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.
No comments:
Post a Comment