June 2020 Auction Ends Thursday, June 25th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/25/2020
Ralph W. Yarborough signed souvenir transcript of his statement to the Warren Commission regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as he saw it two cars behind the President's limousine. Yarborough was riding in the car with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and ironically, had originally refused to ride in LBJ's limo as he felt he was being slighted by Governor Connally, who rode with the President. Statement reads in part, ''...as the motorcade went down the slope of Elm Street toward the railroad underpass, a rifle shot was heard by me; a loud blast, close by. I have handled firearms for fifty years, and thought immediately that it was a rifle shot...After what I took to be about three seconds, another shot boomed out, and...a third shot was fired. After the third shot was fired, but only after the third shot was fired, the cavalcade speeded up...All [shots] seemed to come from my right rear...one of the secret service men sitting down in the car in front of us pulled out an automatic rifle or weapon and looked backward. However, all of the secret service men seemed to me to respond very slowly, with no more than a puzzled look. In fact, until the automatic weapon was uncovered, I had been lulled into a sense of false hope for the President's safety, by the lack of motion, excitement, or apparent visible knowledge by the secret service men, that anything so dreadful was happening...I am amazed at the lack of instantaneous response by the Secret Service, when the rifle fire began...I write it out in the hope that it might be of service in the better protection of our Presidents in the future...After we went under the underpass...I could see...an agent lying across the back or trunk of the Presidential car...He beat the back of the car with one hand, his face contorted by grief, anguish, and despair, and I knew from that instant that some terrible loss had been suffered...'' Single page measures 8.5'' x 11''. Near fine condition.
Ralph Yarborough Signed Statement to the Warren Commission Concerning President John F. Kennedy's Assassination -- Senator Yarborough Rode in the Vice President's Limousine Two Cars Behind JFK
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