Post by John Duncan on Jan 15, 2020 22:07:49 GMT -5
"The Secret Service "
By Gil Jesus -- 2/2003
The night before the assassination, Kennedy's Secret Service Detail spent the night drinking at The Cellar, a Fort Worth bar. They were there until the wee hours of the morning, until just before the President got up.
The all-night party was to celebrate a new era for the agents. No longer would they be used as errand boys, or "lookouts" for Mrs. Kennedy while JFK was fooling around with other women in the White House. No longer would he be evading them and taking off on his own. No longer would their morale be destroyed by the man who they were charged to protect.
Tomorrow there would be a new President, a new boss, and they could go on doing what they were trained to do: Protect the President of the United States. A huge burden was about to be lifted off of their shoulders---it was truly a night to celebrate.
When Air Force One landed at Love Field, the Kennedys went through the usual line of well-wishers and welcomers and then the president and the First Lady headed for the fences to shake hands with as many of the GOOD people of Dallas that they had time for. This was probably the place where if anything was to happen, it would happen here. The closeness of the President to the crowd was always a danger. The previous three Presidential assassinations were committed at a distance of three feet or less. But the crowd was basically friendly, although a few rebel flags and Texas flags could be seen. One person had a poster which read, "Help JFK Stamp Out Democracy".
The Secret Service agents went to the fence with the Kennedys, while Governor and Mrs. Connally sat in safety in the President's limo. Apparently, the Governor did not wish to shake hands. When they were finished shaking hands, the Kennedys joined the Connallys in the car.
The Secret Service had set the stage for the assassins. According to Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry, the Secret Service had "suggested" the motorcade route to include turns from Main St. onto Houston St. and then from Houston onto Elm St.. Curry also said that it was the Secret Service that had moved the motorcycle escort to the rear of the President's car, almost to the front fenders of the Secret Service "backup" car. Little did Curry know that this had been done to give the shooter in the storm drain below street level a clear and unobstructed shot at the President at point-blank range as he rode by.
But there would be no nuclear attack on November 22, 1963 and they knew it, so they could take that risk (separating this man from the President). The only attack this day would be an attack from snipers in Dealey Plaza that would take the life of the 35th President of the United States. As they rode through Dallas, the President was out in the open and exposed to a shot from any direction, something unheard of in motorcade planning. They were so close to them that it seemed as if his motorcycle escort was protecting the agents in the follow-up car.
On the route itself, one man held a sign that read "Because of high regard of the Presidency, I hold you, JFK, and your blind socialism in complete contempt".
Another man held a sign that said, ""Yankee, Go Home". There were handbills on telephone poles with mugshots of JFK which read, "Wanted for Treason".
This was clearly a dangerous place for John Kennedy and he was out in the open with no protection. Sherriff Bill Decker had ordered his men to provide NO protection for the President. They were ordered to watch the motorcade and not the buildings or the people.
When the shooting started, Rufus Youngblood jumped on top of the Vice-President immediately on hearing the first shot, which was the plan. Kennedy's bodyguards froze. When the shot hit JFK in the throat, Agent John Ready jumped off the running board of the follow-up car only to be ordered back to it by ASAIC Emory Roberts. Agent Roy Kellerman, who was in the front passenger's seat of JFK's limo, looked back and saw that the President was hit and told Agent William Greer, who was driving the President's limo, "We're hit get us out of here!". Greer looked back and saw that Kennedy was hit.
Kellerman called to the lead car, "Lawson, we're hit. Get us to the Hospital". Greer slowed the car down to almost a stop and looked back a second time to see.the President's head explode and Agent Clint Hill running to the back of the car as Mrs. Kennedy crawled out the back onto the trunk. Greer then gunned the Lincoln almost losing Hill and Mrs. Kennedy in the process.
Greer's slowing of the limousine allowed the shooter in the storm drain in the street to have his sights on JFK for a longer period of time and ensured a point-blank shot, unobstructed and fatal, to the President's head. The new era for the agents had just begun.