Subject: Re: Did Secret Service Agent Roberts Usurp Kellerman's Authority?
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 12:21:15 -0400
From: KFITZ <KFITZ@prodigy.net>
Organization: Prodigy Internet
To: KFITZ@prodigy.net
Newsgroups: startext.jfk

The following citations have been used to support the contention that
Roberts' "switch" to guarding LBJ at Parkland was suspicious and
implicates Roberts as complicit in the JFK assassination. This is from a
discussion on another newsgroup.

>From:         "Vincent M. and Jessica K. Palamara" <palamara@telerama.com>
>Date:         1998/04/28 Message-ID:   <35459114.E3B0D0D1@telerama.com>
>Newsgroups:   alt.assassination.jfk

>ritchie linton wrote:
>> EVERY security person in Dallas took their orders in the chain of >>command from the Special Agent In Charge-SAIC Kellerman.

Security for the President involves many layers and people from
different organizations operating independently to coordinate the
security. For example:
p. 33 of "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye", Kenny O'Donnell states, "I was
here in Dallas as a government servant in charge of the security and
travel arrangements of the President of the United States".

"Farewell America", p.294: "Ken O'Donnell, who was in charge of the
White House staff, had authority not only over personnel, but also the
Secret Service. He could transfer or fire anyone he wanted and he had
the authority to enact reforms. He was also in charge of the President's
trips."

"Farewell America", p.298: "In Texas, as in Utah, the Secret Service was
entirely dependent upon the local police"

>> While its not clear what Manchester meant(under another thread), he >> did
>> say that at the hospital, agent Roberts "undercut" Kellerman's
>> authority.We do know that some of the conflicting loyalties were >> natural
>> enough-some went right away to LBJ and some did not- and we know that
>> there was a conflict.I don't think all of it was so innocent.I think >>Vince is on to something.

>As for Roberts:
>1) Author James Hepburn: "...at Parkland Hospital (Kellerman's) men
>started taking orders from agent Emory Roberts." ["Farewell America", >p.299];

This is from a short chapter on the Secret Service in this book and,
obviously, the "author" is no fan of this Service. Interestingly, many,
many of the same points in Mr. Palamara's book are outlined in this
chapter.

The full quote from p. 299 is: "Roy Kellerman, who took his [Behn's]
place at Dallas, proved so incompetent that at Parkland Hospital his men
started taking orders from agent Emory Roberts." So Hepburn's read on
Roberts' actions does not appear to be one of a suspicious nature but
rather was because of Kellerman's competency. [note: Hepburn has not
taken into consideration here that the few men Roberts took with him to
guard LBJ initially where from Roberts' own shift detail which makes
them Roberts' men in the direct line of command. We also know from the
record that the majority of the White House Detail agents were still
taking orders from Kellerman and Roberts was reporting back to Kellerman
periodically.]

If Roberts is one of your suspects, would you explain this action by
Roberts: "At 12:30, seconds before the assassination, agent Emory
Roberts jotted in his shift report, '12.35p.m. the President arrived at
the Trade Mart…' The Secret Service was already thinking ahead to
tomorrow, when Kennedy was to visit Lyndon Johnson on his ranch."
("Farewell America", p.298) Obviously, Hepburn does not consider Roberts
or the Secret Service as suspects in the assassination of JFK.

Furthermore, on the same page you cite (p. 299), Hepburn states, "The
security measures taken in Dallas were **the same** [*s added for
emphasis] as those in effect in New York, Palm Beach, Tampa, Miami,
Houston and Fort Worth."

>2) Presidential aides Ken O'Donnell and Dave Powers, who rode in the
>Secret Service follow-up car with Roberts, said in their book: >"Roberts, one of President Kennedy's agents...had decided to switch to >Johnson as soon as Kennedy was shot." [ "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye", p. >32];

The fuller quote from this page is: "Johnson had already heard of the
President's death. He was nervous and excited, and so were the Secret
Service agents with him, Rufus Youngblood, his own guard, and Emory
Roberts, one of President Kennedy's agents who had decided to switch to
Johnson as soon as Kennedy was shot. Roberts jumped up when he saw me
coming into the room and kept asking, 'What'll we do, Kenny, what'll we
do?' 'You better get the hell out of here,' I said, 'and get back to
Washington right away.' "

No aspersions regarding Roberts actions or motivations seem to be casted
here. If we go back a few pages in this same book, the reason for
Roberts" switch to guarding LBJ becomes clear: "We saw pieces of bone
and brain tissue and bits of his reddish hair flying through the air.
The impact lifted him and shook him limply, as if he was a rag doll, and
then he dropped out of our sight, sprawled across the back seat of the
car. I [O'Donnell] said to Dave [Powers], 'He's dead.' " (p. 29);
"Everybody was running to the President's car, except Johnson, who was
grabbed by a few nervous Secret Service agents and hustled into the
hospital with Lady Bird trailing behind him I could not bring myself to
look at the President. I stopped near his car, and turned away from it.
I [O'Donnell] was sure that he was dead…[at the JFK limo] Jackie looked
up at Dave [Powers] and said, 'Dave, he's dead.' Then Dave noticed that
the opened eyes were fixed in a vacant stare, and he broke down in
tears." (p. 31)

>3) DPD Chief Jesse Curry, in the lead car in front of Roberts (and >JFK), also noted Roberts' switch in allegiance ["JFK Assasination >File", pp. 36-37];

These are the relevant quotes appearing on p. 36-37:
"Secret Service agents discussed among themselves who should take charge
if the President was dead [note: when Roberts first arrived at Parkland,
he went over to the JFK limo where Kellerman and Roberts discussed
Roberts and a few of Roberts' detail agents going with LBJ for security
reasons] The lines of Secret Service were not clear now that the
President was either dead or dying. Theoretically Secret Service Agent
Roy Kellerman was still in charge. He [Kellerman] had ordered other
agents to guard the hospital entrances as he entered the hospital with
the President. [note: as Curry states on p. 37 that "Police security at
the hospital was adequate by about 1 p.m.", the assignment of agents by
Kellerman to some of the hospital entrances well before 1 p.m. appears
to have been appropriate for security]  Most of them had already been
reassigned by Agent Emory Roberts who was primarily concerned with the
safety of Vice-President Johnson [note: we know from the record that
Roberts did *not* do most of the assigning but rather Kellerman did].
The Secret Service had no apparent plan of action or a flexible chain of
command to deal with this type of situation… Secret Service Agents Rufus
Youngblood and Emory Roberts were completely preoccupied with
Vice-President Lyndon B.  Johnson. They were desperate to keep the
Johnsons out of the confusion and safe from any further violence…Agents
Youngblood and Roberts laid the plan for his escape to the airport."
It does not appear that Curry is questioning the motivations of  any of
the agents here.

>4) Jerry ter Horst, a reporter in the motorcade (on one of the Press
>Busses) on 11/22/63, ALSO noted Roberts' switch in allegiance ["The >Flying White House", p. 215];

Here's the reference, from p. 185 of the Bantam paperback edition, from
April,
1980. It is the only one referenced in this edition so I am assuming
that it corresponds to Mr. Palamara's p. 215 citation. Note that not
only does terHorst disagree with Manchester's read on Emory Roberts'
actions at Parkland but also offers an explanation as to why Manchester
may have written his criticism of Roberts. The Youngblood quote is also
very relevant.

 "Behn's presence would have eased this transition for the Kennedy staff
as well as for his agents.  Wracked with grief over their fallen leader,
some Kennedy aides watched bitterly as Secret Service men who had been
guarding THEIR President now began devoting attention to Lyndon Johnson
and Lady Bird.  The most obvious was Emory Roberts, Kellerman's deputy.
In his book, Manchester suggests that ambitious agents were switching
allegiance from Kennedy to Johnson even before the President was
pronounced dead. **But the truth is that at the hospital Kellerman
instructed Roberts and the 8-to-4 shift of agents to augment
Youngblood's small contingent of Johnson bodyguards.  Had Behn been
present to issue the order himself, Kennedy's loyal aides might have
better understood the necessity for it.** [*s added for emphasis]  As
Youngblood observed in his memoirs, "the agents in Dallas did not have
allegiance. . .to an individual.  Their allegiance was to the mission
itself.  John Kennedy was dead.  He was beyond the protective efforts of
the Secret Service."

>5) As you noted, William Manchester---who, by the way, INTERVIEWED >ROBERTS AND KELLERMAN!---noted this "switch in allegiance" to LBJ on >the way to Parkland Hospital ["The Death of a President", 1988 Edition, >p. 165]

The terhorst quote I provided above is food for thought in evaluating
this Manchester citation. See a discussion of this event in my post "Did
Secret Service Agent Roberts Usurp Kellerman's Authority at Parkland?"

>[NOTE: #1-5 are referenced in Vince Palamara's book "The Third
>Alternative---Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the JFK >Murder",pp. 32-33; see also pp. 4-8 (unnumbered) of Chapter XI: >"Conflicts in theRecord"]

Regarding the above citations, pg. 32 (and not 33) of "Survivor's Guilt"
merely states that terHorst and Curry "noted Roberts switch" and
contains no quotes and, for Manchester, O'Donnell/Powers and Hepburn,
the only citations and quotes are the very limited ones as stated and
given above in Mr. Palamara's response.

KFITZ wrote:
>
> Would anyone here please help me better understand the contention that
> Emory Roberts usurped Roy Kellerman’s authority at Parkland Hospital in
> Dallas on 11/22/63? Thank you for accommodating me in this regard.
>
> It has been stated that the basic job description of the agents in
> question
> is as follows: Roy Kellerman was Acting SAIC on Dallas trip who "had
> overall charge of the Texas trip" and Emory Roberts was Acting SAIC
> 11/22/63 Dallas trip in charge of cars and agents as well as the 8
> a.m.-4
> p.m. shift leader on JFK's Texas trip.
>
> Sam Kinney stated that Roberts noticed a "thumbs down" sign by Hill on
> the
> way to Parkland and that was when Roberts ordered other agents in the
> detail to "surround and protect" LBJ; stated more specifically in
> another
> document is, while in route to Parkland Hospital, Roberts said Bennett
> and
> McIntyre were to "take over Johnson as soon as we stop" [however, in his
> 11/23/63 signed statement, Bennett said that these instructions were
> given
> to him by Roberts in the parking lot of Parkland Hospital; Hickey’s
> statement however says on the way to Parkland, Emory Roberts instructed
> two
> of the agents in the car to provide security for LBJ when the hospital
> was
> reached]. Do you feel Roberts exceeded his authority in doing this in
> light
> of the “thumbs down” situation and his job description?
>
> 1. Roberts, in the Secret Service follow-up car, arrived at Parkland
> Hospital at 12:34 p.m. and ran over to JFK's limo. Going over to the JFK
> limo at Parkland, Roberts saw JFK's head wound whereupon, according to
> Roberts, he said to Kellerman, "You stay with the President, I'm taking
> some of my men for Johnson" and Kellerman assisted with the removal of
> JFK
> & Connolly from limo at Parkland. If Roberts was usurping authority, why
> would he even tell Kellerman what he was doing? Why didn’t Roberts just
> do
> it if he was taking over the reins, so to speak? Kellerman could have
> told
> Roberts at that point to do something totally different and Roberts
> would
> have had to do it, wouldn’t he? Also both men were observing an
> obviously
> fatal wound, which put them in the position of having JFK to guard as
> well
> as LBJ who was at that point the Acting President, wasn’t he? Can you
> suggest a reason why it was not appropriate for Kellerman to allow
> Roberts
> to assign a few of the WHD to LBJ? Or do you feel that Kellerman should
> have gone with LBJ instead of staying with JFK?
>
> 2. According to documents, very soon after JFK was taken to the trauma
> room, Kellerman came out of the trauma room and told Hill to contact the
> White House in Washington and to keep the line open constantly which he
> did
> via the Dallas White House switchboard. Kellerman then returned to the
> trauma room only to come out again to take the phone from Hill and ask
> to
> talk to Behn at approx. 12:39 p.m. Kellerman talked to Behn and told
> Behn
> JFK had been shot, that they were at Parkland Hospital, that "it didn't
> look too good" and that this line would be kept open in order to keep
> Behn
> updated. Grant was with Kellerman when Kellerman called Behn from
> Parkland.
> After talking to Behn, Kellerman handed the phone back to Hill. If
> Roberts
> was usurping Kellerman’s authority, why didn’t he call Behn? Was the
> proper
> chain of command followed by Kellerman calling Behn? Also doesn’t it
> appear
> that Kellerman was still giving orders to WHD agents, at least Hill and
> Grant in this example, and they were being followed?
>
> 3. After taking LBJ to a room, Roberts suggested to LBJ that he did not
> think JFK would live and "suggested that we get out of Dallas as soon as
> possible... I suggested that we leave Dallas via AF 1 and SAIC
> Youngblood
> agreed". Then Roberts left LBJ and went looking for O’Donnell to bring
> him
> back to LBJ to discuss LBJ’s departure. Did Roberts usurp Kellerman’s
> authority by suggesting this to LBJ? Do you feel that any professional
> security person including Kellerman, who had agreed to and was aware
> that
> Roberts was now overseeing LBJ security, would have made any other
> suggestion in light of the circumstances? Isn’t this in the realm of
> Robert’s authority?
>
> 4. Kellerman was the source of JFK blood type information at Parkland.
> According to Roberts, while looking for O'Donnell, Roberts saw Kellerman
> at
> the time Kellerman was providing blood type information and Roberts told
> Kellerman that LBJ wanted to leave for Washington "very soon aboard
> AF1".
> If Roberts was usurping Kellerman’s authority, why would he even tell
> Kellerman what he was doing? Why didn’t Roberts just do it if he was
> taking
> over the reins? Kellerman could have told Roberts at that point to do
> something totally different and Roberts would have had to do it,
> wouldn’t
> he?
>
> 5. Lem Johns arrived at approx. 12:45-12:50 p.m. and "immediately
> joined"
> Youngblood and V.P. Johnson. Then "after a few minutes", Youngblood
> directed him to go find Kellerman for a report on JFK's condition. Johns
> found Kellerman to procure the requested information and then returned
> to
> close proximity of LBJ. Do you think Youngblood considered Roberts to
> have
> usurped Kellerman’s authority? If this were true, wouldn’t Youngblood
> have
> asked Roberts for this information and let Roberts decide how it should
> be
> gotten? Also do you think that this event described above illustrates
> that
> the chain of command structure was still in place (i.e. SAIC of VP
> detail
> orders VP detail agent to do something and agent does it; also SAIC of
> VP
> details asks for crucial information of the person in charge of both the
> WHD and VP detail in Dallas [in this case, Kellerman])?
>
> 6. Upon locating O'Donnell, Roberts escorted him to see LBJ and while
> talking with LBJ, Roberts told Johns to be sure JFK's limo was impounded
> for evidence so Johns left the room immediately. Did Roberts exceed his
> authority by ordering the limo impounded? Did Roberts usurp Kellerman’s
> authority by doing this?
>
> 7. Roberts saw Johnsen (of the 4-12 shift) in the hall and asked him "to
> augment V.P. Detail, which he did"; then Roberts left LBJ again to ask
> Mrs.
> Kennedy if Mrs. Johnson could talk to her, went back to get Lady Bird
> and
> accompanied her with 2 other agents to Mrs. Kennedy who was located
> outside
> the trauma room containing JFK, returned with Mrs. Johnson to room where
> LBJ was. Did Roberts exceed his authority by any of these actions? Did
> Roberts usurp Kellerman’s authority by doing any of these actions?
>
> 8. Kellerman came out of the emergency room again and told Hill that JFK
> had died where upon Hill conveyed this to Behn. If Roberts had usurped
> Kellerman’s authority, why wasn’t Roberts conveying this information to
> Behn instead of Kellerman?
>
> 9. Kellerman told Kinney and Hickey to take the JFK limo and the
> follow-up
> car back to Love Field and to wait at Love Field "for further orders";
> Kellerman authorized the return of JFK's limo to Love Field to be put on
> C-130 for return to Washington. If Roberts had usurped Kellerman’s
> authority, why were these agents following orders given by Kellerman
> instead of Roberts? If Roberts had usurped Kellerman’s authority, why
> wasn’t Roberts directing the deposition of the cars?
>
> 10. At 1:15 p.m. "according to my watch", Roberts in the presence of
> Lady
> Bird, Cliff Carter and Youngblood told LBJ that JFK was dead, and LBJ
> left
> Parkland for Love Field; at Love Field, Roberts secured Air Force 1,
> told
> some people to leave the plane because it was too crowded and told Ready
> to
> go to the gate to make sure Judge Hughes was admitted. Did Roberts, who
> by
> this point was ATSAIC of LBJ WHD, exceed his authority by going to Love
> Field with LBJ and securing AF 1? Was Roberts usurping the authority of
> Kellerman, who was aware that LBJ would be leaving Parkland (and did not
> order a change in that plan) and that Roberts was doing the security for
> LBJ, by his actions?
>
> 11. Upon leaving Parkland Hospital at 2:04 p.m., Hill rode with Jackie
> Kennedy and Dr. Burkley in the back of ambulance carrying JFK's body
> from
> Parkland to Love Field. The ambulance was driven by Berger with
> Kellerman
> and Stout in the front seat with Berger. Grant rode in an official car
> behind the ambulance carrying JFK's body from Parkland to Love Field
> with
> agents Greer, Johnsen, Landis, Sulliman and Olssen. They arrived at Love
> Field at 2:14 p.m. and casket was placed on board Air Force 1 at 2:18
> p.m .
> Weren’t these agents and activities still under the direct command of
> Kellerman? Did Roberts usurp the authority of Kellerman during any of
> these
> activities or Kellerman’s interaction with these agents?
>
> 12. Upon Kellerman's arrival at AF 1, Roberts was told by Kellerman that
> the 4-12 shift would be returning to Washington via Air Force 1. Does
> this
> demonstrate, in your opinion, that Kellerman was in charge? Do you know
> of
> any incident where Roberts usurped Kellerman’s authority regarding the
> 4-12
> shift returning to D.C.?
>
> 13. The record reflects the following agents’ activity at Parkland:
> a) John Ready assisted with LBJ security at Parkland and was posted at
> the
> door entrance by Kellerman and remained there until Roberts told him
> they
> were leaving for Love Field with LBJ. Is it correct that Ready followed
> Kellerman’s order to man that door? Is it correct to interpret this as
> Kellerman assigning Ready to LBJ security duty? Was Roberts usurping
> authority by telling an agent, who already was assigned to LBJ security
> by
> Kellerman, to leave his door entrance post when LBJ left Parkland for
> Love
> Field and continue providing security for now President LBJ by going in
> the
> follow-up car driven by a Dallas policeman with Roberts, McIntyre and
> Gearhart to Love Field?
> b) Hill and Landis were in the Parkland emergency area "at all times"
> with
> Jackie who stayed in close proximity to JFK. Do you think these agents
> were
> taking orders from Kellerman or Roberts?
> c) Greer guarded the emergency room door at Parkland. Was this at the
> direction of Kellerman or Roberts? Because of his proximity to the JFK
> trauma, would you consider Greer to be under the direct command of
> Kellerman or Roberts at this time? Also Greer was handed JFK's clothing,
> wallet and watch (which he took back to D.C.) and drove an official car
> behind the ambulance carrying JFK's body from Parkland to Love Field
> with
> agents Grant, Johnsen, Landis, Sulliman and Olssen. Do you consider
> Greer
> as taking orders from Kellerman or Roberts at these times? Do you
> consider
> Grant, Johnsen, Landis, Sulliman and Olssen to be under the direct
> command
> of Kellerman or Roberts at their here referenced activities?
>
> Are you aware of any incident where Roberts usurped Kellerman’s
> authority
> in regards to the above mentioned agents while at Parkland Hospital?
>
> In advance, thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions in
> an
> effort to help me better understand the contention that Roberts usurped
> Kellerman’s authority at Parkland Hospital.
>
> Kathlee Fitzgerald