WEBVTT

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This is Later with Lee Matthews the
Lee Matthews Podcast More What You Hear Weekday

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Afternoon's on the Drive. Paul Anders
was a special agent and a witness to

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history back when the Kennedy assassination happened, and he is he was stationed in

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the car directly behind the President and
Dealey Plaza inside the trauma room and has

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decided to tell his story in a
new book, The Final Witness Kennedy Secret

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Service agent breaks his silence after sixty
years of service. It is good to

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have you along, Paul Landis,
thank you, good morning. How are

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you? It is good now.
We've had Clint Hill on a couple of

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times on our program that faithful day. Where were you in relation to Clint

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when that shot rang out? Well, Clint was on the front running board

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of half back Sikasoda's follow up car. I was like diagonally across behind him

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on the right rear running board.
And when you first heard the shot ring

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out, did you realize right away
what it was? Yes, I knew

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it was a high powered rifle or
the sound of a high powered rifle.

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I did a ben a hunter,
and I was familiar with firearms and the

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different sounds they make, so I
knew somebody was shooting. What was your

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first reaction, I was wondering,
Well, it was I heard the shot

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come over my right shoulder, and
it was I I happened to be I've

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been scanning the surrounding as I happened
to be looking right at the President's limo

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when that shot rang out, and
I saw now the President kind of leaning

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to his left and he was raising
his arms. I thought he was turning

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to see where the sound came from. I didn't realize he'd been hit at

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that point, and then it was
you know, you got six seconds to

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try to scan the entire area.
I was scanning or the second shot,

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and I didn't see any reaction and
the President's WIMO at that point. But

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very quickly after the second shot,
the third shot rang out and I saw

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the presidents had split open and just
think missed the blood and flesh and brain

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matter flew into the air. I
duck that I wouldn't get splattered, but

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it was over like just like that. We're talking to Paul Landis. He

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was one of the Secret Service agents
on the detail of the Kennedy assassination.

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The final witnesses his book, A
Kennedy Secret Service agent breaks his silence after

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sixty years and Paul right after that, did you jump on the President?

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Were you still with the vehicle when
it went over to Parkland Hospital? Uh?

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Yeah, I had climbed inside that
Actually I was pulled inside and to

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the rear of the vehicle. Clint
had meantime, he jumped up, he

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had raced to the president. Summa
managed to pull himself up to cover the

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first lady and the President. At
that time. I was in the in

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the back of the follow up car. As soon as we got to Parkland,

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I jumped out and raced around and
raced up to the lima and tried

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to help Missus Kennedy out. She
didn't want to leave. She was bending

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over the President's covering the President's head
at the time. Very peculiar thing also

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happened at Parkland Hospital that you were
involved in that never has come out until

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you wrote this book. Well,
I was in trauma room. I had

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taken the bullet that I found in
the President's limo that as soon as Missus

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Kennedy stood up, I saw it
on the back seat and I'm scanning around.

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I didn't see anybody. I didn't
see any agents. I was worried

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about a souvenir hunter or somebody grabbing
this. It was an important piece of

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evidence. So I picked it up, put it in my pocket, and

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as we got through the lobby of
the emergency room and got to trauma room,

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one was Missus Kennedy was right behind
the gurney and I was stepped behind

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her to keep her from being pushed, and it was pretty chaotic at the

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time and stressful. I just got
shoved really into the trauma room and I

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was pushed up against the examination table
where they had placed President Kennedy's body,

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and I was standing right there,
and I just made a snap decision that

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this important piece of evidence needed to
be left with the president. They would

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find it during autopsy and that would
help them in some way. Little did

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anybody know that would later become kind
of the magic bullet theory. I also

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am an enthusiast when it comes to
firearms, and one of the contentions I

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have always argued against was that nobody
could have got off that many shots that

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quickly, that accurately. I'm here
to tell you that from what I saw

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of Dealey Plaza. Any marine worth
his salt would have been able to do

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that. What do you think that's
for the experts. I have no ideas

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really there. All my intention with
the book was to simply tell people what

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I saw and what I did,
and all the other theories and everything.

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I'm really not qualified to make a
statement there. Special Agent Paul Landis is

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with us. His new book is
about his experience as at Daly Plaza.

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The final witness Kennedy Secret Service agent
breaks as silent after sixty years later,

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you were witnessed to the swearing in
of Lyndon Johnson. What was the mood

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on the plane at that point?
Very very somber. I was when we

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got on the plane, I didn't
even want to see him being I reached

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Air Force one. I immediately sat
down and broke down, started crying.

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SAI See Kellerman came and shook me
by the shoulder and said, come on,

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Paul, did a witness history?
And I just said, no,

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no, I've seen enough history already. But he I went back and it

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was very somber. I did see
the president or Vice President Johnson being sworn

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in, and I went back to
my seat and tried the rest of the

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way back to Washington. He writes
all about it. In the final Witness

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of Kennedy, secret Service agent breaks
his silence after sixty years, Special Agent

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Paul landis, thank you for joining
us and thanks for this memoir. We

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will enjoy reading it. Thank you
very much. I enjoyed talking to you.

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Thanks for listening to Later with Lee
Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast,

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and remember to listen to The Drive
Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and Iheartsmedia presentation