Very funny but truth was his own secretary tried to get him to blow off the parade and go see a play. His wife wanted to not go as well but he decided he should go. People where told he be there he didn't want to disappoint people.
Wow, I didn't know that. That is a real downer. But I have another one! The first shot missed him, but the second shot hit him in the back of the cranium/skull. Unfortunately, since he wore a back brace, the rigid metal did not allow him to bend to either side, nor could he sink down in his seat to avoid the bullet. Though it is unlikely
that he would have had time to regardless. Decades later and I still feel so awful for him and Jackie.
The back brace is actually why his wife head his head in her lap holding in his brains.
You know they didn't let her change clothes so the world would see her covered in her husband's blood.
I thought parts of his brain and skull went into the trunk of the car, which is why she climbed out onto the back of it, to retrieve them? She was still in shock and it makes you do and think really bizarre and unrealistic things. In her terror and grief she probably thought that if she could give the pieces to the medics, then they could make her husband whole again.
Jackie's reaction is still what makes that whole scene truly horrific. Before that it's not really... you can't register in time what happened, but when she starts crawling on the back of the car? Still chills spines like the alpines.
From the Secret Service Agent that rode directly beside the Kennedy's car:
"I was on the left-hand front position and about that time, I heard an explosive noise over my right shoulder from the rear. I realized something was wrong. The president grabbed at his throat, so I jumped from my position and ran toward the presidential car in an effort to get up on top of the back of the car to form a shield or barrier to prevent anything further from happening to either the president or Mrs. Kennedy.
I heard it and I felt it because it hit the president in the head. It was so explosive in nature that blood and brain matter and bone fragments all erupted right out of the wound. It came over the back of the car, onto Mrs. Kennedy and onto myself.
Why did Mrs. Kennedy come up in the back of the car? Because she was trying to gather some of the material that came off the president’s head and was on the back of the car...
...I could see the president’s eyes were fixed and there was a hole in his skull. I could see through that hole and there was no brain matter left in that whole area of the brain, so I assumed it was a fatal wound.
And I turned and I gave a thumbs-down to the follow car crew to let them know just how serious the situation was.
Mrs. Kennedy had ahold of the president and wouldn’t let go. I pleaded with her to please let us help the president, but she wouldn’t let go. She didn’t want anybody to see the condition he was in because it was horrible. So, I took off my suit coat and I covered his head and as soon as I did that, she let go. We rushed him into trauma room one, doctors came running from all over the hospital, trying to do everything they could to revive him."
-Former Secret Service Agent Clint Hill
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that he would have had time to regardless. Decades later and I still feel so awful for him and Jackie.
You know they didn't let her change clothes so the world would see her covered in her husband's blood.
"I was on the left-hand front position and about that time, I heard an explosive noise over my right shoulder from the rear. I realized something was wrong. The president grabbed at his throat, so I jumped from my position and ran toward the presidential car in an effort to get up on top of the back of the car to form a shield or barrier to prevent anything further from happening to either the president or Mrs. Kennedy.
I heard it and I felt it because it hit the president in the head. It was so explosive in nature that blood and brain matter and bone fragments all erupted right out of the wound. It came over the back of the car, onto Mrs. Kennedy and onto myself.
Why did Mrs. Kennedy come up in the back of the car? Because she was trying to gather some of the material that came off the president’s head and was on the back of the car...
And I turned and I gave a thumbs-down to the follow car crew to let them know just how serious the situation was.
Mrs. Kennedy had ahold of the president and wouldn’t let go. I pleaded with her to please let us help the president, but she wouldn’t let go. She didn’t want anybody to see the condition he was in because it was horrible. So, I took off my suit coat and I covered his head and as soon as I did that, she let go. We rushed him into trauma room one, doctors came running from all over the hospital, trying to do everything they could to revive him."
-Former Secret Service Agent Clint Hill