Assignment 3D - Andreas Blom

Picture "borrowed" from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clint_Hill_on_the_limousine.jpg

The Story Of The Hero

When President John F. Kennedy was shot in the autumn of 1963, America mourned their fallen leader. They were many heroes in the story of the murder, many who in the line of duty risked their life’s to save Kennedy. One of these was Secret Service agent Clint Hill who did not only work on the presidential protection detail, but also rode in the car behind the presidential limousine during the convoy through Dealzy Square.

But what makes him one of the greater heroes? Just after the beginning of the shooting Hill acted instinctively and left his car for the limousine in front of him with only one thing in mind – save the president. Hill grabbed the back of the trunk and climbed on to it at the same time as the limousine’s driver started accelerating away. Hill managed to climb over the trunk and into the third and last row of seats, where the president and his First Lady were located. Hill threw himself on top of the fatally harmed president and the First Lady while shouting "To the hospital, to the hospital!", to the driver. During the short yet rushed drive to Parkland Hospital Hill made thumbs down to the agents following the limousine to aware them of the president’s condition. During the whole ride Hill remained shielding the couple, in case of additional shots.

Kennedy had been very precise with his wish to keep the limousine free of Secret Service agents, and without speculating if there had been one or more agents hanging on to the back of the limousine (were Hill entered) the president’s chances of survival might have increased, the reason to this decision was most likely because they were going to go on a highway in speeds of 60-70 m/ph which could have caused serious injuries to potential protection agents.

Even though the attempt to saving the president failed, many agrees that Clint’s actions wasn’t completely useless. In a 1975 interview with Mike Wallace, Hill said that if he’d managed to get into the limousine just a second earlier he might have been able to take the third bullet, hopefully saving the president. Yet the fact remains, Secret Service agent Clint Hill stands as one of the heroes from the disastrous day in November, 1963.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Hill_(Secret_Service), 8th of January, 2014.

Detta är en del av ett skolarbete och därför kan tyckas lite malplacerat här med tanke på att jag sällan skriver på engelska. Men som jag sa i ett gammalt inlägg. "Spontan och målmedveten."