Echoes in Dealey Plaza,"Not the Book"

[J. Raymond Carroll]

I do not think that Greer was part of the plot.

Greg, earlier on this thread you wrote

So, if there was a knoll shooter whose bullet hit its mark, then it follows that the limousine came to a halt in order to allow the kill shot to be absolutely certain to succeed.

l am trying to follow your argument to its logical conclusion.

you seem to be saying that there would be no point in having knoll shooters

unless they could guarantee that the driver would slow down or stop the limo.

Since you now say that the driver was not involved

it should follow from your premise

that there was no knoll shooter.

Am I following your argument.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

Depending on the position of the Limo, there was also a downward angle from the 6th floor window.

If you take 20° as a rough estimate of the downward angle from the window to the Limo, the Sun would be roughly 57° (37 + 20) above the target.

I imagine that the sun would not be a big factor to a TSBD shooter using a scope

but surely it would have been a handicap

if a TSBD shooter was relying on the iron sights

as the HSCA claimed.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

My view is that Greer was NOT compromised or bought off. That is too messy--too much risk. Too much "payola" required. And..what if he had refused to participate? Would you offer him more money? Or would you kill him because he knew of the plot? Way too messy.

I submit that if we accept this argument then there was no plot at all.

It would have been too risky and required too much payola.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

get the old guy driving,reflexes are slowing down for most of us post fifty,he was probably a good chauffeur,but not necessarily good at tactical driving.In fact modern law enforcement officers who train in fishtailing would know more about tactical driving than Greer.

Sorry Malcolm, I passed Greers age of 54 a few years ago,

and I can still hit the gas pedal

as fast as any young punk.

[Bernice Moore]

Despite the WC s findings and government insistance on the lone gunman/Oswald conclusion , several of the agents i the President's detail did not accept the assertions. Later some pf the men expressed their belief that the cade was really a conspiracy, as the vast majority of the U.S publuc came to believe. Researcher Vince Palamara interviewed many Secret Service agents and cites Agents, Sam Kinney, Abraham Bolden, Maurice Martineau, Marty Underwood, and John Norris as those who ''believe this ( Conspiracy ) to be the case . In addition says Palamara June Kellerman stated that both Kellerman and fellow agent Bill Greer , who were in the front seat of Kennedy's limo, asserted that there was more to the assassination than the ''Official Version'' let on...Agent Winston Lawson. the advance agent for Kennedy's trip to Dallas . In a recent interview of Lawson, the retired agent was asked, ''Given the mprovements in technology, procedure and intelligence, do you think the Dallas tragedy would have prevented with today's improvements , or would it still be a case of politics over effective protection ?''......Lawson replied '' That's a hard one to say. there is so much more now, Not just training but more people .....(.As a Political Advance Man ........... are you familiar with that term ?

(he) comes to the lead Secret Service Advance man and says '' I want the ropes and stanchions brought down , the crowd will be closer.''....skip......There's always going to be a political side versus a Secret Service side, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.''..............Then Lawson offered tidbit previously unheard ; Sometimes the political side will blame the Secret Service for not going to a particular place that they didn't want to go to, using the Secret Service as an excuse''...........Lawson does not join agents who stated or implied . in SEYMOUR HERSH'S The Dark Side of Camelot '' that Kennedy's recklessness brought on his death''............from ''The Secret Service'' chapter ''Losing Lancer'' 2002 Philip H. Melanson....PH..D..with Peter Stevens.............pages 87, 88.....Despite all the lapses and failures of the Secret Service agents in Dallas, Agent Kellerman told the FBI the night after the assassination . ''The precautions employed in Dallas were the most stringent and thorough ever employed.........for the visit of a President to an American city..'' The Commission asked that if this were true, what were the normal protective procedures..Kennedy is alleged to have said to San Antonio Congressman Henry Gonzales, the night before the shooting.The Secret Service have taken care of everything.''.....As events proved on that shocking day , the agency had failed to take care of everything.............

[Richard Hocking]

Depending on the position of the Limo, there was also a downward angle from the 6th floor window.

If you take 20° as a rough estimate of the downward angle from the window to the Limo, the Sun would be roughly 57° (37 + 20) above the target.

I imagine that the sun would not be a big factor to a TSBD shooter using a scope

but surely it would have been a handicap

if a TSBD shooter was relying on the iron sights

as the HSCA claimed.

Agree that the sun would have been more of a nuisance as opposed to a prohibitive factor from the 6th floor window.

It is a consideration though. A sniper (especially a trained, experienced sniper(s), would look for an ideal location. Something that would take the Sun completely out of the equation. There were other window locations in Dealey plaza that would have that advantage (for instance, the Dal-Tex Building or a West facing window in the TSBD). Also, shooting from under the shade of a tree would accomplish the same thing.

[John Dolva]

It seems some are talking about snipers line of sight but I think that an even more ideal situation (winter sun) makes for factor two. The sniper is less visible to anyone looking in that direction, ie towards the sun.(attack from a vantage when the sun is in their eyes) Best of two worlds. Also, consider what was front for JFKs head.

[Greg Burnham]

I do not think that Greer was part of the plot.

Greg, earlier on this thread you wrote

So, if there was a knoll shooter whose bullet hit its mark, then it follows that the limousine came to a halt in order to allow the kill shot to be absolutely certain to succeed.

l am trying to follow your argument to its logical conclusion.

you seem to be saying that there would be no point in having knoll shooters

unless they could guarantee that the driver would slow down or stop the limo.

Since you now say that the driver was not involved

it should follow from your premise

that there was no knoll shooter.

Am I following your argument.

I am not a very good conspiracy theorist, Ray. I do not attempt to offer supposition because I have no way of knowing for certain. However, I will offer what I believe to be the "most un-likely" scenario to have happened. I believe it is very unlikely that there was a sniper waiting patiently for a laterally moving target no matter where such a sniper was stationed. The factor that would change that is if the limo STOPPED its motion completely. So, this becomes confusing in Dealey Plaza given what we know happened including the limo stop (or, as you prefer, drastic slow down). Although in my view a rolling stop would not have been preferred to a complete stop. Even assuming it was a complete stop, it is unlikely that a knoll shooter would have wanted to risk it from there. However, if we accept the implications of a Secret Service agent being involved in Presidential Protective Detail duty at the age of 54; that Greer was most likely less than competent in both reaction time and even possibly judgment of the crisis, then it is not as difficult to accept that he may have, in fact, been the perfect, unwitting choice.

I do not favor a Knoll shooter for several reasons beyond what I stated regarding lateral motion. Look at the elevation of the Knoll above the street. The shooter would be shooting DOWNWARD. The bullet's trajectory from that location seems inconsistent with the motion of JFK's head wound as seen in the extant Zapruder film. JFK does not appear to be struck from a bullet coming DOWN on his head from the right front. Struck from the front? Yes--but, not with a downward trajectory. I don't know...but it doesn't seem likely to me. I don't wish to speculate beyond that and offer a "theory" as to what did take place, though.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Greg Burnham

[Guest Robert Morrow]

Despite the WC s findings and government insistance on the lone gunman/Oswald conclusion , several of the agents i the President's detail did not accept the assertions. Later some pf the men expressed their belief that the cade was really a conspiracy, as the vast majority of the U.S publuc came to believe. Researcher Vince Palamara interviewed many Secret Service agents and cites Agents, Sam Kinney, Abraham Bolden, Maurice Martineau, Marty Underwood, and John Norris as those who ''believe this ( Conspiracy ) to be the case . In addition says Palamara June Kellerman stated that both Kellerman and fellow agent Bill Greer , who were in the front seat of Kennedy's limo, asserted that there was more to the assassination than the ''Official Version'' let on...Agent Winston Lawson. the advance agent for Kennedy's trip to Dallas . In a recent interview of Lawson, the retired agent was asked, ''Given the mprovements in technology, procedure and intelligence, do you think the Dallas tragedy would have prevented with today's improvements , or would it still be a case of politics over effective protection ?''......Lawson replied '' That's a hard one to say. there is so much more now, Not just training but more people .....(.As a Political Advance Man ........... are you familiar with that term ?

(he) comes to the lead Secret Service Advance man and says '' I want the ropes and stanchions brought down , the crowd will be closer.''....skip......There's always going to be a political side versus a Secret Service side, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.''..............Then Lawson offered tidbit previously unheard ; Sometimes the political side will blame the Secret Service for not going to a particular place that they didn't want to go to, using the Secret Service as an excuse''...........Lawson does not join agents who stated or implied . in SEYMOUR HERSH'S The Dark Side of Camelot '' that Kennedy's recklessness brought on his death''............from ''The Secret Service'' chapter ''Losing Lancer'' 2002 Philip H. Melanson....PH..D..with Peter Stevens.............pages 87, 88.....Despite all the lapses and failures of the Secret Service agents in Dallas, Agent Kellerman told the FBI the night after the assassination . ''The precautions employed in Dallas were the most stringent and thorough ever employed.........for the visit of a President to an American city..'' The Commission asked that if this were true, what were the normal protective procedures..Kennedy is alleged to have said to San Antonio Congressman Henry Gonzales, the night before the shooting.The Secret Service have taken care of everything.''.....As events proved on that shocking day , the agency had failed to take care of everything.............

Bernice, who wrote that? Was that you? If not could you post the web link on that or the source?

Thanks,

Robert

[Greg Burnham]

My view is that Greer was NOT compromised or bought off. That is too messy--too much risk. Too much "payola" required. And..what if he had refused to participate? Would you offer him more money? Or would you kill him because he knew of the plot? Way too messy.

I submit that if we accept this argument then there was no plot at all.

It would have been too risky and required too much payola.

Clearly there was a plot. There were aberrant orders given and there were aberrant orders followed. This does not necessarily mean that everyone who followed orders was in on the plot. They may not have been in a position to override the orders though. As an example, if it is true that the DPD motor escorts were ordered to ride behind the limo instead of in a tighter protective formation and the officers followed that order, it does not necessarily mean that they were all involved in the plot. When SS Agent Rybka was ordered off the limo at Love Field, he protested, but eventually acquiesced and "followed orders". Does this mean that Rybka was in on the plot? Does it mean that the remainder of the detail was in on it? Not necessarily. It seems like the agent in charge who issued the orders would have some explaining to do though.

[J. Raymond Carroll]

I do not favor a Knoll shooter for several reasons

In that case, GREGORY

my dear friend,

i think your views will find a more receptive audience

on DR. MCadam's forum

Edited April 24, 2012 by J. Raymond Carroll

[Bernice Moore]

Despite the WC s findings and government insistance on the lone gunman/Oswald conclusion , several of the agents i the President's detail did not accept the assertions. Later some pf the men expressed their belief that the cade was really a conspiracy, as the vast majority of the U.S publuc came to believe. Researcher Vince Palamara interviewed many Secret Service agents and cites Agents, Sam Kinney, Abraham Bolden, Maurice Martineau, Marty Underwood, and John Norris as those who ''believe this ( Conspiracy ) to be the case . In addition says Palamara June Kellerman stated that both Kellerman and fellow agent Bill Greer , who were in the front seat of Kennedy's limo, asserted that there was more to the assassination than the ''Official Version'' let on...Agent Winston Lawson. the advance agent for Kennedy's trip to Dallas . In a recent interview of Lawson, the retired agent was asked, ''Given the mprovements in technology, procedure and intelligence, do you think the Dallas tragedy would have prevented with today's improvements , or would it still be a case of politics over effective protection ?''......Lawson replied '' That's a hard one to say. there is so much more now, Not just training but more people .....(.As a Political Advance Man ........... are you familiar with that term ?

(he) comes to the lead Secret Service Advance man and says '' I want the ropes and stanchions brought down , the crowd will be closer.''....skip......There's always going to be a political side versus a Secret Service side, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.''..............Then Lawson offered tidbit previously unheard ; Sometimes the political side will blame the Secret Service for not going to a particular place that they didn't want to go to, using the Secret Service as an excuse''...........Lawson does not join agents who stated or implied . in SEYMOUR HERSH'S The Dark Side of Camelot '' that Kennedy's recklessness brought on his death''............from ''The Secret Service'' chapter ''Losing Lancer'' 2002 Philip H. Melanson....PH..D..with Peter Stevens.............pages 87, 88.....Despite all the lapses and failures of the Secret Service agents in Dallas, Agent Kellerman told the FBI the night after the assassination . ''The precautions employed in Dallas were the most stringent and thorough ever employed.........for the visit of a President to an American city..'' The Commission asked that if this were true, what were the normal protective procedures..Kennedy is alleged to have said to San Antonio Congressman Henry Gonzales, the night before the shooting.The Secret Service have taken care of everything.''.....As events proved on that shocking day , the agency had failed to take care of everything.............

Bernice, who wrote that? Was that you? If not could you post the web link on that or the source?

Thanks,

Robert

Robert the answer is within the post.................from ''The Secret Service'' chapter ''Losing Lancer'' 2002 Philip H. Melanson....PH..D..with Peter Stevens.............pages 87, 88...take care.....b

[Greg Burnham]

I do not favor a Knoll shooter for several reasons

In that case, GREGORY

my dear friend,

i think your views will find a more receptive audience

on DR. MCadam's forum

Even though I don't favor a Knoll shooter, I do not rule it out entirely...it is possible. I simply don't know. I also know that my opinion is not very popular amongst "conspiracy theorists" -- but, I am not a conspiracy theorist. Therefore, I have no marriage to any pet theories nor popular notions. I believe without question that there was a conspiracy, that there were multiple gunmen, that Oswald most likely did not even fire a weapon that day, that there was indeed a triangulated crossfire. These are not theories if I don't fill in the unknowable details. They are examples of inference to the best explanation. The physical evidence exonerates Oswald (nitrate tests). The physical evidence indicates multiple shooters. The official record reveals obstruction of justice after the fact.

There was a conspiracy. I do not need to discover exactly what happened that day in order to rule out what could not possibly have happened that day. The official account could not have happened as it is grossly inadequate to the evidence.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Greg Burnham

[Malcolm Ward]

FAST FORWARD: At 12:23 on November 22, from his office on the 7th floor of the Mercantile Building, Haroldson Lafayette Hunt watched John Kennedy ride towards Dealey Plaza, where fate awaited him at 12:30. A few minutes later, escorted by six men in two cars, Hunt left the center of Dallas without even stopping by his house.

At that very moment; General Walker was in a plane between New Orleans and Shreveport. He joined Mr. Hunt in one of his secret hideaways across the Mexican border. There they remained for a month, protected by personal guards, under the impassive eyes of the FBI. It was not until Christmas that Hunt, Walker and their party returned to Dallas.

It isn't enough to want to kill the President. There is also the Secret Service to think about. The Presidential assistants were prepared to affront political obstacles, but their "grace and their airy flanerie" had shielded them from the brutal side of American life. Innocent of violence and ignorant of hate, they failed to see the danger. Only Daniel P. Moynihan, a former longshoreman, had some idea of such things. Of all the Cabinet officials, only Bob Kennedy knew the risks of the Presidency. But he couldn't be behind his brother every minute of the day.

Ken O'Donnell, who was in charge of the White House staff, had authority not only over the personnel, but also over the Secret Service. He could transfer or fire anyone he wanted, and he had the power, to introduce reforms. He was also in charge of the President's trips.

The 56 Secret Service agents assigned to the White House detail were under the authority of the Treasury Department, but the responsible official, Assistant Treasury Secretary Robert Wallace, left the everyday direction of the Service to James Rowley, a mediocre civil servant. Gerald Behn, head of the White House Secret Service detail, lacked the necessary intelligence and qualifications for the job.

It is difficult, of course, to protect an active President, and it is impossible to protect him completely during his public appearances. But there are ways to reduce the risk, and there are certain rules which are applied by Presidential security forces throughout the world, be it in France, the USSR, or Bolivia. The protection of the President witnin the United States(3) presents a special problem. The Secret Service is obliged to cooperate with the local police, which are sometimes incompetent or unreliable, and can even, as in Dallas, be dangerous.(4) But a Presidential security force should be able to rise to the challenge. The guerrilla warfare specialists who organized the Dallas ambush were amazed to discover that Kennedy's Secret Service worked like a troop of boy scouts.

Several members of the White House detail were not qualified for their jobs. Their average age was 40, and as in the Senate the highest positions were awarded on the basis of seniority. Bill Greer, the driver of the Presidential Lincoln, was 54 and had 35 years' experience, enough to lull anybody's reflexes. After O'Donnell and perhaps Kellerman (the agent who rode in the front of the President's car in Dallas), Greer bears a heavy responsibility for the success of the assassination. We shall explain why a little later.

The White House agents had two sessions a year on a Washington firing range, but they practiced only target shooting like any amateur. Their reflexes were never tested. At any rate, a security agent's gun is of secondary importance. Generally, he has no time to shoot. His job is to anticipate an attempt on the President's life. Soviet security agents, for instance, have narrowly defined responsibilities. In official motorcades, one agent watches the windows on the first floor, another those on the second, another the spectators in the front row, still another the people standing alone, another the local policemen and a sixth the soldiers lining the road.

Lawson, the Secret Service advance man in Dallas, let the local authorities show him around the city, and his report reached the White House only the day before the President's departure. Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 was about as heavily guarded as the Grand Canyon on a winter day.

There is a standard procedure for assuring the security of a motorcade traversing a city. As Superintendent Ducret, the man responsible for President De Gaulle's security, describes it: "Of course, it is impossible to watch everything and occupy everything along the President's route. But it can be assumed that occupied office or apartment buildings are relatively safe. A potential assassin might, of course, try to enter one of these buildings, but he would be at the mercy of a witness. Serious conspirators will rarely take such a risk.

"On the other hand, all unoccupied buildings, administrative buildings outside of working hours, warehouses, building sites, and naturally all bridges, walls, and vacant lots that would be ideal for an ambush must not only be watched, but actually occupied by forces placed directly under the supervision of the Presidential security division."

On November 21, the two men in charge of the ambush observed the Kennedy motorcade in Houston. In Texas, as in Utah, the Secret Service was entirely dependent upon the local police. Not only did the agents behave on these trips as if they were members of the party; they were always one step ahead. At 12:30 pm, seconds before the assassination, agent Emory Roberts jotted in his shift report, "12:35 pm, the President arrived at the Trade Mart." The Secret Service was already thinking ahead to tomorrow, when Kennedy was to visit Lyndon Johnson on his ranch. Roy Kellerman, who took his place at Dallas, proved so incompetent that at Parkland Hospital his men started taking orders from agent Emory Roberts. Later, during the flight back to Washington, Rufus Youngblood took over. These men had traveled 200,000 miles with the President. Somewhere along the line, they had neglected the first rule of security: they had lost their reflexes.

When the first shot rang out at Dealey Plaza, agent Clint Hill, who was later decorated, was the first to move, and it took him 7 or 8 seconds to react. In eight seconds, the average sprinter can cover 80 yards. Yet "Halfback," the back-up car in which Hill was riding, was almost touching the Presidential limousine, and neither vehicle was traveling more than 12 miles an hour.

Kennedy's Secret Service agents apparently had no idea of the importance of a second in an assassination attempt. Agent Hickey, riding in Halfback, had an AR-15 automatic rifle on his lap, but it took him two seconds to load it and get ready to fire. In two seconds a modern bullet travels more than a mile.

The organizers of the ambush knew, of course, that the Secret Service was inefficient, but they had never imagined that their reflexes were that slow, and they had laid their plans in the assumption that Kennedy's agents would react immediately. The tactical and ballistic aspects of the operation, which we shall examine later, were based on a hypothetical operating time of three seconds. This was the estimated reaction time of Kennedy's bodyguards. But the President's driver could have reduced it even more. The President's car was a Lincoln with a souped-up engine specially designed for rapid accelerations, and we shall see later how speed affects the accuracy of a gunman.

The blame must be laid not so much on the Secret Service agents as on their chiefs, and on the White House assistant responsible for the President's security. We have cited only their most glaring errors, but there were others -- less important perhaps, but characteristic of their lack of discipline, such as their drinking on duty. Abraham Bolden, the only Negro in the Presidential bodyguard, asked to testify before the Warren Commission on the subject of some of these accusations, but the Committee refused to hear him. Later, he was fired from the Secret Service on grounds of professional incompetence.

The Secret Service was guilty of negligence, as the highly respected Wall Street Journal commented. But its agents were professionals, and they recognized the work of other professionals. They were the first in the President's entourage to realize that the assassination was a well organized plot. They discussed it among themselves at Parkland Hospital and later during the plane ride back to Washington. They mentioned it in their personal reports to Secret Service Chief James Rowley that night. Ten hours after the assassination, Rowley knew that there had been three gunmen, and perhaps four, at Dallas that day, and later on the telephone Jerry Behn remarked to Forrest Sorrels (head of the Dallas Secret Service), "It's a plot." "Of course," was Sorrel's reply. Robert Kennedy, who had already interrogated Kellerman, learned that evening from Rowley that the Secret Service believed the President had been the victim of a powerful organization.

President Kennedy was dead, but the Secret Service was never officially inculpated. There were several staff changes in the White House detail, but two agents, Youngblood and Hill, were decorated. Because it reinforced its thesis, the Warren Commission blamed the Presidential guards, but a soldier is worth no more than his commanding officer, and the heads of the Secret Service were not worth much. As for Ken O'Donnell, ex-captain of the Harvard rugby team, at Dallas he was up against a team that played rough.

Exerts taken from here.

http://www.sott.net/...-Fascist-Texans

[John Dolva]

There are two knolls.

_________________

That's a fascinating post, Malcolm.

First it's nice to know a bit more (a lot actually) of Walkers movements after landing at Shreveport (from Dallas, in the air during assassination) to be met by Ned Touchstone and co.

I like the whole article but particularly the shift of focus to superiors re SS and the Mention of O'Donnell. He fall apart, didn't he? Something really got to him that turned him into a wreck while others soldiered on.

Also this is an opportunity to again mention Ewald Peters who was the head of German security under Adenour and Erhardt. (sic) He was also an SD (village cop or something like that) member in early NAZI regime who went on to be an Officer in the Death Squads that followed the Wermacht into the Soviet Union, went 'underground, was trained in US (now ID Ewald), then on to Kriminal-Raten and in the US early Nov for a burial, then likely edvance party for Erhardt's visit in mid Dec when the Chancellor visited LBJ at his ranch later Dec.

I used J-store to search and found a total of a few inches in about 13 articles mentioned* by one unnamed SS member as friend, good guy. (mentioned in a couple of articles (Time Feb I think) after Ewald was unmasked by east German NAZI hunters in early jan 64' then shortly found dead in Jail. An interesting footnote in history)

There's more but... : an interesting article that I think helps to refocus.

edit add* typos

add2 One thing (possibly little known) that happened during the German visit to LBJ was LBJ teeling Erhardt to focus on Latin America so the US could shift more to Indochina. ewiw

edit add3 the owner(future) of the TSBD building flew the Dallas Boneheads to mexico for fun and games in 1948. fwiw

Ther's a lot in the article so it needs reading and rereading. I'll copy it here:

posted by Malcolm

FAST FORWARD: At 12:23 on November 22, from his office on the 7th floor of the Mercantile Building, Haroldson Lafayette Hunt watched John Kennedy ride towards Dealey Plaza, where fate awaited him at 12:30. A few minutes later, escorted by six men in two cars, Hunt left the center of Dallas without even stopping by his house.

At that very moment; General Walker was in a plane between New Orleans and Shreveport. He joined Mr. Hunt in one of his secret hideaways across the Mexican border. There they remained for a month, protected by personal guards, under the impassive eyes of the FBI. It was not until Christmas that Hunt, Walker and their party returned to Dallas.

It isn't enough to want to kill the President. There is also the Secret Service to think about. The Presidential assistants were prepared to affront political obstacles, but their "grace and their airy flanerie" had shielded them from the brutal side of American life. Innocent of violence and ignorant of hate, they failed to see the danger. Only Daniel P. Moynihan, a former longshoreman, had some idea of such things. Of all the Cabinet officials, only Bob Kennedy knew the risks of the Presidency. But he couldn't be behind his brother every minute of the day.

Ken O'Donnell, who was in charge of the White House staff, had authority not only over the personnel, but also over the Secret Service. He could transfer or fire anyone he wanted, and he had the power, to introduce reforms. He was also in charge of the President's trips.

The 56 Secret Service agents assigned to the White House detail were under the authority of the Treasury Department, but the responsible official, Assistant Treasury Secretary Robert Wallace, left the everyday direction of the Service to James Rowley, a mediocre civil servant. Gerald Behn, head of the White House Secret Service detail, lacked the necessary intelligence and qualifications for the job.

It is difficult, of course, to protect an active President, and it is impossible to protect him completely during his public appearances. But there are ways to reduce the risk, and there are certain rules which are applied by Presidential security forces throughout the world, be it in France, the USSR, or Bolivia. The protection of the President witnin the United States(3) presents a special problem. The Secret Service is obliged to cooperate with the local police, which are sometimes incompetent or unreliable, and can even, as in Dallas, be dangerous.(4) But a Presidential security force should be able to rise to the challenge. The guerrilla warfare specialists who organized the Dallas ambush were amazed to discover that Kennedy's Secret Service worked like a troop of boy scouts.

Several members of the White House detail were not qualified for their jobs. Their average age was 40, and as in the Senate the highest positions were awarded on the basis of seniority. Bill Greer, the driver of the Presidential Lincoln, was 54 and had 35 years' experience, enough to lull anybody's reflexes. After O'Donnell and perhaps Kellerman (the agent who rode in the front of the President's car in Dallas), Greer bears a heavy responsibility for the success of the assassination. We shall explain why a little later.

The White House agents had two sessions a year on a Washington firing range, but they practiced only target shooting like any amateur. Their reflexes were never tested. At any rate, a security agent's gun is of secondary importance. Generally, he has no time to shoot. His job is to anticipate an attempt on the President's life. Soviet security agents, for instance, have narrowly defined responsibilities. In official motorcades, one agent watches the windows on the first floor, another those on the second, another the spectators in the front row, still another the people standing alone, another the local policemen and a sixth the soldiers lining the road.

Lawson, the Secret Service advance man in Dallas, let the local authorities show him around the city, and his report reached the White House only the day before the President's departure. Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 was about as heavily guarded as the Grand Canyon on a winter day.

There is a standard procedure for assuring the security of a motorcade traversing a city. As Superintendent Ducret, the man responsible for President De Gaulle's security, describes it: "Of course, it is impossible to watch everything and occupy everything along the President's route. But it can be assumed that occupied office or apartment buildings are relatively safe. A potential assassin might, of course, try to enter one of these buildings, but he would be at the mercy of a witness. Serious conspirators will rarely take such a risk.

"On the other hand, all unoccupied buildings, administrative buildings outside of working hours, warehouses, building sites, and naturally all bridges, walls, and vacant lots that would be ideal for an ambush must not only be watched, but actually occupied by forces placed directly under the supervision of the Presidential security division."

On November 21, the two men in charge of the ambush observed the Kennedy motorcade in Houston. In Texas, as in Utah, the Secret Service was entirely dependent upon the local police. Not only did the agents behave on these trips as if they were members of the party; they were always one step ahead. At 12:30 pm, seconds before the assassination, agent Emory Roberts jotted in his shift report, "12:35 pm, the President arrived at the Trade Mart." The Secret Service was already thinking ahead to tomorrow, when Kennedy was to visit Lyndon Johnson on his ranch. Roy Kellerman, who took his place at Dallas, proved so incompetent that at Parkland Hospital his men started taking orders from agent Emory Roberts. Later, during the flight back to Washington, Rufus Youngblood took over. These men had traveled 200,000 miles with the President. Somewhere along the line, they had neglected the first rule of security: they had lost their reflexes.

When the first shot rang out at Dealey Plaza, agent Clint Hill, who was later decorated, was the first to move, and it took him 7 or 8 seconds to react. In eight seconds, the average sprinter can cover 80 yards. Yet "Halfback," the back-up car in which Hill was riding, was almost touching the Presidential limousine, and neither vehicle was traveling more than 12 miles an hour.

Kennedy's Secret Service agents apparently had no idea of the importance of a second in an assassination attempt. Agent Hickey, riding in Halfback, had an AR-15 automatic rifle on his lap, but it took him two seconds to load it and get ready to fire. In two seconds a modern bullet travels more than a mile.

The organizers of the ambush knew, of course, that the Secret Service was inefficient, but they had never imagined that their reflexes were that slow, and they had laid their plans in the assumption that Kennedy's agents would react immediately. The tactical and ballistic aspects of the operation, which we shall examine later, were based on a hypothetical operating time of three seconds. This was the estimated reaction time of Kennedy's bodyguards. But the President's driver could have reduced it even more. The President's car was a Lincoln with a souped-up engine specially designed for rapid accelerations, and we shall see later how speed affects the accuracy of a gunman.

The blame must be laid not so much on the Secret Service agents as on their chiefs, and on the White House assistant responsible for the President's security. We have cited only their most glaring errors, but there were others -- less important perhaps, but characteristic of their lack of discipline, such as their drinking on duty. Abraham Bolden, the only Negro in the Presidential bodyguard, asked to testify before the Warren Commission on the subject of some of these accusations, but the Committee refused to hear him. Later, he was fired from the Secret Service on grounds of professional incompetence.

The Secret Service was guilty of negligence, as the highly respected Wall Street Journal commented. But its agents were professionals, and they recognized the work of other professionals. They were the first in the President's entourage to realize that the assassination was a well organized plot. They discussed it among themselves at Parkland Hospital and later during the plane ride back to Washington. They mentioned it in their personal reports to Secret Service Chief James Rowley that night. Ten hours after the assassination, Rowley knew that there had been three gunmen, and perhaps four, at Dallas that day, and later on the telephone Jerry Behn remarked to Forrest Sorrels (head of the Dallas Secret Service), "It's a plot." "Of course," was Sorrel's reply. Robert Kennedy, who had already interrogated Kellerman, learned that evening from Rowley that the Secret Service believed the President had been the victim of a powerful organization.

President Kennedy was dead, but the Secret Service was never officially inculpated. There were several staff changes in the White House detail, but two agents, Youngblood and Hill, were decorated. Because it reinforced its thesis, the Warren Commission blamed the Presidential guards, but a soldier is worth no more than his commanding officer, and the heads of the Secret Service were not worth much. As for Ken O'Donnell, ex-captain of the Harvard rugby team, at Dallas he was up against a team that played rough.

Exerts taken from here.

http://www.sott.net/...-Fascist-Texans

Edited April 25, 2012 by John Dolva