Newly Discovered Tapes Shed Light On Day JFK Was Assassinated
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Audiotapes of conversations on Air Force One after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy have been donated to the National Archives.
The Raab Collection, which deals in historical autographs, has donated an original audiotape recording described as "Radio Traffic involving AF-1 in flight from Dallas, Texas, to Andrews AFB on Nov. 22, 1963," the National Archives said Tuesday
The Raab Collection said two 1/4-inch open-reel audiotapes containing identical excerpts from the flight were recently discovered among the papers and other memorabilia of Army Gen. Chester "Ted" Clifton Jr., who served as senior military aide to President Kennedy.
The recording includes taped conversations between pilots and individuals on Air Force One and various individuals in Washington during the return flight following Kennedy's Nov. 22, 1963, assassination in Dallas. The conversations were captured by the White House Communication Agency, which routed all phone calls and radio traffic. The tape also includes communication between the WHCA and a second aircraft of the president's fleet that was en route to Tokyo at the time of the assassination with members of Kennedy's cabinet.
The recording includes references to new code names and incidents, including a private conversation between Jerry Behn, the head of the Secret Service, and an unidentified individual about the disposition of the president's body.
A digitized version of the 2-hour, 22-minute recording is available on the National Archives Web site and reference copies of the recordings are available for on-site researchers at the National Archives facility in College Park, Md., and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. A shorter version of the tape is also available at the the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas.
