Latest / Heroes Behind the Badge / JFK Assassination: The Human Stories - Marie Tippit, Clint-Hill, and-the Witnesses of Dallas

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JFK Assassination: The Human Stories - Marie Tippit, Clint-Hill, and-the Witnesses of Dallas · Heroes Behind the Badge

• 0:10
  Paul Boomer: In episode one, we followed the frantic hours
• 0:14
  after President Kennedy was shot.
• 0:15
  The escape through Oak Cliff, the struggle inside the Texas theater,
• 0:20
  and a shock of Jack Ruby stepping into history today, the story turns personal.
• 0:25
  The letters, the friendships, the moments of grace and pain that
• 0:29
  shaped the people behind the case.
• 0:32
  This is episode two.
• 0:36
  Craig Floyd: Rick one, one of the, artifacts I visited the museum and I had
• 0:40
  the privilege of seeing, you showed it to me personally, was a letter from, Jackie
• 0:46
  Kennedy, right after the assassination and the murder of J.D. Tippit.
• 0:51
  She sent a letter to Marie Tippitt, J.D.’s wife.
• 0:55
  could you share that, that letter with us, what, were the contents and,
• 0:59
  and the timing of when it was sent?
• 1:04
  Paul Boomer: After the assassination, grief linked to families forever.
• 1:08
  Jackie Kennedy's handwritten letter to Marie Tippit became one of the most
• 1:12
  intimate artifacts from that week.
• 1:16
  Rick Janich: Through my work with the museum and Jeff Lucio
• 1:21
  was my, mentor and friend.
• 1:24
  He got, he said, let's go have lunch with Jim Leavelle.
• 1:27
  Okay, who, who would turn, who had turned that down?
• 1:30
  And that Jim and I became a real strong friendship.
• 1:34
  And a few times early in our relationship, Marie would be
• 1:38
  coming to join us for lunch.
• 1:40
  And I find her found her such a kind-hearted human being.
• 1:43
  And I really thought.
• 1:45
  And she was my second mother.
• 1:46
  She was that motherly person that would just be so kind.
• 1:51
  And, she started sharing information with me and she showed me the letter.
• 1:59
  And soon after the president's assassination, she got a handwritten
• 2:05
  letter from Jackie Kennedy.
• 2:07
  And I'll just paraphrase the part that really just stuck with me for a, for,
• 2:15
  it'll stick with me for all my life.
• 2:21
  As Jackie told Marie, my husband was killed.
• 2:26
  Your husband was killed because my husband was in town.
• 2:31
  And we will always share that bond.
• 2:34
  And when she lights the eternal flame, that eternal flame in Arlington
• 2:38
  National Cemetery will be lit for J.D. Tippit and for the president of
• 2:44
  the United States, John F. Kennedy.
• 2:46
  And that's pretty powerful.
• 2:48
  Paul Boomer: That letter was only the beginning in the years that followed.
• 2:51
  Marie Tippit carried her husband's legacy into every place.
• 2:56
  His name was written.
• 2:57
  Craig Floyd: I'll never forget.
• 2:59
  you, were kind enough to bring Marie to the National Law Enforcement
• 3:03
  Officers Memorial and it was during National Police Week.
• 3:07
  And it was the day of the candlelight vigil that evening.
• 3:11
  And, I remember, taking Marie to the wall where her husband's name,
• 3:16
  J.D. Tippit, is inscribed along with, more than 24,000 other fallen
• 3:22
  American law enforcement heroes.
• 3:25
  And his name is on that wall next to another officer from New York
• 3:30
  City, killed earlier in the 1900s.
• 3:33
  His name was John Kennedy and we put those names side by side.
• 3:38
  It was not a coincidence, of course, to remind all visitors of the link
• 3:45
  between, J.D. Tippit and John Kennedy.
• 3:48
  There is a very strong bond there, and, you've, talked about it.
• 3:52
  Jackie Kennedy recognized it, and we were so proud to have Marie there
• 3:56
  that day and then that evening.
• 3:59
  And, our candlelight vigil attended by some 30,000 people, a very moving moment.
• 4:05
  Marie was recognized on the day as, as the, surviving, wife of J.D. Tippit.
• 4:12
  It was a moment I'll never forget, and I was so appreciative
• 4:16
  to you for bringing her there.
• 4:19
  Paul Boomer: Another figure whose image became inseparable from that
• 4:22
  weekend was Detective Jim Leavelle.
• 4:25
  Jim is the detective standing beside Oswald in one of the most
• 4:29
  recognized photos in American history.
• 4:31
  Craig Floyd: As you did with Jim Leavelle.
• 4:33
  Jim Leavelle came and visited, the National Law Enforcement Museum after
• 4:38
  it was dedicated, and he also became our first witness to history speaker.
• 4:45
  We started a whole series of events, law enforcement officers that were
• 4:49
  involved in historical moments.
• 4:52
  And Jim Leavellee was kind enough at the age of 90 to fly from Dallas, Texas
• 4:57
  to the, to Washington DC to do an oral history about his experience and he,
• 5:05
  just, amazed us all with his recollections from, those days in November of 1963.
• 5:13
  I thank you so much for all of that.
• 5:15
  Yeah.
• 5:15
  One question I have, I, have hundreds and, I'm sure, Dennis and Bill do too,
• 5:20
  but, one question I want you to clear up.
• 5:23
  I seem to recall somewhere that the suit, the tan suit that Jim Leavellee
• 5:29
  was wearing right behind you in that iconic picture was borrowed.
• 5:34
  It was not his suit is, that factually accurate?
• 5:38
  Rick Janich: Yes, it is.
• 5:38
  Actually, he purchased it from somebody.
• 5:41
  And he told, he said that the guy he brought it from got too fat to wear it.
• 5:47
  So he bought it from Jim.
• 5:48
  He called it his Neiman Marcus suit.
• 5:51
  And so he had a tailor to fit him and he wore that, suit actually
• 5:56
  pretty much his entire career.
• 5:58
  And it, does remain in the, museum at the Sixth Floor Museum, to this day.
• 6:04
  And his, original hat.
• 6:07
  And, he always will tell you, everybody says, oh, you're the white
• 6:10
  suit and you're correct, Craig.
• 6:12
  That is a tan suit.
• 6:13
  Dennis Collins: Tan.
• 6:14
  And we were talking earlier about the hat.
• 6:17
  I've always been intrigued.
• 6:20
  I, think in Texas, a lot of cops wear those, hats.
• 6:23
  But you have a story, Rick, about that hat.
• 6:27
  Tell, our audience the story behind the hat.
• 6:29
  Rick Janich: Yeah.
• 6:29
  The hat is a,
• 6:33
  when Jim transferred into the robbery homicide, who was the elite detectives
• 6:39
  in the Dallas Police Department.
• 6:41
  They were called the Fritz Hot Hats.
• 6:44
  And Captain Fritz, Will Fritz was the commander over the Fritz Detectives,
• 6:49
  and they were encouraged to wear a fritz hat or this Beaver 10 x
• 6:55
  hat that Jim was wearing that day.
• 6:57
  Paul Boomer: But before Dallas Leavelle had already survived the attack that
• 7:02
  launched America into World War II.
• 7:04
  Rick Janich: And Jim has always recognized to the day he passed.
• 7:09
  We were wearing that hat and the hat and we, I took it.
• 7:12
  We had the honor later in life to take Jim on an honor flight.
• 7:17
  'cause a lot of people don't know.
• 7:18
  Jim Leavellee was, stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7th.
• 7:23
  Really?
• 7:23
  During the Japan, yes, during the Japanese attack.
• 7:26
  And so I arranged to be his guardian on an honor flight, which we take Washington,
• 7:32
  we take veterans to Washington DC and we had decided when Jim was gonna go
• 7:38
  that he was going as a World War II survivor, Pearl Harbor survivor, not as
• 7:43
  Jim Leavelle, the homicide detective, but the president turned to be said.
• 7:48
  But Rick, if he doesn't wear that hat, you gotta go back to his house and get
• 7:52
  it 'cause I want him wearing that hat.
• 7:54
  And so during the trip, Jim wore his hat and we tried to keep his
• 7:59
  anonymity about the president's assassination his work in the, or his
• 8:07
  fame but one of the other veterans.
• 8:11
  Found out he was a retired detective.
• 8:14
  He said, you probably know a lot about that JFK investigation, don't you?
• 8:18
  Oh boy.
• 8:19
  And Jim with his mouth says, yeah, I know a little bit about it.
• 8:22
  Little bit.
• 8:23
  And he was, confronted then by the, in infamous Jim Leavelle in the tan suit.
• 8:33
  Paul Boomer: Leavellee wasn't alone in the basement that day.
• 8:35
  Another detective almost completely forgotten, may have
• 8:40
  prevented a second murder.
• 8:43
  Rick Janich: But there's people like, Elsie Graves, who is the
• 8:47
  un, another unknown detective that was on Oswald's other side.
• 8:51
  And Jim told me one day that Elsie Graves saved his life.
• 8:57
  And so during capturing Oswald, we emphasized that the other people that were
• 9:02
  down there, 'cause without Elsie Graves actions of grabbing that pistol that day.
• 9:08
  And you think about if you've ever shot a firearm, how hot that revol,
• 9:12
  how that, how hot that pistol is after firing just one shot can be.
• 9:17
  But Elsie Graves, but his death grip on that.
• 9:21
  On Ruby's revolver and wrestled it from Ruby, and we, the, story
• 9:29
  of capturing Oswald goes a lot deeper than just, than we know.
• 9:34
  This video that the military channel produced, Uh, I saw an interview of
• 9:40
  Elsie Graves and he was so humble, as humble as Jim is, and they tried
• 9:44
  to interview him with it and said, what'd you do with the pistol?
• 9:48
  And Elsie Graves's response was, I put it in my pocket.
• 9:53
  And what'd you do with it?
• 9:54
  After that?
• 9:55
  I gave it to Captain Fritz and Jim told me without, Ru, without Elsie Graves
• 10:01
  grabbing that gun, he could still see Ruby trying to fire more shots out.
• 10:09
  Continuing to try to fire that, to try possibly kill
• 10:12
  Jim or other police officers.
• 10:14
  Paul Boomer: Beyond Dallas police officers, another man's bravery defined
• 10:19
  those chaotic seconds in Dealey Plaza.
• 10:22
  Craig Floyd: I, just wanna acknowledge one person that we haven't talked about,
• 10:25
  that was an, a key player in all this.
• 10:28
  His name is Clint Hill.
• 10:30
  And I think we've spoken about him in the past in some of our podcasts,
• 10:33
  but Clint Hill was the Secret Service agent who, leaped on the back of the
• 10:39
  limo after the first shots were fired and, President Kennedy was shot.
• 10:44
  It was Clint Hill who tried to save him and Mrs. Kennedy, with his
• 10:50
  gallant, and very courageous act.
• 10:53
  Clint Hill died earlier this year.
• 10:56
  He was a friend of mine.
• 10:58
  He came to the National Law Enforcement Museum and I just wanna make sure
• 11:03
  our, audience knows that there was a, another key player in all of this,
• 11:08
  another hero behind the badge, and his name was Clint Hill, and he's a
• 11:12
  hero and really an iconic figure in American law enforcement histories.
• 11:26
  Rick Janich: I had the honor of at the 20, at the 50th commemoration
• 11:29
  to escort Marie Tippitt into the, to the ceremony and they called me for
• 11:35
  another, ano a secondary, duty to escort Clint Hill into the, ceremony.
• 11:43
  And so I took Marie over to where Clint Hill is, was getting outta his
• 11:47
  squad car, and I said, Marie Tippit, I'd like to have you meet Clint Hill.
• 11:51
  And I remember Clint Hill says i've always wanted to meet that
• 11:54
  woman and it's nice to meet you.
• 11:56
  And Clint and Marie walked down arm in that ceremony.
• 12:02
  And I'll never forget that site because there are those two people
• 12:05
  suffer the most of this whole tragedy.
• 12:09
  Of course, Jackie Kennedy as well.
• 12:10
  But those two pe, those two people had were connected to this
• 12:16
  tragedy, an unbelievable tragedy.
• 12:18
  And it was so nice to see those two together.
• 12:21
  They sat together.
• 12:21
  I know they talked and Marie was just a charming lady, and Clint, I'm sure
• 12:27
  had a, had a very nice conversation.
• 12:30
  I just backed off.
• 12:31
  I said, my life is good right now.
• 12:33
  Two people together that, that had never met and always wanted to meet each other.
• 12:40
  Paul Boomer: And some heroes weren't officers at all.
• 12:43
  One was a civilian who heard Tippet's final radio call and acted.
• 12:48
  Rick Janich: There was a man named Temple Bowleyy that if you hear,
• 12:51
  listen to the radio traffic when Tippet was murdered, Temple Bowleyy got on
• 12:55
  Tippet's radio and got Tippet help.
• 12:59
  So he got on the radio and said, this officer needs help.
• 13:02
  And he described where he was at and I looked in the records and we had
• 13:06
  never given Temple Bowleyy any type of recognition on that day and without
• 13:13
  Temple Bowley getting on that radio.
• 13:15
  He got Tippit help, faster, right?
• 13:19
  So I got Chief David Brown to sign off a special Certificate of Merit, and we
• 13:24
  were presented at the Temple Bowley for his actions on November 22nd because
• 13:30
  nobody had even, and I, walked up to his door in the, in my police uniform,
• 13:35
  he goes, I bet you want to talk to me about that incident, don't you?
• 13:39
  I said, yeah, I do.
• 13:40
  I said, and I am so sorry it took nearly 50 years to do this.
• 13:44
  He goes, I was, I, he goes, I eventually thought somebody would knock down my door.
• 13:49
  I said, it's time now.
• 13:51
  And it was so nice to meet him and to thank him.
• 13:54
  And I had set up, Murray was gonna be at the ceremony for Mr. Bowley and I
• 13:59
  said, Temple said, Marie's gonna want to ask the question and I'm gonna
• 14:03
  get you guys together and have your.
• 14:07
  have your chat.
• 14:08
  And Marie said that it would be okay to ask him the question
• 14:11
  whether J.D. Tippit was alive.
• 14:14
  And so I let them chat and, I, read their lips and, they asked Mr. Bowley, I said,
• 14:22
  was there, had dad or husband alive?
• 14:25
  And he just shook his head and said, no he wasn't.
• 14:28
  And so Marie got some solace and some closure there, and
• 14:31
  the whole Tippet family did.
• 14:33
  And once again, I did, something great.
• 14:38
  Paul Boomer: These untold stories, small moments in private actions are the
• 14:43
  difference between headlines and history.
• 14:47
  Dennis Collins: That's what makes this type of interview so special
• 14:50
  because you're able to fill in the details of those little small things.
• 14:56
  That made a big difference.
• 14:58
  They made a big difference.
• 14:59
  Rick Janich: Yeah.
• 14:59
  They made a, big difference.
• 15:01
  Dennis Collins: And yet in the media, you're never gonna hear that.
• 15:03
  No, You're not gonna hear this, in the news, but you hear it from Rick
• 15:08
  Janich, the, the, historian emeritus.
• 15:12
  That's a great title.
• 15:14
  And you certainly did your job today filling in some of the blanks.
• 15:18
  The human, the, real, the vulnerable stuff.
• 15:21
  The real stuff.
• 15:25
  Paul Boomer: In the years that followed, Dallas struggled under
• 15:28
  the weight of its new identity.
• 15:30
  A city tied to tragedy, but the legacy didn't end there.
• 15:34
  In episode three, we look at the aftermath, the federal tensions, the birth
• 15:38
  of the museum of, unanswered questions, and how Dallas rebuilt its reputation.
• 15:44
  Subscribe now to catch that final chapter and the story that
• 15:48
  started in November of 1963.