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"The extraordinary true story of the critical events leading up to and following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as told by the Secret Service agents who were firsthand witnesses to one of America\u2019s greatest tragedies.THE SECRET SERVICE. An elite team of men who share a single mission: to protect the president of the United States. On November 22, 1963, these men failed\u2014and a country would never be the same. Now, for the first time, a member of JFK\u2019s Secret Service detail reveals the inside story of the assassination, the weeks and days that led to it and its heartrending aftermath. This extraordinary book is a moving, intimate portrait of dedication, courage, and loss.  Drawing on the memories of his fellow agents, Jerry Blaine captures the energetic, crowd-loving young president, who banned agents from his car and often plunged into raucous crowds with little warning. He describes the careful planning that went into JFK\u2019s Texas swing, the worries and concerns that agents, working long hours with little food or rest, had during the trip. And he describes the intensely private first lady making her first-ever political appearance with her husband, just months after losing a newborn baby.  Here are vivid scenes that could come only from inside the Kennedy detail: JFK\u2019s last words to his tearful son when he left Washington for the last time; how a sudden change of weather led to the choice of the open-air convertible limousine that day; Mrs. Kennedy standing blood-soaked outside a Dallas hospital room; the sudden interruption of six-year-old Caroline\u2019s long-anticipated sleepover with a friend at home; the exhausted team of agents immediately reacting to the president\u2019s death with a shift to LBJ and other key governmental figures; the agents\u2019 dismay at Jackie\u2019s decision to walk openly from the White House to St. Matthew\u2019s Cathedral at the state funeral.  Most of all, this is a look into the lives of men who devoted their entire beings to protecting the presidential family: the stress of the secrecy they kept, the emotional bonds that developed, the terrible impact on agents\u2019 psyches and families, and their astonishment at the country\u2019s obsession with far-fetched conspiracy theories and finger-pointing. A book fifty years in coming, The Kennedy Detail is a portrait of incredible camaraderie and incredible heartbreak\u2014a true, must-read story of heroism in its most complex and human form.  ***  A medic burst out of the trauma room, and instinctively Clint Hill took a step toward Mrs. Kennedy. \u201CHe\u2019s still breathing,\u201D the man said as he rushed past. Mrs. Kennedy stood up. \u201CDo you mean he may live?\u201D she asked. No one answered. Kellerman handed the phone back to Hill and rushed back into the trauma room.  \u201CClint, what happened?\u201D Jerry Behn asked earnestly.  \u201CShots fired during the motorcade,\u201D Clint said as he kept an eye on Mrs. Kennedy across the hall. \u201CIt all happened so fast. We were five minutes away from the Trade Mart. . . . The situation is critical. Jerry, prepare for the worst. . . .\u201D The operator cut into the line, \u201CAttorney General Robert Kennedy wants to talk to Agent Hill.\u201D \u201CWhat\u2019s going on down there?!\u201D Bobby Kennedy demanded.  \u201CShots fired during the motorcade,\u201D Clint repeated. \u201CThe president is very seriously injured. They\u2019re working on him now. Governor Connally was hit too.\u201D \u201CWell, what do you mean, seriously injured? How serious?\u201D Clint swallowed hard. It was all he could do to keep it together. \u201CIt\u2019s as bad as it can get.\u201D  \u2014From The Kennedy Detail: JFK\u2019s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Kennedy-Detail/Gerald-Blaine/9781439192993>