The Kennedy Detail Authors At Book Passage San Francisoco Tonight 6pm
Lectures
Jeffrey Kline: The program director of Maritime Defense and Security Research Programs at the Naval Postgraduate School gives a talk titled “Piracy and the Maritime Commons.” [Noon, World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., S.F.]
Celebrating Mark Twain: The Commonwealth Club hosts a 175th-birthday party for Mark Twain, a celebration featuring words and wit by the American iconoclast, plus cake. [Noon, Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
Eric Gower: The chef, cooking teacher and author of “The Breakaway Cook” talks about integrating Asian ingredients into home cooking and conducts a blind tasting. [6 p.m., Commonwealth Club, 595 Market St., S.F.]
Market Street: Neil Hrushowy from the Planning Department discusses the results of a survey of Market Street pedestrians and how the study will inform the Better Market Street Project. [12:30 p.m., SPUR, 654 Mission St., S.F.]
Literary events
Richard Cohen: The author and fencing champion talks about “Chasing the Sun: The Epic Story of the Star That Gives Us Life.” [7 p.m., Kepler’s Books and Magazines, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park]
Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin, and Clint Hill: The authors of “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence” discuss the book. [6 p.m., Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, S.F.]
Essay anthology: Evening features a discussion of “The Devil’s Punchbowl: A Cultural and Geographic Map of California Today.” [7 p.m., Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., S.F.]
At the colleges
Oil spill: The second of two lectures on the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the future of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico takes place. [7:30 p.m., William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 200, 370 Serra Mall, Stanford University]
Chess night: The Mechanics’ Institute hosts its Tuesday Night Marathon, an evening of serious chess playing. Players at all levels are welcome. [6:30 p.m., 57 Post St., S.F.]
At the public library
Documentary film: The program features a screening of “Remembering Playland at the Beach,” a documentary about the former amusement park. [5:30 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St., S.F.]
‘(In) Visible Memoir’: Four writers from Openhouse, San Francisco’s LGBT retirement community, read from their memoirs. [7 p.m., Eureka Valley Branch, 1 Jose Sarria Court, S.F.]
Local activities
Comedy tour: The Mahatma Moses Comedy Tour, featuring three comedians of South Asian descent — Samson Koletkar, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan and Joe Nguyen — is in town. [8 p.m., Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery St., S.F.]
Classical music: Trio Billante — Betty Woo (piano), Caroline Lee (viola) and Tom Rose (clarinet) — performs music by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Reinecke. [12:30 p.m., Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St., S.F.]
Japanese art: “Japanesque,” an exhibit that explores the Japanese print in the age of impressionism, continues through Jan. 9 at the Legion of Honor. [9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., 100 34th Ave., S.F.]
Dining out
Restaurant Paul K: Chef Shawn Bayless cooks modern and Mediterranean cuisine. Recent entrees include pan-roasted bluenose bass with beluga lentils, lemon-thyme oil and upland cress; grilled eggplant with moussaka and bread-crumb gremolata; Syrian-spiced duck breast with spelt, grilled dates, hazelnuts and watercress; and roasted Niman Ranch pork chops with Brussels sprouts, pancetta and potato hash. [199 Gough St., S.F., (415) 552-7132]
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/good-day/2010/11/maya-rudolph-appears-onstage-conversation-herbst#ixzz16n9XHKSY
Simon & Schuster Releasing Enhanced JFK eBook
A four-way partnership of publishers and television networks are set to release an enhanced eBook about JFK. The new book was written by Gerald Blaine and Lisa McCubbin and is entitled “THE KENNEDY DETAIL: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.”
Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster, CBS News, and the Discovery Channel are teaming up to release the new book at the same time as a new television documentary about JFK’s presidency. The documentary will air on November 22nd at 9:00pm EST on the Discovery Channel. Among the features of the enhanced eBook are 18 video clips from a “60 Minutes” interview with Secret Service Agent Clint Hill. In the interview, Hill tells Mike Wallace about the assassination of JFK.
The book is being released as part of a 50th anniversary celebration of JFK’s election and will be available in the iBookstore and on Kindle. Another eBook was recently released to celebrate the 50th anniversary, which was entitled “JFK: 50 Days.”Simon & Schuster Releasing Enhanced JFK eBook
Read more: JFK | eBook | Daemon's Books http://www.daemonsbooks.com/2010/11/24/simon-schuster-releasing-enhanced-jfk-ebook/#ixzz16Ju2tYjK
Hartford Books Examiner Interview With Gerald Blaine And Clint Hill Part 1
John ValeriRevisiting the JFK assassination, Part 1: Gerald Blaine & Clint Hill discuss 'The Kennedy Detail'
This week, Hartford Books Examiner commemorates the 47th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Nearly five decades later, that polarizing event remains shrouded in mystery. By providing a look at some of the recent literature in this controversial case, it is our sincere hope to inspire thought and dialogue. After all, it is when we forget the past that we become vulnerable to repeating it…
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Today, Hartford Books Examiner welcomes Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill, both of whom served on President Kennedy’s Secret Service detail. Blaine is co-author with Lisa McCubbin of The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Gallery Books, $ 28), and Hill wrote the book’s forward.
Blaine was hired as Special Agent of the United States Secret Service in 1959, and was handpicked to serve on the elite White House Secret Service Detail—one of thirty-four men responsible for protecting then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Upon John F. Kennedy’s election in November of 1960, Blaine was immediately transferred to the President-elect detail, and spent the next three years traveling with Kennedy. Immediately following JKF’s assassination, the Kennedy detail became the Johnson detail, which Blaine remained a part of until resigning from the Secret Service on July 4, 1964. He then embarked on a career path as an expert in high-level corporate security, retiring in 2003.
Hill was the Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) of Mrs. Kennedy’s security detail, and remained with her until after the 1964 presidential election, at which time he joined Johnson’s team. In 1967, Hill became the SAIC of Presidential protection. Ultimately, he was assigned to headquarters as the Assistant Director of the Secret Service before retiring in 1975. Readers will remember Hill as the agent who climbed aboard the presidential limousine as the motorcade came under fire. In December of 1963, he was presented with a gold medal and a citation for “exceptional bravery” during those tragic moments.
The Kennedy Detail synopsis:
THE SECRET SERVICE. An elite team of men who share a single mission: to protect the president of the United States. On November 22, 1963, these men failed—and a country would never be the same. Now, for the first time, a member of JFK’s Secret Service detail reveals the inside story of the assassination, the weeks and days that led to it and its heartrending aftermath. This extraordinary book is a moving, intimate portrait of dedication, courage, and loss.
Drawing on the memories of his fellow agents, Jerry Blaine captures the energetic, crowd-loving young president, who banned agents from his car and often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning. He describes the careful planning that went into JFK’s Texas swing, the worries and concerns that agents, working long hours with little food or rest, had during the trip. And he describes the intensely private first lady making her first-ever political appearance with her husband, just months after losing a newborn baby.
Here are vivid scenes that could come only from inside the Kennedy detail: JFK’s last words to his tearful son when he left Washington for the last time; how a sudden change of weather led to the choice of the open-air convertible limousine that day; Mrs. Kennedy standing blood-soaked outside a Dallas hospital room; the sudden interruption of six-year-old Caroline’s long-anticipated sleepover with a friend at home; the exhausted team of agents immediately reacting to the president’s death with a shift to LBJ and other key governmental figures; the agents’ dismay at Jackie’s decision to walk openly from the White House to St. Matthew’s Cathedral at the state funeral.
Most of all, this is a look into the lives of men who devoted their entire beings to protecting the presidential family: the stress of the secrecy they kept, the emotional bonds that developed, the terrible impact on agents’ psyches and families, and their astonishment at the country’s obsession with far-fetched conspiracy theories and finger-pointing. A book fifty years in coming, The Kennedy Detail is a portrait of incredible camaraderie and incredible heartbreak—a true, must-read story of heroism in its most complex and human form.
(Read Hartford Books Examiner’s full review of The Kennedy Detail here.)
Now, Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill share their reflections on President Kennedy’s life and death—and on that fateful day in Dallas, which forever changed the course of history...
Gerald Blaine:
1) Forty-seven years have passed since the assassination of President Kennedy. What made you decide that it was time to write this book? Did you find the process to be cathartic or was it painful to revisit the events of 1963?
The purpose was to set the record straight. There are not many of us left now and we are all elderly.
It was the one issue in my life that I had never been able to resolve emotionally. I was satisfied with the Warren Commission findings and when I saw the movie "JFK" by Oliver Stone, which was a combo of every conspiracy theory, I decided to move on with my life and forget the theorists.
I have been in International Security and worked every country in the world. I have had close calls and seen tragic bloodshed during fundamentalist wars, but the assassination was still yet to be resolved. When I retired I looked at the Internet and discovered that history was being kidnapped by a "Cottage Industry" called conspiracy theory. This prompted me because fellow "Kennedy Detail" agents who have passed on were accused of being a part of a conspiracy or derelict in their duties all the way to actually shooting the President himself. This called for clarification.
I contacted the agents and had a 90% response. Clint Hill, who was deeply impacted by the assassination, and is a friend, finally agreed to release the torment he lived with. We discussed the format, which was to be factual with no "Gossip" or "insider" information, which was the commitment I gave everyone who contributed.
In the process it was both painful and healing. I had a difficult time asking questions that I knew were painful to answer on the part of other agents. In the end, we finally had a reunion of agents who had never discussed the assassination with each other. This was recorded by the Discovery Channel, which will be aired on November 22 this year. (Note: This braodcast has been resheduled for December 2nd.) The experience was healing for everyone.
2) Reflection often reveals a fresh perspective. Did you have any such revelations while writing THE KENNEDY DETAIL? What has been the response from the other agents who have contributed to the book?
The response has been overwhelmingly favorable. Clint, Lisa McCubbin and I had lunch with the Director of the Secret Service and his staff. He felt it was a book that every agent should read because it was the event that has developed the Secret Service into the organization it is today.
I have received e-mails from numerous agents and from countries around the world.
3) You have come to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin. What do you find to be the strongest evidence of his guilt? Do you have an opinion as to why the majority of Americans continue to believe that JFK was killed as the result of a conspiracy?
It is difficult for a person to believe that a lone individual can take the life of such a dynamic person. To the citizen on the street it has to be much bigger than that. Suddenly people were blaming factions they personally disliked and conspiracy theory went ballistic. It was the left wing, or the right wing, Cuba, Russia, organized crime, government leaders, the new president, FBI, CIA Secret Service, etc.
The reality of a conspiracy is that they seldom last 60 days before they are uncovered. In this case it has been 47 years and not one shred of evidence has been presented that indicated a conspiracy.
Lee Harvey Oswald was the perfect profile of an assassin. He had psychiatric problems and family instability as a youth. He failed at everything he attempted. He even failed at defecting and returned to the US. He could not carry on a five minute conversation without alienating the person he was talking to. The rifle that Oswald used to kill President Kennedy was also used in a failed attempt to shoot General Walker, a right wing activist in Dallas. Once the shots were fired at President Kennedy, Oswald shot a police officer that was not necessary for his escape, but to be sure he would be caught for the recognition he so desperately needed. He then ran into a movie house without buying a ticket and when approached by officers he pulled a gun. Unfortunately he did not gain the recognition for long since he was killed by Jack Ruby.
The only thing missing was the Secret Service had no knowledge of Oswald.
4) The country was forever changed on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. What were the ramifications of President Kennedy’s assassination? Do you believe that there is the potential to emerge from the darkness of that day? If so, how?
It was our generation's 9/11, and the end of innocence.The small evolution of rebellion that began in the late 50's mushroomed during the 60's and created the individuals who in succession killed Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and an attempt on George Wallace which paralyzed him. Every President since that time has been confronted with threats and attempts. Today's environment is even worse which is why the Secret Service has grown from 300 agents in 1963 to 3,599 agents today.
The only way we can clear our thinking is to accept the fact that assassinations are committed by sociopath individuals or by a small group of radicals. A large number of conspiracy theorists end up trying to destroy their enemies by accusing them of being a part of a conspiracy and in the process they make skeptics of our youth and create extreme diversity in our society. If that is not corrected, I doubt if the country could survive another assassination.
5) So much attention is paid to President Kennedy’s death that his accomplishments in life are often overlooked. What do you believe should be JFK’s true legacy?
He was a dynamic leader who tackled a number of tough issues. His first three years were tied up in cold war issues and he stood his ground in the Cuban Missile Crisis. His next effort was to focus on Civil Rights. The JFK Museum in Boston highlights his efforts. The exhibit on the assassination is a short video clip on Walter Cronkite and a statement that says President Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman in Dallas, Texas, who fired three shots.
Clint Hill:
1) With rare exception, you have remained largely silent since the assassination of President Kennedy. What made you decide to contribute to THE KENNEDY DETAIL? Did you find the process to be cathartic or was it painful to revisit the events of 1963?
When Jerry Blaine contacted me about his writing a book about The Kennedy Detail, I was less than enthusiastic. In fact, I was very apprehensive. I had previously been offered many opportunities to contribute to books or to write a book of my own. I refused. Jerry and I had long conversations about his proposed book. When he promised there would be no salacious material, no gossip, only facts based on agent interviews and document examination. I then asked to be allowed to check the manuscript for facts before it was published. Jerry agreed to this and I agreed to contribute. I subsequently was interviewed at length by Lisa McCubbin, who had interviewed other agents. She then put our words to paper and the book "The Kennedy Detail" is the result.
2) You were Mrs. Kennedy’s SAIC and accompanied her to Texas. What was her frame of mind as she embarked on her first domestic political trip? How did your relationship with Mrs. Kennedy change after Dallas?
Mrs. Kennedy was very excited and enthusiastic about the trip to Texas. This was her first trip of a political nature outside of the Washington area since the election in 1960. Her activities in 1960 were somewhat curtailed because she was pregnant. She was very happy to be able to help her husband in his effort to gain re-election in 1964.
Our relationship, after Dallas, continued on a very personal, but professional level. She was very self sufficient but sought me out to discuss various personal problems. We became somewhat closer because I was the familiar face among the many changes. I was always there.
3) You agree with the Warren Commission’s assessment that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin. What do you find to be the strongest evidence of his guilt? Do you have an opinion as to why the majority of Americans continue to believe that JFK was killed as the result of a conspiracy?
There were many things that led me to believe Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin. He had access. He had used the alias A J. Hidell. An identification card with that name was found on him at the time of arrest. This alias had been used to purchase a rifle in March 1963. He used a post office address with that alias. The rifle was found on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository near the sniper's nest. His personality profile fit that of a potential assassin.
Americans have a very difficult time believing one person, alone, could accomplish the assassination of the President of the United States. We know that most assassinations are carried out by one person, alone.
4) The country was forever changed on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. What were the ramifications of President Kennedy’s assassination? Do you believe that there is the potential to emerge from the darkness of that day? If so, how?
It was the end of the age of innocence. I believe subsequent assassinations and attempts can be directly attributed to this November 22, 1963, event. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the attempts on George Wallace, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan were all attempted because of the success of Oswald. The assassination in 1963 made everyone less trustful of the government as well as of our fellow man.
5) So much attention is paid to President Kennedy’s death that his accomplishments in life are often overlooked. What do you believe should be JFK’s true legacy?
President Kennedy had both success and failure. The Bay of Pigs Invasion and the failure to get a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty were two examples of failure. Success came in the way he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis; the attempt to settle the cold war with Khrushchev; the establishment of the Peace Corps; the Alliance for Progress in Latin America in an attempt to control Communism; his commitment to space exploration and to put a man on the moon; and finally the passage of the Civil Rights Act which occurred after he was assassinated but can be directly attributed to him.
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With thanks to Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill for generously sharing their time and thoughts, and to Penny C. Sansevieri for facilitating these interviews.
The Kennedy Detail will premiere as a documentary on the Discovery Channel on December 2nd.
U.K.'s tax credit lures in large productions
Snaring the big Hollywood pictures
U.K.'s tax credit lures in large productions
By Adam Dawtrey
Clint Eastwood, above, found many advantages to shooting much of 'Hereafter' in the U.K.
With £780 million ($1.25 billion) in inward investment, it's already a record year for foreign production in the U.K., beating the 2009 high of $1.2 billion.
Most of that money comes from big-budget Hollywood projects. The U.K.'s tax credit is particularly attractive for such films, because it has no ceiling, and it applies to all U.K. expenditure, including the salaries of American talent.
Several $150 million-plus films booked into Blighty this year. Disney's "John Carter of Mars" built giant sets at Longcross Studios, a former tank-testing base converted into a production facility. It also used Shepperton and converted a vacant warehouse in nearby Greenford into a temporary soundstage.
Snaring "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" was a big coup, as none of the three previous installments shot in the U.K. It came to Pinewood this fall after location shooting in Hawaii.
Marvel's "Captain America" based itself at Shepperton, but went on location around Liverpool and Manchester.
Fox brought the Matthew Vaughn-helmed "X-Men: First Class" to Pinewood. Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" from DreamWorks has offices at Longcross but is shooting on location. Martin Scorsese's 3D "Hugo Cabret" from GK Films is in extended residency at Shepperton.
Warner Bros., traditionally the studio with the largest commitment to U.K. production, is finally coming to the end of "Harry Potter" at Leavesden Studios. Leavesden started as a temporary facility but evolved into a permanent base. Warner has taken over the site for redevelopment and will reopen it as a full-service studio and visitor attraction in 2012.
With Leavesden out of action, Warner has several current or upcoming projects booked into other studios, including "Sherlock Holmes 2" and "Clash of the Titans 2." Helmer Chris Nolan will return to his usual airship hangar in Cardington to shoot the next Batman.
Universal used Ealing Studios for "Johnny English Reborn." Tim Burton's latest stop-motion project, "Frankenweenie," backed by Disney, is shooting at 3 Mills Studios in east London, while Sony is bankrolling two films from Aardman's animation studio in Bristol, "Pirates!" and "Arthur Christmas."
Indie pics squeezed in amid the blockbusters include Madonna's "W.E," Lone Scherfig's "One Day," "The Woman in Black" from Hammer Films, Jonathan Newman's "Foster" and Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria."
Join The Thrillionaire's 2 Day Celebration of Life, Dec. 9, 10!
From: Ken Atchity, Executive Director of The Thrillionaires
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P.S. A portion of the ticket sales will go to the Generation Why Foundation—a non-profit organization that helps homeless children—a great cause—please get your ticket and support them.
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Details here!
Blogger News Network Reviews AEI Clients Gerald S. Blaine and Lisa McCubbin's The Kennedy Detail
Book Review: The Kennedy Detail by Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin
There is little doubt in my mind that if of you were to ask a group of fifty people to name the two biggest conspiracies of the 20th century most would cite the assassination of President John F Kennedy, and the happenings at Roswell/Area 51. Both events illicit huge amounts of heated discussion.I am not a conspiracy theorist but I am a person with a keen interest in the JFK story, I am old enough to remember the events, although too young at the time to have grasped their true significance.
Over the years I have read many books on the events of November/22 in Dealey Plaza, some have been scholarly and well researched, others have been written by ‘wingnuts’ espousing theories that only a fellow wingnut could love!
Rarely does a Kennedy book cause any serious level of controversy. People read them and just move on. That is not true of The Kennedy Detail. Within 24 hours of posting a harmless article about the upcoming release I had messages from JFK ‘researchers’ that were mainly negative.
So what makes The Kennedy Detail such a controversial book? At face value it would seem to be the ideal companion for and collector or historian. It is not a rehash of the many books before, it is the telling of the story through the eyes of Gerald Blaine. Blaine was part of the elite secret service detail tasked with keeping the president out of harms way.
This viewpoint of the JFK assassination is not one that I had read before.
In retrospect I now understand the frustration from the researchers that contacted me, but I do feel they are completely off the mark. Gerald Blaine is not trying to rewrite history, he is telling his story, the way he remembers it. The Kennedy Detail for me was more of an autobiography than an analysis of the events.
There is an old saying about history, there are always three versions, there is mine, there is yours, and then there is the truth, which is somewhere in between. Read Don Brackens excellent book Words Of War for concrete evidence of this. Gerald Blaine is like every other author writing what I call ‘living history’, they are his recollections, they are his feelings, and they form a very important part of the mosaic surrounding the assassination of JFK and the fall out that followed.
Certainly he is very soft on criticism of the Warren Commission, but surely that should come as no surprise. And most certainly he avoids treading in the mire of JFK’s supposed womanizing world, but again, this is not surprising. Gerald Blaine as part of the presidents personal security team swore an oath of allegiance to JFK. It is clear that even after 47 years Gerald Blaine keeps that oath. I admire him for doing so.
I enjoyed The Kennedy Detail a great deal, for me it revealed a side of the story that I had never heard. It puts a face on those Trench Coated, Black Suited, White Shirted, Aviator Sunglasses wearing and generally unsmiling gentleman that protect our presidents.
Kudos to Gerald Blaine! I did notice that The Kennedy Detail is moving faster than a snipers bullet up the Amazon Bestseller list, so if you know someone that is interested in the JFK story this would make a perfect addition to their collection. You can order your copy by clicking on the Amazon link above.
Simon Barrett
NPR Boston Radio Interviews AEI Clients Jerry Blaine and Clint Hill On The Kennedy Detail
CLICK HERE AND LISTEN NOW
Secret Service Agents Grieve JFK, 47 Years After His Death
By Rachel Gotbaum
Today is the 47th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
On that day in 1963, five Secret Service agents were assigned to protect the president and his motorcade. And for nearly a half-century, those men have remained silent about the horror they experienced that afternoon.
But now they’ve broken their silence. Gerald Blaine was a member of the so-called Kennedy detail, and he has written a new book about what he and his colleagues went through that day — and in the decades following the president’s death.
Blaine’s book, The Kennedy Detail, is based on interviews with numerous Secret Service agents who had been charged with guarding the president, including Clint Hill. On November 22, 1963, Hill was traveling in the car behind the president’s in Dallas, and the day is still clear in his memory.
“There was an explosive sound from my right rear,” Hill said. “I had been looking to my left at Dealey Plaza, where there were some people but very few. When I heard the explosive noise from my right rear I scanned from my left to my right. In so doing, my eyes went across the back of the car. I saw the president grasp at his throat and lurch slightly to his left, and I knew something was wrong.”
Kennedy’s assassination has spawned many conspiracy theories. But in his book, Blaine says, he hopes to tell the full story as viewed by the people who were closest to the action.
“We really wanted to set the record straight,” Blaine said. “The conspiracy theories have grown so much that many of the agents who passed away were accused of being part of a conspiracy.”
Hill says that he puts no stock in conspiracy theories, and that he and the other nearby agents did their best to protect Kennedy. After the first shot, Hill said, he ran from the trailing car and jumped on top of Kennedy’s vehicle to protect the president and his wife.
It all happened so fast, Hill said, that he didn’t think much.
“Not much time to be thinking; it’s more just strictly reaction,” Hill said. “I guess the thought was, ‘How the hell did this happen?’ ”
CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer Interviews The Kennedy Detail's Jerry Blaine and Clint Hill
JFK's Secret Service agents reflect on loss of a president
Arlington, Virginia (CNN) -- After mostly avoiding the spotlight for decades, many of the former U.S. Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy are now offering their accounts of the day he was assassinated, 47 years ago Monday. After the first shot hit the president, former agent Clint Hill says, "I saw him grab at his throat and lean to his left. So I jumped and ran." Hill is the man seen running toward the limousine in the famous film of the shooting, captured by a bystander named Abraham Zapruder. Hill jumped onto the back of the presidential car, in a desperate attempt to protect the president.
"Just before I got to the car, the third shot hit him in the head." Hill says."It was too late."
First lady Jackie Kennedy had climbed onto the back hood of the car, but Hill moved her back into her seat, and attempted to shield the two of them from any further bullets, as the car sped to the hospital.
As the president's head lay in her lap, Hill heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "Oh, Jack, what have they done to you?"
A newly detailed account of the assassination is laid out in the new book "The Kennedy Detail," by former agent Jerry Blaine, written with journalist Lisa McCubbin, based on interviews with many of the agents who covered Kennedy. Former agent Hill, who has rarely granted interviews about the shooting, wrote a foreword.
Blaine and Hill say they are still burdened by the knowledge that they were unable to keep the president safe that day in Dallas, Texas.
"There's no question in my mind he was the assassin," Hill says. "I was there. I know what happened."Blaine reveals for the first time that on the very same day that Kennedy was killed, newly sworn in President Lyndon Johnson was almost shot as well -- accidentally. Just hours after Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One, Blaine was guarding his home, after going 40 hours without sleep.
"It was about 2:15 in the morning at The Elms, which was Johnson's residence before he became president. I heard all of a sudden a person approaching," Blaine says. He raised his gun and put his finger on the trigger -- only to see Johnson round the corner.
"He turned white, he turned around and walked in, and that was the last that was ever said of it," Blaine says.
"We couldn't help, but we felt like we failed," says Blaine. "It was a terrible feeling."Hill was commended for the bravery he showed under fire, but even so, he says he holed up for years in his basement with alcohol and cigarettes, feeling guilty that he did not reach the limousine in time to take a bullet for the president.
"I felt that there was something I should have been able to do," he says. "Moved faster, reacted quicker, gotten there just moments quicker, could have made all the difference in the world."
Hill suffered nightmares, but post-traumatic counseling was not yet a common practice. Only with the passing of many years did he gradually recover, telling himself he did the best he could. "You just have to accept it and live with it, the best you can," he says.
Just days before the assassination, Blaine writes, Kennedy chafed at the close proximity of his protective detail. During a motorcade in Tampa, Florida, he asked them not to ride on his limousine.
"Have the Ivy League charlatans drop back to the follow-up car," the president told one of the agents. "We've got an election coming up. The whole point is for me to be accessible to the people."
But Hill and Blaine dismiss the notion that Kennedy's instructions in Tampa jeopardized his security in Dallas. Photos of the motorcade show, regardless of what the president said, Hill was riding on the back of the car during an earlier part of the route.
By the time the motorcade reached the stretch of roadway where the assassination occurred, however, agents could no longer ride on the fenders, Blaine says.
"We were going into a freeway, and that's where you take the speeds up to 60 and 70 miles an hour. So we would not have had any agents there anyway," he said.
Some of the agents see the book as a chance to counter some of the conspiracy theorists who have never accepted that it was Lee Harvey Oswald who shot the president, and that he acted alone.
Fox 5's Bob Barnard Interviews Clint Hill
Retired Secret Service Agent Clint Hill Details John F. Kennedy Assassination
Hill jumped onto limousine as Kennedy was shot
bob.barnard@foxtv.com
By BOB BARNARD/myfoxdc
(Click on the videos to view Bob Barnard's entire sit-down interview with Clint Hill)
WASHINGTON - If you don't know his name or recognize his face, that's because Clint Hill has never before spoken in depth about his role in history on that dark day in Dallas 47 years ago when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Mr. Hill, now 78, retired and a longtime resident of Alexandria, is the Secret Service Agent who ran to and jumped on the presidential limousine as President Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963.
After years of declining any and all requests for interviews, Clint Hill agreed to sit down and talk with FOX 5 News.
Get the latest news from myfoxdc on your mobile on our iPhone, Droid or Blackberry apps. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Send us news pictures & video on our apps or FOX 5 News Force.
Hill jumped onto limousine as Kennedy was shot
bob.barnard@foxtv.com
By BOB BARNARD/myfoxdc
(Click on the videos to view Bob Barnard's entire sit-down interview with Clint Hill)
WASHINGTON - If you don't know his name or recognize his face, that's because Clint Hill has never before spoken in depth about his role in history on that dark day in Dallas 47 years ago when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Mr. Hill, now 78, retired and a longtime resident of Alexandria, is the Secret Service Agent who ran to and jumped on the presidential limousine as President Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963.
After years of declining any and all requests for interviews, Clint Hill agreed to sit down and talk with FOX 5 News.
Get the latest news from myfoxdc on your mobile on our iPhone, Droid or Blackberry apps. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Send us news pictures & video on our apps or FOX 5 News Force.
Join The Thrillionaire's 2 Day Celebration of Life, Dec. 9, 10!
From: Ken Atchity, Executive Director of The Thrillionaires
YOU can walk the RED CARPET at a movie premiere, with Nik Halik…
Ever been to a movie premiere—a real live event, with a red carpet that you walk, get interviewed on, stop, have your picture taken, the whole deal? Would you like to? Last year, Nik Halik was asked to be in a movie with a number of visionary leaders…and the premiere is next month. Can you join us for it—true Hollywood style?!?! Take a look:
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Check it out!
Would you like to meet the legendary Brian Tracy and enjoy drinks with a room full of celebrities—in Southern California? Super limited availability—watch this short video:
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Act now !
And THAT’S NOT ALL!!! The very next morning, we will begin a “Celebration of Life” event, with wealth strategists, authors, famous coaches and publishers—a full day of personal growth, financial education and incredible coaching. As a matter of fact, I’ll be speaking LIVE at the event! You just have to be there!!! Don’t wait…spots will be gone soon...and I really want YOU TO JOIN ME!
Can’t wait to see you in Hollywood!
Warmly,
Ken and Nik and Ridgely
P.S. A portion of the ticket sales will go to the Generation Why Foundation—a non-profit organization that helps homeless children—a great cause—please get your ticket and support them.
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Details here!
Clint Hill's New York Times OP-ED
Op-Ed Contributor
On Mrs. Kennedy’s Detail
By CLINT HILL
Published: November 21, 2010
IT was with great trepidation that I approached 3307 N Street in Washington on Nov. 10, 1960. I had just been given the assignment of providing protection for the wife of the newly elected president of the United States, and I was about to meet her for the first time.
I soon realized I had little to worry about. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, just 31 years old at the time, was a gracious woman who put me immediately at ease. She was the first lady, but she was also a caring mother; her daughter, Caroline, was nearly 3 years old, and she was pregnant with her second child. Three weeks later, she went into early labor with John Jr., and I followed her through the entire process. It would be the first of many experiences we would have together.
Being on the first lady’s detail was a lot different from being on the president’s. It was just the two of us, traveling the world together. Mrs. Kennedy was active and energetic — she loved to play tennis, water-ski and ride horses. She had a great sense of humor, and we grew to trust and confide in each other, as close friends do.
In early 1963, Mrs. Kennedy shared with me the happy news that she was pregnant again. She had curtailed her physical activities and had settled into a routine at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., for the last few months of her pregnancy. I was on a rare day off when I got the call that she had gone into early labor. I raced to the hospital at Otis Air Force Base, arriving shortly after she did.
The president, who had been in Washington, arrived soon after she delivered their new baby boy, whom they named Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
When Patrick died two days later, Mrs. Kennedy was devastated. I felt as if my own son had died, and we grieved together.
The following weeks were difficult as I watched her fall into a deep depression. Eventually, it was suggested that she needed to get away. In October 1963 I traveled with her to the Mediterranean, where we stayed aboard Aristotle Onassis’ yacht, the Christina. The trip to Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia, along with a short stop in Morocco, seemed to be good therapy, and by the time we returned to Washington the light had returned to her eyes.
I was surprised, however, when not long after our return Mrs. Kennedy decided to join her husband on his trip to Texas. It was so soon after the loss of her son, and she hadn’t accompanied the president on any domestic political trips since his election.
Nevertheless, when we left the White House on Thursday, Nov. 21, I could tell that Mrs. Kennedy was truly excited. I remember thinking this would be a real test of her recovery, and that if she enjoyed the campaigning it would probably be a regular occurrence as soon as the 1964 race got into full swing.
The first day of the trip was exhausting. We had motorcades in San Antonio, Houston and finally Fort Worth, where we arrived around midnight. It had been a long day for everyone, and Mrs. Kennedy was drained.
On the morning of Nov. 22, I went to her room at the Hotel Texas to bring her down to the breakfast where President John F. Kennedy was speaking. She was refreshed and eager to head to Dallas. She had chosen a pink suit with a matching hat to wear at their many appearances that day, and she looked exquisite.
The motorcade began like any of the many that I had been a part of as an agent — with the adrenaline flowing, the members of the detail on alert. I was riding on the running board of the car just behind the president’s.
We were traveling through Dallas en route to the Trade Mart, where the president was to give a lunchtime speech, when I heard an explosive noise from my right rear. As I turned toward the sound, I scanned the presidential limousine and saw the president grab at his throat and lurch to the left.
I jumped off the running board and ran toward his car. I was so focused on getting to the president and Mrs. Kennedy to provide them cover that I didn’t hear the second shot.
I was just feet away when I heard and felt the effects of a third shot. It hit the president in the upper right rear of his head, and blood was everywhere. Once in the back seat, I threw myself on top of the president and first lady so that if another shot came, it would hit me instead.
The detail went into action. We didn’t stop to think about what happened; our every move and thought went into rushing the president and Mrs. Kennedy to the nearest hospital.
I stayed by Mrs. Kennedy’s side for the next four days. The woman who just a few days before had been so happy and exuberant about this trip to Texas was in deep shock. Her eyes reflected the sorrow of the nation and the world — a sorrow we still feel today.
Join The Thrillionaire's 2 Day Celebration of Life, Dec. 9, 10!
From: Ken Atchity, Executive Director of The Thrillionaires
YOU can walk the RED CARPET at a movie premiere, with Nik Halik…
Ever been to a movie premiere—a real live event, with a red carpet that you walk, get interviewed on, stop, have your picture taken, the whole deal? Would you like to? Last year, Nik Halik was asked to be in a movie with a number of visionary leaders…and the premiere is next month. Can you join us for it—true Hollywood style?!?! Take a look:
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Check it out!
Would you like to meet the legendary Brian Tracy and enjoy drinks with a room full of celebrities—in Southern California? Super limited availability—watch this short video:
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Act now !
And THAT’S NOT ALL!!! The very next morning, we will begin a “Celebration of Life” event, with wealth strategists, authors, famous coaches and publishers—a full day of personal growth, financial education and incredible coaching. As a matter of fact, I’ll be speaking LIVE at the event! You just have to be there!!! Don’t wait…spots will be gone soon...and I really want YOU TO JOIN ME!
Can’t wait to see you in Hollywood!
Warmly,
Ken and Nik and Ridgely
P.S. A portion of the ticket sales will go to the Generation Why Foundation—a non-profit organization that helps homeless children—a great cause—please get your ticket and support them.
http://www.thethrillionaires.com/blog/celebration-of-life/ <<<> Details here!
The Washington Times Reviews The Kennedy Detail
Against the tools of an assassin
BYLINE: By Muriel Dobbin SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
SECTION: B, BOOKS; Pg. 7
When the president of the United States is assassinated, it splits the nation in grief and pain and leaves the group of men assigned to protect him to live with the corrosive guilt of personal failure.
These men are the Secret Service, the dark-suited, implacable agents with sunglasses and wrist microphones whose duty is to protect the president, and this book is remarkable in its poignant yet terse presentation of the day President Kennedy died and plunged America into mourning. The men who recount that tragedy are men who didn't talk about it, even to each other, for almost half a century. But none of them could forget what they saw, especially Clint Hill, the agent assigned to Jacqueline Kennedy, who leapt onto the back of the presidential limousine as the president's head exploded in blood and bone into the lap of the first lady.
Kennedy's death led to years of speculation about conspiracies by the Mafia, Cubans angry about the Bay of Pigs, and even a suggestion that the Secret Service had been involved in the killing of the president. That was a wounding accusation against men who are trained that part of their mission is to take a bullet for the president to save him. And the pressure to at last relate the facts as they remembered them contributed to the joint decision by Gerald Blaine and Mr. Hill to write and talk about what they all remembered as "that dreadful day in Dallas."
They drew upon the Kennedy detail's reports, from investigations and notes sealed after the assassination, locked away in attics, the facts that could not be blotted from the memories of those who were there.
Mr. Blaine was one of the 34 men on the Kennedy detail and had been one of six protecting President Eisenhower. He suggests that in 2008, more money was spent on protecting presidential candidates than on the entire Secret Service budget to protect John F. Kennedy in 1963. Mr. Blaine, who retired from the Secret Service in 1964, stresses the importance of the individual relationships the agents had with the presidential couple and their children. In those days of sparse coverage, there was considerable one-on-one communication between the agent and his charge.
Mr. Blaine notes the difficulty of persuading Mr. Hill to become involved in the book project that would probe his deepest pain, observing "Clint, more than any of us had suffered tremendously." Yet as they talked and reminisced over a lengthy period, he recalls, it was as if their former personalities began to emerge. "The healing had finally begun," writes Mr. Blaine.
In a foreword to the book, Mr. Hill writes of how often his mind "rewinds" to Dallas. "It has taken me decades to learn to cope with the guilt and sense of responsibility for the president's death, and I have made it a practice to keep my memories to myself. I don't talk to anybody about that day," he writes. It was in the belief that Mr. Blaine would tell the Kennedy detail story "with dignity and unwavering honesty" that Mr. Hill eventually acquiesced.
"I knew the ensuing discussions would inevitably reopen wounds that have never fully healed, but I also realized that for the sake of history, it was important," he writes. Mr. Hill adds that he knew various researchers and filmmakers would never accept the results of the Warren Commission probe into the assassination, and comments, "The information presented by the majority of these people is theory, not fact. They were not witnesses to the assassination and have little or no knowledge of protective procedures. They were not in our shoes that day in Dallas, and we must learn from the real facts."
Mr. Hill was the agent assigned to Mrs. Kennedy, while others were assigned to the "Kiddie Detail" - meaning Caroline and John Jr., known as John John. According to Mr. Blaine, the Kennedys made sure that their children were polite to their agents, and John and Caroline evidently grew fond of them. There is a touching account of how the little girl rolled down the window of the limousine in which she was riding to the Capitol on the day of the presidential funeral and clung to the hand of her agent, who was walking beside the car. There is the sad story of how the president's son reacted to being photographed after the assassination. "Why are you taking my picture?" he asked his agent, "My daddy's dead." And the Kennedys apparently treated the detail with consideration and concern. President Kennedy
was known to distribute a pile of his own short-sleeved shirts to agents sweltering in the sun at Hyannis Port, Mass., and to bring a scarf and gloves for an agent shivering in the cold of New York. But the president was also stubborn about too much security, which gravely worried the agents.
On one occasion, Kennedy ordered the departure of the "Ivy League charlatans" guarding the back of his car, meaning the dark-suited agents. "People have to see me if I'm running," he told them repeatedly. Mr. Hill traveled the nation and the world with Mrs. Kennedy, whom he described as "very intelligent and very strong-willed." They had "a very good professional relationship," he recalls. He also remembers the faint exasperation she showed when she was waxing enthusiastic about her trip to India, and he maintained his customary stony expression.
"Mr. Hill," said the first lady, "doesn't anything impress you?"
Yet there was real affection and communication between them, and it was poignantly expressed on that grim Dallas trip, when she turned to him at Parkland Hospital, where the president lay dead and asked softly, "Mr. Hill, what will you do now?"
Yet the nightmare did not end at Dallas, Mr. Blaine emphasizes. The assassination opened the doors to a deadly wave of accusations and conspiracy theorists. It also put the Kennedy detail to work for President Johnson, whose virtues rarely included courtesy toward his staff and who didn't trust those who had been the guardians of his predecessor. There is one darkly hilarious account of how a nervous agent unexpectedly encountered Johnson rounding the corner of the house they were guarding and came very close to shooting him.
Yet Johnson and Mr. Hill became friends as they worked together, and when he returned to Texas, the president offered the agent the job of chief of operations at the LBJ ranch. He didn't take it. The book is full of anecdotes, recollections and accounts of the intricate planning for the agents that went into a presidential campaign trip. It vividly recalls the days of Kennedy, a president who loved motorcades in an open car, inherited the Cold War and was sharply tested by the Cuban missile crisis which, Mr. Hill contends brought the United States within an "eyelash" of nuclear war.
Mr. Blaine also notes grimly that today the tools of the assassin are far more sophisticated, at least one reason why the Secret Service now has around 4,000 agents, compared with 400 in 1963, and a budget of about $1.6 billion.
The book does not offer any salacious details about the much-discussed private life of the Kennedys. Mr. Blaine takes the position that the president has a right to privacy, and it is the responsibility of the Secret Service to ensure he has it. There is a terse reference to the famous "happy birthday" sung to President Kennedy by Marilyn Monroe, who was wearing a skintight sequined gown. Mr. Blaine acknowledges he was on duty that glamorous night, and with characteristic Secret Service circumspection, reports, "Miss Monroe left before the other guests."
Muriel Dobbin is a former White House and national political reporter for McClatchy newspapers and the Baltimore Sun.
The Kennedy Detail Georgetown Preview - Political Daily
JFK Secret Service Agents Speak Out After 47 Years
Five former members of John F. Kennedy's Secret Service detail gathered at Georgetown University on Monday night for a public discussion of their time serving the iconic president. The event, which included a preview of an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on the agents' careers, touched on the defining facets of the Kennedy presidency and ranged from lighthearted anecdotes about time with the first family to somber recollections of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in November 1963.
Among the most powerful moments of the night occurred when Clint Hill -- famously visible in the Zapruder film of the assassination as he climbed onto the back of the president's limousine -- spoke about those first terrifying minutes in Dallas.
"When I got to the presidential vehicle, just as I approached it, a third shot rang out, hitting the president in the head, just above the right ear and left a hole about the size of my palm," Hill recalled, his voice halting. "There were blood and brains spewed about over myself and the car."
When Hill finally managed to get Jacqueline Kennedy off the trunk of the limousine, where she had climbed, the motorcade began speeding to Parkland Hospital, where the president was pronounced dead a half-hour later. According to Hill, there were few moments of cogent conversation during the brief trip. "She said something about, 'Oh, Jack, what have they done? What have they done?' " Hill recalled of the former first lady.
or the agents, the chance to reunite for the documentary and a book -- "The Kennedy Detail," co-authored by former agent Gerald S. Blaine and journalist Lisa McCubbin -- was part of a long-deferred healing process. For the film, the agents returned to Dallas and the scene of the shooting. "Going back to Dallas was an opportunity to let my emotions finally be released," Hill said.
"After the assassination, we had a responsibility to go to work," said Blaine, who was also on the president's Secret Service detail that day. "We didn't have trauma counseling or anything else. We decided we were probably going to have to resolve the issue within ourselves."
The agents also discussed life in the White House -- even addressing rumors of an affair between President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe (unfounded, as far as they knew). They also explained that, despite their rigorous training, they were often unprepared for the star-struck awe they experienced at presidential events with such Hollywood figures as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
The agents also recalled unexpectedly leaving a campaign stop in Chicago to head back to Washington in October 1962. The given reason was that the president had a cold, but the agents knew better. The Soviet Union, of course, was building missile sites in Cuba, igniting a standoff that took the United States and the Soviets to the brink of nuclear war for 13 days.
Blaine, who was with Kennedy for most of the crisis, recalled that the president was visibly strained during the negotiations with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. But when the threat had finally passed, Kennedy made sure to let his security detail know. "I was down in the Situation Room after he finished talking to Khrushchev," Blaine said. "He came out and said, 'Well, are you ready to go to Palm Springs?' So that's when we knew everything was going to be okay."
The agents also discussed more lighthearted moments with the first family, whom they liked personally.
"She was a closet smoker," Hill, now in his late 70s, said of Jacqueline Kennedy. "A lot of times we'd be riding in the car going to Middleburg and she'd say, 'Mr. Hill, can I have a cigarette, please?' . . . And I'd get in the backseat and light the cigarette and give it to her. Nobody knew that. And as soon as anybody showed up, the cigarette was put in my hand very quickly." Hill laughed. "I became the smoker."
Besides personal healing and an obligation to history, the agents said they had another reason for speaking out 47 years after Kennedy's assassination. With the book and the documentary, they hope to set the record straight -- and put assassination conspiracy theories to rest. "Most of history today has been written by what I call a cottage industry called 'conspiracy,' " Blaine said. "If we didn't speak up and give a balance to this, history would never know exactly what happened."
Five former members of John F. Kennedy's Secret Service detail gathered at Georgetown University on Monday night for a public discussion of their time serving the iconic president. The event, which included a preview of an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on the agents' careers, touched on the defining facets of the Kennedy presidency and ranged from lighthearted anecdotes about time with the first family to somber recollections of Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in November 1963.
Among the most powerful moments of the night occurred when Clint Hill -- famously visible in the Zapruder film of the assassination as he climbed onto the back of the president's limousine -- spoke about those first terrifying minutes in Dallas.
"When I got to the presidential vehicle, just as I approached it, a third shot rang out, hitting the president in the head, just above the right ear and left a hole about the size of my palm," Hill recalled, his voice halting. "There were blood and brains spewed about over myself and the car."
When Hill finally managed to get Jacqueline Kennedy off the trunk of the limousine, where she had climbed, the motorcade began speeding to Parkland Hospital, where the president was pronounced dead a half-hour later. According to Hill, there were few moments of cogent conversation during the brief trip. "She said something about, 'Oh, Jack, what have they done? What have they done?' " Hill recalled of the former first lady.or the agents, the chance to reunite for the documentary and a book -- "The Kennedy Detail," co-authored by former agent Gerald S. Blaine and journalist Lisa McCubbin -- was part of a long-deferred healing process. For the film, the agents returned to Dallas and the scene of the shooting. "Going back to Dallas was an opportunity to let my emotions finally be released," Hill said.
"After the assassination, we had a responsibility to go to work," said Blaine, who was also on the president's Secret Service detail that day. "We didn't have trauma counseling or anything else. We decided we were probably going to have to resolve the issue within ourselves."
The agents also discussed life in the White House -- even addressing rumors of an affair between President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe (unfounded, as far as they knew). They also explained that, despite their rigorous training, they were often unprepared for the star-struck awe they experienced at presidential events with such Hollywood figures as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
The agents also recalled unexpectedly leaving a campaign stop in Chicago to head back to Washington in October 1962. The given reason was that the president had a cold, but the agents knew better. The Soviet Union, of course, was building missile sites in Cuba, igniting a standoff that took the United States and the Soviets to the brink of nuclear war for 13 days.
Blaine, who was with Kennedy for most of the crisis, recalled that the president was visibly strained during the negotiations with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. But when the threat had finally passed, Kennedy made sure to let his security detail know. "I was down in the Situation Room after he finished talking to Khrushchev," Blaine said. "He came out and said, 'Well, are you ready to go to Palm Springs?' So that's when we knew everything was going to be okay."
The agents also discussed more lighthearted moments with the first family, whom they liked personally.
"She was a closet smoker," Hill, now in his late 70s, said of Jacqueline Kennedy. "A lot of times we'd be riding in the car going to Middleburg and she'd say, 'Mr. Hill, can I have a cigarette, please?' . . . And I'd get in the backseat and light the cigarette and give it to her. Nobody knew that. And as soon as anybody showed up, the cigarette was put in my hand very quickly." Hill laughed. "I became the smoker."
Besides personal healing and an obligation to history, the agents said they had another reason for speaking out 47 years after Kennedy's assassination. With the book and the documentary, they hope to set the record straight -- and put assassination conspiracy theories to rest. "Most of history today has been written by what I call a cottage industry called 'conspiracy,' " Blaine said. "If we didn't speak up and give a balance to this, history would never know exactly what happened."
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