BEFORE Ken O'Donnell's death: blame JFK. AFTER Ken O'Donnell's death: blame the staff!

BEFORE Ken O'Donnell's death: blame JFK. AFTER Ken O'Donnell's death: blame the staff!

President Harry Truman---“The Secret Service was the only boss that the President of the United States really had.” Rowley oral history, LBJ Library, 1/22/69, page 2.


Kenneth Phillip "Kenny" O'Donnell (March 4, 1924 – September 9, 1977) was a top aide to U.S. President John F. Kennedy and part of the group of Kennedys' close advisors called the "Irish Mafia", which also included Larry O'Brien and Dave Powers. Before Ken's untimely death at the young age of 53, the Secret Service wouldn't have dared to dream of blaming him for their OWN failures in Dallas regarding the removal of the agents in close proximity to President Kennedy---no, the Secret Service (well, a few of them who submitted reports and/ or talked to certain high profile authors [Bishop, Manchester]) did the "blame the victim" routine, or, as I like to call it, "blame-the-deceased-victim-who-can't-defend-himself." However, AFTER O'Donnell's death, the "blame the staff" notion was fertile ground for some of them [see also ###, below].

However, THE JFK ERA SECRET SERVICE HAS PAINTED THEMSELVES INTO A CORNER: they originally ONLY blamed JFK for the removal of agents and never even mentioned the staff as being involved!

In fact, as late as 2004, former agent Clint Hill gave an interview to the National Geographic Channel for their program (later a DVD) "Inside The U.S. Secret Service" (as with former agent Jerry Parr, Hill gave a video taped interview for broadcast as well as a print interview for the channel's website---here is a crucial excerpt germane to the topic discussed in this blog):

"Q: Do you think the president's [JFK's] style played a big part in that day [11/22/63]?

CH: I think it may have played a part in the sense that the agents were not permitted to be up in the back of the car. The previous Monday [11/18/63, Tampa, FL], President Kennedy told the supervisor [ASAIC Floyd Boring] that he did not want the agents up there because they were a kind of a block between himself and the people. That made it look like he didn't want to have the people that close to him."

No mention whatsoever of JFK's staff. This will become even more important later.

In 1995, for the Discovery Channel documentary “Inside The Secret Service”, Clint Hill said much the same thing.

[note: On 6/2/05, the author mailed a lengthy, 22-page letter to former WHD agent Clinton J. Hill (Certified, Return Receipt Requested with a S.A.S.E. to boot) summarizing my work in great detail. On 6/13/05, after not receiving a reply, the author phoned Mr. Hill, who was quite apparently angry---he first pretended not to know about the lengthy letter he had to sign for (of which the author received his signed receipt): “About what?,” Hill exclaimed in response to the author’s inquiry. Then, forcefully, Hill added: “I’m just not interested in talking to you.” Lo and behold, Hill's very good friend, fellow former agent Jerry Blaine (whom I spoke to twice and corresponded/ e-mailed), is coming out with a book in the Fall of 2010! Here is Hill's blurb from PublishersMarketplace website http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/rights/display.cgi?no=6530

Statement by Clint Hill, who wrote the foreword to Agent Gerald Blaine's book, for use in promotion of The Kennedy Detail:

"Of all the books written about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jerry Blaine's The Kennedy Detail is the first book to accurately portray the events leading up to and following that tragic day from the perspective of the Secret Service agents. It is only because of my enduring friendship and complete trust in Jerry Blaine's ethics and integrity that I have agreed to provide information for this historically important book. It is my sincere hope that our current president, and all those who follow, recognizes that by taking risks with his own life, he is in fact risking the future of America."]


Clint Hill's undated report, written around April 1964 [see Volume 18 of the Warren Commission’s Hearings & Exhibits, pages 803-809]

"I...never personally was requested by President John F. Kennedy not to ride on the rear of the Presidential automobile. I did receive information passed verbally from the administrative offices of the White House Detail of the Secret Service to Agents assigned to that Detail that President Kennedy had made such requests. I do not know from whom I received this information...No written instructions regarding this were ever distributed...(I) received this information after the Presidents return to Washington, D. C. This would have been between November 19,1963 and November 21, 1963 [note the time frame!]. I do not know specifically who advised me of this request by the President (emphasis added)."

Why Mr. Hill could not "remember" the specific name of the agent who gave him JFK's alleged desires is very troubling - he revealed it on 3/9/64, presumably before his report was written, in his (obviously pre-rehearsed) testimony under oath to the future Senator Arlen Specter, then a lawyer with the Warren Commission :

Specter: "Did you have any other occasion en route from Love Field to downtown Dallas to leave the follow-up car and mount that portion of the President's car [rear portion of limousine]?"

Hill: "I did the same thing approximately four times."

Specter: "What are the standard regulations and practices, if any, governing such an action on your part?"

Hill: "It is left to the agent's discretion more or less to move to that particular position when he feels that there is a danger to the President: to place himself as close to the President or the First Lady as my case was, as possible, which I did."

Specter: "Are those practices specified in any written documents of the Secret Service?"

Hill: "No, they are not."


Specter: "Now, had there been any instruction or comment about your
performance of that type of a duty with respect to anything President
Kennedy himself had said in the period immediately preceding the trip to
Texas?"

Hill: "Yes, sir; there was. The preceding Monday, the President was on a trip to Tampa, Florida, and he requested that the agents not ride on either of those two steps."

Specter: "And to whom did the President make that request?"

Hill: "Assistant Special Agent in Charge Boring."

Specter: "Was Assistant Special Agent in Charge Boring the individual in charge of that trip to Florida?"

Hill: "He was riding in the Presidential automobile on that trip in Florida, and I presume that he was. I was not along."

Specter: "Well, on that occasion would he have been in a position comparable to that occupied by Special Agent Kellerman on this trip to Texas?"

Hill: "Yes sir; the same position."

Specter: "And Special Agent Boring informed you of that instruction by President Kennedy?"

Hill: "Yes sir, he did."

Specter: "Did he make it a point to inform other special agents of that same instruction?"

Hill: "I believe that he did, sir."

Specter: "And, as a result of what President Kennedy said to him, did he instruct you to observe that Presidential admonition?"

Hill: "Yes, sir."

Specter: "How, if at all, did that instruction of President Kennedy affect your action and - your action in safeguarding him on this trip to Dallas?"

Hill: "We did not ride on the rear portions of the automobile. I did on those four occasions because the motorcycles had to drop back and there was no protection on the left-hand side of the car." (Emphasis added)

Furthermore, on 9/18/96, by request of the author, the ARRB’s Doug Horne interviewed Mr. Boring regarding this matter. Horne wrote: "Mr. Boring was asked to read pages 136-137 of Clint Hill's Warren Commission testimony, in which Clint Hill recounted that Floyd Boring had told him just days prior to the assassination that during the President's Tampa trip on Monday, 11/18/63, JFK had requested that agents not ride on the rear steps of the limousine, and that Boring had also so informed other agents of the White House detail, and that as a result, agents in Dallas (except Clint Hill, on brief occasions) did not ride on the rear steps of the limousine. MR BORING AFFIRMED THAT HE DID MAKE THESE STATEMENTS TO CLINT HILL, BUT STATED THAT HE WAS NOT RELAYING A POLICY CHANGE, BUT RATHER SIMPLY TELLING AN ANECDOTE ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S KINDNESS AND CONSIDERATION IN TAMPA IN NOT WANTING AGENTS TO HAVE TO RIDE ON THE REAR OF THE LINCOLN LIMOUSINE WHEN IT WAS NOT NECESSARY TO DO SO BECAUSE OF A LACK OF CROWDS ALONG THE STREET (Emphasis added).”

The author finds this admission startling, especially because the one agent who decided to ride on the rear of the limousine in Dallas anyway---and on at least 4 different occasions--- was none other than CLINT HILL himself.

This also does not address what the agents were to do when the crowds were heavier, or even what exactly constituted a "crowd", as AGENTS DID RIDE ON THE REAR STEPS OF THE LIMOUSINE IN TAMPA ON NOVEMBER 18, 1963 ANYWAY (agents Donald J. Lawton, Andrew E. Berger, & Charles T. Zboril, to be exact)!


Furthermore, as noted above, both Clint Hill's written report and his testimony sure convey a more strict approach than one stemming from an alleged kind anecdote. In fact, as mentioned above, Hill twice stated in his report that he DID NOT RECALL who the agent was who told him, and the other agents, not to ride on the rear of the limousine, yet named him under oath to Counsel Specter: Floyd Boring.

Floyd Boring told the author, in reference to JFK's alleged "desires" mentioned by Mr. Bishop, Manchester (“quoting” Boring), and himself in his own report: "He actually - No, I told them...He didn't tell them anything...He just - I looked at the back and I seen these fellahs were hanging on the limousine - I told them to return to the car...[JFK] was a very easy-going guy...he didn't interfere with our actions at all" (emphasis added)! The author reiterated the point - Mr. Boring was still adamant that JFK never issued any orders to the agents; he even refuted Manchester's book. Remember, Boring is admitting it came from him, and not JFK! With regard to exactly who makes the decision regarding the agents’ proximity to the President, Agent Jerry Parr told Larry King: “I would say it was the agent in charge who makes that decision.” When asked, point blank, if JFK had ever ordered the agents off the rear of the limousine, including in Tampa on 11/18/63, Boring told the author again : "Well that's not true. That's not true. He was a very nice man; he never interfered with us at all." In a letter received by the author on, of all dates, 11/22/97, Boring confirmed what he had previously told the author on two previous occasions (9/22/93 and 3/4/94, respectively) when he wrote: "President Kennedy was a very congenial man knowing most agents by their first name. He was very cooperative with the Secret Service, and well liked and admired by all of us (emphasis added)." Boring does NOT mention anything about JFK’s alleged “desires” to restrict security during his two lengthy oral histories (to the JFK and Truman Libraries).


Secret Service & JFK- President Kennedy and the real story of his protection (or lack thereof)

Vince Palamara interview with SA Floyd Boring 3/4/94

Comments on the matter (often in writing and on audio tape)to Vince Palamara--
SAIC Gerald Behn: "I don't remember Kennedy ever saying that he didn't want anybody on the back of his car."
ASAIC Floyd Boring: “No, no, no-that's not true...[JFK] was a very easy-going guy...he didn't interfere with our actions at all."
ATSAIC (Shift Leader) Art Godfrey: "That's a bunch of baloney; that's not true. He never ordered us to do anything. He was a very nice man...cooperative.” When I was working [with] President Kennedy he never ask [ed] me to have my shift leave the limo when we [were] working it."
SA Winston Lawson (lead advance agent for Dallas; rode in lead car): “I do not know of any standing orders for the agents to stay off the back of the car. After all, foot holds and handholds were built into that particular vehicle. I am sure it would have been on a “case by case” basis depending on event, intelligence, threats, etc. Jerry Behn as Special Agent in Charge of the White House Detail…would have been privy to that type of info more than I [see above]. However, it never came to my attention as such. I am certain agents were on the back on certain occasions."
JFK Aide Dave Powers (rode in follow-up car 11/22/63): "Unless they were ‘running’ along beside the limo, the Secret Service rode in a car behind the President, so, no, they never had to be told to "get off" the limousine."
SA Robert Lilley: "Oh, I'm sure he [JFK] didn't [order agents off his car, agreeing with Behn]. He was very cooperative with us once he became President. He was extremely cooperative. Basically, 'whatever you guys want is the way it will be'." In interviews and correspondence on four separate occasions, Lilley reiterated this view. Lilley also refuted the Bishop and Manchester accounts, adding that, as an example, on a trip with JFK in Caracas, Venezuela, he and "Roy Kellerman rode on the back of the limousine all the way to the Presidential palace" at speeds reaching "50 miles per hour."
SAIC of PRS Robert Bouck: On 9/27/92, Bouck confirmed to the author that having agents on the back of the limousine depended on factors independent of any alleged Presidential "requests": “Many times there were agents on his car.” On 4/30/96, the ARRB’s Doug Horne questioned Bouck: “Did you ever hear the President personally say that he didn’t want agents to stand on the running boards on his car, or did you hear that from other agents?” Bouck: “I never heard the President say that personally." The former agent also told the ARRB that JFK was the “most congenial” of all the presidents he had observed (Bouck served from FDR to LBJ).
SA Samuel A. Kinney (driver of the follow-up car on 11/22/63): Sam told the author on 3/5/94, regarding the “official” notion of history that President Kennedy ordered the agents off the rear of the limousine and the like: "That is absolutely, positively false...no, no, no: he had nothing to do with that [ordering agents off the rear of the limousine]...No, never-the agents say, 'O.K., men, fall back on your posts'...President Kennedy was one of the easiest presidents to ever protect; Harry S. Truman was a jewel just like John F. Kennedy was...99% of the agents would agree...(JFK) was one of the best presidents ever to control-he trusted every one of us [Emphasis added]." In regard to the infamous quote from William Manchester, Kinney said, "That is false. I talked to William Manchester; he called me on the book...for the record of history that is false - Kennedy never ordered us to do anything. I am aware of what is being said but that is false". Finally, just to nail down this issue, the author asked Kinney if an exception was made on 11/22/63: "Not this particular time, no. Not in this case".
ASAIC of VP Detail Rufus Youngblood: "There was not a standing order" from JFK to restrict agents from the back of the limousine - the agents had "assigned posts and positions" on the back of the President's car. On 2/8/94, Youngblood added: "President Kennedy wasn't a hard ass...he never said anything like that [re: removing agents from limo and the like]. As a historian, he [Manchester] flunked the course---don't read Manchester." Youngblood knows of what he speaks: he was interviewed by Manchester on 11/17/64.
SA Donald Lawton: When the author told Lawton on 11/15/95 what fellow agent Kinney said, namely, that JFK never ordered the agents off the rear of the limousine, he said: "It's the way Sam said, yes" (Meaning, he agrees with Kinney, it happened the way Kinney said). In a letter to the author dated, ironically, 11/22/97, Lawton wrote: "If you spoke with Bob Lilley as you stated then you can take whatever information he passed on to you as gospel [see Lilley’s comments, above].”
Cecil Stoughton, White House photographer: Stoughton wrote the author: "I did see a lot of the activity surrounding the various trips of the President, and in many cases I did see the agents in question riding on the rear of the President's car. In fact, I have ridden there a number of times myself during trips...I would jump on the step on the rear of the [Lincoln] Continental until the next stop. I have made photos while hanging on with one hand...in Tampa [11/18/63], for example. As for the [alleged] edict of not riding there by order of the President- I can't give you any proof of first hand knowledge."
SA Lynn Meredith: "I have always believed that the following [ten]adverse situations all contributed to the unnecessary and unfortunate death of President Kennedy: (1) No Secret Service agents riding on the rear of the limousine...I do not know first hand if President Kennedy ordered agents off the back end of his limousine."
SA Sam Sulliman: Sulliman told the author on 2/11/04 that agents were on the back of the limousine a lot; in fact, he remembered riding there on the trips to Ireland and Germany. When told of Art Godfrey’s comments on the matter (see above), the former agent agreed with his colleague. Regarding the notion that JFK ordered the agents off the car, Sulliman told the author twice: “I don’t think so.” Sulliman also said that JFK was “easy to get along with.” As for who exactly was responsible for the decision to remove the agents from the rear area of the limousine, Sulliman told the author: “I can’t tell you who made the decision.”
Frank Stoner, PRS: During an interview conducted on 1/17/04, former agent Stoner, who served in the Secret Service from January 1945 until 1969, said that Manchester was “probably trying to sell books” when he suggested that Kennedy ordered the agents off the back of the limousine. In fact, the 84-year-old former agent laughed at the mere suggestion. Stoner also agreed with several of his colleagues that JFK was “very personable”: “He was an old Navy man. He understood security. He wouldn’t have ordered them off the car.”
SA Gerald O'Rourke: "To my knowledge President Kennedy never ordered us to leave the limo.”
SA Vince Mroz: the former agent said that President Kennedy was “friendly, congenial---he was really easy to get along with…just like Truman.” When asked, point blank, if JFK had ever ordered the agents off the car, Mroz said forcefully: “No, no---that’s not true.” When asked a second time, the former agent responded with equal conviction: “He did not order anybody off the car.”
SA Walt Coughlin: "In almost all parade situations that I was involved w [ith] we rode or walked the limo [Emphasis added].” Coughlin later wrote: “We often rode on the back of the car.” Finally, to clarify this matter further, the author asked Coughlin: “So far, combing the literature, books, interviews, etc., I've found that Behn, Boring, Blaine, Mroz, Godfrey, Lawson, and Dave Powers said that President Kennedy did not order the agents off his limousine---do you think William Manchester and others took "poetic license" on this matter?” Coughlin responded: “Yes I do.”

SA Larry Newman: Newman phoned the author unexpectedly on 2/12/04 to say that “there was not a directive, per se” from President Kennedy to remove the agents from their positions on the back of his limousine.
SA Frank Yeager: In a letter to the author dated 12/29/03, Yeager wrote: “I did not think that President Kennedy was particularly “difficult” to protect. In fact, I thought that his personality made it easier than some because he was easy to get along with…” With regard to the author’s question, “Did President Kennedy ever order the agents off the rear of his limousine,” Yeager responded: “I know of no “order” directly from President Kennedy. I think that after we got back from Tampa, Florida where I did the advance for the President, a few days before Dallas…[it was]requested that the Secret Service agents not ride the rear running board of the Presidential car during parades involving political events so that the president would not be screened by an agent. I don’t know what form or detail that this request was made to the Secret Service… I also do not know who actually made the final decision, but we did not have agents on the rear of the President’s car in Dallas [emphasis added].” Like Hill’s report mentioned above, please note the timing.

SA James Goodenough: “President Kennedy was a pleasant and cooperative person to work for."
SA Radford Jones: "JFK was an easy President to protect...The President was always considerate of the agents...I would say he was no more difficult to protect than any other President."
SA Darwin Horn: "never heard him tell the agents to get off of the car...You will have to ask some of the other agents who worked him full time. [Art] Godfrey would have been perfect but he passed away some time ago.” See Godfrey’s comments, above.
SA Jerry Kivett: "I never heard anyone say that he was difficult to protect."
John F. Norris, Uniformed Division of the Secret Service: On 3/4/94, in an interview with the author, Norris also joined his colleagues in refuting the notion that JFK ordered the agents off the rear of the limo: “I would doubt that very much,” Norris said.
Maurice G. Martineau, SAIC of Chicago office: Martineau joined his colleagues in refuting the Manchester story that JFK ordered the agents off the rear of the car. Martineau said this to the author in two telephonic interviews on 9/21/93 and 6/7/96, respectively.
Abraham W. Bolden, Sr. :In reference to Kennedy's alleged "requests", Mr. Bolden told the author on numerous occasions in 1993-1996 that he "didn't hear anything about that...I never believed that Kennedy said that [ordering removal of agents]”. Bolden, an ardent critic of the agency’s lax protection since 1963, also wrote the author: “No-one could have killed our President without the shots of omission fired by the Secret Service. Observe the feet of [four] Secret Service agents glued to the running boards of the follow-up car as bullets [sic?] pierce the brain of our President!!!"
DNC Advance man Martin E. “Marty” Underwood: Underwood told me that "many times" agents were posted on the back of the JFK limousine. During this 10/9/92 interview, Underwood confirmed to the author that JFK never ordered the agents off the rear of the car.
Michael W. Torina, Chief Inspector of the Secret Service on 11/22/63: Torina, the author of the Secret Service’s own official manual on protective techniques [“The United States Secret Service” by Walter S. Bowen & Harry E. Neal (New York: Chilton, 1960),
page 209], did contribute significantly to a book about the Secret Service written in 1962 in which it is plainly stated: “Agents of the White House Detail ride in the same car with the President. Others will walk or trot alongside, while still others ride in automobiles in front of and behind the Presidential car [“What Does A Secret Service Agent Do?” by Wayne Hyde (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1962), page 28 (and acknowledgments) On the same page is a picture of agents walking right by JFK’s car in 1961].”
SA Gerald Blaine: Blaine told the author on 2/7/04 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. In fact, just as one example, Blaine rode on the rear of JFK’s limousine in Germany in June 1963, along with fellow Texas trip veterans Paul A. Burns and Samuel E. Sulliman. Surprisingly, Blaine, the WHD advance agent for the Tampa trip of 11/18/63, said that JFK did make the comment “I don’t need Ivy League charlatans back there,” but emphasized this was a “low-key remark” said “kiddingly” and demonstrating Kennedy’s “Irish sense of humor.” However, according to the “official” story, President Kennedy allegedly made these remarks only to Boring while traveling in the presidential limousine in Tampa: Blaine was nowhere near the vehicle at the time, so Boring had to be HIS source for this story! In addition to Emory Roberts, one now wonders if Blaine was a source (or perhaps the source) for Manchester’s exaggerated ‘quote’ attributed to Boring, as Agent Blaine was also interviewed by Manchester (see below ^^^). Blaine would not respond to a follow-up letter on this subject.
However, when the author phoned Blaine on 6/10/05, the former agent said the remark “Ivy League charlatans” came “from the guys…I can’t remember who [said it]…I can’t remember.” Thus, Blaine confirms that he did not hear the remark from JFK (When asked if agents rode on the rear of the limousine on the Italy trip in 1963, Blaine said forcefully: “Oh yeah, oh yeah.” It turns out he was one of the agents)
also---
Chief James Rowley: Rowley told the Warren Commission: "No President will tell the Secret Service what they can or cannot do.” [5 H 470]“Most Presidents have responded to our requests…” [Rowley oral history, LBJ Library, 1/22/69, page 2]
Newsmen- ABC’s Ron Gardner, ABC’s Jim Haggerty (former Eisenhower Press Secretary), & UPI’s Robert J. Serling: Shortly after the assassination on 11/22/63 before a television audience of many millions of people, Gardner reported: “Secret Service agents normally walk directly beside the car. We can’t see any in these pictures .” Also on the very same day before an enormous television audience, Haggerty maintained that agents normally walked or jogged near the rear of the president’s car, adding that he had a hand in planning many motorcades (as did his successor, Pierre Salinger). For his part, Serling wrote on 11/23/63, based in part on “private conversations” with unnamed agents: “There are two absolute rules for motorcade protection: The agent running or riding at the President's shoulder must never leave that position unless relieved. The other is to turn out the manpower in all secret service cars the moment trouble arises and get secret service bodies around the President.”
Jacqueline Kennedy (rode with President Kennedy in the limousine): For her part, Jackie “played the events over and over in her mind…She did not want to accept Jack’s death as a freak accident, for that meant his life could have been spared---if only the driver in the front seat of the presidential limousine [Agent William R. Greer] had reacted more quickly and stepped on the gas…if only the Secret Service had stationed agents on the rear bumper…[emphasis added]” [“Just Jackie: Her Private Years” by Edward Klein (Ballantine Books, 1999), pages 58-59 & 374: based off an interview Klein had with Kitty Carlisle Hart re: Hart’s conversation with Jackie]
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1:40 p.m., 11/29/63: "You see, there was no Secret Service man standing on the back of the car. Usually the presidential car in the past has had steps on the back, next to the bumpers, and there's usually been one [agent] on either side standing on these steps...[ellipsis in text]...Whether the President asked that that not be done, we don't know (emphasis added).” So, as of 11/29/63, a week after the murder, the myth hadn’t been set in motion yet.
June Kellerman, the widow of Roy H. Kellerman, ASAIC WHD: In a letter to the author dated 12/2/97, Mrs. Kellerman wrote: "Roy did not say that JFK was difficult to protect,” which confirms the author’s two prior telephonic interviews with her conducted on 3/2/92 and 9/27/92, respectively. (For his part, Kellerman did not mention JFK's alleged desires even once during his very lengthy, two-session interview with the Warren Commission , not to mention his reports and his later HSCA and private researcher contacts)

Jean Brownell Behn, widow of the late Gerald A. Behn, SAIC WHD (see above): Mrs. Behn told the author on 11/18/95 that Jerry did not like William Manchester's book "The Death of a President" and confirmed that she also did not believe that JFK had ever conveyed to Jerry the idea of having the agents not ride on the rear of the limousine. In a follow-up letter dated 11/28/97, she stated: "The only thing I can tell you is that Jerry always said 'Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you read'”

Floyd Boring (and quite a few of his colleagues) categorically denied to the author what William Manchester reports in his acclaimed massive best-seller “The Death of a President”: "Kennedy grew weary of seeing bodyguards roosting behind him every time he turned around [indicating the frequency of the event], and in Tampa on November 18 [1963], just four days before his death, he dryly asked Agent Floyd Boring to 'keep those Ivy League charlatans off the back of the car.' Boring wasn't offended. There had been no animosity in the remark." Incredibly, Boring told this author: "I never told him that." As for the merit of the quote itself, as previously mentioned, Boring said: "No, no, no-that's not true.” Incredibly, BORING WAS NOT EVEN INTERVIEWED FOR MANCHESTER’S BOOK! We may never know Mr. Manchester's source for this curious statement: he told the author on 8/23/93 that "all that material is under seal and won't be released in my lifetime" and denied the author access to his notes (Manchester has since passed away). [see ^^^, below]
And, if that wasn't enough, AGENTS DID INDEED RIDE ON THE REAR OF JFK'S LIMOUSINE IN ITALY (7/2/63) AND IN TAMPA (11/18/63)---Italy film clip, courtesy Jim Cedrone of the JFK Library; Newly discovered still photos from Naples: “John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Life In Pictures” by Yann-Brice Dherbier & Pierre-Henri Verlhac (New York: Phaidon Press, 2003), pages 183 and 231. Corbis stock photos discovered by the author in 2005 (and also forwarded to former agents’ Blaine, Coughlin, & O’Rourke). Regarding Italy: See also “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye” by O'Donnell, Kenneth P., David F. Powers, and Joseph McCarthy (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1972), page 433 [Note: All references to this book are from the Pocket Book paperback edition published in 1973]. The "Tampa Tribune", 11/19/63 (downtown area picture w/ agents Lawton & Zboril holding onto the rear handrails); Cecil Stoughton photo, taken from the follow-up car, 11/18/63 (suburban area picture depicting same); short clip in David Wolper's 1964 film "Four Days In November" depicting the start of the Tampa trip: agent Zboril is running on the left-rear end of the limo, holding onto the handrail, while agent Berger is riding on the opposite side; agent Lawton is seen running along Berger's side; B & W photos discovered by Ian Griggs and Frank Debenedictis; B & W photos from photographers’ Tony Zappone and Tommy Eure.


The deathblow to the Tampa tale

The author wrote to former Florida Congressman Samuel Melville Gibbons on 1/7/04 and asked him if he had heard President Kennedy order the agents off the rear of the limousine. Gibbons rode in the rear seat with JFK and Senator George Smathers on the Tampa trip of 11/18/63. Gibbons response in full, dated 1/15/04: “I rode with Kennedy every time he rode. I heard no such order. As I remember it the agents rode on the rear bumper all the way. Kennedy was very happy during his visit to Tampa. Sam Gibbons.”



Furthermore, an amazing document was released in the 1990’s concerning, among many other related topics, the issue of the agents’ presence (or lack thereof) on the limousine. This is a 28-page “Sensitive” memorandum from Belford Lawson, the attorney in charge of the Secret Service area for the HSCA, addressed to Gary Cornwell & Ken Klein dated 5/31/77 and revised 8/15/77. Apparently, Attorney Lawson was suspicious of Mr. Boring, for he wrote on the final page of this lengthy memorandum: “Subject: Florida Motorcades in November 1963…Was Floyd Boring, the Senior SS Agent on the White House detail, lying to SS Agent Hill when he told Hill that JFK had said in Tampa…that he wanted no agents riding upright on the rear bumper step of the JFK limousine? Did JFK actually say this? Did Boring know when he told this to Hill that Hill would be riding outboard on the JFK follow-up car in Dallas on November 22, 1963? Did Boring say this to Ready or Roberts? [Lawson’s emphasis]” On page 27 of the same memo, Lawson wrote: “Why did only one Agent, Hill, run forward to the JFK limousine?”


Note-
William “Tim” McIntyre, WHD (rode on the follow-up car on 11/22/63): The author contacted McIntyre on 6/13/05 (McIntyre had previously been contacted via mail in 2004, based on the strong recommendations of former agents’ Larry Newman and Tony Sherman, but did not respond back). Asked about the Tampa trip of 11/18/63, the former agent said: “I was there on the follow-up car.” Regarding the question of agents being on the back of the car, McIntyre said: “I believe so---Zboril was on the back,” which he was (He also mentioned Don Lawton and Emory Roberts as being on the trip, which they were). Regarding the matter at hand, McIntyre stated: “I can’t remember if they were told to be off the car.” So, in spite of these strong recommendations from his colleagues to ask him about this specific subject, McIntyre now allegedly “can’t remember”?

*****THE STAFF WAS NOT TO BLAME, EITHER!*****


SA Sam Kinney Kinney also told the author that Ken O'Donnell did not interfere with the agents: "Nobody ordered anyone around.”

ATSAIC Art Godfrey: "He [Ken O'Donnell] did not order anyone around."

Boring told the JFK Library: “…of all the administrations I worked with, the president and the people surrounding the president were very gracious and were very cooperative. As a matter of fact, you can’t do this type of security work without cooperation of the people surrounding the president…[emphasis added]”

Indeed, Chief James J. Rowley told the JFK Library in 1976: "...you could talk to them [JFK’s staff]...It made for a very happy relationship."

Aide David F. Powers (rode in the follow-up car on 11/22/63): As mentioned above, in a personal letter to the author dated 9/10/93, Mr. Powers wrote: "Unless they were ‘running’ along beside the limo, the Secret Service rode in a car behind the President, so, no, they never had to be told to "get off" the limousine". This comment rivals Behn’s shocking statements to the author due to the source: President Kennedy’s longtime friend and aide and a man who was on countless trips with the President. For the record, Agent Bob Lilley endorsed Mr. Powers view: "Dave would give you factual answers." In addition, the ARRB’s Tom Samoluk told the author that, during the course of an interview he conducted with Powers in 1996, the former JFK aide and friend agreed with the author’s take on the Secret Service!


Presidential Aide (Chief of Staff/ Appointments Secretary) Kenneth P. O’Donnell does not mention anything with regard to telling the agents to remove themselves from the limousine (based on JFK’s alleged “desires”) during his lengthy Warren Commission testimony (nor to author William Manchester, nor even in his or his daughter’s books, for that matter); the same is true for the other two Presidential aides: Larry O’Brien and Dave Powers. In fact, as mentioned above, Powers refutes this whole idea. Again, JFK’s staff is not mentioned as a factor during any of the agent’s Warren Commission testimony, nor in the five reports submitted in April 1964.


Press Secretary Pierre Salinger: JFK had a good relationship with the Secret Service and, more importantly, did NOT argue with their security measures. This was based on the author's correspondence with noted journalist Roger Peterson from 2/99 (from Peterson's very recent conversations with Salinger).

*****MORE SECRET SERVICE PROPAGANDA: BLAMING THE VICTIM (notice, JFK's staff NOT mentioned)****

Clinton Secret Service Director Lewis C. Merletti---
“The Washington Post” reported on 5/14/98: “During private meetings, sources said, Merletti told officials from [Kenneth] Starr's office [investigating the President Clinton/ Monica Lewinsky matter] and the Treasury and Justice departments that trust and proximity to a president are crucial to protecting him ...the service ran through the history of assassination attempts, showing instances where they succeeded or failed, possibly depending on how close agents were to an intended victim. Sources said they produced rare photographs of John F. Kennedy's fateful 1963 motorcade through Dallas, where agents were not standing on running boards on the back of his exposed automobile when shots rang out because the president several days before had ordered them not to…Merletti indicated to the court that the assassination in a moving limousine of President John F. Kennedy "might have been thwarted had agents been stationed on the car's running boards (emphasis added).” To drive the point home even further, here is an excerpt from Director Merletti’s testimony, as reported in “The Washington Post” from 5/20/98: "I have attached, as Exhibit A to this Declaration, photographs of President John F. Kennedy's visit to Tampa, Florida on November 18, 1963. We use these photographs, and the ones attached as Exhibit B, in our training exercises. Exhibit A demonstrates the lengths to which protective personnel have been forced to go to try to maintain proximity to the President. In the photographs contained in Exhibit A, agents are kneeling on the running board of the Presidential limousine, while the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed [note: a contradiction---according to prior official agency mythology, the agents shouldn’t even be there at all!]. I can attest that this requires extraordinary physical exertion. Nevertheless, they performed this duty in an attempt to maintain close physical proximity to the President. Exhibit B, by contrast, scarcely needs any introduction. It is a series of photographs of the Presidential limousine, taken just four days later, on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. As can be seen, at the instruction of the President, Secret Service agents had been ordered off of the limousine's running boards. An analysis of the ensuing assassination (including the trajectory of the bullets which struck the President) indicates that it might have been thwarted had agents been stationed on the car's running boards. In other words, had they been able to maintain close proximity to the President during the motorcade, the assassination of John F. Kennedy might have been averted. Exhibit C contains a series of photographs taken during the actual assassination that demonstrate how critical and tragic the absence of proximity to the protectee can be (emphasis added).”

Former Carter & Reagan SAIC Jerry Parr told Larry King on 7/14/98, with no firsthand knowledge whatsover: “The critical factor [in Dallas]…was the fact that he [JFK] ordered the two agents off the car…which made him very vulnerable to Lee Oswald’s attack.”

Actor John Malkovich repeated the myth of JFK’s alleged orders to millions of theater patrons in the Secret Service “sponsored” blockbuster 1993 Clint Eastwood movie “In The Line Of Fire”: “You wanted to station agents on his bumpers and sideboards-he refused. And do you know why I think he refused? I think he refused because he had a death wish.”

NON JFK era Agent Dennis V.N. McCarthy wrote in his book “Protecting The President”: "(talking about 11/22/63) ...and the President himself waved off the agents who customarily rode on the car's running boards [emphasis added; “Protecting The President” by Dennis V.N. McCarthy with Philip W. Smith (New York: Dell Publishing Co, Inc., 1985), page 188].

In addition, former NON JFK era agent Marty Venker said in the book “Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent,” written by George Rush: "John Kennedy…had vetoed the idea of agents riding on his limo’s rear bumper-where one of them might’ve stopped a bullet…So, in a way, part of the blame for JFK's death rested with the man himself [emphasis added; “Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent” by George Rush (New York: Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc., 1988), page 25].”

NON JFK era agent Joe Petro wrote in his book: "As I read the Warren Commission Report, it seems that the president was the one who said, No agents on the back of the car [emphasis added; “Standing Next To History: An Agent’s Life Inside The Secret Service” by Joseph Petro with Jeffrey Robinson (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005), page 20].”

Even a 1986 pictorial book on JFK, “John F. Kennedy” by Lois E. Anderson (CT: Longmeadow Press, 1992), got into the act: “The president’s frequent disregard for security precautions was a source of anxiety to the Secret Service men assigned to protect him.” [Page 135]

“Assassinations That Changed The World” History Channel 1996 [narrator]: “…the bubbletop was removed. He had insisted that no Secret Services agents ride on the back bumper or side running boards, and that motorcycle officers not flank his car, but stay to the front and back.”

*****Agents agree that NOT having the agents near JFK causes his death*****

SA Lynn Meredith: "I do believe if agents had been riding on the rear of the limo in Dallas that President Kennedy would not have been assassinated as they would have been in Oswald’s line of fire…To elaborate a little more on the assassination in Dallas, I have always believed that the following [10] adverse situations all contributed to the unnecessary and unfortunate death of President Kennedy: (1) No Secret Service agents riding on the rear of the limousine…
Former agent Harry Neal wrote: “It is my personal belief that had they [Secret Service] been permitted to stay on the presidential car, the body of one of the agents might have completely obscured the President from Oswald’s vision. In that event, either no shots would have been fired, or the agent might have been killed or wounded. But the President would not have been hit.” [“The Secret Service In Action” by Harry Neal (New York: Elsevier/Nelson books, 1980), page 93.]
An unnamed former JFK-era agent told author Philip Melanson in February 2002 that not having agents on the running boards of the limousine was a major factor in Kennedy’s death. [Melanson, Philip H. with Peter F. Stevens. The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003, page 285]
Former Secret Service Chief Frank J. Wilson wrote: “Agents on running boards at Dallas might not have saved the President from the first bullet but might have saved him from the second one, which was fatal,” a view later shared by Reagan Agent Joseph Petro.["Special Agent” by Frank J. Wilson and Beth Day (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), page 247. “Standing Next To History: An Agent’s Life Inside The Secret Service” by Joseph Petro with Jeffrey Robinson (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005), page 20]

*****important "loose ends"*****

William Manchester Manchester also wrote, somewhat redeeming himself (a little) [see pages 37-38, 1988 edition]: “It was a good idea, for example, to have agents perched on the broad trunk of the Presidential Lincoln when crowds threatened to grow disorderly. The trouble was that they were always there...Kennedy grew weary of seeing bodyguards roosting behind him every time he turned around [indicating the frequency of the event], [emphasis added].”

Jim Bishop wrote [see pages 39-41, 134, 558. All references to Bishop’s book are from the 1992 Harper Perennial edition]: "No one wanted to weigh the possibilities that, if a Secret Service man had been on the left rear bumper going down Elm Street, it would have been difficult to hit President Kennedy (emphasis added).” Bishop also noted: "The Secret Service men were not pleased because they were in a "hot" city and would have preferred to have two men ride the bumper of the President's car with two motorcycle policemen between him [JFK] and the crowds on the sidewalks."

###
Author Gerald Posner , via his best-selling book “Case Closed”: "As the President and his staff had requested… no Secret Service men rode on the running boards attached to the rear." Not only is it a matter of common knowledge that Clint Hill rode briefly on the rear of the limousine four different times, albeit before entering the sight of the assassination, Dealey Plaza (and against the ‘new’ Secret Service wishes), no actual Secret Service agents are credited in the actual text or endnotes of Posner’s book. So where did Posner get his information? The author e-mailed Posner and received this surprising reply on 3/4/98: “Without checking my files (you're asking about research six and seven years ago), I don't remember interviewing any SS agents for the record, and I don't remember off hand even talking to any for background. I am almost certain I merely relied on orig. docs, or the agents' original interviews and/ or testimony,” a view Posner later confirmed to researcher W. Tracy Parnell. That said, Posner did contact, but did not interview, none other than Agent Floyd M. Boring, who in turn put him in touch with Percy Hamilton Brown, the Executive Secretary of the Former Agents of the Secret Service (although Brown is credited on page 503 of his book, in the Acknowledgements section, it was only through the author’s interview with Boring that his contact with Posner was inadvertently revealed). In this author’s view, Posner’s statements to myself and Parnell appear to be true. In addition, it appears that, ostensibly, like Boring, Brown was of no actual help to Posner, but his name was put in the tail end of the book anyway.[“Case Closed” by Gerald Posner (New York: Random House, 1993), page 233. See also “Murder In Dealey Plaza “ by Prof. James Fetzer (Chicago: Catfeet Press, 2000), pages 163, 166, 183-184. On the very same page, Posner also credits Secret Service Archivist Mike Sampson, a young man not even born when the assassination occurred and, to make matters worse, misspells his last name as “Simpson.”]



^^^
Manchester, page 667. Of the 21 agents/ officials interviewed by Manchester, only Roberts, Greer, Kinney, and Blaine were on the Florida trip. Blaine was the advance agent for Tampa (riding in the lead car), Greer drove JFK’s car, Kinney drove the follow-up car, and Roberts was the commander of the follow-up car. That said, in the author’s opinion, Roberts is still the main suspect of the four as being Manchester’s dubious source for this quote: after all, he was asked to write a report about JFK’s so-called desires, citing Boring as the source for the order via radio transmission (see above). The others---Greer, Kinney, & Blaine---were not asked to write a similar report. In addition, Manchester had access to this report while writing his book (see next footnote). Also, unlike the other three, Roberts was interviewed twice and, while Greer never went on record with his feelings about the matter, one way or the other, Kinney adamantly denied the veracity of Manchester’s information, while Blaine denied the substance of the information, although he DID mention the “Ivy league charlatan” remark coming from a secondary source. Finally, of the 21 agents interviewed by Manchester, Blaine is the only agent---save two headquarters Inspectors (see next footnote)---whose interview comments are not to be found in the text or index. Since, in addition to Blaine, three other agents---Lawton, Meredith & Newman---also mentioned the remark as hearsay, in some fashion or another, it is more than likely that Manchester seized upon the remark and greatly exaggerated its significance…AND attributed it to Boring, while his actual source was likely Roberts (and/ or Blaine). Again, since Boring wasn’t interviewed, the comment had to come second-hand from another agent, who, in turn, received the remark second-hand from Boring. Ultimately, the question is: did Boring really give out this order on instructions from JFK?

Interestingly, Manchester, having interviewed 21 different agents/ officials for his book [pages 660-669], chose to include interviews with Secret Service Inspectors Burrill Peterson and Jack Warner. What’s the problem? Well, these men, not even associated with the Texas trip in any way, were interviewed more than any of the other agents: four times each (Peterson: 10/9/64, 11/17/64, 11/18/64, 2/5/65; Warner: 6/2/64, 11/18/64, 2/5/65, 5/12/65)! Only Emory Roberts, Clint Hill, Roy Kellerman, and Forrest Sorrels had two interviews apiece, while all the other agents/ officials garnered just one interview each. And, more importantly, unlike all the other 19 agents, save one, Gerald Blaine (a Texas trip WHD agent), these two Inspectors are not even mentioned in the actual text or the index; their comments are “invisible” to the reader. It appears, then, that Manchester’s book was truly a sanitized, “official” book, more so than we thought before (as most everyone knows, the book was written with Jackie Kennedy’s approval: it was her idea, in fact [page ix]. Manchester even had early, exclusive access to the Warren Commission itself: “At the outset of my inquiry the late Chief Justice Earl Warren appointed me an ex officio member of his commission…and provided me with an office in Washington’s VFW building, where the commission met and where copies of reports and depositions were made available to me [page xix]). Inspector Peterson figured prominently in the post-assassination press dealings (or lack thereof)---as Agent Sorrels testified: “…I don't think at any time you will see that there is any statement made by the newspapers or television that we said anything because Mr. Kelley, the Inspector, told me ‘Any information that is given out will have to come from Inspector Peterson in Washington.’"[7 H 359] Peterson became an Assistant Director for Investigations in 1968 [“20 Years in the Secret Service” by Rufus Youngblood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973), page 220], while Inspector Warner would go on to become Director of Public Affairs (a position he held until the 1990’s), acting as a buffer to critical press questions during the assassination attempts on President Ford and other related matters [“The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency” (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003) by Philip Melanson with Peter Stevens, pages 101, 201, 224, 237]. Warner would also later become a consultant to the 1993 Clint Eastwood movie “In The Line of Fire.”



Secret Service propaganda: blame the victim (JFK), blame the staff

Secrets of the Secret Service

Vince Palamara review of Douglas P. Horne's new book (s)

Pulitzer Prize, anyone? :)


There's an old saying: never say never. Well, this has been a strange and heady couple years with regard to literature in the JFK assassination case. After being a fervent believer in a conspiracy in President John F. Kennedy's death (from about the age of 12 to 41!), the Spring of 2007 yielded the Oswald-did-it-alone masterpiece "Reclaiming History" by the highly respected author and former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi that, quite literally, made my world upside down and had me reassess everything I knew (or thought I knew) about JFK's murder. Result? While I still believed there mere multiple conspiracies (plural) to kill Kennedy, and that (speaking as the leading civilian Secret Service authority) the Secret Service was grossly negligent on 11/22/63 in Dallas, at the end of the day, Oswald beat everyone to the punch, so to speak; for all intents and purposes, that solved it for me, albeit with a great deal of discomfort.

Then came ANOTHER masterpiece of even greater length (spread over 5 volumes) that, once again, turned my world upside down (some would say, right side up)!


Douglas P. Horne, the author of this latest masterpiece, "Inside The Assassination Records Review Board," has achieved a literary feat worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. His 5 volume study (5 books in one, so to speak) reads almost like the Defense's side of the case; the perfect answer to the Prosecution's ("Reclaiming Historty") masterful plea to the bench. I am amazed and highly impressed with the book as both a very inspired, well put together piece of art (it's a great read!) AND for the substance--and length---of the (counter) argument. While Vince Bugliosi did the seeming impossible back in 2007 (convincing me, however begrudgingly, that Oswald acted alone, despite others who wished JFK ill), Douglas P. Horne has turned around and performed HIS own version of the impossible: convincing me I was WRONG in 2007---a delightful, soul searching, slightly embarassing, and honest appraisal. After all, it is somewhat painful, as a seasoned researcher with a "stake" in the case, to admit he was in error...twice!

Bugliosi's book cleans up the "junk" in the case and presents the best case for Oswald acting alone; STILL a terrific book (THE best Oswald-did-it book that will ever be written---infinitely better than Gerald Posner's "Case Closed" or the insufficient Warren Report). That said, Douglas P. Horne's masterwork trumps "Reclaiming History" and presents the best nuts-and-bolts-and-more case for conspiracy I ever thought possible, circa 2009 and post-Bugliosi. While I have sung the praises for many books over the years, no other book (other than David McCullough's triumphant "Truman") has moved me to the point where I would recommend the volume achieving the vaunted Pulitzer Prize...yes, I am THAT impressed with Horne's years of research and insider work on the case. Jim Douglass excellent volume "JFK and the Unspeakable" serves almost as a companion volume---the "warm-up act"---to Horne's masterwork.

The MEDICAL evidence is the keystone to the case, bar none. With this firmly in mind, Horne, as a respected insider into the U.S. Government's final investigation into JFK's assassination in the mid to late 1990's, has laid out the best case for conspiracy I have ever read, especially at this late juncture (and where my thinking on the case was at not long before his 5 volume study appeared). I won't spoil things by revealing anything specific in this review (sorry!). I will just say this: get these books asap---you will find yourself (like myself) reading them and refering to them many times over.

I recently admonished people in the research community (of which I am one) to, quote, "get a life" (shades of William Shatner, huh?). Well, disregard that bit of advice: instead, GET DOUGLAS P. HORNE'S BOOKS...NOW! 5 PLUS STARS; THE HIGHEST RATING HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

Vince Palamara

New Secret Service books & commentary by Vince Palamara

11/28/09
Vince Palamara says adamantly
DON'T BE FOOLED BY MISREPRESENTATIONS OF FACT:

My book, Survivor's Guilt; The Secret Service & The Failure To Protect The President, has been available since 1993 (and online since 2006) and is THE FIRST BOOK to explore, in detail, JFK's Secret Service agents AND GET THEM ON THE RECORD---Sam Kinney (died in 1997), Gerald Behn (died in 1993), Art Godfrey (died in 2002), Rufus Youngblood (died in 1996), Floyd Boring (died in 2008), Robert Bouck (died 2004), Lynn Meredith (died in 2008), and James Rowley (died in 1992), as well as Sam Sulliman, Larry Newman, Gerald O'Rourke, Tony Sherman, Robert Lilley, Winston Lawson, etc. etc. etc. Via phone, letter, e-mail, or all of the above, these gentleman, 70+ in all, conveyed their thoughts and feelings to me and answered my questions and inquiries. What makes MY work even more powerful is the fact that, unlike direct examination by friendly attorneys, my investigation was driven by a cross examination mindset, not to mention the fact that I was a total stranger contacting these men out of the clear blue; no rehearsal or script (or friendly editing, so to speak).




























Vincent Palamara was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in Sociology.

Although not even born when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Vince brings fresh eyes to an old case. In fact, Vince would go on to study the largely overlooked actions - and inactions - of the United States Secret Service in unprecedented detail, as well as achieving a world's record in the process, having interviewed and corresponded with over seventy former agents (the House Select Committee on Assassinations had the old record of 46 with a 6 million dollar budget and supboena power from Congress), not to mention many surviving family members, White House aides, and even quite a few Parkland and Bethesda medical witnesses for a corresponding project. The result was Survivor's Guilt; The Secret Service & The Failure To Protect The President, a very successful self-published book that sold thousands of copies in the 1990's before becoming a free online e-book in 2006.

In addition, the aforementioned corresponding project on the John F. Kennedy assassination medical evidence, JFK: The Medical Evidence Reference, Vince's second book, although almost an afterthought to Vince's main area of research, still sold hundreds of copies and was favorably mentioned in books by William Law, R. Andrew Kiel, James Fetzer, and even Vince Bugliosi. Like his first book, Vince's medical evidence tome became a free online e-book in 2006.

All told, Vince has been favorably mentioned in over 50 JFK and Secret Service related books to date (including two whole chapters in Murder in Dealey Plaza, The Secret Service: The Hidden History Of An Enigmatic Agency by Philip Melanson, and the Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, among many others), often at length, in the bibliographies, and in the Secret Service - and even medical evidence - areas of these works.

Vince has appeared on the History Channel, local cable access television, YouTube, radio, newspapers, print journals, at national conferences, and all over the internet. Also, Vince's original research materials, or copies of said materials, are stored in the National Archives (by request under Deed Of Gift by the ARRB), the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Harvard University, the Assassination Archives and Research Center, and the Dallas Public Library.

Vince Palamara has become known (as he was dubbed by the History Channel in 2003) "the Secret Service expert." As former JFK Secret Service agent Joe Paolella proclaimed: "You seem to know a lot about the Secret Service, maybe even more than I do," while fellow JFK Secret Service agent Chuck Zboril stated: "You might be helpful to the official Secret Service historian who works out of Washington!"




-------------
(Texas Trip) Secret Service Agent Rosters & Duties

I. San Antonio, TX, 11/21/63:
(San Antonio International Airport, Aerospace Medical Center, Kelly AFB)
[Sources-RIF#154-10002-10424: Survey report; 1541000110104; 1541000110058;1541000110184;1541000110033;17H618; "Kennedy In Texas" video; "Four Days In November" video]

1) Dennis R. Halterman (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in San Antonio 11/12/63)
2) J. Walter Coughlin (WHD): assisted in the advance (later, as part of the 4p.m.-12 mid shift at the Kennedy residence in Middleburg VA)
3) ASAIC of WHD (#3) Roy H. Kellerman: rode in SS-100-X [limousine] (front passenger seat)
4) William R. Greer (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-100-X
5) Henry J. Rybka (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X FROM Aerospace Medical Center (AMC)[follow-up car]
6) ATSAIC of WHD Stewart G. "Stu" Stout: Entrance to Headquarters Bldg., AMC
7) Samuel E. Sulliman (WHD): Entrance to speaker's stand, AMC
8) Richard E. Johnsen (WHD): Speaker's platform, AMC
9) Ernest E. Olsson, Jr. (WHD): same as above
10) Andrew E. Berger (WHD): same as above
11) ATSAIC of WHD Emory P. Roberts: commander of follow-up car (front passenger seat)
12) John D. "Jack" Ready (WHD): follow-up car
13) Donald J. Lawton (WHD): follow-up car
14) William "Tim" McIntyre (WHD): follow-up car
15) Glenn A. Bennett (PRS): follow-up car
16) SAIC of San Antonio office Luis Benavides: assisted in the advance
17) Richard S. McCully (San Antonio office): Supervision of Aerospace Medical Center (AMC)
18) John J. "Muggsy" O'Leary (WHD/ Luggage-Effects [see also 25 H 788])
19) Clinton J. Hill (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
20) Samuel A. Kinney (WHD/ Garage Detail): driver of SS-697-X TO AMC [Rybka: passenger]
21) Paul E. Landis, Jr. (WHD/ First Lady Detail)
22) George W. Hickey, Jr (WHD/ Garage Detail): follow-up car [passenger]
23) ASAIC (#2) of V.P./ LBJ Detail Rufus W. Youngblood (came from LBJ Ranch w/ Johns and Taylor)
24) ATSAIC OF V.P./ LBJ Detail Thomas "Lem" Johns
25) Warren "Woody" Taylor (Lady Bird Johnson Detail)


FORTY members of the military police from Ft. Sam Houston, Texas: traffic control, motorcade route security, and intersection control; police helicopter utilized along route; many flanking motorcycles;
PRS subjects: 0

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
II. Houston, TX, 11/21/63:

(Houston International Airport, Rice Hotel, Coliseum/ Congressman Albert Thomas Dinner)

[Sources: RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110042; 1541000110044 (Daily Shift report, V.P. Detail, 11/21/63); 1541000110031; 180-10083-10419;180-10078-10493; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; author's 10/9/92 interview with DNC advance man Marty Underwood; DNC Advance man Jerry Bruno's notes, JFK
Library]
26) Ronald M. Pontius (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Houston 11/12/63); rode in lead car in motorcade
27) Lubert F. "Bert" de Freese (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived in Houston 11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip); departed at 7:00 p.m. on 11/21/63 to go back to Washington, D.C.
28) DNC Advance Man Martin E. "Marty" Underwood (also the DNC advance man for Austin: see below)
29) James R. “Jim” Goodenough (V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail; rode in V.P. follow-up car in motorcade; went to the LBJ Ranch afterward
30) SAIC of Houston office Lane Bertram: rode in lead car in motorcade
Ready: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Berger: rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Rybka: driver of follow-up car
Stout: follow-up car
Sulliman: follow-up car
Johnsen: follow-up car
Olsson: follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
O'Leary: rode in station wagon in motorcade (near the rear)
Youngblood: rode in LBJ's car
Johns: rode in V.P. follow-up car
Taylor
[Note: Kinney was not in Houston, as he proceeded to Dallas on 11/21/63 after JFK's departure from San Antonio, presumably with Hickey, who also does not appear to have been in Houston, either. In addition, Roberts, Lawton, McIntyre, and Bennett are unaccounted for, although they may have had duties ahead at the Coliseum]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------






III. Fort Worth, TX, evening of 11/21/63, morning of 11/22/63:

(Carswell Air Force Base, Hotel Texas)

[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110104; 1541000110043; 2 H 133; 18 H 674-675, 678, 679, 686, 697, 730, 761; captioned photo of Duncan in "Fort Worth Press", 11/22/63; 16 H 950-951; 17 H 618; 18 H 678-679, 681-682; 25 H 787-788; “The Death of a President,” pages 88 and 116]
31) William L. Duncan (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Fort Worth 11/12/63); still in Fort Worth as of 11/22/63 and after the assassination [25 H 787]
32) Ned Hall II (WHD): assisted in the advance (also arrived in Fort Worth 11/12/63)
33) James F. "Mike" Howard (Dallas office): assisted in the advance; in Fort Worth until 4:00 a.m. 11/22/63 [18 H 675]
34) Jerry D. Kivett (V.P. LBJ Detail): Advance agent, LBJ Detail
(Arrived in Fort Worth on 11/19/63)
35) William H. Patterson (Dallas office): in Fort Worth on the morning of 11/22/63: assigned to drive LBJ's car [25 H 788]; went to Love Field afterwards
36) ATSAIC of WHD Arthur L. Godfrey: arrived in Fort Worth from Washington, D.C. at 2:15 p.m. on 11/21/63 w/ Blaine, Giannoules, Burns, O'Rourke, and Faison for duty at the Hotel Texas 4p.m.-12 min (JFK arrived 11:50 p.m.)
37) Gerald S. Blaine (WHD)
38) Kenneth S. Giannoules (WHD)
39) Paul A. Burns (WHD)
40) Gerald W. O'Rourke (WHD)
41) Robert R. Faison (WHD) [African-American]
42) Michael J. Shannon (V.P./ LBJ Detail): on duty at LBJ Ranch on 11/21/63; went to Hotel Texas on the night of 11/21/63 [12 Mid-8 a.m. 11/22/63]; went back to Johnson City, TX afterwards
Johnsen: follow-up car 11/21/63
[Note: Kinney and Hickey were not in Fort Worth on 11/21/63: they were in Dallas with the two cars]
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo (NOT SS-100-X but a rented car)
Hill
Landis
O'Leary
Rybka: follow-up car to Carswell AFB 11/22/63 (NOT the driver)
Stout
Sulliman
Olsson
Berger [see also 18 H 672, 675, 698]
Ready
Lawton
McIntyre
Roberts
Bennett
Youngblood [note: he would go on to leave in the early morning hours of 11/22/63 to visit a childhood acquaintance (18 H 681-682)]
Johns
Taylor

Drinking Incident Involving The Secret Service: The drinking incident of 11/21-11/22/63 involving the Secret Service at the Fort Worth Press Club AND the "Cellar" [18 H 665-702; 5 H 459-461]:

Chief James J. Rowley-headed investigation [18 H 666-668];
SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels-reported to Rowley along with Inspector Gerard B. McCann [18 H 669-676; 681];
Inspector Thomas J. Kelley-also involved in investigation

THE AGENTS WHO FILED REPORTS-

The Supervisors:
a) ATSAIC Arthur L. Godfrey-shift leader; mentions agents Blaine, Giannoules, Burns, O'Rourke, and Faison in his report: none of Godfrey's men-including Godfrey-participated in consuming any alcoholic beverages [18 H 678];
b) ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman- mentions agents Greer, Kinney, Duncan, Hall, and Grant: only Grant consumed alcohol [18 H 678];
c) ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts-shift leader; mentions agents Ready, Lawton, McIntyre, Bennett, Hill, Landis, Kinney [2nd mention], and Hickey [Kinney and Hickey were in Dallas with the automobiles, so they obviously did not participate in any drinking]: only Roberts and McIntyre did NOT drink-this was the most irresponsible shift of all [18 H 679];
d) ATSAIC Stewart G. Stout, Jr.-shift leader; mentions agents Sulliman, Johnsen, Olsson, and Berger: all but Stout and Sulliman consumed alcoholic beverages, making Stout's shift second to Roberts as the worst offender in the drinking incident [18 H 680];
e) ASAIC of V.P. Detail Rufus W. Youngblood-mentions agents Johns (ATSAIC), Kivett, Taylor, and Shannon: NONE of the V.P. Detail participated in the drinking incident [18 H 681-682]!

The agents who submitted individual reports:
f) Glenn A. Bennett (PRS agent)-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards [18 H 682];
g) Andrew E. Berger-same as above [18 H 683];
h) Gerald S. Blaine-although he went to both establishments, Blaine states that he did NOT consume alcohol [18 H 683];
i) Paul A. Burns-although he went to the "Cellar", Burns (like Blaine) states that he did NOT consume alcohol [18 H 684];
j) David B. Grant-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards [18 H 684];
k) Clinton J. Hill-same as above [18 H 685];
l) Richard E. Johnsen-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort Worth Press Club [18 H 686];
m) Paul E. Landis, Jr.-admitted to drinking a "scotch and soda" at the Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards [18 H 687];
n) Donald J. Lawton-admitted to drinking "three beers" at the Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards [18 H 687];
o) Ernest E. Olsson, Jr.-admitted to drinking "one and a half mixed drinks" at the Fort Worth Press Club [18 H 688];
p) Gerald W. O'Rourke-although he went to the "Cellar", O'Rourke (like Blaine and Burns above) states that he did NOT consume alcohol [18 H 689];
q) John "Jack" D. Ready-admitted to drinking "two beers" at the Fort Worth Press Club; went to the "Cellar" afterwards [18 H 690]
Conclusion-Rowley did not punish these men in any way whatsoever, even though (according to the Secret Service manual [18 H 665]) drinking while in travel status is grounds for REMOVAL from the agency (four of the above-mentioned agents-Bennett, Hill, Landis, and Ready-had critical duties in the Secret Service follow-up car, directly behind JFK's limousine)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------
IV. Dallas, TX, 11/22/63:
(Love Field, Trade Mart)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110100; 1541000110065; 1541000110044; 16 H 950-951 (same as 1541000110032); 1541000110190; "Inside The Secret Service" video 1995 (Lawson); author's interview with Lawson 9/27/92; 17 H 601, 618; 18 H 789; author's interviews with Godfrey 5/30/96, 6/7/96, and letter dated 11/24/97]
43) Winston G. Lawson (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Dallas 11/12/63); rode in lead car in motorcade; remains in Dallas after AF1 departs to assist in the investigation [18 H 788]
44) David B. Grant (WHD): assisted in the advance (arrived in Dallas 11/18/63 from JFK's Florida trip): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital; remains in Dallas after AF1 departs until the early morning hours of 11/24/63 [18 H 788]; although seemingly removed from the immediate area, Grant was involved in the drinking incident [18 H 684] (See below)
45) SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels: assisted in the advance; rode in lead car
46) DNC Advance Man Jacob L. "Jack" Puterbaugh (arrived in Dallas 11/12/63); rode in pilot car in motorcade
Kivett: Advance Agent, LBJ Detail (11/18-11/22 [17 H 601]); rode in V.P. follow-up car in motorcade
47) Robert A. Steuart (Dallas Office): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
48) John Joe Howlett (Dallas office): Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital; rode in limousine as it was taken back to the C-130 (Hickey, driver; Kinney drove the follow-up car back)
49) Roger C. Warner (Dallas office): Love Field
Kellerman: limo
Greer: driver of limo
Roberts: commander of follow-up car
Kinney: driver of follow-up car
Hill: follow-up car
McIntyre: follow-up car
Ready: follow-up car
Landis: folow-up car
Bennett: follow-up car
Hickey: follow-up car
Youngblood: LBJ's car
Johns: V.P. follow-up car
Taylor: V.P. follow-up car
Stout: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+rode in hearse)
Berger: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+drove hearse)
Johnsen: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital (+CE399)
Olsson: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Sulliman: Trade Mart, then Parkland Hospital
Lawton: Love Field
O'Leary: Love Field
Rybka: Love Field

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
V. Austin, TX, 11/22/63:

(Inc. Bergstrom AFB, 40 Acre Club, Governor Connally's mansion/ fundraiser/dinner, Commodore-Perry Hotel, Johnson City, LBJ Ranch)
[Sources-RIF#1541000110104; 1541000110064; 1541000110057; 1541000110050;1541000110044; 1541000110033; 18 H 779; Air Force One radio tapes/ transcripts; Bill Moyers' interview on A&E 1992; "Death of a President", p. 317 (1988 edition), “20 Years In The Secret Service,” page 97]

50) William B. Payne (WHD): Advance agent for Austin (arrived in Austin 11/12/63)
51) Robert R. Burke (WHD): assisted in the advance; specifically, for the LBJ Ranch in Austin City, TX (arrived in Austin for the LBJ Ranch 11/18/63)
52) John F. Yeager (WHD): assisted in the advance for Austin, Texas (arrived in TX 11/18/63)
Underwood [still in Houston on 11/22/63]
Shannon: see above
53) Donald Bendickson (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
54) Gerald Bechtle (V.P./ LBJ Detail): LBJ Ranch 11/21-11/22/63
Goodenough: see above
55) Robert Lockwood (from San Antonio Office) [see 2 H 155 & 18 H 779]
Godfrey: Austin (Commodore-Perry Hotel; depart for Washington at 3:15 p.m.)
Blaine: same
Giannoules: same
Burns: same
O'Rourke: same
Faison: same
56) Howard K. Norton (PRS) [see CD80 and 1541000110033, cited above]: same (this is the first and only time Norton's name appears anywhere in the Shift reports. He would go on to photograph the bloody limousine at the White House garage with fellow PRS photographer James K. "Jack" Fox on 11/23/63)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------
"VI." Chicago, IL, slated for sometime shortly AFTER 11/22/63:

[Sources-RIF#1541000110065]

57) Joseph Paolella (WHD): Advance agent (arrived in Chicago 11/18/63) [had been on JFK's 3/23/63 Chicago trip; interviewed for Seymour Hersh's "The Dark Side of Camelot" 1997]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shift Summary-
a) 12 Midnight to 8 a.m. shift:
ATSAIC Godfrey-shift leader,
SA Blaine,
SA Giannoules,
SA O'Rourke,
SA Burns,
SA Faison

HOTEL TEXAS (went to Austin after JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth);


b) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift:
ATSAIC Roberts-shift leader,
SA Lawton,
SA Ready,
SA McIntyre,
SA Bennett (PRS),
SA Hill (First Lady Detail),
SA Landis (First Lady Detail),
SA Kinney (Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas),
SA Hickey (Garage/Chauffeur-in Dallas)

FOLLOW-UP CAR (except Lawton-Love Field; Lawton rode in follow-up car AND back of JFK's limo on 11/18/63);


c) 4 p.m. to 12 Midnight shift:
ATSAIC Stout-shift leader,
SA Sulliman,
SA Johnsen,
SA Olsson,
SA Berger


TRADE MART (later, Parkland Hospital; all in Houston motorcade's follow-up car except Berger: in pilot car);



d) V.P. Detail:
ASAIC Youngblood,
ATSAIC Johns,
SA Kivett,
SA Taylor (assigned to Lady Bird),
SA Shannon

HOTEL TEXAS (Youngblood-LBJ's car; Johns, Kivett, Taylor-V.P. follow-up car;
Shannon-back to LBJ Ranch where he came)


e) [?] Shift:
ASAIC Kellerman,
SA Greer (Garage/Chauffeur),
SA Hall,
SA Duncan,
SA Grant


Kellerman and Greer-HOTEL TEXAS; JFK LIMOUSINE (all stops; later, Grey Navy ambulance and Bethesda; worked the WHOLE day without being relieved!)
Hall-HOTEL TEXAS
Duncan-HOTEL TEXAS (advance agent for Fort Worth stop)...
Grant-HOTEL TEXAS (advance agent for Florida [11/18/63] AND Texas trips; later, Trade Mart and Parkland Hospital);

ALSO: Dallas agents James F. "Mike" Howard and William H. Patterson also in Fort Worth (Howard assisted in advance arrangements at Fort Worth-on duty at the Hotel Texas from JFK's arrival until 4 a.m. on 11/22/63...later, questioned Marina Oswald; Patterson helped in security
at JFK's breakfast in Fort Worth-drove LBJ's car in Fort Worth on 11/22/63...later, Love Field);

Conclusion: Chief Rowley told the Warren Commission that 28 members of the WHITE HOUSE DETAIL accompanied JFK to Fort Worth-he's correct (Kinney and Hickey would make 30 if counted, but they were in Dallas, as previously mentioned). Advance agent Winston G. Lawson, SAIC of Dallas office Forrest V. Sorrels, and the remainder of Sorrels' men were in Dallas-leaving John J. "Muggsy" O'Leary (Garage/Chauffeur) and Henry J. Rybka (Garage/Chauffeur) [both were in the Houston motorcade of 11/21/63- O'Leary rode in the Station Wagon, while Rybka drove the follow-up car; both men were at Love Field on 11/22/63] to round out the
WHD agents




Other trips:

RIF # 154-10003-10012: Chicago, IL trip 3/23/63, Dedication of O’Hare Airport
WHD agents on trip: Grant (advance agent), Burke, Pontius, Lilley, Johnsen, Chandler, Giannoules, Lawton, Blaine, Lawson, Olsson, Burns, Paolella, Godfrey, Boring, Greer, Shipman, O’Leary
Chicago office agents: Hanly, Tucker, Martineau, Plichta, Bolden, Cross, Maynard, Stocks, Gorman, Noonan, Griffiths, Motto, McLeod, Russell, Strong
6 motorcycles surrounding limo, Lawton riding on (JFK’s side of) rear of limo, Mayor’s follow-up car with four detectives in ADDITION to SS follow-up car, police facing crowd (not JFK) on the route, noone permitted on overpasses except four policeman guarding them, press/photographers close to JFK, Hatcher with Kilduff
PRS: one threat.





Nashville, TN trip 5/18/63:Agent Paul Doster told the “Nashville Banner” back on 5/18/63 that“a complete check of the entire motorcade route” was done (also, “other [police] officers were assigned atop the municipal terminal and otherbuildings along the route. These men took their posts at 8 a.m. and remained at their rooftop stations until the president and his party passed”. In addition, a helicopter was used, similar to its use on 11/21/63 in San Antonio, Texas). Agents/ important personnel on this trip inc. Salinger, Behn, Kellerman, Greer, Roberts, DeFreese, Duncan, Chandler, Yeager, Nunn, O’Leary, Grant, Sulliman, Lawson, Olsson, Paolella, Burns, and DNC advance man Jerry Bruno. [Materials provided by researcher Bill Adams]



JFK's 11-state "Conservation Tour", 9/24/63-10/63---agents/ important personnel inc. Salinger, Behn, Godfrey, Blaine, Burns, Greer, Shipman, Bruno, Puterbaugh (Duluth, MN), Lawson, Foster, Roberts, Chandler, Burke, Lawton, & Rybka [see also HSCA interviews with Puterbaugh (4/14/78) and Bruno (12/13/77), as well as Bruno’s book “The Advance Man”]. Agents walked/ jogged beside JFK’s limousine+press bus closeby (on 9/25/63, Ashland, WI [film clip in “Executive Action”])



RIF #154-10002-10417: Philadelphia, PA trip 10/30/63
WHD agents on trip: Stout (advance agent), Godfrey, Faison, Behn, Greer, McIntyre, Burns, Giannoules, Paolella, Kinney, DeFreese, Payne, Duncan, Yeager, Zboril
Philadelphia office agents: Jordan, Kelly, Mesaros, Abel.
Close press/ photographers, Hatcher with Kilduff
PRS: two subjects;


RIF#154-10002-10418:Elkton, MD trip 11/14/63
Dedication of the Maryland-Delaware Turnpike
WHD agents on trip: Roberts (advance agent), Boring, Greer, Ready, Sulliman, Zboril, McIntyre, Berger, Morey, Jones, Kollar, Lawton [on faded part of list: Rybka (?)]
Baltimore office agents: Burger and Holmes
Philadelphia office agents: Abel, Kelly, Mesaros
Salinger
PRS: one subject;





RIF#154-10002-10419:SECOND New York City trip 11/14-11/15/63
AFL-CIO Convention
WHD agents on trip: Godfrey (advance agent), Boring, Greer, Grant, McIntyre, Thompson, Sulliman, Roberts, Rybka [follow-up car], Bennett*(PRS), Jones, Berger, Morey, Kollar, O’Leary; Also: Paolella, Burns, Metzinger & O’Rourke [USSS RIF#1541-0001-10093: shift Report, 11/14/63]
NY office agents: Whitaker, Jukes, Gibbs, Gunthers, Sershen, Starr, Mayes, Ward, Phillips, Wong, Thomas, Douglas, Tully, Melchiori, Luzania
*PRS: Bouck notified on 11/11/63, the day after Bennett was “temporarily” assigned to the WHD from PRS, and Bennett was then dispatched to the President’s suite at the Carlyle Hotel, prior to JFK’s arrival on 11/14/63, “to conduct a technical survey”; detective follow-up car along with SS follow-up car, Salinger with Kilduff, close press/ photographers



RIF#154-10002-10420:Palm Beach, FL trip 11/18/63
WHD/ PRS on trip: Johnsen (advance agent), Boring, Greer, Rybka, Norton (PRS), Wunderlich (PRS), Roberts, Stout, Godfrey, O’Leary (etc.) [Bennett-see Secret Service shift reports]
Miami office agents: Marshall, Howell
“same route as described in ASAIC Boring’s survey report dated March 26,1963”
fire alarm system: installed by SA’s Norton and Wunderlich of PRS;
“Two days prior to the arrival of the President, SA’s Norton and Wunderlich [of PRS] made a prelimimary sweep of the residence. On the day of the president’s arrival, these agents made a final sweep of the residence after which they…secured the residence”;
PRS agents Norton and Wunderlich “sanitized and secured the Kennedy residence” [along with Bennett, that makes THREE PRS agents on the Florida trip!]
Salinger with Kilduff
[NOTE: USSS RIF# 1541-0001-10082, Secret Service shift report dated 11/15/63 and written by David Grant, states that himself, Paolella, Burns, O’Rourke, and Metzinger arrived in Palm Beach via NY.Roberts’ shift report from the same day says as much: USSS RIF# 1541-0001-10081. However, none of these agent’s names show up on any of the FL survey reports. That said, the 11/18/63 shift report written by ATSAIC Godfrey (USSS RIF# 1541-0001-100650, states that himself, Burns, O’Rourke, and Metzinger departed Palm Beach at 9:30 a.m. for Washington, D.C. For his part, Paolella was heading out to Chicago to do advance work for a proposed trip to the city that JFK did not live to see, an apparent makeup date for the cancelled trip earlier in the month (USSS RIF# 1541-0001-100650)]

RIF#154-10002-10423:Tampa, FL 11/18/63
WHD agents on trip: Blaine (advance agent), Yeager, Boring, Greer, Rybka, Kinney, Stout, Roberts, Sulliman, Ready, Berger, Zboril, Morey, Lawton, Kollar, Jones, McIntyre [Bennett-see Secret Service shift reports]
Tampa office: Peppers
1964 White Lincoln Continental used for McDill Air Force Base
SS-100-X (JFK’s limo) and SS-678-X (1956 “Queen Mary” Cadillac follow-up car) used for downtown/ suburban motorcade
Salinger, underpasses controlled by police and military units, Sheriff’s office secured the roofs of major buildings in the downtown and suburban areas, agents on limo, Salinger with Kilduff, close press/ photographers (inc. Stoughton in follow-up car), McHugh in between SS agents in front seat of limo; it is noted that “the follow-up car will carry a considerable burden on this trip”;
SA Cecil Taylor of PRS: 2 subjects found;

RIF#154-10002-10422:Miami, FL 11/18/63
Inter-American Press Association
WHD agents on trip: DeFreese (advance agent), Boring, Greer, Coughlin, Blaine, McIntyre, Bennett (PRS), Kollar, Roberts, Lawton, Jones, Zboril, Rybka, Sulliman, Berger, Morey, O’Leary;
Miami office agents: Marshall, Aragon, Bailey, Curry, Jamison, Howell
CIA’s Ted Shackley and William Finch helped Secret Service on this trip
PRS: six pages worth! Subjects inc. Orlando Bosch, Pedro Diaz Lanz, Enrique Llaca, Jr., Rohinski, and Derber;
lead car inc. Dr. Burkley (!); Salinger with Kilduff







ONLY ‘similarity’ to Dallas the author could find, and it involves a very secure location JFK visited—
RIF#154-10002-10421:Cape Canaveral, FL 11/18/63
Final Survey Report dated 1/20/64 (!)
WHD agents on trip: Stout (advance agent), Sulliman, Berger, Kollar, Jones, Boring, Greer, Morey, Rybka, Roberts, Lawton, Zboril, Bennett (PRS)
Jacksonville office agents: McDavid, Walter
8 agents from the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)
PRS: SA Dick Flohr found no threats
Salinger, close press/ photographers

List of author contacts & interviews (1990-2006 [for post 2006 contacts, see other blogs)


1) Gerald A. Behn (SAIC of WHD) 9/27/92-3 times
[Behn passed away 4/21/93]

2) Jean Brownell Behn-wife 11/18/95; 11/28/97-letter
[Also: 2000 e-mail from neighbor re: Mr. & Mrs. Behn]

3) Sandra Kane-daughter of Behn 8/8/95

4) Floyd M. Boring (ASAIC of WHD) 9/22/93; 3/4/94; 11/22/97-letter

5) Mrs. Roy (June) Kellerman, widow of Roy Kellerman (ASAIC of WHD) 3/2/92; 9/27/92; 12/2/97-letter
[Roy passed away 3/22/84]
[Also: letter to author from Harold Weisberg re: his contact with one of Roy's daughters 3/5/92]

6) Arthur L. Godfrey (ATSAIC of WHD) 5/30/96; 6/7/96; 11/24/97-letter
[Art passed away 5/12/02]

7) P. Hamilton Brown (WHD/ former Exec. Sec. of the AFAUSSS) 9/30/92

8) Richard E. Johnsen (WHD [CE399]) 9/29/92

9) Winston G. Lawson (WHD/advance agent) 9/27/92; 1/12/04, 1/20/04, 1/31/04, 2/17/04-letters

10) Donald J. Lawton (WHD) 11/15/95; 11/22/97-letter

11) Charles T. Zboril (WHD) 11/15/95

12) Wife of Chuck Zboril 11/15/95

13) Eve B. Dempsher (WHD Secretary) 11/19/97-letter

14) Richard Greer-son of William R. Greer (WHD/ Garage) 9/17/91; 10/7/91; 9/23/92
[William passed away 2/28/85]

15) Samuel A. Kinney (WHD) 10/19/92; 3/5/94; 4/15/94
[Sam passed away 7/21/97]

16) Hazel Kinney-wife 11/20/97-letter

17) Jacques Tangy-friend of Andy Hutch (WHD/ Garage) 7/27/96-letter
[Andy passed away 1991]

18) Robert I. Bouck (SAIC of PRS) 9/27/92
[deceased]

19) Mark Crouch-friend of James K. Fox (PRS) 1/28/92; 9/23/92
[Fox passed away 1987]

20) H. Stuart Knight (SAIC of V.P./LBJ) 10/22/92; 2/8/94

21) Rufus W. Youngblood (ASAIC of V.P.) 10/22/92; 2/8/94
[Rufus passed away 10/2/96]

22) Jerry D. Kivett (V.P./LBJ) 12/8/97, 2/18/04, 2/28/04-letters; e-mails, 2006; 2/7/04

23) G. d'Andelot “Don” Belin (General Counsel) 11/21/97-letter
[Belin passed away 4/15/03]

24) James J. Rowley (Chief) 9/27/92
[Rowley passed away 11/1/92]

25) John E. Campion-friend w/same name 11/20/97-letter
[The Agent John E. Campion passed away in the 1970's]

26) Michael W. Torina (Chief Inspector) 12/5/97, 2/23/04-letters

27) Abraham W. Bolden, Sr. (WHD/Chicago) 9/16/93, 4/10/94, & 8/8/03: calls;
9/10/93, 10/30/93, 12/13/93, 12/31/93, 8/94, 1/97, 7/04, 8/04, 9/04, Spring/ Summer 2005 and 2006: letters, e-mails and correspondence

28) Robert E. Lilley (WHD/Boston) 9/27/92; 9/21/93; 6/7/96; 3/29/04-letter

29) John Norris (Uniformed) 3/4/94
[Norris passed away 4/30/03]

30) Maurice G. Martineau (ASAIC, Chicago) 9/21/93; 6/7/96; 11/23/97-letter
[note: son Walt contacted the author via e-mail 9/04]
31) Forrest V. Sorrels (SAIC of Dallas) 1/28/92; 9/27/92
[Sorrels passed away 11/6/93]

32) Robert A. Steuart (Dallas) 10/22/92; 9/21/93


33) John Joe Howlett (Dallas) 11/26/97-letter


34) Bill Livingood (Dallas, later WHD) 11/92; 11/19/97-letter
[Also: friend Gary Rowell had spoken to him 11/91 and passed info. on to the author]

35) Gerald S. Parr (Nashville) 11/18/95

36) H. Terrence “Terry”Samway (Public Affairs) 1/16/98-letter

37) Gerald W. Bechtle (V.P./LBJ) 12/17/97-letter

38) Gerald W. Bechtle, Jr-son 6/29/01 & 11/03 e-mails

39) Cecil Stoughton (WH photographer) 12/2/95 and 11/20/97: letters

40) Martin E. Underwood (DNC advanceman) 10/9/92
[Underwood passed away 3/18/03]

41) Jacob L. Puterbaugh (DNC advanceman) 1/3/98-letter

42) David Powers (JFK aide) 9/10/93-letter
[Powers passed away 3/98]

43) Aubrey Rike (O'Neal Funeral Home) 11/22/97-video

44) Gerald Patrick Hemming (Intelligence) 2/10/92; 9/23/92

45) Rex W. Scouten (Secret Service/WHD) 5/28/98 and 9/98-letters

46) Joseph Paolella (WHD) 7/22/99-email; 3/24/04-letter

47) A. Dale Wunderlich (Secret Service/PRS) 10/9/99-email

48) Ronald M. Pontius (WHD) Oct. 2000 e-mail

49) Ken Wiesman (WHD) Oct. 2000 e-mail

50) J. Frank Yeager (WHD) 12/29/03 and 1/24/04- letters

51) Frank G. Stoner (Secret Service/PRS Liaison Officer/ WFO) 1/10/04, 1/21/04, 2/15/04, 2/28/04: letters (w/ pictures+book+report); 1/17/04, 1/18/04: calls; 1/18/04, 1/19/04, 1/21/04, 2/12/04, 2/14/04, 2/15/04, 2/17/04, 2/25/04, 2/26/04, 2/27/04, 2/28/04, 3/1/04, 12/2/04 (from wife Elaine): e-mails

52) J. Walter Coughlin (WHD) 1/15/04, 2/21/04: letters; 2/22/04, 2/23/04, 2/24/04, 2/25/04, 2/26/04, 2/27/04, 2/28/04, 2/29/04, 3/1/04, 3/10/04, 12/2/04, 1/20/05, 4/25/05, 4/26/05, 4/27/05, 4/28/05, 4/28/05, 5/3/05, 5/4/05, 5/5/05, 5/6/05, 5/7/05, 7/8/05, 7/9/05, 7/11/05, 7/15/05, various in 2006: e-mails

53) Gerald W. O’Rourke (WHD) 1/15/04 letter+2/11/04; 6/16/05, 6/17/05, 6/18/05, 7/23/05: e-mails

54) Winston J. Gintz (Secret Service/ St. Louis, MO Office) 2/11/04

55) Harry D. Anheier, Jr. (Son of the late agent, Harry D. Anheier, Sr.: Secret Service/ SAIC, Chicago & New Orleans) 2/11/04
[Harry D. Anheier, Sr. passed away in the late 1950’s]

56) Samuel E. Sulliman (WHD) 2/11/04

57) Kenneth S. Giannoules (WHD) 2/11/04

58) Thomas Lemuel “Lem” Johns (ATSAIC of V.P./ LBJ) 2/11/04

59) Frank D. Slocum (Secret Service/ Los Angeles Office) 1/16/04 letter

60) Radford W. “Rad” Jones (WHD) 1/16/04 letter

61) Darwin David Horn Sr. (Secret Service/ Los Angeles Office) 1/30/04, 2/14/04, 2/20/04, 2/22/04, 2/23/04, 2/24/04, 2/25/04, 2/26/04, 2/27/04, 2/28/04, 3/1/04, 3/2/04, 3/3/04, 3/8/04, 3/19/04, 3/26/04, 4/25/05, 4/27/05, 5/4/05: e-mails; 2/21/04: letter (+inscribed book)

62) Larry Newman (Secret Service/ WHD) 2/2/04-letter; 2/7/04, 2/12/04

63) Gerald S. Blaine (WHD) 2/7/04, 6/10/05; 6/12/05, 6/13/05, 7/9/05, 7/11/05: e-mails

64) Robert R. “Bob” Snow (Secret Service/WHD) 3/9/04-letter; 3/12/04, 12/2/04, 12/8/04, 12/9/04, 12/10/04, 12/20/04, 4/28/05: e-mails

65) Paul S. Rundle (V.P. LBJ Detail) 3/6/04-e-mail

66) Ernest E. Olsson, Jr. (WHD) 2/7/04

67) Talmadge W. Bailey (Secret Service/ Miami Office) 2/7/04

68) Vincent P. Mroz (Secret Service/WHD) 2/7/04

69) Anthony “Tony” Sherman (Secret Service/ WHD) 2/19/04- letter

70) Stanley B. Galup (Secret Service/ Special Officer, 1962-1985) 2/20/04-letter

71) Tom Heuerman (Secret Service, 1969-1971: Minnesota, Chicago, and temporary WHD assignment protecting Nixon around the world; also protected former V.P. Humphrey) 2/12/04-e-mail

72) Annie Stromberg re: Paul Landis (WHD: First Lady Detail) 4/6/99 e-mail
[Also: phoned Landis twice on 2/7/04: 2 unreturned messages; not inc. 2 unanswered letters]

73) Earl L. Drescher (Metropolitan Police Department, 5/30/56 to 4/25/70, rising to the position of Captain; Captain, WHP/ Uniformed Division, 4/26/70-May 1970; June 1970: became Deputy Chief of the Executive Protective Service: remained in this position until 4/1/73 when he became Chief; remained in this position until his retirement on 10/1/77; nephew of George Drescher, SAIC of WHD, FDR-Truman) 2/20/04-letter

74) Donald A. “Don” Stebbins (Secret Service/ current Exec. Sec. of the AFAUSSS) 2/27/04, 6/6/05: letters

75) William M. “Bill” McCord (Secret Service/ Miami office) 3/12/04-letter

76) Lynn S. Meredith (Secret Service/ WHD/ “Kiddie Detail”) 3/9/04, 5/22/05-letters

77) James R. “Jim” Goodenough (Secret Service/ V.P. LBJ Detail) 3/16/04-letter

78) Charles J. Marass (Secret Service) 3/25/04-letter

79) George D. Rogers (Assistant Director, Office of Government & Public Affairs) 6/14/05, 7/15/05: e-mails

80) Clinton J. Hill (WHD/ First Lady Detail) registered letter from author dated 6/1/05 (receipt signed 6/6/05); 6/13/05

81) William “Tim” McIntyre (WHD) 6/13/05

82) Dale Keaner (WHD) 6/13/05

83) Ed Morey (WHD) 6/13/05

84) John D. “Jack” Ready (WHD) 6/13/05

85) Mark Harmon (USSS) 2005 e-mails

86) Howell “Hal” Purvis (USSS) 2006 e-mails

87) Mike Maddaloni (WHD, Carter-Reagan) 2006 e-mails

88) Kent D. Jordan (WFO/ WHD) 6/13/05

89) DMN Kent Biffle (rode in local press pool car) 8/17/99 e-mail

90) Henry Burroughs 10/14/98 letter
[Deceased]

91) DPD Marrion Baker 9/98 letter

92) DPD Samuel Q. Bellah 9/98, 3/20/04: letters


93) George Whitmeyer, Jr. the son of the late Lt. Col. George Whitmeyer
[Deceased 1978] 9/28/98 letter

94) Gary Beckworth, son of Congressman Lindley Beckworth
[Deceased 1984] 10/5/98 letter

95) Vincent Gullo (C-130) 8/27/98 letter

96) Milton T. Wright 8/98 letter & 9/3/98 e-mail

97) Bobbie Jacks, wife of the late Hurchel Jacks 8/31/98 letter
[Deceased 12/19/95]

98) DPD Stavis Ellis 9/8/98 letter







99-115 Parkland Hospital:

99) Dr. Charles Crenshaw 8/26/98 letter
[Deceased]

100) Dr. Malcolm Perry 8/26/98 letter

101) Dr. Ronald Coy Jones 10/13/98 letter

102) Dr. Paul Peters 10/98 letter
[Deceased]

103) Dr. Donald Seldin 8/27/98 letter

104) Dr. Donald T. Curtis 9/30/98 letter

105) Dr. Robert N. McClelland 9/98 letter

106) Nurse Patricia B. Gustafson (Hutton) 9/1/98 & 10/98 letter

107) Dr. Adolph Giesecke 10/98 letter

108) Mrs. Billie Martinets 9/8/98 letter

109) Dr. William Risk 9/8/98 letter

110) Dr. William Osborne 9/3/98 letter

111) Dr. Donald Jackson 9/8/98 letter

112) Dr. Boris Porto, son of Dr. Lito Porto 8/31/98 letter; 9/6/98 & 9/8/98

113) Dr. Earl F. Rose 9/4/98 letter

114) Dr. William H. Zedlitz 11/4/98 letter

115) Evalea Glanges 12/2/98 letter
[Deceased]

163-117 Methodist Hospital

116) Dr. Gerard Noteboom 8/25/98 letter

117) William A. Harper 9/15/98 letter

118-127 Bethesda (autopsy)

118) Jerrol Custer (Bethesda X-ray tech) 11/22/91-video; 11/23/91; 3/15-3/16/98-video [Deceased July 2000]

119) Chester Boyers 8/25/98 letter

120) Richard Lipsey 9/98 letter

121) John T. Stringer, Jr. 9/2/98 letter

122) James W. Sibert 9/1/98 letter

123) MRS. Layton Ledbetter 9/98 letter
[Deceased 2/14/97]

124) Don Rebentisch 9/1/98 letter

125) Dr. James J. Humes 9/98 letter
[Deceased]

126) Paul K. O'Connor 10/6/98 letter

127) Jan Gail "Nick" Rudnicki 9/98 letter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

128) Cortlandt Cunningham (FBI; Limousine, White House garage) 9/14/98 letter

129) Sarah McClendon (Press Corps) 10/95

130) Beverly Oliver (witness) 11/22/97-video

131) Shari Angel/Weston (Ruby stripper) 11/22/97-video

132) Palmer McBride (LHO friend) 11/22/97

133) Madeleine Duncan Brown (LBJ mistress) 11/22/97
[Deceased]

134) Tony Zappone (photographer, 11/18/63, Tampa, FL) 12/18/03 (+several e-mails Dec. 2003)

135) Jack Moseley (reporter in Fort Worth) 12/18/03-email

136) Congressman Samuel M. Gibbons (Florida) 1/15/04 letter


Note: This list does not include many attempted/ unsuccessful (primary and follow-up) contacts and unanswered letters from many others (inc. these Secret Service & related contacts: Toby Chandler, Donald Bendickson, George Weisheit, Bob Burke, Robert Melchiori, Robert Lockwood, John Giuffre, John Powers, John Simpson, Milton Scheuerman, Lynn E. Meredith [different agent than Lynn S. Meredith], Sal Mazzuca, Gerard McCann, Robert Faison, Alwyn Dickerson, Robert Jamison, Jerry Bruno, Robert Powis, Chuck Vance, Mrs. Mary Finger [Bill Greer’s second wife], Mrs. Emory Roberts [Betty], the family of the late Bert deFreese, James Mastrovito, Thomas Wells, Adrian Vial, Nemo Ciochina, Gene Wofford, George Sershen, Roy Nunn, William Duncan, Victor Gonzalez, Ron Williams and Robert L. DeProspero (two attempts)