BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Wednesday marked 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
November 22, 1963, is a day that’s etched into many of our memories, and maybe no one remembers this day better than former U.S. Secret Service agent and North Dakota native Clint Hill.
Now 91 years old, Hill can still remember everything like it happened yesterday. He says the whole point of the Texas trip was for publicity as Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson were setting their eyes on the 1964 election.
November 22, 1963, started out as a routine day for Hill.
The President and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had stayed overnight at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth after a full day of events. That morning, President Kennedy gave a speech outside of the hotel. The President then attended a breakfast within the hotel which Mrs. Kennedy was not going to attend. Hill said the plans changed as one of the President’s agents called and said the President wanted her downstairs immediately.
“I explained to Mrs. Kennedy that she was going to breakfast at the request of her husband, and she understood, so down we went to the breakfast,” said Hill.
Hill says the President and First Lady then departed Fort Worth to travel a short distance to Dallas’s Love Field on Air Force One. Aboard the aircraft, Hill and other agents were going over last-minute details of the day’s events.
“Going over the surveys that are prepared by the agents: what’s going to happen here, what’s going to happen there, who’s involved,” said Hill.
Hill says earlier in the morning it had been raining, however, it had cleared up which meant the presidential limo could have the top down. As Air Force One landed in Dallas, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. The aircraft taxied to its spot and then the President and Mrs. Kennedy emerged.
“The reason that they wanted arrival at Love Field in Dallas is the reporters and politicians wanted that shot of President and Mrs. Kennedy coming off Air Force One in Dallas,” said Hill.
The President and First Lady greeted crowds at the airport, then took their places in the presidential limo to begin the motorcade through downtown Dallas en route to a luncheon at the Trade Mart.
Hill says when they got to Main Street, more than a thousand people were on hand to view the motorcade. People were hanging out of windows and standing on top of buildings.
“The driver of the presidential car was keeping the limousine to the left-hand side of the street that took the President, who was in the right rear seat away from the crowd on the right, but it put Mrs. Kennedy right up next to the crowd on the left. I would go down and get up on the back of the car that the President and Mrs. Kennedy were riding in to be as close to them as I could be,” said Hill.
As the motorcade continued on, the crowds began to thin, and Hill stayed at his position on the follow-up car. They then made a left onto Elm Street, which was the last section of the parade route before getting onto the Expressway. Hill was scanning an overpass ahead of them when all of a sudden, he heard something that sounded like a gunshot.
Hill turned toward the noise and then back to the limo where he saw Kennedy react.
“I jumped when I realized that he was grabbing his throat, and he must have been hit— there must have been a gunshot. I jumped from my position and started to run to the presidential vehicle to get up on top and from a barrier there to protect President and Mrs. Kennedy,” said Hill.
As Hill ran to the limousine, he heard another shot, and debris flew toward him and Mrs. Kennedy.
“She starts to get up on the back of the car, while I am trying to get up on the back from the rear. I finally do and get a hold of her and put her back in the seat, and when I did that, the President fell to his left into her lap. I realized that it appeared to me that he was dead for sure,” said Hill.
Hill turned to the follow-up car and gave the other agents a thumbs down and yelled to the limo driver to get them to Parkland Hospital. The whole ride over, Hill created a barrier overtop the President and Mrs. Kennedy. He says the whole car was quiet on the way over, except for times when he heard Mrs. Kennedy speak to her husband.
“Mrs. Kennedy had said, ‘Jack, oh Jack, what have they done, I love you, Jack.’ That is as much as I heard her say,” said Hill.
When they arrived at Parkland, Hill and others expected there to be gurneys awaiting their arrival. However, there wasn’t, and agents had to go in and retrieve them. The next thing they had to accomplish was getting Texas Governor John Connally out of the limo and inside. Finally, they were able to get to the President.
“Mrs. Kennedy had a hold of him, she wouldn’t let him go. I pleaded with her, ‘Please Mrs. Kennedy, let us help the President,’ and no reaction whatsoever,” said Hill.
Hill says doctors did their best to save the president, but he was declared dead at 1 p.m. Central Time, just a half hour after the shots were fired.
Hill says the ride back to Air Force One was silent. When they arrived at Love Field, the President’s casket was then unloaded.
“We, the agents, carried the casket up the steps to Air Force One - the rear door, to put it in that section of the aircraft,” said Hill.
Mrs. Kennedy followed behind and sat right beside it. Before they could take off, Hill says they waited for a federal judge to arrive and swear in President Lyndon Johnson. Once they arrived in Washington, Hill says Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy came on board to accompany Mrs. Kennedy off the plane.
“The people at Andrews were smart enough to put a hydraulic lift there to allow us to move the casket down, instead of carrying it down a ramp or stairway, and that worked out very well,” said Hill.
Hill says after the casket was placed in the ambulance, they continued to Bethesda Naval Hospital for the President’s autopsy. He says it was a late night, and they didn’t get back to the White House until a little after 4 a.m. where an honor guard met them and accompanied them inside.
The casket was placed in the East Room at the White House and Hill was finally able to go home for a short time, but a sense of guilt continued to hang over him.
“I was starting to feel guilt that I hadn’t been able to do more than I did, that was what was really starting to bother me and over the years, it just grew and grew and grew,” said Hill.
60 years later, Hill still feels that guilt, and the events from that day still haunt him. He has only recently been able to speak about what happened. With the 60th anniversary, Hill says the only new things that have emerged are more conspiracy theories and people coming forward with information that he is skeptical about.
“Read the statements of people who were in the know: nurses, doctors, people from the hospital. If you read all of it, you will find out you will get a true story,” said Hill.
Hill continues to share his story and has recently released a 60th anniversary reprint of his book “Five Days in November” with a new afterward.
A documentary on his life will be coming out in 2024 called “Agent Number 9, the Clint Hill Story.”
Many see Clint Hill as a hero that day for his actions, but he says he doesn’t feel like one. When asked how he would like to be remembered one day he said simply that he tried.
