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Octafish

(55,745 posts)
1. Thank you for the heads-up, Lint Head!
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:15 AM
Jan 2012

I'm getting the ear goggles on.

In the meantime, background for those new to the subject:

Kennedy Military Aide: LBJ Hid in Bathroom, Cried After JFK Assassination.

Steven M. Gillon
Resident historian of the History Channel
Huffington Post

This month will mark the 46th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A recently declassified oral history by Brigadier General Godfrey McHugh, President Kennedy's military aide on the Dallas trip, sheds new light on the critical hours after the shooting. McHugh makes startling claims about Lyndon Johnson's behavior in the wake of the assassination.

The interview with McHugh, originally conducted for the John F. Kennedy Library in 1978, remained closed for 31 years. It was finally declassified in the spring of 2009. I just happened to be working at the Kennedy Library on the day the interview was opened to the public and have used it for the first time in my new book, The Kennedy Assassination -- 24 Hours After.

After being informed at Parkland Hospital that Kennedy was dead, Johnson raced back to Air Force One, where he waited for Mrs. Kennedy and the body of the slain president, and made preparations to take the Oath of Office. Back at the hospital, the Kennedy group loaded the body into a coffin, forced their way past a local justice of the peace, and hurried back to Love Field for the long ride back to Washington.

It was standard practice for the plane to take off as soon as the commander-in-chief was onboard. Even after McHugh had ordered the pilot to take off, however, "nothing happened." According to the newly declassified transcript, Mrs. Kennedy was becoming desperate to leave. "Mrs. Kennedy was getting very warm, she had blood all over her hat, her coat...his brains were sticking on her hat. It was dreadful," McHugh said. She pleaded with him to get the plane off the ground. "Please, let's leave," she said. McHugh jumped up and used the phone near the rear compartment to call Captain James Swindal. "Let's leave," he said. Swindal responded: "I can't do it. I have orders to wait." Not wanting to make a scene in front of Mrs. Kennedy, McHugh rushed to the front of the plane. "Swindal, what on earth is going on?" The pilot told him that "the President wants to remain in this area."

CONTINUED...

Those who remember that day know the fall-out continues to the present moment.

Recommendations

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Thank you for the heads-up, Lint Head! Octafish Jan 2012 #1
Nice article. I read that LBJ was in the bathroom a lot. He held meetings while sitting on the john. Lint Head Jan 2012 #2
The CBS report on LeMay's whereabouts have given me a sense of vertigo... Octafish Jan 2012 #4
Thanks...Do you know of any good books on the House Select Committee on Assassinations? deutsey Jan 2012 #9
Gaeton Fonzi's 'The Last Investigation' Octafish Jan 2012 #10
Checking out some of his writings there deutsey Jan 2012 #13
Gaeton Fonzi's "The Last Investigation" is probably the best book on the HSCA. RandomKoolzip Jan 2012 #11
Thanks to both of you! deutsey Jan 2012 #12
Much of the tactical planning probably occured at "Volcano" - thanks for posting this. (nt) T S Justly Jan 2012 #15
You are most welcome, TSJ. Please check out Mr. Morrow's contribution at Spartacus Schoolnet... Octafish Feb 2012 #19
Lemay was in the thick of it. Thanks! (nt) T S Justly Feb 2012 #20
More fodder for the conspiracy theorists, I imagine. MineralMan Jan 2012 #3
43 minutes of tape were withheld for some reason. Octafish Jan 2012 #5
This is what CNN said when they reported the tapes had been released. Lint Head Jan 2012 #7
Gosh, I can't imagine why the conspiracy theorists MineralMan Jan 2012 #8
Everyone who cares about Democracy should be interested in this. Octafish Jan 2012 #14
The thing is that the JFK assassination is so overloaded MineralMan Jan 2012 #18
too much information and discussion? Gosh, let's censor it! Our silly heads will explode! librechik Feb 2012 #21
Yep. This opens another Pandora's Box of tin foil hatters. Lint Head Jan 2012 #6
Those who have believed our government over the years now tend to look nuts in the cold Romulox Jan 2012 #16
and boom goes the dynamite frylock Jan 2012 #17
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