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Updated 1998 Edition
NOTE: In case you are keeping track, I came up with 23 witnesses stating that the Presidential limo or motorcade "stopped," "paused," or came to a "temporary halt" (Witnesses 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 16, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 45, 48, and 50).
I also read in this study that another 21 witnesses stated that the limo or motorcade "slowed," "faltered," or "almost stopped" (Witnesses 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 15, 18, 20, 23, 37, 38, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 51, 52, 53, 55, and 57).
As recently as last year, this study has been mis-used in published research. "[Vince Palamara's study] now includes at least 48 witnesses who described a limousine stop on Elm Street..." wrongly reports David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D., in the James Fetzer compilation, Assassination Science. As you can read for yourselves, Vince's work does nothing of the sort.
Based on the original 1991 article, "47 Witnesses," that appeared in "The Third Decade," Jan/ March 1992.
This article has since been cited in:
"The Third Decade," 11/92
"The Fourth Decade," 11/93 and 9/97
"Proceedings of the Second Research Conference of the Third Decade, 6/18-6/20/93," pages 128 & 162
"The Proceedings of the Research Conference of the Fourth Decade," 7/19-7/21/96", p. 277
"The Third Alternative-Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the JFK Murder," 1997, pages 20 and 53
"The Puzzle Palace" Web site
"Assassination Science...," 1998, p. 274
"Bloody Treason," 1997, Z-frame 313 photo section
"November Patriots," 1998, p. 465
"High Treason," 1998 revised edition, p. 551
-UPI's "Four Days," 1964, p. 17 - "In the right hand picture [a frame from the Muchmore film], the driver slams on the brakes and the police escort pulls up."
-"Newsweek," 12/2/63, p. 2 - "For a chaotic moment, the motorcade ground to an uncertain halt."
-"Time," 11/29/63, p. 23 - "There was a shocking momentary stillness, a frozen tableau."
-"Case Closed" by Gerald Posner, 1993, p. 234 - "Incredibly, Greer, sensing that something was wrong in the back of the car, slowed the vehicle to almost a standstill."
AND
-Gerald Posner, with Dan Rather, on CBS' "Who Killed JFK: The Final Chapter?" 11/19/93 - By turning around the second time and looking at JFK as the car slows down, Posner says that, "What he [Greer] has done is inadvertantly given Oswald the easiest of the three shots."
1) Houston Chronicle Reporter Bo Byers (rode in White House Press
Bus) - twice stated that the Presidential Limousine "almost came to a
stop, a dead stop"; in fact, he has had nightmares about this. [C-SPAN,
11/20/93, "Journalists Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the
1/94 "Fourth Decade" article by Sheldon Inkol]
2) ABC Reporter Bob Clark (rode in the National Press Pool
Car) - Reported on the air that the limousine stopped on Elm Street
during the shooting [WFAA/ ABC, 11/22/63]
3) UPI White House Reporter Merriman Smith (rode in the same car as
Clark, above) - "The President's car, possibly as much as 150 or 200
yards ahead, seemed to falter briefly..." [UPI story, 11/23/63, as reported
in "Four Days", UPI, p. 32]
4) DPD motorcycle officer James W. Courson (one of two mid-motorcade
motorcycles) - "The limousine came to a stop and Mrs. Kennedy was on the
back. I noticed that as I came around the corner at Elm. Then the Secret
Service agent [Clint Hill] helped push her back into the car, and the
motorcade took off at a high rate of speed." ["No More Silence" by
Larry Sneed (1998), p. 129]
5) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Joe Dale (one of two rear
mid-motorcade
motorcycles) - "After the shots were fired, the whole motorcade came to
a stop. I stood and looked through the plaza, noticed there was
commotion, and saw people running around his [JFK's] car. It started to
move, then it slowed again; that's when I saw Mrs. Kennedy coming back
on the trunk and another guy [Clint Hill] pushing her back into the
car." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 134]
6) Clemon Earl Johnson - "You could see it [the limo] speed up and then
stop, then speed up, and you could see it stop while they [sic; Clint
Hill] threw Mrs. Kennedy back up in the car. Then they just left out of
there like a bat of the eye and were just gone." ["No More Silence" by
Larry Sneed (1998), p. 80]
7) Malcolm Summers - "Then there was some hesitation in the caravan
itself, a momentary halt, to give the Secret Service man [Clint Hill] a
chance to catch up with the car and jump on. It seems to me that it
started back up by the time he got to the car
"["No More Silence" by
Larry Sneed (1998), p. 104]
8) NBC reporter Robert MacNeil (rode in White House Press Bus)---"The
President's driver slammed on the brakes - after the third shot
"
["The Way We Were, 1963: The Year Kennedy Was Shot" by
Robert MacNeil (1988), p. 193]
9) AP photographer Henry Burroughs (rode in Camera Car #2) -
"
we heard the shots and the motorcade stopped." [letter, Burroughs to Palamara,
dated 10/14/98]
10) DPD Earle Brown - "
The first I noticed the [JFK's] car was when it
stopped..after it made the turn and when the shots were fired, it
stopped." [6 H 233]
11) DPD motorcycle officer Bobby Hargis (one of the four Presidential
motorcyclists)---"
At that time [immediately before the head shot] the
Presidential car slowed down. I heard somebody say 'Get going.' I felt
blood hit me in the face and the Presidential car stopped almost
immediately after that." [6 H 294; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb
& Perry Adams (1974), p. 71.
6/26/95 videotaped interview with Mark Oakes & Ian Griggs: "That guy (Greer)
slowed down, maybe his orders was to slow down
slowed down almost to a
stop." Like Posner, Hargis feels Greer gave Oswald the chance to kill Kennedy.]
12) DPD D.V. Harkness - "
I saw the first shot and the President's car
slow[ed] down to almost a stop
I heard the first shot and saw the
President's car almost come to a stop and some of the agents [were]
piling on the car." [6 H 309]
13) DPD James Chaney (one of the four Presidential
motorcyclists)---stated that the Presidential limousine stopped
momentarily after the first shot (according to the testimony of Mark
Lane; corroborated by the testimony of fellow DPD motorycle officer
Marion Baker: Chaney told him that "
at the time, after the shooting,
from the time the first shot rang out, the car stopped completely,
pulled to the left and stopped
Now I have heard several of them say
that, Mr. Truly was standing out there, he said it stopped. Several
officers said it stopped completely." [2 H 44-45 (Lane)---refering to
Chaney's statement as reported in the "Houston Chronicle" dated
11/24/63; 3 H 266 (Baker)]
14) DPD motorcycle officer B.J. Martin (one of the four Presidential
motorcyclists) - saw JFK's car stop "
just for a moment." ["Murder From
Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
15) DPD motorcycle officer Douglas L. Jackson (one of the four
Presidential motorcyclists) - stated "
that the car just all but
stopped
just a moment." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry
Adams (1974), p. 71]
16) Texas Highway Patrolman Joe Henry Rich (drove LBJ's car) - stated
that "
the motorcade came to a stop momentarily." ["Murder From Within"
by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
17) DPD J.W. Foster - stated that "
immediately after President Kennedy
was struck
the car in which he was riding pulled to the curb." [CD 897,
pp. 20, 21; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974),
p. 97]
18) Secret Service Agent Sam Kinney (driver of the follow-up car behind
JFK's limo)---indicates, via his report to Chief Rowley, that Greer hit
the gas after the fatal head shot to JFK and after the President's slump
to the left toward Jackie. [18 H 731-732]. From the HSCA's 2/26/78
interview of Kinney: "He also remarked that 'when Greer (the driver of
the Presidential limousine) looked back, his foot must have come off the
accelerator'
Kinney observed that at the time of the first shot, the
speed of the motorcade was '3 to 5 miles an hour.'"
[RIF#180-10078-10493; author's interviews with Kinney, 1992-1994]
19) Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (follow-up car, rear of limo)---"
I
jumped from the follow-up car and ran toward the Presidential
automobile. I heard a second firecracker-type noise
SA Greer had, as I
jumped onto the Presidential automobile, accelerated the Presidential
automobile forward." [18 H 742; Nix film; "The Secret Service" and
"Inside The Secret Service" videos from 1995]
20) Secret Service Agent John Ready (follow-up car) - "
I heard what
sounded like fire crackers going off from my post on the right front
running board. The President's car slowed
" [18 H 750]
21) Secret Service Agent Glen Bennett (follow-up car) - after the fatal
head shot "the President's car immediately kicked into high gear." [18 H
760; 24 H 541-542]. During his 1/30/78 HSCA interview, Bennett said the
follow-up car was moving at "10-12 m.p.h.", an indication of the pace of
the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF#180-10082-10452]
22) Secret Service Agent "Lem" Johns (V.P. follow-up car) - "
I felt
that if there was danger [it was] due to the slow speed of the
automobile." [18 H 774]. During his 8/8/78 HSCA interview, Johns said
that "Our car was moving very slowly", a further indication of the pace
of the motorcade on Elm Street [RIF# 180-10074-10079; Altgens photo]
23) Secret Service Agent Winston Lawson (rode in the lead car) - "
I
think it [the lead car on Elm Street] was a little further ahead [of
JFK's limo] than it had been in the motorcade, because when I looked
back we were further ahead." [4 H 352], an indication of the lag in the
limo during the assassination.
24) Secret Service Agent William "Tim" McIntyre (follow-up car) - "He
stated that Greer, driver of the Presidential limousine, accelerated
after the third shot." [RIF#180-10082-10454: 1/31/78 HSCA interview]
25) Mrs. Earle "Dearie" Cabell (rode in the Mayor's car) - the
motorcade "stopped dead still when the noise of the shot was heard." [7
H 487; "Accessories After the Fact" by Sylvia Meagher (1967), p. 4;
"Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
26) Phil Willis - "
The [Presidential] party had come to a temporary
halt before proceeding on to the underpass." [7 H 497; "Crossfire" by
Jim Marrs (1989), p. 24]
27) Mrs. Phil Willis - Marilyn - after the fatal head shot, "she stated
the Presidential limousine paused momentarily and then sped away under
the Triple Underpass." [FBI report dated 6/19/64; "Photographic
Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 179]
28) Mrs. John Connally - Nellie (rode in JFK's limo) - JFK's car did not
accelerate until after the fatal head shot. [4 H 147; WR 50; "Best
Evidence" by David Lifton (1988), p. 122]
29) Texas Governor John Connally (rode in JFK's limo and himself a
victim of the assassination) - "
After the third shot, I heard Roy
Kellerman tell the driver, 'Bill, get out of line.' And then I saw him
move, and I assumed he was moving a button or something on the panel of
the automobile, and he said 'Get us to a hospital quick'
at about this
time, we began to pull out of the cavalcade, out of line." [4 H 133;
WR50; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 13];
30) Dallas Morning News reporter Robert Baskin (rode in the National
Press Pool Car) - stated that "
the motorcade ground to a halt."
["Dallas Morning News", 11/23/63, p. 2; "Murder From Within" by Fred
Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
31) Dallas Morning News reporter Mary Woodward (Pillsworth) - "
Instead
of speeding up the car, the car came to a halt."; she saw the President's car
come to a halt after the first shot. Then, after hearing two more shots, close
together, the car sped up. [2 H 43 (Lane); "Dallas Morning News,"
11/23/63; 24 H 520; "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988]. She spoke
forcefully about the car almost coming to a stop and the lack of proper
reaction by the Secret Service in 1993. [C-SPAN, 11/20/93, "Journalists
Remember The Kennedy Assassination"; see also the 1/94 "Fourth Decade"
article by Sheldon Inkol]
32) AP photographer James Altgens - "He said the President's car was
proceeding at about ten miles per hour at the time [of the
shooting]
Altgens stated the driver of the Presidential limousine
apparently realized what had happened and speeded up toward the Stemmons
Expressway." [FBI report dated 6/5/64; "Photographic Whitewash" by
Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 203] "The car's driver realized what had
happened and almost if by reflex speeded up toward the Stemmons
Expressway." [AP dispatch, 11/22/63; "Cover-Up" by Stewart Galanor
(1998), Document 28]
33) Alan Smith - "
the car was ten feet from me when a bullet hit the
President in the forehead
the car went about five feet and stopped."
["Chicago Tribune," 11/23/63, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb
& Perry Adams (1974), p. 71]
34) Mrs. Ruth M. Smith - confirmed that the Presidential limousine had
come to a stop. [CD 206, p. 9; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb &
Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
35) TSBD Supervisor Roy Truly - after the first shot "
I saw the
President's car swerve to the left and stop somewheres down in the
area
[it stopped] for a second or two or something like that
I just saw
it stop." [3 H 221, 266]
36) L.P. Terry - "
The parade stopped right in front of the building
[TSBD]." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 26]
37) Ochus V. Campbell - after hearing shots, "he then observed the car
bearing President Kennedy to slow down, a near stop, and a motorcycle
policeman rushed up. Immediately following this, he observed the car
rush away from the scene." [22 H 845]
38) Peggy Joyce Hawkins - she was on the front steps of the TSBD and
"
estimated that the President's car was less than 50 feet away from her
when he was shot, that the car slowed down almost coming to a full
stop." ["Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p.
97]
39) Billy Lovelady - "I recall that following the shooting, I ran toward
the spot where President Kennedy's car had stopped." [22 H 662];
40) An unnamed witness - from his vantage point in the courthouse
building, stated that, "The cavalcade stopped there and there was
bedlam." ["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred
Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 97]
41) Postal Inspector Harry Holmes (from the Post Office Annex, while
viewing through binoculars) - "
The car almost came to a stop, and Mrs.
Kennedy pulled loose of him and crawled out over the turtleback of this
Presidential car." [7 H 291]. He noticed the car pull to a halt, and
Holmes thought: "They are dodging something being thrown." ["The Day
Kennedy Was Shot" by Jim Bishop (1967), p. 176]
42) Peggy Burney - she stated that JFK's car had come to a stop.
["Dallas Times Herald", 11/24/63; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb &
Perry Adams (1974), p. 97.
Interestingly, during the 11/20/93 C-SPAN
"Journalists Remember" conference, Vivian Castleberry of the Dallas
Times Herald made the claim that her first cousin, Peggy Burney, was
Abraham Zapruder's assistant "and was next to him when he shot his
famous film. She called and said, 'Vivian, today I saw the President
die.'"! See Sheldon Inkol's article on this conference in the January
1994 "Fourth Decade"]
43) David Broeder - "
The President's car paused momentarily, then on
orders from a Secret Service agent, spurted ahead." ["Washington Evening
Star", 11/23/63, p. 8]
44) Sam Holland - stated that the Presidential limousine slowed down on
Elm Street. [taped interview with Holland conducted in April, 1965]
45) Maurice Orr - noted that the motorcade stopped. [Arch Kimbrough,
Mary Ferrell, and Sue Fitch, "Chronology," unpublished manuscript; see
also "Conspiracy" by Anthony Summers, pages 20 & 23]
46) Mrs. Herman (Billy P.) Clay - "
When I heard the second and third
shots I knew someone was shooting at the President. I did not know if
the President had been hit, but I knew something was wrong. At this
point the car President Kenedy was in slowed and I, along with others,
moved toward the President's car. As we neared the car it sped off." [22
H 641]
47) Mrs. Rose Clark - "
She noted that the President's automobile came
almost to a halt following the three shots, before it picked up speed
and drove away." [24 H 533]
48) Hugh Betzner - "
I looked down the street and I could see the
President's car and another one and they looked like the cars were
stopped
then the President's car sped on under the underpass." [19 H
467]
49) John Chism - after the shots he saw "the motorcade beginning to
speed up." ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 29]
50) Bill Newman - after the fatal head shot "the car momentarily stopped
and the driver seemed to have a radio or phone up to his ear and he
seemed to be waiting on some word. Some Secret Service men reached into
their car and came out with some sort of machine gun. Then the cars
roared off
"; "I've maintained that they stopped. I still say they did.
It was only a momentary stop, but
" ["Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p.
70; "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb & Perry Adams (1974), p. 96]
"I believe Kennedy's car came to a full stop after the final shot." ["JFK:
Breaking The Silence" by Bill Sloan (1993), p. 169]
"
I believe it was
the passenger in the front seat [Roy Kellerman]---there were two men in
the front seat---had a telephone or something to his ear and the car
momentarily stopped. Now everywhere that you read about it, you don't
read anything about the car stopping. And when I say "stopped" I mean
very momentarily, like they hit the brakes and just a few seconds passed
and then they floorboarded [sic] and accelerated on." [11/20/97
videotaped interview with Bill Law, Mark Row, & Ian Griggs, as
transcribed in "November Patriots" by Connie Kritzberg & Larry Hancock
(1998), p. 362]
"One of the two men in the front seat of the car had a
telephone in his hand, and as I was looking back at the car covering my
son, I can remember seeing the tail lights of the car, and just for a
moment they hesitated and stopped, and then they floorboarded [sic] the
car and shot off." ["No More Silence" by Larry Sneed (1998), p. 96]
51) Charles Brehm - "Brehm expressed his opinion that between the first
and third shots, the President's car only seemed to move some 10 or 12
feet. It seemed to him that the automobile almost came to a halt after
the first shot
After the third shot, the car in which the President was
riding increased its speed and went under the freeway overpass and out
of sight." [22 H 837-838]
52) Mary Moorman - "She recalls that the President's automobile was
moving at the time she took the second picture, and when she heard the
shots, and has the impression that the car either stopped momentarily or
hesistated and then drove off in a hurry." [22 H 838-839]
53) Jean Hill - "
The motorcade came to almost a halt at the time the
shots rang out and I would say it [JFK's limo] was just approximately,
if not - it couldn't have been in the same position, I'm sure it wasn't,
but just a very, very short distance from where it had been. It [JFK's
limo] was just almost stunned." [6 H 208-209; Hill's testimony on this
matter was dramatized in the Oliver Stone movie "JFK" (1991): "The
driver had stopped - I don't know what was wrong with that driver." See
also "JFK: The Book of the Film" (1992), p. 122. Therein is referenced a
March 1991 conversation with Jean Hill.]
54) James Leon Simmons - "
The car stopped or almost stopped." [2/15/69
Clay Shaw trial testimony; "Forgive My Grief Vol. III" by Penn Jones, p.
53; "High Treason" by Groden & Livingstone (1990 Berkley Edition), p.
22]
55) Norman Similas - "
The Presidential limousine had passed me and
slowed down slightly." ["Liberty" Magazine, 7/15/64, p. 13;
"Photographic Whitewash" by Harold Weisberg (1967), p. 233];
56) Presidential Aide Ken O'Donnell (rode in the follow-up car) - "
If
the Secret Service men in the front had reacted quicker to the first two
shots at the President's car, if the driver had stepped on the gas
before instead of after the fatal third shot was fired, would President
Kennedy be alive today? [as quoted in Marrs' "Crossfire," p. 248, based
off a passage from O'Donnell & Powers' book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye"].
On page 40 of O'Donnell's book "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye," the aide
reports that "Greer had been remorseful all day, feeling that he could
have saved President Kenendy's life by swerving the car or speeding
suddenly after the first shots." Indeed, William E. Sale, an airman
first class aircraft mechanic assigned to Carswell AFB and who was
stationed at Love Field before, during, and after the assassination,
stated that "when the agent who was driving JFK's car came back to Air
Force One he was as white as a ghost and had to be helped back to the
plane *[undated Sale letter, provided to the author by Martin
Shackelford]
57) Presidential aide Dave Powers (rode in the follow-up car) - "
At
that time we were traveling very slowly
At about the time of the third
shot, the President's car accelerated sharply." [7 H 473-475]. On 11/22/88,
Powers was interviewed by CBS' Charles Kuralt. Powers remarked
about the remorse Greer felt about not speeding up in time to save JFK"s
life and agreed with Kuralt that, if Greer had sped up BEFORE the fatal
head shot instead of afterwards, JFK might still be alive today [CBS,
11/22/88---this is a very dramatic and compelling short interview]. If
that weren't enough, the ARRB's Tom Samoluk told me that, during the
course of an interview he conducted in 1996 in which the Board was in
the process of obtaining Powers' film, Powers said that he agreed with
my take on the Secret Service!
58) Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough (rode in LBJ's car) - "
When the
noise of the shot was heard, the motorcade slowed to what seemed to me a
complete stop (though it could have been a near stop)
After the third
shot was fired, but only after the third shot was fired, the cavalcade
speeded up, gained speed rapidly, and roared away to the Parkland
Hospital."; "
The cars all stopped. I put in there [his affidavit], 'I
don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but for the protection of future
Presidents, they [the Secret Service] should be trained to take off when
a shot is fired." [7 H 439-440; "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (1989), p. 482;
see also "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," 1988: "The Secret Service in the
car in front of us kind of casually looked around and were rather slow
to react."]
59) First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (rode in the Presidential
limousine) - "We could see a tunnel in front of us. Everything was
really slow then
[immediately after shooting] And just being down in the
car with his head in my lap. And it just seemed an eternity
And finally
I remember a voice behind me, or something, and then I remember the
people in the front seat, or somebody, finally knew something was wrong,
and a voice yelling, which must have been Mr. Hill, "Get to the
hospital," or maybe it was Mr. Kellerman, in the front seat
We were
really slowing turning the corner [Houston&Elm]
I remember a sensation
of enormous speed, which must have been when we took off
those poor men
in the front
" [5 H 179-181] Mary Gallagher reported in her book: "She
mentioned one Secret Service man who had not acted during the crucial
moment, and said bitterly to me, 'He might just as well have been Miss
Shaw!'" ["My Life With Jacqueline Kennedy" by Mary Barelli Gallagher
(1969), p. 342---Secret Service Agent Marty Venker and Jackie biographer
C. David Heymann confirm that this unnamed agent was indeed Greer
("Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent", p. 25; "A Woman Called
Jackie", p. 401)] Jackie also told Gallagher that "You should get
yourself a good driver so that nothing ever happens to you" [Ibid., p.
351]
* William Manchester, who interviewed Greer, tells us what the driver
told Jackie on 11/22/63 at Parkland Hospital: "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my
God, oh my God. I didn't mean to do it[?!?!], I didn't hear[who,
Kellerman?], I should have swerved the car[how about hitting the gas!],
I couldn't help it[!]. Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it[?] I
swerved. If only I'd seen it in time! Oh!" (Manchester, p.290). 59
witnesses (10 police officers, 7 Secret Service agents, 37 spectators, 2
Presidential aides, 1 Senator, Governor Connally, and Jackie Kennedy)
and the Zapruder film document Secret Service agent William R. Greer's
deceleration of the presidential limousine, as well as his two seperate
looks back at JFK during the assassination (Greer denied all of this to
the Warren Commission-2HGREER[see his entire testimony]). By
decelerating from an already slow 11.2 mph, Greer greatly endangered the
President's life, and, as even Gerald Posner admitted, Greer contributed
greatly to the success of the assassination. When we consider that Greer
disobeyed a direct order from his superior, Roy Kellerman, to get out of
line BEFORE the fatal shot struck the President's head, it is hard to
give Agent Greer the benefit of the doubt. As ASAIC Roy H. Kellerman
said: "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe
me"("The Death of a President" by William Manchester, p.160). Clearly,
Greer was responsible, at fault, and felt remorse. In short, Greer had
survivor's guilt.
But, then, stories and feelings changed.
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/22/63: "Greer stated that he first heard what
he thought was possibly a motorcycle backfire and glanced around and
noticed that the President had evidently been hit [notice that, early
on, Greer admits seeing JFK, which the Zapruder proves he did two times
before the fatsal head shot occurred]. He thereafter got on the radio
and communicated with the other vehicles, stating that they desired to
get the President to the hospital immediately [in reality, Greer did not
talk on the radio, and Greer went on to deny ever saying this during his
WC testimony]
Greer stated that they (the Secret Service) have always
been instructed to keep the motorcade moving at a considerable speed
inasmuch as a moving car offers a much more difficult target than a
vehicle traveling at a very slow speed. He pointed out that on numerous
occasions he has attempted to keep the car moving at a rather fast rate,
but in view of the President's popularity and desire to maintain close
liaison with the people, he has, on occasion, been instructed by the
President to "slow down". Greer stated that he has been asking himself
if there was any thing he could have done to have avoided this incident,
but stated that things happened so fast that he could not account for
full developments in this matter(!) [the "JFK-as-scapegoat" theme
and so
much for Greer's remorse from earlier the same day!]."(Sibert & O'Neil
Report, 11/22/63)
Agent Greer to the FBI 11/27/63: "
he heard a noise which sounded like
a motorcycle backfire. On hearing this noise he glanced to his right
toward Kellerman and out of the corner of his eye noticed that the
Governor appeared to be falling toward his wife [notice that Greer now
mentions nothing about seing JFK hit---he does the same thing in his
undated report in the WC volumes (18 H 723)] He thereafter recalls
hearing some type of outcry after which Kellerman said, "Let's get out
of here." He further related that at the time of hearing the sound he
was starting down an incline which passes beneath a railroad crossing
and after passing under this viaduct, he closed in on the lead car and
yelled to the occupants and a nearby police motorcyclist, "Hospital,
Hospital! [nothing about using the radio this time out]" Thereafter
follows a complete physical description of Greer, as if the FBI agents
considered him a suspect, inc. age, height, and color of eyes! (Sibert &
O'Neil Report, 11/29/63)
Critical excerpts from Greer's 3/9/64 Warren Commission testimony before
Arlen Specter:
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
[
]
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Mr. Specter.
Mr. Greer.
Warren Commission finding: "The driver, Special Agent William R. Greer,
has testified that he accelerated the car after what was probably the
second shot...The Presidential car did not stop or almost come to a
complete halt after the firing of the first shot or any other shots."(WC
Report, page 641)
11/19/64 interview with "Death of a President" author William Manchester
[RIF#180-10116-10119]---"After the second shot I glanced back. I saw
blood on the Governor's white shirt, and I knew we were in trouble. The
blood was coming out of his right breast. When I heard the first shot, I
had thought it was a backfire. I was tramping on the accelerator and at
the same time Roy was saying, let's get out of here fast."
But remember what Roy Kellerman said: "Greer then looked in the back of
the car. Maybe he didn't believe me"("The Death of a President" by
William Manchester, p.160).
2/28/78 HSCA interview [RIF#180-10099-10491]---"The first shot sounded
to him like a backfire. He did not react to it. After the second shot he
turned to his right and saw blood on Governor Connally's shirt. At the
same moment he heard Kellerman say "We're hit. Let's get out of here,"
or words to that effect. He said he immediately accelerated and followed
the pilot car to Parkland Hospital [However, DNC Advance man Jack
Puterbaugh, who rode in the pilot car, said they "pulled over and let
the motorcade pass" (HSCA interview 4/14/78). The Washington Post from
2/28/85 reported Greer as saying that "I just looked straight ahead at
the car in which the police chief was leading our way to the
hospital"---this is the lead car. Nevertheless, the Daniel film and
still photos depict the limousine AHEAD of the lead car, as it appear it
was the lead motorcyclists who actually guided Greer to Parkland! (see
pp. 21-22 and 59 of "The Third Alternative" by the author)]
Bill Greer passed away from Cancer on 2/23/85.
The End?---
>From a 9/17/91 interview with Bill's son Richard:
When asked, "What did your father think of JFK," Richard did not
respond the first time. When this author asked him a second time, he
responded: "Well, we're Methodists..and JFK was Catholic..." (Bill
Greer was born and raised in County Tyrone, Ireland; 2 H 112 - 113)
"My father certainly didn't blame himself; it's not one of those things
- if only I was driving one mile per hour faster
"My father had absolutely no survivor's guilt...he figured that events
were kind out of their control...it was pretty common knowledge that a
person riding in an open car was subject to a bullet at any time..."
The End.
Were you able to see anything of President Kennedy as you glanced
to the rear?
No, sir; I didn't see anything of the President, I didn't look, I
wasn't far enough
around to see the President.
When you started that glance, are you able to recollect whether you
started to
glance before, exactly simultaneously with or after that second
shot?
It was almost simultaneously that he had--something had hit, you
know, when I
had seen him. It seemed like in the same second almost that
something had hit,
you know, whenever I turned around. I saw him start to fall.
Did you step on the accelerator before, simultaneously or after Mr.
Kellerman
instructed you to accelerate?
It was about simultaneously.
So that it was your reaction to accelerate prior to the time--
Yes, sir.
You had gotten that instruction?
Yes, sir; it was my reaction that caused me to accelerate.
Do you recollect whether you accelerated before or at the same time
or after the
third shot?
I couldn't really say. Just as soon as I turned my head back from
the second shot,
right away I accelerated right then. It was a matter of my reflexes
to the
accelerator.
Was it at about that time that you heard the third shot?
Yes, sir; just as soon as I turned my head
To the best of your current recollection, did you notice that the
President had
been hit?
No, sir; I didn't know how badly he was injured or anything other
than that. I
didn't know.
Did you know at all, from the glance which you have described that
he had been
hit or injured in any way?
I knew he was injured in some way, but I didn't know how bad or
what.
How did you know that?
If I remember now, I just don't remember how I knew, but I knew we
were in
trouble. I knew that he was injured, but I can't remember,
recollect, just how I
knew there were injuries in there. I didn't know who all was hurt,
even.
Are you able to recollect whether you saw the President after the
shots as you
were proceeding toward Parkland Hospital?
No; I don't remember ever seeing him any more until I got to the
hospital, and he
was lying across the seat, you know, and that is the first I had
seen of him.
Your best recollection is, then, that you had the impression he was
injured but
you couldn't ascertain the source of that information?
Right. I couldn't ascertain the source.
* - A thirty-two year old native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Palamara
is a graduate of Duquesne University where he earned a degree in Sociology.
Although not even born when President John F. Kennedy was brutally gunned
down in Dallas, Vince brings fresh eyes to an old case. In fact, Vince became
totally immersed in the subject at the tender age of twelve.
However, it
wasn't until 1988, the twenty-fifth anniversary of JFK's murder that Vince
began to do his own thinking on the topic; it was from this point that Vince
decided to do research on the Secret Service aspect of the case, an area
that has received a small amount of attention, especially up to that time
period. Vince would soon contact over thirty five different former agents,
White House aides, and surviving family members, resulting in his first
book entitled, "The Third Alternative-Survivor's Guilt: The Secret
Service and the JFK Murder," selling well over 500 copies to date
and receiving favorable reviews in the "Fair Play," "Fourth Decade,"
Probable Cause, and "Lobster" magazines.
Since 1991, Vince has had articles published in
the following journals:
1) "The Third Decade"
In addition, Vince has been credited for his research assistance in the
following books on the subject:
1) "High Treason 2" (1992/1993) by H.E.L.
Vince has also appeared as a speaker at the following:
* June 1991 Third Decade conference in Fredonia, New York
In this time, Vince has become known as the "Secret Service expert.
But he didn't stop there...
Not satisfied with an acclaimed first book, many journal articles, and
a commanding presence on the internet, Vince set about researching and
writing for his second book, "JFK: The Medical Evidence Reference."
Just
like with his first project, Vince went on to contact over 35 different witnesses and principals, including quite a few Parkland doctors and Bethesda
technicians. The results speak for themselves: "JFK: The Medical Evidence
Reference" is THE Bible on the medical evidence in the JFK assassination,
with over 350 names and thousands of sources and citations!
The journey continues... - Vince Palamara, 12/98
2) "The Fourth Decade"
3) "Investigator"
4) "BackChannels"
5) "Lobster"
6) "JFK/ Deep Politics Quarterly"
7) Kennedy Assassination Chronicles
8) Dealey Plaza UK
9) Fair Play
2) "Killing the Truth"(1993/1994) by H.E.L.
3) "High Treason" Revised (1998) by Livingstone and Groden
4) "The Complete Videography-1963 to 1992" (1993/1994)
by Anthony Frewin
5) "Killing Kennedy"(1995) by H.E.L.
6) "Treachery in Dallas"(1995) by Walt Brown [9 pages total]
7) The JFK Assassination Quiz Book by Walt Brown (1995)
8) The Warren Omission(1996) by Walt Brown
9) Breach of Faith(1996) by Dr. William Truels
10) Motorcade Schematic(1993) by Todd Vaughan
11) Bloody Treason (1997/1998) by Noel Twyman [13 pages total]
12) Assassination Science (1998) by Prof. James Fetzer
13) "November Patriots" (1998) by Larry Hancock and Connie Kritzberg
14) The Final Report of the ARRB (1998)
15) "That Day In Dallas" by Richard Trask (1998)
* March 1992 American Popular Culture conference in Louisville, Kentucky
* June 1993 Third Decade conference (Dr. Jerry Rose presented in absentia)
* October 1995 COPA conference in Washington, D.C.
[soon after appearing on New York's WBAI radio show]
* 1996 COPA conference in Washington, D.C.
* JFK Lancer conference in Dallas, Texas in Nov. 1997
[soon after appearing on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, PA, as
well as in "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"].
Comments will be forwarded.
Please email:
Clint Bradford