motorcade schematic in full+ Greer's tall tales

Motorcade schematic in full:
http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/M%20Disk/Motorcade%20Route/Item%2015.pdf


NY Times 2 July 1966


10 C T121

Agent Who Drove Kennedy Car in Dallas Retires

Raced to Hospital Without

Knowing President Had

Been Hit by Bullet [---?!?!?!?!]

By ROBERT B. SEMPLE Jr.

a- special to The New York Times

WASHINGTON, July 1—The

handwriting on the card, simple

and backward-sloping, conveys

a message at once concise and

poignant: 'For Bill Greer—

whom the President loved, and

who was with him until the

very end. Thank you."

The note, signed by Jacqueline

Kennedy, is a cherished possession

of William R. Greer, a 56-

year-old Secret Service Agent

who was driving the limousine

in which President Kennedy

was killed on Nov. 22, 1963.

Mr. Greer retired yesterday

from his job as Presidential

chauffeur because of an ulcer

condition that doctors believe

was seriously aggravated by the

tragedy.

Mr. Greer, a tall, handsome

native of Ireland with a warm

smlle and even temperament,

joined the Secret Service in 1945

and was assigned to drive Mr.

Kennedy right after the inauguration.

He drove for President

Johnson until he was required

to undergo stomach surgery

last January.

Hazards of His Job

in • an interview today at his

comfortable but modest splitlevel

hime in a nearby Maryland

subdivision, he recalled

that day in Dallas, spoke briefly

about Presidents he has

served, and explained a few of

the hazards Presidential drivers

face.

-"When the first shot was

fired," he recalled, "I thought

it was a sound I'd heard many

tunes before — a motorcycle

backfire. I glanced over my

right shoulder and saw a red

spot on [Texas Gov. John B.]

Connally's shirt.

-"I wasn't sure what had happened

but I tramped on the

accelerator. At about the same

time Roy Kellerman [another

agent in the car] yelled, 'we've

been hit.' "

Mr. Greer says he did not

know the President had been

hit until the car reached Parkland

Hospital, where he helped

put Mr. Kennedy on a stretcher

and carry him into the emergency

room.

"We were going very fast

and there was a lot of traffic

around the Dallas Trade Mart,

where the President had been

scheduled to speak. I was too

busy picking holes in it to look

around," he explained.

Mr. Greer remained in the

emergency room, then flew back

to Washington with the

body and the new President.

He drove the Navy ambulance

carrying the body from Andrews

Air- Force Base to Bethesda Naval

Hospital and, later, drove

the dead President to the White

House, where his body lay in

the East Room overnight.

There was hardly a moment

in the first 12 hours after the

assassination when Mr. Greer

was not near Mr. Kennedy. He

even watched the autopsy at

Bethesda.

A 'Rough' Experience

"I was there mainly for professional

reasons," he said.

"We were looking for -traces

of lead or bullet fragments that

might lave helped us later on.

It's ndthing for a policeman to

watch an autopsy. But this one

was very, rough."

Mr. Greer has kind words for

all the chief executives he has

served , (the first was Mr. Truman),

btit the one he knew best

and felt the closest to was Mr.

Kennedy.

"He made us all feel at home.

He would stop and talk to us

and kid a little bit and keep

track of what we were doing.

There was a waiting list to

work at the White House in

those days, he was a wonderful

man, always laughing .. .

The pace quickened under Mr.

Johnson. "There was a schedule

in the old days but under Mr.

Johnson we had to be ready

Associated Press Wirephoto

William H. Greer at his home in Maryland after he announced

his--.retirement as the Presidential chauffeur.

to move at anytime. I'd be sitting

in the garage at 22d and

M (there is no garage at the

White House) and then I'd get

a call saying "hustle on over,

we're going to Texas."

Mr. Greer, who lives in Seabrook,

Md., is married and the

father of an 19-year-old son, a

student at the University of

Maryland. He is looking forward

now to playing golf. His

annual retirement pay will be

two-thirds of his $12,900 salary

as an agent.