He protected Jackie Kennedy during the assassination of JFK. His reward was grief

Surviving witnesses of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 61 years ago today in Dallas, Texas, become fewer by the day. But one witness — maybe the most important — is very much alive.

While they might not know the name Clint Hill, many certainly remember the image of Hill jumping on the back of the presidential car and pushing first lady Jackie Kennedy back into the automobile. Agent Hill’s responsibility during the entire Kennedy presidency was to protect Jackie. It was the reason he was in Dallas during the Texas triangle trip.

Set to take the president through San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas, that trip basically signaled the beginning of the 1964 presidential election, as JFK believed he needed to visit Texas to shore up his support for the following year. Clear weather before the Dallas portion meant the president would be in an open motorcade.

As the President approached Downtown, the crowds swelled. People were in the street, hanging out on fire escapes, and windows which meant Hill would be in the car during this period. By the time the motorcade approached Dealey Plaza, the crowds had thinned a lot as the area was near the entrance to the Stemmons freeway (now I-35E.)

It was at this time that a sound like a firecracker pierced the plaza. Seeing that the President was injured, Agent Hill jumped into action. Just as Hill climbed onto the back of the car, another shot, as he described it, sounded like “something hard hitting something hollow."

Hill pushed Jackie back into the car, and when he got her back into the car it became horrifically obvious why she was on the trunk of the car.

“A large portion of his head was missing,” Hill stated in interviews.

At that point, Hill was shouting for the driver to head to Parkland Hospital. When the car rushed to get to Parkland, agents wanted to know the President's condition. Hill simply gave a thumbs-down signal, indicating how grave the situation was.

Jackie refused to have anyone remove the President from the car. It dawned on Hill that she did not want anyone to see how bad her husband’s condition was, so Hill wrapped him up in his jacket and was able to proceed into the emergency room.

Just 30 minutes later the President was dead, and the country changed forever.

Hill would stay with Jackie until 1964. He was later assigned to Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford.

The haunting images were a heavy burden on Hill, who suffered from posttraumatic stress. He ended up failing his annual physical in 1975, which caused his retirement at the age of 43.

An interview might have changed his life, as Hill realized that talking about the tragedy — and his guilt — would be the therapy he needed and has now written several very good books.

On the anniversary of that dark day, I can say that Hill was a hero and acted quickly when others didn’t. Because of his quick actions, an already horrific event was not made even worse.

Tom Babbage of Casa Grande, Arizona is an avid collector of presidential history. He grew up in Marion and was a student in the Linn-Mar Community School District.