“Forrest, my men and I went over the Trade Mart with a fine-toothed comb,” Win replied. “I don’t relish having my SS boys in Washington look down their noses if they think we missed anything. Besides, you know as well as I that we can only do what we can do. The motorcade route looks good to me and since Lumpkin decided going down Main St. to Industrial meant going through the ‘undesirable’ part of town, what else could you do?” Winston empathized.39 “Besides, the Democratic Party chairman Jack Puterbaugh and even Art Bales of the Army Signal Corps thought it looked fine to them.40 Don’t worry! I’m the one who will take the heat for it if there’s anything wrong anyway!”
Lumpkin was the Assistant Police Chief of Dallas: George Lumpkin. Industrial Blvd was the ‘wet’ part of tee-totaling Dallas where liquor stores and dive clubs lined the streets. People had to drive from the suburbs to purchase liquor or wine, so the mix of people there was a potpourri. Winos liked to hang out there while pan-handling for their next drink. Industrial Blvd. had pot holes and broken pavement up and down the blocks from drunken accidents, bad weather and neglect. This would not have been a place for families to take their children to see the parade.
“That’s just it Win, I don’t want any of us to take any heat just because Connally and Yarbrough are bickering. Main-Houston-Elm seemed the best to me because of the size and cumbersomeness of the President’s motorcade. Add to that the presence of that damned raised divider separating the Main Street lane from the Elm Street lane at the foot of the ramp up to the expressway, the whole damned motorcade would have to make a reverse S-turn in order to cross over the divider,” Sorrels lamented.
“Well, Forrest,” Win joked, “that’s why you have the title Special Agent in Charge. You make the big bucks, you have to make the big decisions,” he said laughingly.
“Yeah, big bucks,” Forrest smiled. “Thank God all our suits are dark-colored so we can change out jackets with trousers when they get dirty.” They laughed as they arrived at the Sheraton. It was 8:30 am, precisely the time Forrest had told Hickey he’d be there. Forrest was a stickler about timing.
“Hey, Win,” Forrest said, “Let’s not forget to ask Chief Curry if anything has changed. His walkie-talkie should be on. I don’t want to ask in front of the other D.C. guys. We may talk slowly in Texas but we don’t think slowly.”
Kinney and Hickey were coming out the double doors of the Sheraton. The men got into the black car waiting for them on the curb. Little did they know this was the beginning of a day they would never forget; a day that would haunt them the rest of their lives.
This was America in the midst of a ‘cold war’. Many Americans were still elegiac about World War II, the Nazi concentration camps, the communist witch hunts and the threat of nuclear destruction. Some of the soldiers from the war were now the wealthy and powerful men in charge of America. The administration did not want to present the American people with a level of discord throughout the world in regards to the land of the free, wealthy and brave. It was better to use rhetoric of security and patriotism and wealth rather than one of pragmatism. Americans wanted to feel good and the government wanted to ensure they did. The reigning administration desperately needed their votes. The easiest way to do this was not to tell the world of things that might worry them, but to put on grand gestures of transparency, teamwork, and hidden tyranny.
Minutes later, Forrest Sorrels and Win Lawson were on their way to Love Field Airport along with Samuel Kinney and George Hickey. In a flurry of shots, mishaps, and timing, these men would understand hours before the rest of the world how important this rhetoric had become. Timing would be the most important part of today’s equation. Ignorance would come in a close second. The government factions working that day depended on ignorance for success. The American people understood ignorance.
Forrest understood ignorance as well; and he had always known how important timing was.
CHAPTER
FOUR
OF PARADES AND PARODY AND PARALLELS
“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”
John F. Kennedy41
At 8:30 the morning of November 22, 1963, Orville checked his camera for the third time to ensure the film was loaded. He couldn’t remember if he had used indoor or outdoor film, but with a camera like this, he didn’t think it would matter. Kodak film was one of his biggest expenses, and now that he had a color camera, he took movies of anything that caught his eye. He had rolls of film of the grandkids, of Cedar Crest, and of Riverlakes, but mostly of jet airplanes overhead. He was mesmerized by jets and in another lifetime, he may have been a pilot. But in this lifetime he was happy to take endless movies of jets flying through the Texas skies with all the power and grace of every hope he ever had for himself and his family. When he saw the film was loaded, he checked the lens to make sure the lens cap was off. He had forgotten to take it off one time after a day of filming golf games and when the Dynacolor guys developed it, they had laughed at him. That wouldn’t happen again.
“Ella, I’m leaving,” he shouted to her from the small living room. “Elaine and Gayle should be here soon. Don’t forget, I’ll meet you at the corner of Houston and Main.”
“Okay, Orville,” Ella shouted in return. “But if we get lost and can’t get to you, meet us at Walgreens, okay?”
“Will do, Ella. You be careful and remember, this is a day for fun,” he replied.
As he walked out the back door of 2527 Denley Drive, he locked the door behind him. He wanted his wife safe. He wanted her to enjoy herself. She worried far too much about things she had no control over. He wished he could give her a life she deserved, a life of leisure and unending prosperity. But knowing Ella the way he did, she would never be content to sit at home… except maybe when her ‘stories’ were on for a few hours each day. He smiled at the thought of her getting so involved in the lives of the characters of her favorite soap operas. It was as if they were her friends, and she actually cried when one would die or disappear from the show. She had told him once that she was glad she didn’t have lives like theirs.
“No one leads a life like that in real life, Ella,” he chided her one time. “Why would you think they do?”
“Well, of course people lead lives like theirs, Orville. The differences between people like them and people like us are they have power and money. We play golf and cards and with our grandchildren. They play with other’s lives. We watch our money. They spend theirs and anyone else’s they can get. They live dangerously, we live safely. They have to worry about people killing them or trying to steal their power or trying to steal their money. I wouldn’t trade our lives for theirs ever.”
As he turned the windshield wipers on to remove the stray raindrops on the windshield, Orville pondered on those thoughts as he lit a Lucky Strike. Ella was right, he thought on the fifteen minute drive to downtown Dallas. Rich and famous people have much more to worry about then we do. All I’m worried about right now is where to park, he chuckled to himself as he took a drag of his cigarette, but having a lot of extra money wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
He decided he would park at the Terminal Annex Building where he had been transferred recently, and then walk across from the parking lot to the plaza area. There was a strip of grass between Main and Elm Street in the park named Dealey Plaza. If he stood there, he could see the presidential motorcade coming down Main as it turned onto Houston before turning again onto Elm.42 Forrest was right. That would be the perfect place for taking a movie. If the streets were too crowded at Main and Houston, he could always move closer to Elm before the parade ended at the ramp to go to Stemmons Freeway and besides, his camera had a Zoom feature if he couldn’t get close enough to the motorcade. He stopped for a moment and remembered seeing the map in the Dallas Morning News a few hours ago. It had shown a map of the parade going down Main, but his friend told him the parade would go down Elm. He believed his friend Forrest Sorrels.
Using the Keystone K-810 made Orville feel like
a professional photographer, even though he was still learning how to use it. He was so excited because it had just been introduced in May, so even after six months it was still one of the newest model cameras. It used a wind up mechanism for the timing, something Orville really hadn’t understood until he wound his last camera too tightly and broken it. The zoom lens on this new camera had a 9mm to 27mm focal length and made self-adjustments to light sensitivity. There was a small window to view how much film he had left and his favorite thing about it was the grip on the handle. All he had to do was clinch it in one hand and take pictures.43 He thought that would come in handy if he had to hold one of his grandkid’s hands… like Gayle‘s today at the parade.
As he parked the car in the parking lot behind the plaza, he waved at some of his friends who were taking a smoke break. They motioned him to come over, but he yelled, “I can’t boys, gotta find a good place to take pictures.”
*****
HE COULD NEVER
UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE
GRIPED ABOUT POWER
AND TAXES AND‘TOO
MUCH GOVERNMENT.’
HOW COULD THERE EVER
BE TOO MUCH
GOVERNMENT?
WITHOUT GOVERNMENT,
HE WOULDN’T HAVE A JOB.
The ‘boys’ were wearing their khaki-colored GSA uniforms. That was another thing he loved about his job. He knew exactly what he had to do and wear; this made dressing up all the more special. He loved working for the GSA, heck, he loved the government. He could never understand why people griped about power and taxes and ‘too much government.’ How could there ever be too much government? Without government, he wouldn’t have a job. There would be no military to protect us from our enemies… there would be no law of the land. He did agree about the taxes though. He hated paying them but knew they were a necessary evil to have the great country we had. What did too much government mean anyway? Even his son had said, “There’s too much government” during their last discussion. Yessiree, he thought, that boy of mine is thinking like those peace-niks. All that peace talk does nothing but make our soldiers think their efforts are for nothing. Where did he learn to think that way? Money, money, money is all he thinks about!
His friends at the Terminal Annex smiled and nodded their heads as if reading his mind as he walked across the street to Dealey Plaza. There were people everywhere. God, they must have been twenty or thirty deep, but not on the Plaza. The parade wasn’t supposed to begin for another couple of hours, but it seems that everyone had had the same idea he had: get there early. He noticed that many of the people at the plaza were moving towards Main Street, he guessed so the skyscrapers and taller buildings could block the cool breeze and sun. Funny thing, most of them must have arrived around the same time he did because he noticed there were no umbrellas or raincoats. What he did see were people young and old. Most of them were dressed as if they had just left church; the men were wearing their best suits and the women had on silk scarves and brightly-colored dresses. He thought the throng looked like a field of human flowers and almost got his camera out to film them then thought better of it. He wanted to save his film for the parade and to take pictures of Gayle. As he looked around the city plaza, he saw parents with their small children. He saw groups of women and men who seemed to be friends. A few of them held “Welcome Mr. President” signs44 and he immediately thought of that ad in the damned newspaper this morning. He hoped the president hadn’t had time to see that awful paper.
Orville milled around the plaza, admiring the stark white colonnades that formed Dealey Plaza Park. It was beautifully green on this sun-drenched November day. Orville had stood on the Triple Overpass (the railroad bridge that spanned Commerce, Main, and Elm Streets) in the early 40s and remembered that he thought the Plaza looked like the back portion of an arrow. Main Street served as the straight part of the arrow with Main and Commerce Streets curving towards it. The curved portions of Elm and Commerce Streets were adorned with white concrete pergolas on their slopes that descended toward what would come to be known as the Triple Underpass. The plaza was built as one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration projects in 194045 on land donated by one of Dallas’s business leader and philanthropist, Sarah Horton Cockrell. The WPA project, later named Dealey Plaza after another famous Dallasite, George B. Dealey, was replete with the planting of native Texas Oaks and the beautiful Art Deco styled structures. Orville often sat under the shaded structure on the Commerce side of the Plaza. It was a respite from the Texas sun and a perfect place to eat lunch or spend a contemplative moment away from work. On the Elm St. or northern side of the Plaza, there was a wooden picket fence that hid the parking lot of the Union Terminal train yards. Later this day, that area would be named the grassy knoll by award-winning United Press International journalist Merriman Smith who reported the events of the assassination by telephone.46
* * * * *
That morning, across the street at 501 Elm in the Dal-Tex building, Abraham Zapruder was taking care of a stack of orders from Neiman Marcus. He had arrived punctually, as he did every day at 8 A.M. By the time he was finished with overseeing income, the rain had finally stopped. He decided to watch the parade, but of all days, he had forgotten his Bell & Howell camera.47 He frowned as he related his forgetfulness to his secretary Lillian. Lillian and the girls in the office were again talking and wondering what the First Lady would be wearing.
She said, “Mr. Z., you’ve got plenty of time. Run home and get it. You’ll be back in time before the parade gets to our part of the route, besides we’re at the end of it all.”
He looked at his watch and agreed. It was only 10 A.M. He should have plenty of time to get home and get back before the motorcade made it to the Dal-Tex building.
“Marilyn,” he said, “would you come down with me to the Plaza to watch the parade?”
Marilyn Sitzman was his receptionist. She wasn’t beautiful, but she wasn’t ugly. Abraham would have labeled her ‘interesting’ or better yet, ‘strong Texas stock.’ She had dark wavy hair and was taller than Abraham and definitely taller than most women; about five foot eleven and she never failed to wear red lipstick, no matter what color clothing she was wearing.
“Of course, Mr. Z., I’ll go with you. I think Beatrice and her husband Charles are going as well. What do you think Jackie will be wearing? The girls and I have made a pool. Whoever wins gets $20.00 and I feel lucky today.”
Abraham Zapruder smiled as he left the office and returned home to get his camera. Zapruder made a fourteen-mile round trip drive home to pick up his camera. By the time he returned, crowds were already gathering to watch the motorcade.48
* * * * *
President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline landed at Love Field Airport in Dallas at 11:40 A.M. after a rousing breakfast speech at the Crystal Ballroom in the Hotel Texas. The president had donned a dark blue suit and the First Lady was wearing a bright pink Chanel suit with a matching pillbox hat. She was like a collectible porcelain doll. She never rode in motorcades with her husband: this was one of the first times and she wanted to look her best. She knew how important Texas was to her husband’s reelection plans. Though the day had started with a fine mist and ominous clouds, the sun had shot them away and taken charge making sure November 22, 1963 was a clear, crisp day in Dallas. The bright colors of their wardrobe matched the beautiful day.
As they exited the airplane, hundreds of Dallasites had been present for the arrival of Air Force One at Love Field. There seemed to be even more excited Texans in Dallas than there were in Fort Worth. Governor Connally and his wife Nellie beamed proudly at the crowds that had gathered to get a glimpse of the couple. The throngs of excited onlookers made the Governor and his wife proud. Though they were on a tight schedule, Mrs. Kennedy, who was carrying a bouquet of red roses given to her on her arrival, was enthralled. The atmosphere of love was evident in the cacophony of cheers and plethora of welcome signs that greeted them. M
rs. Kennedy was so touched, she had gone out of her way to shake hands and greet the crowd. President Kennedy followed her lead. Fifteen minutes later, at approximately 11:55 A.M., the President and First Lady were ensconced in the motorcade on the way to Dallas. The 35th president was to give a speech at the Dallas Trade Mart and enjoy a steak luncheon. Religious, political, business, and civic leaders were invited to hear the speech and welcome the young couple. Neiman Marcus had even sent a pair of custom Texas saddles as gifts for the first couple to take home to Caroline and John-John. This was truly the best Texas would offer.
President Kennedy had wanted to come to Texas for three distinct reasons: to start his quest for re-election in 1964, to garner more contributions for the Democratic Party presidential campaign fund, and because the Kennedy/Johnson ticket had almost lost Texas in 1960 to Nixon. Yes, he wanted to make a good showing in Dallas. Dallas was one of the few Texas cities he hadn’t won in 1960 and winning the oil rich vote in Dallas was imperative to the future of the Democratic Party and to his reelection. There were many political fences to mend in Texas. There was infighting in the party. Congressman Jim Wright, Senator Ralph Yarbrough, Governor Connally and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson all had bones to pick with each other or their cronies. It didn’t help that some of their supporters including H.L Hunt, Ted Dealey, Clint Murchison, Syd Richardson, Mike Davis, George Brown, and D. Harold Byrd were dangling their bloated bank accounts in front of each politician like carrots to a herd of jackasses.
Then there was that mental military case in Dallas, General Edwin Walker, the John Birch Society Member and rumored Nazi who Kennedy had admonished publically. The man had even run against John Connally for Texas Governor the year before and after leading riots at the University of Mississippi later that year, JFK’s brother Bobby had ordered Walker to be committed to an insane asylum. Yes, this was definitely nut country
The Missing JFK Assassination Film Page 5