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Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (upper left, in dark glasses, walking; and inset photo, lower left) stayed with the vehicle behind the presidential limousine during the Dallas motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963. In the limousine, President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy are in the rear seat, with Texas Gov. John Connally and Nellie Connally seated in front of them.

CLINT HILL RELATES JOYS, SORROWS OF HIS KENNEDY FAMILY YEARS

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Clint Hill keeps North Dakota in his heart. That is one of the messages the Washburn native has been conveying this fall, as he helps the nation remember President John E Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Hill's richly detailed memories of the Kennedys come from his time as a Secret Service agent assigned to the first

lady and the Kennedy children. Among those memories is Hill's close-up witnessing of the Nov. 22, 1963, gunfire at President Kennedy, and Hill's leap into the limousine to shield the first lady and mortally wounded president as it sped off to a Dallas hospital.

To capture this story for North Dakota Living, a Hill family mini-reunion was convened. The late father of North Dakota Living Editor-in-Chief Dennis Hill — Kenneth — was Clint's cousin. Clint, with co-author Lisa McCubbin, sat down with Dennis Hill for this interview. McCubbin is author of "The Kennedy Detail" (with retired Secret Service Agent Gerald Blaine) and co-author with Clint Hill of "Mrs. Kennedy & Me," and the newly released "Five Days In November"

D. Hill: Clint, let's start by telling us about your upbringing in North Dakota and Washburn.

C. Hill: I was placed in the North Dakota Children's Home in Fargo shortly after my birth in Larimore, in 1932. About three months later, Chris and Jenny Hill adopted me and brought me to Washburn. I lived

there, finished high school there in 1950 and went on to college at Concordia in Moorhead. My time in Washburn was absolutely remarkable. It was a wonderful place to grow up.

D. Hill: I recall reading that you were athletic and had music talent as well.

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C. Hill: Yes, I played American Legion baseball in Washburn. I played high school football, basketball and ran track. I also sang in the glee club, played in the high school band, acted in a play or two. I had a full student experience in high school.

D. Hill: Let's talk next about the family connections that you have in North Dakota. Since we both have Hill for a last name, let's start there. I brought along a picture of my parents' wedding at which you were an usher. I trust my parents treated you well for your service?

C. Hill: (Laughs) They were incredible, and yes, they treated me well. Your father always had a smile, was always happy. I knew your mother before your father did because the McElwain family, of which she was a part, was active in music. Her older brother, Vim, was a music teacher, and I happened to be a member of the all-county band in McLean County, and he was the director. I recall meeting him and some of the family at that time. There are quite a number of cousins on the Hill side still living in the Minot area. I was fortunate to be back in Minot at the Hostfest in 2012 and it was wonderful to see many of them there, including relatives on my mother's side. My mother, Jenny, was a Rostad. Her sister, Mabel, was married and lived in the Stanley area.

D. Hill: Your sister, Janice, was married to Oben Gunderson. I recall Oben was a former state legislator.

C. Hill: They lived on a farm near McCanna. Oben grew up there and they met at Concordia College in Moorhead. They were married in Washburn and lived on the farm most of their lives. Janice passed away in 2002. Oben still lives in Grand Forks. As you say, he was a member in the North Dakota Legislature. He loves that land and still owns that farm near McCanna, spending as much time out there as he can.

Clint Hill's family history includes ushering at cousin Kenneth Hill's 1948 wedding to Beulah McElwain, in Minot. The wedding party included, from left: Clint Hill, Royce Hill, Vim McElwain, Kenneth and Beulah (future parents of North Dakota Living Editor-in-Chief Dennis Hill), Norma Hill and Marian Kolbo.

Co-author Lisa McCubbin has been instrumental in helping Clint Hill end a long public silence about his actions during the assassination and years with the Kennedy family.

D. Hill: I recall being at Oben and Janice's farm shortly after the assassination for a family reunion. I remember us kids being sent over to the playground to get out of the way, so the adults could visit with you. I remember seeing you from afar with your black polo shirt, black pants and sunglasses on - dressed as the quintessential Secret Service agent. Do you remember?

C. Hill: You have that memory correct. I usually did wear all black — "the man in black" they called me. Yes, I did get back there after that particular event. I tried to go back to North Dakota at least once a year. It was very difficult at times, but we managed to get back there as often as possible. After I retired from the Secret Service, that's where I actually went to feel a sense of relief, to sort things out. The trouble was, I ended up "picking rock," but that put my mind in another spectrum. I didn't think about anything but picking those rocks.

D. Hill: I know the feeling. We did a lot of that on our farm. And, regarding your birth, in Larimore, and your birth mother: Are there family members remaining in North Dakota from your birth mother's side of the family?

C. Hill: My birth mother was Alma Peterson Paulson. She had had five children prior to my birth. All five of those children are deceased. She had one daughter about a year and a half after my birth, and I did meet that daughter. I found my birth mother in 1984, and she died that fall. She was almost 91. I located her in a nursing home in Northwood. She had had a number of strokes, and so she could not communicate with me. I did explain to her who I was. She did smile, but she was unable to react.

D. Hill: Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying that were it not for his time in North Dakota, he never would have become president. What role do you think your upbringing in North Dakota had on your successful career in the Secret Service?

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Moments before the presidential limousine turned onto Elm Street, and was fired upon in Dealey Plaza, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill (dark suit) and another agent, continued to follow close

-o behind, perched on vehicle running boards.

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C. Hill: I think it had a great deal to do with any success I've ever had. The

way I was brought up, we were taught certain things. One was that you're given responsibility to carry out the job that you're assigned to do, all the way, to the end result. Never shirk your duty. The sense of working hard and doing the job the best you can helped me a good deal throughout my life.

D. Hill: Let's talk about your career. In the book, "Mrs. Kennedy and Me," you describe feelings of disappointment when you learned you had been assigned to the first lady rather than the president. Please elaborate.

C. Hill: I had been assigned to the White House detail of President Eisenhower during the last three years of his administration. We'd been all over the world. I was down in Augusta, Ga., with President Eisenhower the day after the 1960 election, playing golf. I got the word there that I was to go back to Washington for a new assignment. After an intensive interview, they advised me I was going to be assigned to Mrs. Kennedy. I was very disappointed, because I had seen what life was like for the agents assigned to Mrs. Eisenhower, Mrs. Truman and other first ladies. It meant they were going to tea parties and fashion shows. It was going to be a very dull, boring life, and I didn't want any part of it. As it turned out, it was the best assignment anyone could have ever had, because she was so happy and we did so many different things.

D. Hill: Describe Mrs. Kennedy.

C. Hill: Most people saw Mrs. Kennedy as a Barbie

doll sitting on a pedestal. That's not who she was. She was really down-to-earth — a very elegant and classy lady, but she had a very bawdy sense of humor. She was a very dedicated, devoted mother. She wanted her two children, Caroline and John, to grow up as unspoiled as possible. I always said that was not possible since they were the children of a president. But she really tried in every way to make sure that they didn't become spoiled. She made sure that the agents who were around her didn't help the children get up if they fell down; if they had a problem like that, that was something they had to handle themselves. We wanted to keep them safe, but she asked us to allow them as much natural growth as children as possible. She was also an extremely devoted wife and very active and athletic. She loved to ride horses and was an excellent horsewoman. She loved to water-ski, loved to play golf, loved to play tennis, and walk. It kept me on my toes.

D. Hill: You got to know the Kennedys at this very personal level. What did it feel like to be part of the detail that protects the nation's first lady and the president?

C. Hill: It's all one detail that protects the first family. We broke it down to specifics as to people assigned to the first lady and the children and to the president. Then we worked together as a team. It's an enormous responsibility. My assignment to protect Mrs. Kennedy put me in the position of also taking care of the president's children. So I did have a great deal of interaction with the president, especially when we were out of the city. If Mrs. Kennedy wanted to do something, she'd have me clear it with the president's

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As gunfire was striking President Kennedy and Gov. Connally, Clint Hill sprinted ahead, leaped onto the limousine, shielding the mortally wounded president and the first lady, as it sped to a Dallas hospital.

office. I would call the president's secretary to explain the problem or

ask the question, and inevitably the president would pick up the phone and tell me what he wanted Mrs. Kennedy to do. So, I was the intermediary between the two of them when we were out of the city. In her case, she really wanted to be as private as possible, and that was sometimes very difficult to do.

D. Hill: Did you ever find yourself pinching yourself as if to say: "Oh my gosh, here's this kid from Washburn protecting Mrs. Kennedy and the president?"

C. Hill: Every day when I walked up to the door of the White House, it was like that. It was, "Boy, I'm at the White House." Who would have ever thought that coming out of that orphanage in Fargo, living in Washburn, I'd end up walking into the White House almost daily? It's just unbelievable.

D. Hill: The nation was mesmerized by the Kennedys. How would you describe the Kennedys and what they meant to America?

C. Hill: One of the reasons they were so idolized was that we came from a president who was in his 70s, to a new president who was 43, and Mrs. Kennedy was 31. They had children; one was just 3 and the other was just born when they took office. So, people around the country could really identify with them — that new, young family. President Kennedy was extremely friendly, a wonderful personality. He knew each and every agent by their first name. He knew if you were married or single. He knew if you had children and how many you had. And, if possible, he'd stop sometimes to talk, and

he'd want to know how things were going. Generally speaking, a president doesn't do that, but he did.

And when we would go overseas, Mrs. Kennedy would attract large crowds. The president would draw 50,000 people at an event. But, when she was with him, the crowd would be 100,000 — it would double. Wherever she went, she was a big draw. She was a definite diplomatic asset for the United States.

D. Hill: Mrs. Kennedy and the president suffered a huge personal loss with the death of their newborn infant son in the summer of 1963. Describe what they went through.

C. Hill: In early 1963, Mrs. Kennedy came to me and said, "Mr. Hill, I'm going to have to curtail my activities." So I immediately thought, "Boy, there's a problem." I said, "Is something wrong?" She said, "No, I'm pregnant." And she said: "We're going to have to spend most of the time this summer in Kennebunkport, because I don't want anything to happen." She had had a miscarriage and she had a stillborn child previously. So that's what we did.

When she went into labor in August 1963, we rushed her to Otis Air Force Base Hospital for an emergency C-section, and her little boy was born. They were absolutely elated over the birth of Patrick. But he had serious lung problems, and died two days later, on Aug. 9. That really hit Mrs. Kennedy and the president very, very hard. She became very depressed. The president did everything he could to try to boost her spirits. He brought Caroline and John to the hospital trying to boost her up, but it was a difficult time.

D. Hill: After recovering from this loss, she began 12 DECEMBER 2013 ■ NORTH DAKOTA LIVING www.ndarec.com

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A week after the death of President Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy returned to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the gravesite, accompanied, from left, by: White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, Agent Clint Hill, and Presidential Aides Jack McNall and Lawrence O'Brien. Inset: Last month, Clint Hill described his years with Mrs. Kennedy, at a Bismarck State College symposium on the Kennedy presidency

planning to accompany President Kennedy on upcoming key domestic trips. What did she say to you about this?

C. Hill: Mrs. Kennedy told me she thought she was going to help the president in his campaign stops that fall. That's when I found out that we were going on these presidential trips. She started to really get into that mood, where she got away from the depression she had been suffering, and was now looking forward to helping her husband with the presidential business.

She was a little apprehensive for a few days before we went to Dallas, because she was told there were some problems in Dallas — and felt maybe it's best she not go. She talked to me about it, and I told her based on intelligence data we had, there was no more of a problem in Dallas than there was anyplace else in the south. Certainly, President Kennedy was not real popular in that area, but there was no evidence and no indication that there was going to be a serious problem.

D. Hill: Of course, tragedy would revisit her and sweep the nation with President Kennedy's assassination. Describe your experience with Mrs. Kennedy during this sorrowful period.

C. Hill: After the assassination, she was obviously extremely depressed, but she held herself together very well. She was stoic. She wanted the people to realize what a loss they had suffered — not only she, but the nation and the world. Some of the private moments were especially difficult. We went up to see President Kennedy's father on Thanksgiving Day of 1963. That was very difficult for her to see Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife, Rose, for the first time since the assassination. And then we came back to the White House, and she had to move out by Dec. 6.

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Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin collaborations have resulted in three recent books on the Secret Service and Clint Hill's service during the Kennedy presidency. These include: "The Kennedy Detail," "Mrs. Kennedy And Me" and newly released "Five Days In November," all published by Simon & Schuster (www.SimonandSchustercorn).

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through the questions because I could tell that it was still very emotional for him, 47 years later. He had never really talked about it. You could see it was held closely by him.

At the end of our visit, I asked him for his phone number and permission to call with follow-up questions. So, each time I would call, he would open up a little bit more. After several months, he said, "All right, I'll just tell you the whole story" For about two hours, he was on the phone and he just told me a lot of the moments that are in "The Kennedy Detail," and a lot of the private moments that are in "Mrs. Kennedy and Me." Over this time, I could see him releasing this baggage that he had held for so long. It was important for him to talk about it, to get it out.

D. Hill: With the newly released "Five Days In November," you and Clint have created a fascinating pictorial and detailed narrative of Clint's experiences immediately before, during and after the assassination. Describe this book.

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She moved over to a house in Georgetown, loaned to her by Ambassador Harriman. Then she got involved in purchasing another home in Georgetown. Because of all the tourists, she had to give up on that idea and she decided to move to New York City. So, I went with her to New York, and she found a place to live there.

During this entire period, you could see her mental attitude improve. Emotionally, she was getting stronger. And during that time she became very determined to help establish a presidential library for President Kennedy and worked very hard to make sure it came to fruition.

I stayed with her for a year after the assassination. I left after the election in November 1964. I had taken her down to Atlantic City that fall where they held the Democratic National Convention. She went down there so she could express her appreciation to the members of the party, especially those loyal to her husband. All those things helped her in some way to recover from the emotional trauma of Nov. 22, 1963.

D. Hill: Clint, for many years, you said nothing publicly about President Kennedy's assassination, with the exception of a "60 Minutes" interview in 1975. Then, Lisa, at Jerry Blaine's suggestion, you met Clint, while writing "The Kennedy Detail." Describe what it was like initially working with Clint on this book.

McCubbin: Well, at first he didn't want to talk to me — kind of like with Mrs. Kennedy — he didn't want that assignment! But he reluctantly agreed to meet with me for two hours in Washington, D.C. I vividly remember the first thing he said to me was: "I don't talk to anybody about that day, ever." And, so, he let me know that this was a rare occasion.

I didn't know him at all, and I really walked lightly

McCubbin: Our editor at Simon & Schuster had this idea for a book with a lot of photos in which Clint narrated what was in each photo. It focuses on the five days around the assassination, starting on Nov. 21, 1963. Clint was with Mrs. Kennedy and the president from the moment they left the White House. Clint stayed with Mrs. Kennedy throughout, so the book goes through the day of the funeral, which was Nov. 25.

Those were pivotal days, not just for Clint, but for the nation. It was just one of those time periods when the world stopped, when this shocking thing had happened. Anybody who was over the age of 5 or 6 at that time remembers exactly where they were when they heard President Kennedy was assassinated. They remember that deep sense of loss and mourning. This book is meant to be a chronological true story of what really happened, from somebody who was right there in the middle of it.

D. Hill: Clint, you were just a few feet behind President Kennedy when he was shot. Now, in the epilogue of "Five Days In November," you matter-of-factly relate what you think happened in those moments. Can you summarize those observations?

C. Hill: Sure. There was a shot I heard from the rear of the motorcade. Turns out that there was a shooter who had secluded himself on the sixth floor of the Book Depository, and he was shooting at the motorcade with a rifle. He fired three shots. The first shot hit the president in the back, just below the neck on the right side of the spinal column, exiting through the front portion of his neck. This shot hit soft tissue and was survivable. The second shot — in my opinion and in the opinion of Mrs. Connelly and the Warren Commission — hit Governor Connelly. The third shot, of course, hit

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Clint Hill, right, and North Dakota Living Editor Dennis Hill, left, convened a little family reunion for the interview session, which also included Lisa McCubbin, middle.

the president in the head. The reason it hit him where it did was because of the way he was situated in the car. He was wearing a back brace. He couldn't go forward very much at all. So he fell to his left slightly, and his head turned toward Mrs. Kennedy. The third shot hit him right back there and it blew out a portion of the skull because of the way his head was turned.

A lot of people think, because of the way they see it in the Zapruder film, that the shot must have come from the front, but it didn't. It came from the rear, entered

the rear of the head and blew out the right rear portion of the skull.

They found the rifle up in the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Lee Harvey Oswald had hidden it near a stairway that he used to exit the sixth floor. They found that he had ordered the rifle from a mail order house in Chicago, using a phony name. There was no indication, to me, that anything else happened. Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots and assassinated the president. I have never seen anything that would indicate anything different.

D. Hill: Clint, you have made such an important contribution to our nation by sharing your story. On behalf of our readers, I want to thank you for doing that, for your courage that day in Dallas, and for the courage to talk about the Kennedy years for our North Dakota Living readers.

C. Hill: Well, thank you. I haven't lived in North Dakota since 1950, when I went away to college. But I'm still a North Dakotan at heart. ■

Note: Clint Hill retired as assistant director of the Secret Service in 1975. Lisa McCubbin is an author, journalist and former television news anchor. The books, "The Kennedy Detail," "Mrs. Kennedy And Me" and "Five Days In November," are available through major nationwide booksellers.

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