Lane Bertram and the Day Before Dallas (Compiled) By Vince Palamara - vmplac@telerama.com From http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/jfk/index.html "Where Were You?" (Houston) "On November 22, 1963, my family lived in Houston, and I still am living here. When I heard the news about President Kennedy, my 3-year-old son and I were at a laundromat on Long Point in Spring Branch. The laundromat had a TV set, so we heard the first announcement. That evening, my husband and I went over to visit our neighbors who lived in the house behind us, Lane and Edna Bertram. Lane Bertram at that time was head of the Secret Service here in Houston [SEE BELOW*] and had just been in charge of President Kennedy's visit to Houston the day before. We had all talked about the successful visit that evening and the upcoming visit to Dallas the next day. I will never forget Lane's comment about the assassination in Dallas. Lane said, "It should never have happened, there is no excuse for it; and it could never have happened here in Houston!" [MAYBE BECAUSE THE SECRET SERVICE WAS ACTUALLY PROTECTING JFK PROPERLY IN HOUSTON?] Such a tragedy! Arlynn Battenfield Houston Published Nov. 22, 1963 Edition: 3rd EXTRA Note: This EXTRA was the third of four printed by the Chronicle as the story of President Kennedy's assassination unfolded. Its lead headline read: "Assassin's Bullet Kills Kennedy; Connally Shot, in Grave Condition" No Hint of Trouble Noticed in Advance BY BOB TUTT Chronicle Reporter Lane Bertram, agent in charge here of the secret service, the agency charged with protecting the President's life, said: "There was no information that an Assassination attempt would be made against Mr. Kennedy during the Texas tour." Bertram, whose agents helped protect the President during his visit here,said: "We always anticipate trouble but there was nothing to indicate what would happen in Dallas. "We knew there was always the possibility that some mentally deranged person would make an attempt on the President's life. We were worried about the irrational [rather] than hired assassins." [NO WONDER THE ASSASSINATION WAS A SUCCESS THE NEXT DAY!] Bertram said he was amazed at the assassination in light of the warm reception Kennedy received from "remarkably well-behaved and respectful crowds in Houston." This is the first time a President has been killed since the Secret Service was organized after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Bertram said. Secret Service agents here have checked out or are investigating a half dozen threats against the President, but there is nothing to indicate that any of the threats was serious, Bertram said. [SEE BELOW**] The White House switchboard set up at the Rice Hotel during Kennedy's stay here received a number of crank calls but no threats, he said. Every precaution possible is taken to protect the President when he appears in public, but it is impossible to guarantee perfect protection, he added. When a Secret Service man takes his oath he swears to do anything necessary to protect the President, even to stepping in front of an assassin's bullet, Bertram said." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Lane Bertram, SAIC of the Houston office, tried to link Oswald with the rival agency - the FBI - after the shooting, and planted the story that Oswald heard about a Kennedy-inspired plot to kill Castro, which made Oswald kill JFK!(CD No. 705, page 1 & 767; see also Look, 7/12/66, page 69) In addition, Bertram was the agent who reported of Jack Ruby's presence in Houston on 11/21/63 (when JFK was present), as Ruby was stalking the President.(25 H 378 - 381) Finally, when New Orleans lawyer Dean Andrews (a man known to the Secret Service for his assistance in legal matters) testified to the Warren Commission that a "Clay Bertrand" called him on 11/23/63 and asked him to defend Oswald (Andrews had previously seen Oswald in the summer of 1963 on various legal matters), no one realized that "Clay Bertrand" was phonetically close to Lane Bertram.(Andrews interview with Fred Newcomb)(CD No. 75, page 305; 11 H 327; 26 H 704; 11 H 332 - 333; 26 H 357) In fact, the SAIC of the New Orleans office, J. Calvin Rice, stated that Andrews was "well known to this office"!(CD No. 87) However, when the FBI attempted to find out who the man really was, they stated: "...locate any record identifiable with Clay Bertrand or Bertram"!(26 H 356) Finally, Ruth Paine stated that Oswald went to Houston to see an unidentified friend on September 26, 1963 (the same day that the White House officially announced JFK's trip to Dallas for the fall).(23 H 409; 3 H 10; WR 651; Time, 12/6/63, page 33A) Michael Dorman's "Secret Service Story"(1967)- on page 4, Dorman, later of "Newsday" and a harsh critic of Jim Garrison, dedicated his book "...to all the present and former members of the U.S. Secret Service, with particular appreciation to retired Agent Lane Bertram, who took the trouble to show a young reporter the ropes in days gone by": This Oswald-did-it book stands out for its sickeningly sweet approach to the Secret Service's ultimate failure evidenced on many pages, perhaps summed up here best- p.8- " In the confusion, one group of men acted with a dispatch and precision born of hour upon hour of drill, discipline and professional training. these men were the agents of the Unites States Secret Service. "Within an instant of the time the shots were fired, agents leaped into action. Pistols and automatic rifles appeared in their hands. An agent in the President's limousine immediately grabbed a radio-telephone. 'Let's go straight to the nearest hospital', he shouted to nearby policemen"-! ** New York Times 12/20/63 Pg 19 Kennedy Threat is Laid to Texan Dallas Machinist Held -- Remarks Made Nov. 21 By Donald Janson Special to the New York Times Dallas Dec 19 -- A 21-year-old Dallas Machinist was arrested by the Secret Service today on charges of threating to kill Presidnet Kennedy. The machinist, Russell W. McLarry, said the threat had been made in jest Nov. 21, the day before Mr. Kennedy was assassinated here. Two women to whom Mr. McLarry allegedly made the statement eported it to the police in Arlington, about 15 miles west of here, soon after they heard of the assassination. At a preliminary hearing in Fort Worth today, the Secret Service agent who apprehended Mr. McLarry testified that the machinist had said he was "proud -- no glad" that the President had been killed. Mr. McLarry attends night classes at the Arlington State College in Arlington as a freshman. The alleged threat was made on the campus to two women student. Mr. McLarry was alleged to have told the women that he would be working near the Trade Mart the next day and would be waiting with a gun to "get" the President. Works Near Trade Mart Charles E. Kunkel, of the Dallas office of the Secret Service testified that he had confronted Mr. McLarry with this report and that, in substance, the student had admitted it. Mr. McLarry works at the Dahlgren Manufacturing Company, which makes lithographic printing equipment in a plant three blocks north of the Trade Mart. President Kennedy was driving to the mart to make a luncheon speech when he was killed, apparently by rifle shots from a ixth-floor window of a downtown Dallas building in the other direction from the mart. United States Attorney Barefoot Sanders said here today that he had no evidence of any connection between Mr. McLarry and Lee H. Oswald, the alleged assassin. In Fort Worth, United States Commissioner Bill Atkins set bond at $2,500. Mr. McLarry could not raise it and was remanded to the Tarrant County jail. Jury Meets in January He was arraigned earlier today in Fort Worth rather than Dallas because the alleged threat was made in Tarrant County, of which Fort Worth is the seat. Mr. Sanders said the case would be presented to the next Federal grand jury to be convened in the Northern District of Texas. This jury will convene in Amarillo the week of Jan. 6. Mr. McLarry, who is single lives in an apartment house in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, a sprawling area where Oswald lived. former fellow employees at another plant here described Mr. McLarry as unusually argumentative. If Mr. McLarry had a gun it has not been found. At Arlington, it was said that Mr. McLarry was taking courses in American History and algebra. The authorities said they had found no connection between Mr. McLarry and anti-Kennedy leaflets that appeared on the Arlington campus the day before the assassination. The leaflets bore the heading: "Wanted for Treason." Mr. McLarry was interviewed by the Secret Service Tuesday night and was arrested this morning. The agency indicated that the case had not been pursued immediately after the assassination because there had been more pressing things to do. Could Get Five Years Mr. McLarry was charged under a Federal statue that prohibits threats of bodily harm or death to a President, Vice President or President-elect. Conviction could carry a fine of up to $8,000 or five years in prison. AND >From "The (Washington) Evening Star", 12/19/63 [this newspaper article photocopy was found in DNC advance man Jerry Bruno's JFK Library Texas trip files] "TEXAS STUDENT CHARGED IN THREAT ON KENNEDY" FORT WORTH, Tex., Dec. 19 (AP)---Russell Wence McLarry, 21, a night atudent at Arlington State College, was arrested today and charged with threatening the life of the late President Kennedy. Mr. McLarry worked in the daytime in a building across from the Trade Mart in Dallas where Mr. Kennedy was scheduled to speak November 22. Mr. Kennedy was assaassinated in a motorcade in Dallas en route to the Trade Mart. Mr. McLarry was arraigned before United States Commissioner Bill Atkins today. He was to be given a preliminary hearing later. Secret Service agents and Assistant United States Attorney William Hughes interrogated Mr. McLarry before he was charged. When the complaint was issue Deputy United States Marshal Joe Parker took McLarry into custody. The Complaint was signed by Charles E. Kunkel, special agent for the Secret Service. The complaint alleged that "on November 21 he (Mr. McLarry) made certain threats to take the life of and to inflict bodliy harm upon John F. Kennedy, then the President of the United States, by stating in substance that he would be working near the Trade Mart in Dallas, Tex., where the President was suppposed to speak, and that he would be waiting with a gun to get the president." These remarks, the complaint alleged, were made in the presence of witnesses. Mr. McLarry gave his occupation as a machinist. He was sullen during the arraignment and said little. When asked if he wanted a preliminary hearing, he nodded his head affirmatively. Mr. Atkins advised him that he could have witnesses and an attorney at the hearing. "I want to call my sister and get my business straightened up," Mr. McLarry said. Mr. Atkins asked him if anyone knew he was being charged. "There is a probability of it," Mr. McLarry replied.