Parkland (Movie Tie-In Edition)

by Vincent Bugliosi

  “God of the open sky and of the infinite universe, we pray and petition for this family who are heartbroken. Those who suffer and who have tears in their hearts will pray for them…Their need is great.”

  For Lee Harvey Oswald he reserves the final words: “May God have mercy on his soul.”

  It’s over in twenty minutes. After the service, Marguerite, Marina, and the children are escorted back to the car to return to the Inn of the Six Flags. Robert lingers for a moment to watch his brother’s coffin lowered into the steel-reinforced concrete vault. He finally returns to his waiting family and the two-car caravan drives off.

  The grave diggers work hard to get the grave filled before dark, watched by a sprinkling of reporters and a few spectators. Finally, a light bulldozer moves in to help. The two floral arrangements are tossed onto the mound of raw earth. Two policemen are ordered to start an around-the-clock watch on the grave.

  “We like to think Fort Worth folks are even-tempered,” Chief Hightower explains, “but we can’t take any chances. We don’t want this grave bothered.”

  As the crowd melts away, a few more of the onlookers beyond the fence slip over and come down to collect a few souvenir clods of dirt from the assassin’s grave.1557

  Four of the darkest days in American history are finally over.

  In an address to a joint session of Congress two days later, President Johnson says:

  All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.

  The greatest leader of our time has been struck down by the foulest deed of our time. Today John Fitzgerald Kennedy lives on in the immortal words and works that he left behind. He lives on in the mind and memories of mankind. He lives on in the hearts of his countrymen.

  No words are sad enough to express our sense of loss. No words are strong enough to express our determination to continue the forward thrust of America that he began.

  The dream of conquering the vastness of space, the dream of partnership across the Atlantic—and across the Pacific as well—the dream of a Peace Corps in less-developed nations, the dream of education for all of our children, the dream of jobs for all who seek them and need them, the dream of care for our elderly, the dream of an all-out attack on mental illness, and above all, the dream of equal rights for all Americans, whatever their race or color—these and other American dreams have been vitalized by his drive and by his dedication. And now, the ideas and ideals which he so nobly represented must and will be translated into effective action…No memorial or oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought for so long. We have talked long enough about equal rights in this country. It is time now to write the next chapter and write it in the books of law.

  The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 quickly followed.

  Abbreviations Used for Citations

  AFIP, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

  ARRB, Assassination Records Review Board

  ARRB MD, Assassination Records Review Board, Medical Deposition

  ASAIC, assistant special agent-in-charge (Secret Service)

  CD, Warren Commission document

  CE, Warren Commission exhibit

  DA, district attorney

  DMA, Dallas Municipal Archives (formerly the Dallas Municipal Archives and Records Center)

  DOJ, Department of Justice

  DOJCD, Department of Justice, Criminal Division

  DPD, Dallas Police Department

  FOIA, Freedom of Information Act

  H, Warren Commission hearings and exhibits (volumes 1–15 are testimony; volumes 16–26 are exhibits)

  HPSCI, House Permanent Subcommittee on Intelligence

  HSCA, House Select Committee on Assassinations (12 volumes)

  JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff

  KISS-SCOW, Kissinger-Scowcroft

  LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson

  NARA, National Archives and Records Administration

  NAS-CBA, National Academy of Science’s Committee on Ballistic Acoustics

  NSA, National Security Agency

  ONI, Office of Naval Intelligence

  SA, special agent

  SAC, special agent-in-charge (FBI)

  SAIC, special agent-in-charge (Secret Service)

  SSCIA, Senate Select Committee on the CIA

  WC, Warren Commission

  WCT, Warren Commission testimony

  WR, Warren Report

  Z, Zapruder film

  Source Notes

  1. 1 H 65–66, 69, 72, 121–122, WCT Marina N. Oswald; 3 H 68, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine; McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.524–525; Manchester, Death of a President, p.111.

  2. McMillan, Marina and Lee, p.73.

  3. 1 H 22, 46, 52, 64–66, WCT Marina N. Oswald; 2 H 515–516, 3 H 41, 44–47, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine; height and weight of Oswald: CE 1981, 24 H 7; McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.515–517.

  4. 2 H 508, 3 H 46, 56–57, 9 H 414–415, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine; 1 H 65, WCT Marina N. Oswald; lonesome for girls: McMillan, Marina and Lee, p.521.

  5. 1 H 65–67, 69, WCT Marina N. Oswald; McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.524–525; teaches part-time: 4 H 448, WCT James Patrick Hosty.

  6. McMillan, Marina and Lee, p.525; 1 H 70, 72, WCT Marina N. Oswald; 3 H 112–113, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine.

  7. 1 H 72, WCT Marina N. Oswald; 3 H 112, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine; McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.525, 544; Manchester, Death of a President, p.111.

  8. 2 H 225–226, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  9. 2 H 248–250, WCT Linnie Mae Randle.

  10. 2 H 241, 245–246, WCT Linnie Mae Randle.

  11. 3 H 34, WCT Ruth Hyde Paine.

  12. 2 H 248, WCT Linnie Mae Randle; 2 H 224, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  13. 2 H 220, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  14. 2 H 220, 228, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  15. 2 H 226, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier; CD 87, p.491, Secret Service interview of Buell Wesley Frazier on December 7, 1963.

  16. 2 H 216, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  17. 2 H 216, 220, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  18. Wills and Demaris, Jack Ruby, pp.22–23; Hunter and Anderson, Jack Ruby’s Girls, pp.11, 16–17; live on their tips: see CE 1322, 22 H 506–507, where there is no reference to salaries for waitresses and cocktail girls.

  19. Hunter and Anderson, Jack Ruby’s Girls, pp.11–15; Wills and Demaris, Jack Ruby, p.23.

  20. 14 H 177, WCT George Senator; CE 1477, 22 H 897.

  21. Crafard Exhibit No. 5226, 19 H 353–354.

  22. Hall (C. Ray) Exhibit No. 3, 20 H 47.

  23. 13 H 204, WCT Bruce Ray Carlin; 13 H 206, 210, WCT Karen Bennett Carlin.

  24. Sneed, No More Silence, pp.490–491; CE 1561, 23 H 49–51, FBI interview of Janet Adams Conforto on December 4, 1963. From No More Silence: An Oral History of the Assassination of President Kennedy, © 1998 Larry A. Sneed. Published by University of North Texas Press.

  25. 15 H 210–211, WCT Thomas Stewart Palmer; CE 2265, 25 H 190, FBI interview of Max Rudberg.

  26. CE 2251, 25 H 176.

  27. 15 H 248–249, WCT Norman Earl Wright.

  28. CE 2399, 25 H 380–381.

  29. Holloway, Dallas and the Jack Ruby Trial, p.21; Kantor, Ruby Cover-Up, p.332; 14 H 316, WCT George Senator; CE 2411, 25 H 482.

  30. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.29, 112; Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, p.5.

  31. Manchester, Death of a President, p.112.

  32. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.61, 63; Crown: Beschloss, Taking Charge, p.17.

  33. Manchester, Death of a President, p.62; Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, p.6.

  34. CE 2647, 25 H 917; 2 H 227, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  35. 2 H 227–229, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier; 3 H 214, WCT Roy Sansom Truly; CD 897, p.148, FBI interview of Buell Wesley Frazier on March 11, 1964, p.1; CE 361, 16 H 957; CD 87, p.2; CD 5, p.318; FBI Record 124-10062-10262, FBI Briefing Book, “Texas School Book Depository: Photog
raphs, Floor Plans, Parking Lots,” photographs 38 and 39, parking lot diagram; see also CD 496.

  36. 2 H 227–228, 239, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  37. 2 H 228, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier.

  38. 2 H 213, 228–229, 232, WCT Buell Wesley Frazier; CD 5, pp.317–318.

  39. Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys, pp.201–202; Nichols, “President Kennedy’s Adrenals,” p.129; Reeves, President Kennedy, p.43; O’Brien, John F. Kennedy, pp.25–26; “sick all the time”: Dallek, Unfinished Life, p.37.

  40. Reeves, President Kennedy, pp.43, 146–147; Baden with Hennessee, Unnatural Death, p.14.

  41. Reeves, President Kennedy, pp.42–43.

  42. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.55, 63; Dallek, Unfinished Life, p.196.

  43. Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys, p.210 footnote.

  44. 2 H 125, WCT William Robert Greer.

  45. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.106, 112; Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, pp.21, 43.

  46. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, pp.429–430; Manchester, Death of a President, p.8.

  47. WR, pp.1, 12; Connally and Herskowitz, From Love Field, pp.65–68, 142; Jackie Kennedy enjoying herself: 7 H 456, WCT Kenneth p.O’Donnell.

  48. Newseum with Trost and Bennett, President Kennedy Has Been Shot, p.7.

  49. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.112, 117.

  50. Manchester, Death of a President, p.113.

  51. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.89, 113.

  52. 7 H 441–442, 444, WCT Kenneth p.O’Donnell.

  53. Dallas Morning News, November 22, 1963.

  54. Dallas Times Herald, November 21, 1963.

  55. CE 996, 18 H 646.

  56. WR, pp.292, 298; CE 1365, 22 H 617.

  57. Curry, JFK Assassination File, p.7; CE 1378, 22 H 630; Dallas Morning News, November 21, 1969.

  58. New York Times, October 25, 1963, pp.1, 6; McKeever, Adlai Stevenson, pp.538–539.

  59. New York Times, October 26, 1963, p.1; Dallas Morning News, October 27, 1963, pp.A1, A22.

  60. Dallas Morning News, October 27, 1963, p.A1.

  61. HSCA Report, p.36; Schlesinger, Thousand Days, pp.1020–1021; Manchester, Death of a President, pp.38, 41, 44.

  62. Dallas Morning News, November 22, 1963; Manchester, Death of a President, p.113; HSCA Report, p.35.

  63. New York Times, November 25, 1966, p.30.

  64. HSCA Report, p.36.

  65. Connally, “Why Kennedy Went to Texas,” p.86B; Manchester, Death of a President, p.3; only city: Holland, Kennedy Assassination Tapes, p.3.

  66. 1 HSCA 11–15; Connally, “Why Kennedy Went to Texas,” p.86A.

  67. Hlavach and Payne, Reporting the Kennedy Assassination, pp.44–45.

  68. Connally and Herskowitz, From Love Field, p.62.

  69. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, p.viii; most powerful member: “Fateful Two Hours without a President,” p.69.

  70. Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys, p.180.

  71. Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys, pp.223–224.

  72. CE 1362–1377, 22 H 614–629; CE 2646–2647, 25 H 916–918.

  73. Kantor Exhibit No. 4, 20 H 406.

  74. MacNeil, Right Place at the Right Time, p.202.

  75. Kantor Exhibit No. 4, 20 H 406.

  76. Audio recordings of the president’s address, November 22, 1963, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas; Manchester, Death of a President, p.114.

  77. Manchester, Death of a President, p.114.

  78. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.116–117.

  79. Manchester, Death of a President, p.117.

  80. New York Times, November 24, 1963, p.12; Manchester, Death of a President, pp.117–118.

  81. WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-1; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reels 1 and 1A, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza; New York Times, November 24, 1963, p.12; Manchester, Death of a President, p.117; Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, p.78; dreaded idea of looking ridiculous: Vanocur, “Kennedy’s Voyage of Discovery,” p.42.

  82. 3 H 165–166, WCT Bonnie Ray Williams; 3 H 215, WCT Roy Sansom Truly.

  83. 3 H 200, WCT James Jarman Jr.

  84. Since January of 1962: File CO-2-34030, Secret Service Report, December 7, 1963.

  85. 3 H 215–216, WCT Roy Sansom Truly.

  86. 3 H 213–214, 217–218, WCT Roy Sansom Truly.

  87. 3 H 199–200, WCT James Jarman Jr.

  88. 3 H 201, WCT James Jarman Jr.; see also Transcript of CBS News Inquiry: The Warren Report, part I, June 25, 1967, p.6, CBS Television Archives.

  89. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.120–121.

  90. CE 1031, 18 H 835.

  91. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, pp.25–26; Manchester, Death of a President, p.121.

  92. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.14, 35.

  93. 7 H 456, WCT Kenneth p.O’Donnell.

  94. Manchester, Death of a President, p.122.

  95. Manchester, Death of a President, pp.121–124; Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, pp.101–104.

  96. 14 H 177, 288–289, WCT George Senator; CE 1478, 22 H 897; Wills and Demaris, Jack Ruby, p.3.

  97. CE 1499, 22 H 900; CE 2321, 25 H 281; Hall (C. Ray) Exhibit No. 3, 20 H 49.

  98. WR, p.334.

  99. CE 2405, 25 H 388.

  100. 5 H 183, WCT Jack L. Ruby; Wills and Demaris, Jack Ruby, p.12.

  101. CE 2321, 25 H 281–282; recently dated: CE 1479, 22 H 900.

  102. CE 2436, 25 H 563; Aynesworth with Michaud, JFK: Breaking the News, p.16; cafeteria on second floor: Telephone interview of Bob Miller, longtime Dallas Morning News employee, by author on September 13, 2005.

  103. 15 H 535, 538–539, WCT John Newnam; CE 2263, 25 H 189; preparing his ad: CE 1479, 22 H 900.

  104. On the third floor: Telephone interview of Bob Miller by author on September 13, 2005.

  105. Hlavach and Payne, Reporting the Kennedy Assassination, pp.106–107.

  106. 5 H 183–184, WCT Jack L. Ruby; CE 2405–2406, 25 H 386–390, 392, Campbell’s testimony at Ruby’s trial; WR, p.334; (in Hall [C. Ray] Exhibit No. 3, 20 H 48, Campbell’s name is mistakenly written as “Connors”); CE 2436, 25 H 563; 15 H 539, WCT John Newnam; WR, p.335; trouble with Jada: 15 H 410–412, WCT Nancy Monnell Powell (“Tammi True”).

  107. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, p.27; Manchester, Death of a President, p.67.

  108. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, pp.26–27.

  109. 11:40: CE 1024, 18 H 724, 730, 733; Angel: Manchester, “Death of a President,” Look, p.36.

  110. U.S. Department of Commerce, Weather Bureau, Surface Weather Observations, Dallas, Texas, Love Field, November 22, 1963, p.3.

  111. O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, p.27.

  112. 2 H 67, WCT Roy H. Kellerman.

  113. Hlavach and Payne, Reporting the Kennedy Assassination, p.72.

  114. Connally and Herskowitz, From Love Field, p.2.

  115. CE 705, 17 H 458–459; Sawyer Exhibit A, 21 H 389; CE 1974, 23 H 909.

  116. “Discovering History with a Car Collector,” p.46; United Press International, November 23, 1963; New York Times, November 23, 1963, p.9; Manchester, Death of a President, p.134.

  117. 2 H 66, WCT Roy H. Kellerman; 2 H 129, WCT William Robert Greer.

  118. 2 H 129, WCT William Robert Greer.

  119. 2 H 65, WCT Roy H. Kellerman; 2 H 114, WCT William Robert Greer; 5 H 107, WCT Hon. J. Edgar Hoover; retractable running boards: Model and Groden, JFK: The Case for Conspiracy, p.163.

  120. 7 H 445–446, WCT Kenneth p.O’Donnell; 4 H 349, WCT Winston G. Lawson; Manchester, Death of a President, p.122.

  121. 3 H 163–164, WCT Bonnie Ray Williams.

  122. 3 H 165, WCT Bonnie Ray Williams.

  123. 6 H 352–354, WCT Charles Douglas Givens.

  124. 6 H 349, WC
T Charles Douglas Givens.

  125. 3 H 168, WCT Bonnie Ray Williams.

  126. 3 H 171, WCT Bonnie Ray Williams.

  127. McMillan, Marina and Lee, p.537; WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-2; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reel 1, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

  128. WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-2; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reel 1, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza; Manchester, Death of a President, p.129; New York Times, December 5, 1963, p.32; Gun, Red Roses from Texas, p.100.

  129. Newseum with Trost and Bennett, President Kennedy Has Been Shot, p.16.

  130. 2 H 134, WCT William Robert Greer.

  131. Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, p.125; WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-2; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reel 1, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza; 2 H 63, WCT Roy H. Kellerman.

  132. WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-2; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reels 1 and 21, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

  133. Bishop, Day Kennedy Was Shot, p.126; Manchester, Death of a President, p.128.

  134. 7 H 460, WCT Lawrence F. O’Brien; Manchester, Death of a President, pp.37–38, 130–131.

  135. Newseum with Trost and Bennett, President Kennedy Has Been Shot, p.15.

  136. WFAA-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, PKT-2; KRLD-TV Collection, November 22, 1963, reels 1 and 21, Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

  137. 7 H 333–334, WCT Forrest V. Sorrels.

  138. 4 H 162, 168, 170, WCT Jesse E. Curry; 7 H 218, WCT F. M. Turner.

  139. Manchester, Death of a President, p.37.

  140. Todd Wayne Vaughan, Presidential Motorcade Schematic Listing, 1993; Trask, Pictures of the Pain, pp.616–617; 2 H 135, WCT Clinton J. Hill; Manchester, Death of a President, pp.133–135.

  141. Connally, “Why Kennedy Went to Texas,” p.104; Manchester, Death of a President, p.135.

  142. 6 H 350–351, WCT Charles Douglas Givens.