Col. George J. McNally was the first commanding officer of the White
House Army Signal Agency, and its successor, the White House
Communications Agency (WHCA) from 1941 until his retirement in 1965.
Before that, McNally was an agent of the United States Secret Service
(1935-1941). McNally was in the midst of finishing a book when he died
of a heart attack on 8/11/70 (he is interred in Arlington National
Cemetary).
The name of McNally's book, not released until 1982 (with the help of
his widow and the 1600 Communications Assoc.), is "A Million Miles of
Presidents."
Among countless other trips (Truman-Johnson), McNally was on the Texas
trip, working closely with Chief Warrant Officer Arthur W. Bales, Jr.
and Ira Gearhart, a.k.a. The Bagman (these two men rode near the end of
the motorcade in the White House Signal Corps car). For his part,
McNally stayed behind at the Love Field terminal to have lunch and to
check on the upcoming Austin part of the trip to see if the
communication lines were working. [McNally was interviewed 4 times for
Manchester's "The Death of a President" and appears on one page of
Bishop's "The Day Kennedy Was Shot." In addition, McNally's name appears
several times during agent Robert Bouck's JFK Library Oral History, as
McNally played a critical role in the White House taping system.
Finally, McNally was one of the original members of founder Floyd
Boring's Association of Former Secret Service Agents in 1969].
There is much of value in McNally's book, for a variety of reasons. For
one thing, an agent DID die in late 1963...but BEFORE the Texas trip.
from page 211:
"One of the President's drivers, Tom Shipman, died suddenly"
In the chronology of McNally's narrative, after discussing the death of
baby Patrick (Aug. 1963) and the 10-state "Conservation Tour"
(9/24/63-10/63), this would seem to indicate a time period of around
Sept. 1963 for Shipman's death (McNally also mentions the death of
Administrative Officer Frank Sanderson when , who died in May 1963 as
verified by an internet search at Ancestry.Com. Strangely, no death for
a "Tom" or "Thomas" Shipman is listed for 1963.).
However, SA Tom Shipman was ON the "Conservation Tour", as Office -of-
the- Naval- Aide records for this trip (obtained by Bill Adams) reveal.
In fact, Shipman rode on Helicopter #2 from the South Lawn of the White
House on the way to Andrews Air Force Base on 9/24/63 with Ken
O'Donnell, SA Gerald Blaine, SA Paul Burns, and SA William Greer
(Previously, Shipman had been on at least one other trip, JFK's 3/23/63
trip to Chicago, IL, driving the follow-up car [RIF#154-10003-10012].).
If that wasn't enough, it appears that there were two new additions to
the regular White House Garage (chauffeur) detail in Oct./ Nov. 1963, in
addition to veterans SA Samuel A. Kinney, SA George W. Hickey, SA
William R. Greer, Special Officer (SO/ Uniformed Division)William C.
Davis, WH Policeman James M. Carter, and SAIC Morgan L. Gies: SA Henry
J. Rybka (attending Treasury School from 11/1/63 to 11/8/63 ) and SA
Andrew M. Hutch (who doesn't join the detail until 11/18/63) [Secret
Service Shift Reports for November 1963, inc. 11/1/ 63:RIF#
1541000110180; 11//2/63: RIF#1541000110173;11/3/63: RIF#1541000110167;
11/4/63: RIF# 1541000110160; 11/5/63: RIF# 1541000110153; 11/6/63: RIF#
1541000110146; 11/7/63: RIF# 1541000110139; 11/8/63: RIF#1541000110132;
11/18/63: RIF#1541000110062; 11/22/63: RIF# 1541000110034].
>From the record, then, it appears Shipman died suddenly sometime between
October 3 and 11/1/63. it would be nice to have the travel logs for this
time period, but the Secret Service destroyed them in January 1995:
>From Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, p. 149:
"However, in January 1995, the Secret Service destroyed presidential
protection survey reports for some of
President Kennedy's trips in the fall of 1963. The Review Board
learned of the destruction approximately one
week after the Secret Service destroyed them, when the Board was
drafting its request for additional information.
The Board believed that the Secret Service files on the President's
travel in the weeks preceding his murder would
be relevant.
The Review Board requested the Secret Service to explain the
circumstances surrounding the destruction, after
passage of the JFK Act. The Secret Service formally explained the
circumstances of this destruction in
correspondence and an oral briefing to the Review Board."
WHY the destruction? HOW did Shipman die suddenly? WHERE is Shipman's
death certificate?
SA Tom Shipman died in late 1963, before the Texas trip.
So far, that's all we know.