MikhailT/lj-speech huggingface dataset:
Driven by an officer of the Dallas Police Department,
this vehicle was occupied by three Secret Service agents and Clifton C. Garter, assistant to the Vice President.
These agents performed for the Vice President the same functions that the agents in the Presidential follow-up car performed for the President.
Remainder of motorcade.
The remainder of the motorcade consisted of five cars for other dignitaries, including the mayor of Dallas and Texas Congressmen,
telephone and Western Union vehicles, a White House communications car,
three cars for press photographers, an official party bus for White House staff members and others, and two press buses.
Admiral George G. Burkley, physician to the President,
was in a car following those, quote, containing the local and national representatives, end quote,
Police car and motorcycles.
A Dallas police car and several motorcycles at the rear kept the motorcade together and prevented unauthorized vehicles from joining the motorcade.
Communications in the motorcade.
A base station at a fixed location in Dallas operated a radio network which linked together the lead car,
Presidential car, Presidential follow-up car,
White House communications car, Trade Mart, Love Field, and the Presidential and Vice-Presidential airplanes.
The Vice-Presidential car
and Vice-Presidential follow-up car used portable sets with a separate frequency for their own car-to-car communication.
The Drive through Dallas
The motorcade left Love Field shortly after 11:50 a.m. and drove at speeds up to 25 to 30 miles an hour
through thinly populated areas on the outskirts of Dallas.
At the President's direction, his automobile stopped twice, the first time to permit him to respond to a sign asking him to shake hands.
During this brief stop, agents in the front positions on the running boards of the Presidential follow-up car came forward and stood beside the President's car,
looking out toward the crowd, and Special Agent Kellerman assumed his position next to the car.
On the other occasion, the President halted the motorcade to speak to a Catholic nun and a group of small children.
In the downtown area, large crowds of spectators gave the President a tremendous reception.
The crowds were so dense that Special Agent Clinton J. Hill
had to leave the left front running board of the President's follow-up car four times to ride on the rear of the President's limousine.
Several times Special Agent John D. Ready came forward from the right front running board of the Presidential follow-up car
to the right side of the President's car.
Special Agent Glen A. Bennett once left his place inside the follow-up car to help keep the crowd away from the President's car.
When a teenage boy ran toward the rear of the President's car, Ready left the running board to chase the boy back into the crowd.
On several occasions when the Vice President's car was slowed down by the throng, Special Agent Youngblood stepped out to hold the crowd back.
According to plan, the President's motorcade proceeded west through downtown Dallas on Main Street
to the intersection of Houston Street, which marks the beginning of Dealey Plaza.
From Main Street the motorcade turned right and went north on Houston Street, passing tall buildings on the right,
and headed toward the Texas School Book Depository Building.
The spectators were still thickly congregated in front of the buildings which lined the east side of Houston Street, but the crowd thinned abruptly along Elm Street,
which curves in a southwesterly direction as it proceeds downgrade toward the Triple Underpass and the Stemmons Freeway.
As the motorcade approached the intersection of Houston and Elm Streets, there was general gratification in the Presidential party about the enthusiastic reception.
Evaluating the political overtones, Kenneth O'Donnell was especially pleased
because it convinced him that the average Dallas resident was like other American citizens in respecting and admiring the President.
Mrs. Connally, elated by the reception, turned to President Kennedy and said, quote, Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you.
end quote, the President replied, "That is very obvious."
The Assassination
At 12:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, as the President's open limousine proceeded at approximately 11 miles per hour along Elm Street
toward the Triple Underpass, shots fired from a rifle mortally wounded President Kennedy and seriously injured Governor Connally.
One bullet passed through the President's neck;
a subsequent bullet, which was lethal, shattered the right side of his skull.
Governor Connally sustained bullet wounds in his back, the right side of his chest, right wrist, and left thigh.
The exact time of the assassination was fixed by the testimony of four witnesses.
Special Agent Rufus W. Youngblood observed that the large electric sign clock atop the Texas School Book Depository Building
showed the numerals 12:30 as the Vice-Presidential automobile proceeded north on Houston Street, a few seconds before the shots were fired.
Just prior to the shooting, David F. Powers, riding in the Secret Service follow-up car, remarked to Kenneth O'Donnell
that it was 12:30 p.m., the time they were due at the Trade Mart.
Seconds after the shooting, Roy Kellerman, riding in the front seat of the Presidential limousine,
looked at his watch and said "12:30" to the driver, Special Agent Greer.
The Dallas police radio log reflects that Chief of Police Curry reported the shooting of the President
and issued his initial orders at 12:30 p.m.
Speed of the Limousine
William Greer, operator of the Presidential limousine, estimated the car's speed at the time of the first shot as 12 to 15 miles per hour.
Other witnesses in the motorcade estimated the speed of the President's limousine from 7 to 22 miles per hour.
A more precise determination has been made from motion pictures taken on the scene by an amateur photographer, Abraham Zapruder.
Based on these films, the speed of the President's automobile is computed at an average speed of 11.2 miles per hour.
The car maintained this average speed over a distance of approximately 186 feet immediately preceding the shot which struck the President in the head.
While the car traveled this distance, the Zapruder camera ran 152 frames.
Since the camera operates at a speed of 18.3 frames per second,
it was calculated that the car required 8.3 seconds to cover the 136 feet.
This represents a speed of 11.2 miles per hour.
In the Presidential Limousine
Mrs. John F. Kennedy, on the left of the rear seat of the limousine, looked toward her left and waved to the crowds along the route.
Soon after the motorcade turned onto Elm Street, she heard a sound similar to a motorcycle noise and a cry from Governor Connally,
which caused her to look to her right.
On turning she saw a quizzical look on her husband's face as he raised his left hand to his throat.
Mrs. Kennedy then heard a second shot and saw the President's skull torn open under the impact of the bullet.
As she cradled her mortally wounded husband, Mrs. Kennedy cried, quote,
Oh, my God, they have shot my husband. I love you, Jack.
Governor Connally testified that he recognized the first noise as a rifle shot
and the thought immediately crossed his mind that it was an assassination attempt.
From his position in the right jump seat immediately in front of the President,
he instinctively turned to his right because the shot appeared to come from over his right shoulder.
Unable to see the President as he turned to the right,
the Governor started to look back over his left shoulder, but he never completed the turn because he felt something strike him in the back.
In his testimony before the Commission, Governor Connally was certain that he was hit by the second shot, which he stated he did not hear.
Mrs. Connally, too, heard a frightening noise from her right.
Looking over her right shoulder, she saw that the President had both hands at his neck but she observed no blood and heard nothing.
She watched as he slumped down with an empty expression on his face.
Roy Kellerman, in the right front seat of the limousine, heard a report like a firecracker pop.
Turning to his right in the direction of the noise, Kellerman heard the President say
"My God, I am hit," and saw both of the President's hands move up toward his neck.
As he told the driver, quote, Let's get out of here; we are hit, end quote,
Kellerman grabbed his microphone and radioed ahead to the lead car,
quote, we are hit. Get us to the hospital immediately, end quote.
The driver, William Greer, heard a noise which he took to be a backfire from one of the motorcycles flanking the Presidential car.
When he heard the same noise again, Greer glanced over his shoulder and saw Governor Connally fall.
At the sound of the second shot
he realized that something was wrong, and he pressed down on the accelerator as Kellerman said, quote, Get out of here fast, end quote.
As he issued his instructions to Greer and to the lead car, Kellerman heard a flurry of shots within 5 seconds of the first noise.
According to Kellerman, Mrs. Kennedy then cried out, quote,
What are they doing to you! end quote. Looking back from the front seat,
Kellerman saw Governor Connally in his wife's lap and Special Agent Clinton J. Hill lying across the trunk of the car.
Mrs. Connally heard a second shot fired and pulled her husband down into her lap.
Observing his blood-covered chest as he was pulled into his wife's lap, Governor Connally believed himself mortally wounded.
He cried out, quote, Oh, no, no, no. My God, they are going to kill us all, end quote,
At first Mrs. Connally thought that her husband had been killed,
but then she noticed an almost imperceptible movement and knew that he was still alive. She said, quote, It's all right. Be still, end quote,
The Governor was lying with his head on his wife's lap when he heard a shot hit the President.