Vincent Palamara Archive - Write to Vince at  vmplac@telerama.com


Identifier 1:
The following is a portion of a letter I sent to Richard Trask, author
        of the excellent books "Pictures of the Pain", "Photographic Memory",
        and his latest work entitled "That Day In Dallas":

        Dear Richard:


        [...]


        Thank you for including me on page vi, as well---I am highly honored.

        "That Day In Dallas" is an extremely well-written time capsule,
        transporting the reader back to November 22, 1963 and that dark
        afternoon when John F. Kennedy was killed. The accounts of these three
        men are so rivetting and moving, you feel like you are experiencing what

        they themselves went through 35 years ago. This is the perfect companion

        piece to the masterpiece "Pictures of the Pain", as well as a nice
        addition to the excellent survey guide "Photographic Memory".

        You have done a great job here---this book DEFINITELY lived up to
        expectations! ?

        I am very impressed with the high quality resolution of the photographs
        (as well as their size and placement in the narrative). For what it's
        worth, I can identify several Secret Service agents in the photos:

        -p.16, bottom photo: agent John D. Ready is the man in the rainjacket/
        trenchcoat directly to the left of JFK's head as we view the picture.
        The other agent on the opposite side---the one who looks a lot like J.
        Edgar Hoover, as even author Mark North believed---also appears on pages

        38 and 40, RIDING IN THE FRONT SEAT OF THE HEARSE between the driver,
        agent Andy Berger, and ASAIC Roy Kellerman; he is also pictured on the
        bottom of page 40, between Powers and O'Donnell; on page 42 (bottom), at

        the start of the gangway; and on page 43 (top), looking up at the
        casket/ agents: you solved a mystery for me! THIS MAN IS AGENT STEWART
        G. STOUT, JR.---thanks a lot for providing the missing pieces for me ?
        [Stout had a previous brush with history and assasination: he was
        involved in the protection of President Truman at Blair House on
        11/1/50, manning a Thompson Submachine gun inside the house as Agent
        Floyd M. Boring and Agent Vincent Mroz---along with several WH
        policeman---were involved in a gunbatttle with the two Puerto Rican
        would-be assassins! Ironically, Stout was also in a building---the Trade

        Mart---when another president was killed...];
        -p. 17, bottom photo: the agent on the lower/ bottom right corner,
        looking to the right (his left), was previously thought to myself to be
        Stout. Now, thanks to your book, I now know this man is Arthur L.
        Godfrey, an agent I interviewed twice in 1996 and corresponded in
        1997---he is the last surviving ATSAIC/ shift leader of JFK'S WHD (the
        other two, Stu Stout and Emory Roberts, were the first two agents to
        pass on---in the mid to late 1960's, respectively-from Kennedy's
        detail!) Godfrey can also be seen in JFK Library film of Kennedy's trip
        to Italy (which Art told me he was on). [on page 120 of former Secret
        Service agent and Chief of the WH Signal Detachment George J. McNallly's

        book "A Million Miles of Presidents", he wrote: "A real live Secret
        Service agent is not without a certain following either. For a long time

        we had two agents named Arthur Godfrey and Robert Taylor on the detail
        and many people sought them out...both were good looking and generous to
        the somewhat disappointed celebrity seekers." ( a photo of Bob Taylor
        can be seen in Dennis V.N. McCarthy's book "Protecting The President",
        holding up President Nixon as they ride in a golf cart in San Clemente,
        CA)];
        -p. 20: Agent Paul Landis can be seen walking behind Jackie;
        -p. 27: Landis appears, in sunglasses, on the far left of this photo;
        -p. 28: looking directly above the lady wearing a hat, we can see (in
        order) Henry J. Rybka (looking down), Winston G. Lawson (looking
        intense), Andy Berger, Roy Kellerman, Clint Hill, and, between Jackie
        and Hugh Sidey, John Ready;
        -p. 34: Agent Thomas "Lem" Johns is seen running toward the camera car;
        -p. 36, bottom: Agent Sam Kinney is directly in front of Dave Wiegman;
        -p. 37: in both photos, Agent Kinney and Agent George W. Hickey, Jr. are

        working on the bubbletop/ covers;
        -pages 39, 41, 42, and 43: agent Richard E. Johnsen, depicted in profile

        helping carry the casket up the gangway, WAS previously identified by
        David Lifton in "Best Evidence". However, Johnsen can now be identified
        in Wolper's 1964 film "Four Days In November" (San Antonio footage,
        walking by the limo and right by the camera) AND in Robert MacNeil's
        1988 book "The Way We Were", p. 60 (to JFK's left);
        -p. 50: Agent "Lem" Johns can be seen between Jackie and Jack Brooks;
        -p. 54: Agent David B. Grant can be seen directly behind the saluting
        policeman, wearing a dark suit and sporting a crewcut

        Again, you have written another great addition to every researcher's
        collection.

        Sincerely,

        Vince Palamara