST
Norman Scherer says:
Mr. Palamara's investigations into the Secret Service will always be #1 on my list. He is THE expert on what went on at that time IMO.
In reply to an earlier post on Apr 2, 2011 2:38:22 PM PDT
r-devic-saint says:
Vince Palamara is a researcher genius. Blaine is a liar-his book is filled with untruths about what JFK ALLEGEDLY SAID. ASAIC Floyd Boring and SAIC Behn, among many others (including Blaine), stated forcefully that PRESIDENT KENNEDY NEVER ORDERED THE AGENTS OFF HIS LIMO...even SA Win Lawson agreed! Of course, this was all years before Baine decided to make a handsome profit from lies.
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280 of 341 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Depending on your vantage point - maybe great read, maybe not !!!!, November 4, 2010
By
Richard Stoyeck "StocksAtBottom.com" (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)


I am ambivalent about the Kennedy Detail. This review was ready to go a week ago, and frankly I did not want to send it in. I have written 100 plus reviews and this is the first time I experienced this feeling.


If you are new to an understanding of the Kennedy Assassination, or the Kennedy Administration then I would tell you that you should absolutely read this book, and you will LOVE it. You will have an understanding of the adoration felt by the Secret Service agents who guarded him, as well as the American people who voted for this extraordinary man. I say extraordinary because there is no question he had a charisma which very few people possess. The manner of his death left an indelible impression on anyone who was intellectually alive at the time, and elevated him to an exalted status that he would never have obtained, had he lived. This is no different than the effect of FDR's death on America in April of 1945, or Lincoln's in April of 1865.


Now this book, "The Kennedy Detail" comes along and promises to tell us about JFK's Secret Service Agents breaking their silence. The book has a strange narrative to it. It is written by Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin. Gerald Blaine was a Special Agent in the Secret Service assigned to the White House detail that guarded John Kennedy. Lisa McCubbin is a journalist that has been associated with three major television news networks. She is obviously writing the book for Blaine, but oddly enough the book is completely written in the third person. It is not Gerald Blaine's voice we are hearing. For me, this was a problem.


My real problems with the book were two fold.


PROBLEM NUMBER 1

We all understand that President Kennedy was a flawed man. Whether it was the issue of his flagrant womanizing, or any other inappropriate behavior, the Secret Service would have had to be completely aware of it, and or complicit to it. There is not a single word about individuals such as Marilyn Monroe, Judith Exner, Mary Meyer or any other liaison that all of us are aware of, and history recognizes to be true. Now this is perfectly respectable, because the Secret Service relationship to its President should be as a lawyer is to a client, one of confidentiality.


Now having said that, I believe at the very least that the authors should have issued a disclaimer stating that many allegations were made about President Kennedy and his personal behavior. The authors will not confirm or deny the validity of these stories. Instead the authors choose to portray a fairy tale type existence inside the White House. I simply find it less than honest, and in fact hurtful to historical accuracy. It is a disservice to the record, and not forgivable. It is fraudulent, and phony.


It would have still been all right except there are a series of photographs following page 140. On the top of the 9th page of the photographs there's a great one of JFK looking down at Marilyn Monroe's breasts on the night of his birthday party at Madison Square Garden, May 19th, 1962. If you are going to include the photograph, now you have an obligation to tell the story.


PROBLEM NUMBER 2

The authors are completely sympathetic towards the Warren Commission interpretation of the assassination. I have a problem with this attitude. I feel much stronger about this than I will express here. We must remember that President Johnson within hours of the Assassination felt the Secret Service was incompetent according to tapes of LBJ's conversation, and talked to J. Edgar Hoover about having the FBI take over Presidential protection. There is no disagreement on this point.


Second, Lyndon Johnson and other members of the Warren Commission including Robert Kennedy himself did not believe the lone assassin theory. Please check Arthur Schlesinger and Walter Sheridan who worked for Bobby Kennedy at the Justice department on the historical record. Why does Blaine find it necessary to frankly shove it down the reader's throat about the lone assassain theory? I would remind Mr. Blaine that the President's Lincoln Continental that he died in was a crime scene. Secret Service agents are not crime scene experts, but any crime scene detective would tell you that the first rule or procedure in a crime scene is to PRESERVE THE CRIME SCENE.


The Presidential vehicle was basically ripped apart and destroyed and reconstructed. A partial cleaning occurred at the hospital in Dallas The evidence was gone forever. Who in their right mind would have ordered such a thing? In the next five years, some 4 million assassination related documents will be released relevant to the death of JFK and we may finally get to the bottom of this terrible crime against our country.


One final point is that I resent that at different times in the book, the Secret Service wants to make us aware that President Kennedy did not want the Secret Service physically blocking him from the voters during a motorcade. When I have stood in Dealey Plaza, I realized that anybody could have pulled a handgun and shot 5 feet into the car and killed this man. He was WIDE OPEN, and this is unforgivable.


What I LIKED about this book:

This is the finest book ever written about the Secret Service or the President's protection. Nothing comes close and I have seen everything. If you want to understand how the President is protected, this is the book for you. If you want to know how Secret Service protection differs today from what it was like back then in the 1960's, there is no better way to find out than through this book. The difference is like night and day. You need to understand practices and procedures back then, to understand what they are like today.


What you will realize is that these agents are highly professional, dedicated men, who swear an oath to place their bodies in the line of fire between those they protect, and those who seek to do harm. One has to have tremendous respect for these agents. Now having said that, there is a difference between those who protected FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and all those who came later. The organization has moved from a 3 or 4 car motorcade to a 50 to 54 car motorcade. Overworked agents who did consecutive multiple shifts with a commensurate decrease in their capacity to function were a norm back then. Now there is an abundance of agents protecting POTUS.


Overall protection for the President including costs of Air Force One, and Marine One approaches several hundred million dollars per year. This estimate is in the public area, and will not be verified by the Secret Service. The dollars spent is even shielded from Congress through budgetary hocus pocus. JFK had 30 to 40 Secret Service agents assigned to his detail - that's it. Heads of many American corporations routinely have a 24 man protection detail which includes 8 men per 8 hour shift. The rap star P. Diddy spends $30,000 per day on protection. Today Secret Service protection is exponentially bigger than back then. It's a different world.


CONCLUSION


Read this book to understand the workings of Presidential protection in the old days, and a less than honest understanding of who is responsible for the death of a President that only the voters of the United States had a right to remove from office. There are distortions, deletions, and misstatement of facts in this book, but I would read it anyway. You simply have to decide for yourself what is true and what is not true. Thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck






3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars good book,nothing new, November 22, 2010
By
Bobbie Lilly "book lovin mom" (willard, mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
enjoyable book written from the perspective of the secret service agents involved. nothing really new history-wise, but still a good read.

Vince Palamara's research debunks this book thoroughly

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Showing 1-2 of 2 posts in this discussion
Initial post: Apr 2, 2011 2:41:53 PM PDT
r-devic-saint says:
Vince Palamara's many writings, articles, free online book, and videos debunk the notion that JFK ordered the agents off his limousine. Blaine, in castigating the research community, has made more profit from this book that 99 percent of the researchers he seeks to undermine (inc. Palamara). Also: Blaine has oil interests in Yemen-why?


1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this instead of the TERRIBLE "Kennedy Detail": THESE AGENTS ARE THE REAL HEROES OF THE SECRET SERVICE, April 21, 2011
By
Vince "music/ Secret Service/Steelers fanatic" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan (Hardcover)
"Rawhide Down" is simply incredible investigative journalism at its finest. Del Quentin Wilber deserves the Pulitzer Prize for this outstanding work, while Secret Service agents Jerry Parr, Tim McCarthy, Dennis McCarthy (no relation), and Ray Shaddick richly deserved the Treasury Department awards they each received for their individual heroism. Contrast this book to the terrible "Kennedy Detail"---Gerald Blaine's men should be in jail (well, some of them): how shameful to profit from the death of the man they miserably failed to protect AND to lie about what JFK allegedly said to the men in order to cover their collective behinds after-the-fact.

"Rawhide Down" stands as an eternal testament to bravery and dedication to duty---buy this as soon as possible. If you are interested in the disgraces of the agency, borrow and then burn "The Kennedy Detail." One thing is for certain: if Jerry Parr (the main hero of 3/30/81) , Robert DeProspero (Parr's great deputy), or even Jerry Behn (the SAIC of the JFK Detail) would have been present in Dallas on 11/22/63, Kennedy would have lived.


2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! Buy this instead of the awful "Kennedy Detail", March 31, 2011
By
Vince Palamara "SECRET SERVICE/JFK/STEELERS/M... (South Park/Bethel Park, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)






This review is from: Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan (Hardcover)
As someone who has also spoken to the great Jerry Parr, a true hero from 3/30/81, as well as a gaggle of other former agents from FDR-Reagan era, let me tell you, in no uncertain terms: this book is outstanding, Anyone who gives it less than 5 stars needs his/ her head examined. As the leading civilian authority on the United States Secret Service, I was very much impressed with the research, writing, and narrative; incredible. Just how close we came to losing yet another president is made manifest in this terrific work. As a sidenote, I am envious, too: I contacted ASAIC Robert DeProspero twice but had no luck- Del Quentin Wilber was successful in getting the elusive "Bobby D" to talk; impressive.

In fact, this book is a true tale of heroism, in stark contrast to the gross lies and profiteering of "The Kennedy Detail", falsely blaming JFK for his own death. Unlike that sad chapter in American history, THESE agents reacted properly, did not seek to blame the President for their collective ineptitude, nor did they seek to profit from their actions. Buy this book a.s.ap.!

Initial post: Apr 2, 2011 2:44:41 PM PDT
r-devic-saint says:
I agree 100 percent-blaine's book is awful and full of lies. Palamara is far more credible