We have all probably heard the story about the Secret Servicemen swilling booze in an after-hours joint mere hours before the Kennedy Assassination. Retired Agent Jerry Blaine wrote a book called The Kennedy Detail which discusses this. He was in Dallas but not at the Cellar Club, although men who assisted with the book were there, so in the interest of reporting information in the public domain, I will offer it. While drinking on duty was strictly forbidden, there was no real policy governing off-duty behavior. Supervisors made sure men were physically ans mentally fit. Presidential protection was the elite Secret Service posting, and chronic screwups didn't last long.
Eight agents were involved with the Cellar Club Incident. Five had reported for duty at 8:00 AM on Nov. 21 and didn't knock off till midnight, two consecutive eight hour shifts, while three started at 4:00 PM. None had gotten a decent dinner. Journalist Merriman Smith, dean of the Washington press corps and a great friend of JFK's, invited them to join him at the Dallas Press Club, where a buffet table was said to await. By the time the agent arrived the buffet had closed and they consumed some alcohol and made do with peanuts and pretzels. Another pressman informed the agents that the Cellar Club was still open and possibly offered sandwiches. The establishment feature waitresses running around in their underwear but no sandwiches and technically did not serve alcohol, although customers sometimes supplied their own. By Jerry's account they had some fruit juice and once again raided the peanut bowl. Some people have alleged that they fortified their fruit juice with grain alcohol, although that would have meant that they brought their own, unless someone offered to share. Most of the agents soon returned to the hotel, although one, the youngest man on the detail and the only one who was single, stayed until 5:00 AM chatting with a Fort Worth police officer and an attractive female reporter. None of the men were drivers and none were on duty until noon of the 22nd. One may make of this what one will.
As for the assassination, the agents "wish" people would accept the findings of the Warren Commission, but the book presents certain facts that undermine it. Bullet fragments were seen in the passenger compartment, including one lodged in the "windshield" (probably the glass privacy screen behind the front seat, although this is not specified). Agent Clint Hill, who ran to the car and shielded the first couple with his body, reported a "fist-sized hole in the back of his (Kennedy's) head". These points are crucial for anyone trying to reconstruct the shooting, something that has never been done in a satisfactory manner. The book also mentioned something I had never heard before. There was some confusion as the motorcade formed up because both of the first lady's bodyguards were assigned to the follow-up car, the vintage Cadillac they called "halfback". This was highly irregular because normally one would have been in the car and the other waiting at the destination, the Dallas Trade Mart. I do not know if this is significant, but it was unusual. Incidentally, the agent who stayed the latest at the Cellar Club, the youngest one on the detail, was apparently the first to detect gunshots from behind, and is clearly seen in photographs turned around and looking toward the Book Depository.
