Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
I then returned to the emergency room. By that time another shift of
agents, who were at the Trade Mart on duty for prior to our arrival,
reported into the emergency room. This is what is called as our
afternoon shift, the 4 to 12. Mr. Roberts, whose group was on the
followup car in the motorcade through Dallas, was the 8-to-4 shift.
The 4-to-12 shift then was under the supervision of Mr. Stewart Stout.
I then instructed Mr. Roberts to take his shift, which were the day
people, and join Special Agent Rufus Youngblood and stay with Vice
President Johnson.
Mr. SPECTER. How many agents were they to take with them?
Mr. KELLERMAN. They took the entire followup car, which would mean that
they had Roberts, Ready, Bennett, McIntyre; those four.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know where they went or what specifically they did
by way of establishing security for Vice President Johnson?
Mr. KELLERMAN. No; I really don't.
Mr. SPECTER. What was your next activity?
Mr. KELLERMAN. My next move, then, my next part in this was--by this
time it was after 1 o'clock--I am trying to pinpoint time--after 1,
because Dr. Burkley said that the President had died; it was after 1
o'clock. By this time other people who were in with Mr. Kennedy, such
as his staff--I am speaking of Mr. O'Donnell, Mr. Powers, I believe
Larry O'Brien--through them, and I believe Mr. Hill, they had obtained
a casket from one of the funeral people in town.
Mr. SPECTER. Where had Mrs. Kennedy been during this time?
Mr. KELLERMAN. Mrs. Kennedy was right outside the door to the emergency
room.
Mr. SPECTER. How long, if at all, was she inside the emergency room
with President Kennedy?
Mr. KELLERMAN. This I can't truly answer. However, I should say that,
as for the casket being brought into the hospital, another gentleman
came into this little doctor's room, his name I don't recall, but he
represented himself to be from the Health Department or commission,
some form. He said to me, he said, "There has been a homicide here, you
won't be able to remove the body. We will have to take it down there
to the mortuary and have an autopsy." I said, "No, we are not." And he
said, "We have a law here whereby you have to comply with it."
With that Dr. Burkley walked in, and I said, "Doctor, this man is from
some health unit in town. He tells me we can't remove this body." The
Doctor became a little enraged; he said, "We are removing it." He
said, "This is the President of the United States and there should be
some consideration in an event like this." And I told this gentleman,
I said, "You are going to have to come up with something a little
stronger than you to give me the law that this body can't be removed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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