Several random points re: "The Kennedy Detail" upon rereading

Several random points re: "The Kennedy Detail" upon rereading


NOTE: please see my extensive prior review:
http://www.ctka.net/reviews/kennedydetailreview.html

-The book is of value for its non-assassination/ non-controversial content. Great pictures, well written, and good index, as well (although no bibliography, specific sources, footnotes, or endnotes, and the book is written in the third person narrative). That said, there are well over 100 "returns" on Amazon and the book WAS only a minor best-seller (making the extended NY Times best-seller list)---one wonders how interesting this book truly is/ was for the casual fan/ student of the case (or even of JFK, in general);

-There is even more "faction", even of a seemingly trivial nature (i.e. Floyd Boring sips on coffee, sighs, etc.), than I remembered---it makes me baffled that, 47 years later, an author--or anyone---can claim to recall specific words and actions from "his" memory...and ESPECIALLY from the "memories" of agents long deceased;

-Page 101: "If the motorcade was to go down Main Street, this [the Houston-to-Elm jog past the TSBD] was the only option to get to the Trade Mart": FALSE--Main to Industrial would have done the trick;

-Page 146: sounds VERY similar---almost TOO similar (ahem)---to Floyd Boring's JFK Library oral history (page 20): "But on several occasions in the White House when he started to enter into
crowds and shake hands and do—he was actually the first, to my knowledge, of any
president who left the vehicle and was gregarious enough to go into the crowds and shake
hands and so forth. I, in the automobile one day, said, to the President, “You know, Mr.
President, I think that by going into these crowds you could be leaving yourself wide open to
be assassinated or seriously injured.” And he said, “Well, Floyd, I'll tell ya. I couldn't get
elected dog catcher, and I don't think any other politician could, if they didn't get out and
meet the people. People vote for us, and we have to go out and shake hands.”

-On page 162, Blaine alleges that SAIC Gerald Behn, from his office in the White House, told agent Ron Pontius on 11/21/63: “[JFK] wanted the agents off the back of the car [in Tampa and Dallas] in order for the people to get an unobstructed view.” However, in a contradiction Blaine doesn’t even notice (although he previously mentioned it on page 19 and in the first photo section), BEHN WAS ON VACATION DURING THIS TIME! Perhaps most importantly, Behn told this reviewer on 9/27/92: “I don’t remember Kennedy ever saying that he didn’t want anybody on the back of his car. I think if you watch the newsreel pictures you’ll find agents on there from time to time.” In fact, MANY former agents and White House aides told this reviewer the same thing Lawson, Boring, and Behn all said!

As the Church Lady would say, "How convenient!"---Behn now allegedly is still on vacation, yet happens to saunter into the White House to be available for a business call...yeah, right. Sam Kinney and Behn's neighbor, as well as all previous indicators point to Behn TRULY being on vacation-away from his office.

-pages 174, 1976-177: Nine of the agents from Kennedy’s White House Detail drank alcohol the night before the assassination in Fort Worth (at the Fort Worth Press Club and, presumably, The Cellar “Coffee House”), including four who had critical duties in the follow-up car directly behind his limousine: Bennett, Landis, Hill, and Ready. (Interestingly, they were all from Shift Leader Emory Roberts’ particular shift. Significantly, None of the agents from the V.P. LBJ detail were involved in the drinking incident. In addition, although all the agents had to report for duty at 8:00 a.m., several stayed out until between 1:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. One—Landis—stayed out until 5:00 a.m. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on even the best-trained reflexes. Although this flagrant violation of Secret Service regulations was grounds for dismissal from the service [18 H 665], none of the men were punished in any way whatsoever by Chief Rowley, who did not want to stigmatize the agents and their families [A good discussion of this the drinking incident, based in part on the author’s work, can be found in The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency by Philip Melanson with Peter Stevens, pp. 69–71]

-page 201: regarding agent Bill Greer, the driver of JFK’s car in Dallas, Blaine writes: “And, God forbid, if he [Greer] ever did have to make a sudden getaway, he knew the 7,500-pound car with its 300-horsepower engine just didn’t gather speed as quickly as he would like.” If that wasn’t enough, Blaine adds, on page 212: “[Greer, after the shooting commenced] quickly tapped on the brake to see how the car would respond.” Finally, on page 356, Blaine delivers the coup de grace: “Yes, Bill Greer put his foot on the brake after the first shot. But for God’s sake, it had nothing to do with a conspiracy, or negligence—he was merely responding as any professionally trained driver would respond.”

Oh, really? Sixty witnesses (ten police officers, seven Secret Service agents, thirty-eight spectators, two Presidential aides, one Senator, Governor Connally, and Jackie Kennedy) and the Zapruder film document Secret Service agent William R. Greer’s deceleration of the presidential limousine, as well as his two separate looks back at JFK during the assassination. And, as Roy Kellerman testified before the Warren Commission: "Mr. Congressman [Ford], I have driven that car many times, and I never cease to be amazed even to this day with the weight of the automobile plus the power that is under the hood; we just literally jumped out of the God-damn road."


A CONTRADICTION: page 193- Agent George Hickey on the Tampa (Florida) trip of 11/18/63, working the follow-up car (as I already was much aware of); yet on page 217: Blaine states that Hickey's appearance in the follow-up car in Dallas on 11/22/63 was "his first presidential motorcade"---?!? It was not;

Page 305: LBJ DID BELIEVE THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY!


pp 314-315: Take Jackie's comments with a huge grain of salt: 2 sides to every story. On the one hand, she wrote a nice letter to Greer, yet criticized him harshly to others. Remember also the very nice correspondence between RFK and Hoover, yet they hated each other

page 319 Lawson---see Melanson's book and the 1995 Discovery Channel documentary. "If it had to happen, I'm glad it happened to you." Lawson cries

INTERLUDE:
Page 20 of Ronald Kessler's true best-selling book "In The President's Secret Service" (2009) confirms Blaine's tale of hitting a bird with a rock on the LBJ Ranch and assuming it was dead, only to have it "awaken" and come out staggering from of the water later!

Page 12: Marilyn Monroe DID indeed have sexual liaisons with JFK, as MULTIPLE Secret Service agents confirmed to Kessler, thus debunking Blaine's statements on this issue


Page 396: Blaine writes of his "anger at the character assassination and defamation of outstanding men who were ready to sacrifice their lives to protect the president"...they weren't Ready (pun intended)and they DID NOT sacrifice their lives. Many people have commented on the lethargic "reactions" of the agents that day, as well as the poor planning;

Page 397: Blaine writes "The president is not legally bound to follow the directives of the Secret Service"---WRONG! (from my review:) Also on page 19, Blaine begins to (using a lawyer’s term) “lay the foundation,” as it were, for blaming the victim (JFK) and, in the process, makes a real whopper: Blaine writes, “the Secret Service was not authorized to override a presidential decision.” Wrong! Ample proof to the contrary abounds. Chief James J. Rowley testified under oath to the Warren Commission: “No President will tell the Secret Service what they can or cannot do.”15 In fact, Rowley’s predecessor, former Chief U. E. Baughman, who had served under JFK from Election Night 1960 until September 1961, had written in his 1962 book Secret Service Chief : “Now the Chief of the Secret Service is legally empowered to countermand a decision made by anybody in this country if it might endanger the life or limb of the Chief Executive. This means I could veto a decision of the President himself if I decided it would be dangerous not to. The President of course knew this fact.”16 Indeed, an Associated Press story from November 15, 1963 stated: “The (Secret) Service can overrule even the President where his personal security is involved.” Even President Truman agreed, stating, “The Secret Service was the only boss that the President of the United States really had.”17 Finally, In an 11/23/63 UPI story written by Robert J. Serling from Washington entitled “Secret Service Men Wary of Motorcade,” based in part on “private conversations” with unnamed agents: “An agent is the only man in the world who can order a President of the United States around if the latter’s safety is believed at stake ... in certain situations an agent outranks even a President.” (emphasis added)

15 5 H 570

16. U. E. Baughman, Secret Service Chief (New York: Harper & Row, Popular Library edition, January 1963), p. 70.

17. Rowley oral history, LBJ Library, January 22, 1969, p. 2. See also David Seidman, Extreme Careers—Secret Service Agents: Life Protecting the President (New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2003), p. 11. Rowley himself said: “Most Presidents have responded to our requests ... .”

----------------
Page 398: Blaines states that Ike "rode in a closed-top car and didn't like parade-type motorcades"---WRONG! See the FOUR pics in fellow agent Darwin Horn's book depicting a SMILING Ike in an OPEN-top limo, as well as the FOUR pics in "Looking Back And Seeing The Future"...AND I FOUND OVER A DOZEN PICS OF IKE SMILING IN AN OPEN CAR ONLINE (JUST GOOGLE "PRESIDENT EISENHOWER MOTORCADE" IN THE 'IMAGES' SECTION)!!!!!!!!!

Mike Howard with more disinformation, uh, I mean, a presentation

August 14, 2011

Retired Secret Service agent returns for JFK presentation
By DELANIA TRIGG, Assistant Editor



Gainesville Daily Register The Daily Register Sun Aug 14, 2011, 11:07 AM CDT

Gainesville — The last time former United States Secret Service agent Mike Howard spoke to a group in Gainesville, he packed the house.

Organizers are hoping for similar results when Howard returns for “A Night with JFK: A Secret Service Agent’s Perspective.”

The event is a fundraiser for the Morton Museum of Cooke County and is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 19 at the State Theater.

Howard —a retired Secret Service agent who served during the Kennedy, Johnson and Ford Administrations — addressed a standing room-only crowd at the Santa Fe Depot last September.

Cooke County Historical Society President Jayleane Smith said some who wanted to hear Howard’s Camelot memories were turned away due to lack of space.

The organization hopes to make room for many more guests this year when Howard puts on a program which includes a multi-media presentation on the theater’s projection screen.

“We had so much response from last year that we asked if he’d come back next year,” Smith said. “We just had so many requests for him to return, and he graciously accepted.”

After his presentation, Howard will answer questions from the audience.

Guests can also look over some of the Morton Museum’s collection of JKF memorabilia.

“Some items will be on loan that night from our museum,” Smith said. “We’re going to have pictures and possibly some maps and things that (Howard) can use on the big screen.”

Smith — who is a friend of Howard’s — said the former Secret Service agent offers intimate insight into the events leading up to the Kennedy assassination.

During his appearance last September, Howard talked about the final 24 hours of the President’s life beginning with the Kennedy’s arrival at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth.

“Mr. Howard is able to give us history and tell us stories that are his personal reflections from this time period,” Smith said. “We will be able to see the events leading up to, during and after the assassination. We’ll hear what really happened.”

Tickets are $15 and include access to the State’s snack bar. They may be purchased at the Morton Museum and Parker Electric. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Smith said Howard’s presentation will also give guests a chance to find out answers to some of their questions about the JFK era and Kennedy’s assassination.

“I would say to the people that we encourage them to be thinking of questions they would like to ask Mr. Howard,” Smith said.

Charles L. Gittens, first black Secret Service agent, dies at 82

Charles L. Gittens, first black Secret Service agent, dies at 82

By Del Quentin Wilber,


Published: August 10, 2011


Charles L. Gittens, the first African American agent in the Secret Service and the former head of the agency’s Washington field office, died July 27 at an assisted living center in Mitchellville after a heart attack. He was 82.

An Army veteran, Mr. Gittens joined the Secret Service in 1956 and was soon posted to its New York field office, where he was part of an elite “special detail” that targeted counterfeiters and other criminals across the country.


Mr. Gittens would go on to protect presidents and became a well-respected supervisor.

“He was a great agent,” said Mark Sullivan, director of the Secret Service. “When you talk to people who worked with him, the one thing I hear is that he was just a regular guy. . . . A lot of agents, black and white, have benefited from the things he has done. He led by example, and he set the standards for all of us to follow.”

Charles LeRoy Gittens was born Aug. 31, 1928, in Cambridge, Mass. He left high school to join the Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant and was posted in Japan during the Korean War.

He obtained a GED while in the military and, after his discharge, received a bachelor’s degree from what is now North Carolina Central University.

In the 1950s, while teaching at a high school in North Carolina, Mr. Gittens was encouraged by friends to apply for a job in federal law enforcement. After taking a civil service test, he was recruited by the Secret Service.

However, he almost never became an agent because he failed an oral entrance exam, according to a 1974 story in Ebony magazine.

“Can you imagine such a thing?” Mr. Gittens told Ebony. “The guy in charge had scribbled things down like, ‘speaks incoherently’ or ‘can’t be understood.’ Now a Boston accent is a pretty strange thing in Atlanta, Georgia — that much I can assure you. But that was really too much.”

Mr. Gittens implied that the real reason may have been racism. He was then given another test and passed.

Though Mr. Gittens told friends he never felt discrimination from other agents or supervisors, he still faced it on the job. While guarding President Lyndon B. Johnson on a trip to Dallas, he and other agents entered a restaurant, and its manager initially refused to serve him because he was black, according to the Ebony story.

“The other guys were a lot angrier than I was,” Mr. Gittens told the magazine. “But the manager came out and apologized profusely. And we eventually got served.”

Mr. Gittens protected other presidents and stood just a few steps from John F. Kennedy at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1962 when Marilyn Monroe serenaded him with a sultry version of “Happy Birthday.”

In 1971, Mr. Gittens was appointed special agent in charge of the Washington field office, a prestigious posting in which he supervised about 120 agents. Mr. Gittens — a founding member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives — also was tasked in the 1970s by the Secret Service with helping to boost the recruitment of minority and female agents. The Service now has 3,525 agents, of whom 299 are black.

After retiring in 1979, he joined the Justice Department’s Nazi-hunting Office of Special Investigations and became deputy director of the criminal division.

His first marriage, of 28 years, to Ruth Hamme ended in divorce. His 10-year marriage to Maureen Petersen also ended in divorce. Survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Sharon Quick of Washington, and two stepdaughters. .

Mr. Gittens settled in the Washington area in 1971 and moved last year from Fort Washington to Collington Episcopal Life Care Community in Mitchellville.

Although regarded as a Secret Service trailblazer, Mr. Gittens earned respect from agents by hitting the streets. In the mid-1970s, he was monitoring a counterfeiting bust when the suspect suddenly bolted. Mr. Gittens dashed after the man and tackled him, said Ike Hendershot, a retired agent.

“When the other agents finally caught up,” Hendershot said, “they were out of breath.”

---------------
First black US Secret Service special agent dies
(AFP) – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The US Secret Service, home to the storied plainclothes bodyguards to American presidents, said Wednesday that the first African-American to join its ranks as a special agent had died.
Charles Gittens, who was 82, was sworn in as a special agent in February 1956 and retired in 1979 after a career that saw him battle counterfeiters and protect US presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson.
"Mr Gittens' legacy of accomplishments will live on with all of those who knew him, as well as all of us who benefitted from the path he created and the standards he set as the first African-American agent in the Secret Service," said US Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.
"His contributions to this agency and this country cannot be overstated," Sullivan said in a statement.
Prior to Gittens' 23-year career in the Secret Service -- which also has a uniformed branch and protects the grounds of the White House and a second mission of preventing currency and bond fraud -- he served in the US Army in Japan and at the sprawling Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina.

---------------------------

First Black Secret Service Agent Charles Gittens Dies at Age 82


By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Being the first is always worth noting.
And that’s what Charles L. Gittens was — the first black Secret Service agent. He became an agent in 1956 and retired in 1979, the Associated Press reported.
AP reported reported that Gittens died on July 27 in Maryland. He was 82.
According to an obituary in The Herald-Sun of Durham, N.C., Gittens was first assigned to the Charlotte, N.C., office and he worked in New York City office investigating counterfeiting and bank fraud.
He was fluent in Spanish and worked in the San Juan, Puerto Rico bureau and the D.C. office in 1969.
AP reported that after retiring in 1979, he worked for the Justice Department investigating war criminals.
AP reported that Danny Spriggs, vice president of global security for The Associated Press who had been a Secret Service agent, called Gittens “just an outstanding guy.”
“He went out of his way to mentor and give counsel and advice to young African-Americans who were coming up, especially those like myself who were coming up through the ranks.”
“The guy was always physically fit. He looked like he came out of the gym. His whole persona was one of professionalism: no nonsense guy.”

More people skeptical about "The Kennedy Detail"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars St. John (F. Kennedy), August 5, 2011
By David W. Knolls (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life...". Ted Kennedy delivered these words at the funeral of his brother, RFK, in 1968. As I read this book, I was continually reminded of this line and its irony given how the author persistently idealizes JFK throughout "The Kennedy Detail".

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book. I've read a lot about JFK and the Kennedys and glimpsing the events surrounding JFK's assassination from the perspective of the secret service agents is unique and intriguing. That said, the picture painted by the author of a perfect, saint-like JFK (loyal and devoted husband, doting father, considerate "boss") calls into question the accuracy of other events.

On one side of the coin, you have a white-washed JFK. On the other, you have LBJ. LBJ is depicted, warts and all, as a crass, vulgar ogre whose only redeeming quality is his concern for Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of the assassination. Other than that brief period, his vile behavior is no-holds-barred and pretty consistent with other sources. So why treat one president with rose-colored glasses and the other with a clear lens?

The President's Detail is a good read if you can suspend reality on the commonly-depicted JFK and accept him as a more idealistic character. More Mother Theresa, less, well, "JFK as we've come to know him". Once you get over that initial shock, sit back and take in the riveting events of November 1963 from those who had a front-row seat to the tragedy.

Verbatim? People are wondering about "The Kennedy Detail"

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Kennedy Detail, June 15, 2011
By
VMI man (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)
Did the author have a tape recorder to record verbatim all conversations? Not historical fiction, but not entirely historical either. Interesting, but could have been shorter. He says that they preserved the car as evidence, but isn't there a photo showing the agents washing the interior of the car in front of the Parkland ER?






Initial post: Aug 2, 2011 12:13:04 PM PDT
Chris P. says:


You forgot about James Tague. Of course, so did Blaine who can remember all those conversations verbatim after all these years!

Blaine, NOW you know why people are returning your book in droves back to Amazon

2.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed, but boring, August 4, 2011
By Penelope D. Debarge "nanatosix" (Palm Coast, FL) - (REAL NAME) Amazon Verified PurchaseThis review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)

While it was interesting to hear the facts that led up to the assassination I found the book tedious and drawn out. Too much explaining of how the planning of each trip (which is the same for each trip) is done. I'd pass on this one, or just take it out from the library. Not worth a purchase.

Blaine posted about Faison & Gittens because ANOTHER black agent, Abe Bolden, is going to tear his book apart this November

Blaine posted about Faison & Gittens because ANOTHER black agent, Abe Bolden, is going to tear his book apart this November




Abraham Bolden was the first black agent to ever serve on the White House Detail, over 2 years before Robert Faison. Please read Bolden's great book "The Echo From Dealey Plaza" AND his tremendous review debunking "The Kennedy Detail." This November, Bolden and myself will be a part of legendary best-selling author Mark Lane's new book "The Last Word", coming out from the same publisher that brought us the NY Times best-seller from Jesse Ventura "American Conspiracies".

Can't wait to get more payback for Blaine having his attorney send me that letter and for Blaine's book (esp. pages 359-360).

The Kennedy Detail- JFK's Secret Service agents

The Kennedy Detail- JFK's Secret Service agents





A Vince Palamara discovery at the JFK Library in December 2008 (circa Summer 1962). This is from a photographic briefing book done at the request of President Kennedy, in order for him to properly put names to faces and vice versa. Perhaps Greer was not included because, as one of JFK's primary drivers, JFK was already much aware of him...or he did not wish to participate? Agents who came before and after the Summer of 1962 are not included for obvious reasons (timing of briefing book)
SAIC Behn, ASAIC Campion, ASAIC Boring, ATSAIC Kellerman, ATSAIC Roberts, ATSAIC Stout, Blaine, Chandler, Coughlin, deFreese, Duncan, Foster, Fridley, Giannoules, Godfrey, Grant, Halterman, Hill, Johnsen, Johnson, Kunkel, Landis, Lawson, Lilley, Mastrovito, Meredith, Newman, Olsson, O'Leary, Payne, Paolella, Pontius, Ready, Rundle, Sherman, Skiles, Warner, Wiesman, Wilhite, Yeager, Shipman, Rybka, Rodham, Behl, Blake, Brett, Cantrell, Farnsworth, Gaugh, Gintz, Giovanetti, Gleason, Goodenough, Howard, Jamison, Johns, Metzinger, Seales, Sherlock, Sulliman, Till, Walters




Tags: JFK, President, Kennedy, secret, service, interviews, conspiracy, Lee, Harvey, Oswald, Dallas, assassination, murder, death, discovery, news, Jorge, Ribas, protecting, the, Kennedys, kennedy, detail, gerald, blaine, clint, hill, vince, palamara, final, moments, cuban, missile, crisis

7/27/11- Blaine posted our C-SPAN Q & A video!