The first question people have asked Gerald "Jerry" Blaine is whether he believes Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Blaine, a former Secret Service agent for JFK who has recently finished writing a book about the close-knit group of agents who were responsible for protecting the President, has heard all the questions, all the theories about the tragic assassination that occurred nearly half a century ago.
Blaine says people love to debate him on the issue and that most people have formed an opinion based on a book or a movie they've seen, and they think that makes them an expert.
November 22, 2010 marks the 47th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While nearly half a century has passed, people still seem to be fascinated by the tragedy and unable to accept the fact that a lone gunman shot and killed the beloved American president, without being part of a conspiracy. Confronting the conspiracy theories is just one reason Blaine decided to write a book about the five years he spent on the White House Secret Service Detail.
In his book, The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence, Blaine tells the fascinating story of what it was like to be a Secret Service agent for President John F. Kennedy. The lack of technology available to the agents will be surprising to readers from the generation of Americans that have grown up with mobile phones, WiFi, and instant text messaging.
Blaine points out that there were no computer databases to track threat suspects and no earpieces for the large hand-held radios. JFK's secret service agents relied strictly on communication by hand and eye signals. Teamwork was essential.
Blaine explains how, without a computerized database of threats, the agents used "flash cards"- basically index cards with a photo of a threat suspect on one side and a description of the person and his intentions on the back-to keep track of individuals who were of most concern to the Secret Service. The agents were so well trained they could scan a crowd of thousands and easily spot one a known threat suspect.
The secret service agents wore dark sunglasses so that people couldn't see who they were looking at. Their head could be turned in one direction while their eyes sizing up an individual in a different direction.
Along with the teamwork between the small, close-knit group of agents who, in Blaine's words were "like brothers," The Kennedy Detail shows how much the Secret Service relies on other law enforcement agencies to protect the president and the first lady when they are traveling.
Blaine was one of the agents who accompanied First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on her historical trip to India and Pakistan in 1962, and his memories of that trip are one of the highlights of the book: how the agents dealt with a lamb being sacrificed in Jackie Kennedy's honor; the often hilarious ways the agents kept themselves entertained when the first lady delayed her arrival; and what happened when Jackie and her sister climbed aboard a camel with skirts and high heels.
These anecdotes are what make Blaine's book stand out from every other JFK book.
One of the main reasons Blaine wanted to write this book was to show the intimate and caring relationships the agents had with the Kennedy family. When JFK was assassinated, it was as if a member of their own family had been killed.
What is heartbreaking about this story, however, is the revelation that none of the agents ever discussed the assassination amongst themselves, nor did they discuss it with their wives or other family members. The incident was too painful for them.
Hill was the agent responsible for protecting Jackie Kennedy in the motorcade in Dallas. To think that he has kept his emotions pent up inside for nearly half a century is almost beyond imagination. But as Hill reveals in an upcoming Discovery Channel special based on The Kennedy Detail, that is exactly what happened. As soon as President Kennedy was dead, the agents on the Kennedy Detail became responsible for protecting the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, while Clint Hill remained as chief agent for the protection of the grieving Jackie Kennedy.
Hill said there was no time to grieve or to mourn. At least not until he was promoted through the ranks into a desk job as the Assistant Director of the Secret Service. Then he said he had time to think about what had happened, which to him was like going through hell. Hill readily admits that his contributions to his pal Jerry Blaine's book have been immensely healing for him.
Blaine hopes that readers will come away with a better understanding of what it was like to walk in the shoes of the Kennedy Detail Secret Service agents and, along the way, come to the same conclusion he has: that President John F. Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman. He said the whole purpose of the book is to set the record straight.
Lisa McCubbin is an award-winning journalist who has worked for three major television networks as both news anchor and reporter. She has known Jerry Blaine and his family for more than 30 years, and was always fascinated by Blaine's time in the Secret Service. Working on the book, The Kennedy Detail, has been a remarkable and life-changing experience.
