The testimony of Gerald Lynn Hill was taken at 4:15 p.m., on April 8,
1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. David W. Belin, assistant
counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. BELIN. Sergeant, would you stand and raise your right hand, please.
Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. HILL. I do.
Mr. BELIN. All right. Sergeant, could you please state your name.
Mr. HILL. Gerald Lynn Hill.
Mr. BELIN. What is your occupation?
Mr. HILL. Sergeant in the Dallas Police Department.
Mr. BELIN. How long have you been with the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. HILL. Since March 7, 1955.
Mr. BELIN. How old are you, Sergeant Hill?
Mr. HILL. Thirty-four.
Mr. BELIN. Where were you born?
Mr. HILL. Ferris, Tex.
Mr. BELIN. Did you go to school there?
Mr. HILL. No, sir; I went to school in Dallas.
Mr. BELIN. How far did you get through school?
Mr. HILL. Went through high school.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do when you got out of high school?
Mr. HILL. Went to work for the Dallas Times Herald. Worked there from
January of 1948 until April of 1954.
At the time I resigned there, I was radio-television editor for the
paper.
Went from there to the Dallas Bureau of WBAP-TV in Fort Worth, and
worked for them until March the 21st, 1958.
The last 2 weeks I was working for them, I was attending the police
academy for the police department.
Mr. BELIN. Then you went in the police department?
Mr. HILL. I went with the police prior to quitting. I turned in my
notice with WBAP and they let me work it out while I attended the
police school, because I was actually hired on a Saturday, and the
police school started on Monday, and I wanted to leave on good terms
with one place and start to school on time with the other, so they
worked out an agreement with me.
Mr. BELIN. Were you on duty on November 22, 1963?
Mr. HILL. Yes, sir; I was.
Mr. BELIN. Where were you on duty?
Mr. HILL. I was on special assignment, detached from the police patrol
division, and assigned to the police personnel office investigating
applicants for the police department.
Mr. BELIN. Where was this?
Mr. HILL. On that particular day, I was at the city hall in the
personnel office, and did not have an assignment of any kind pertaining
to the President's trip or any other function other than the
investigation of police applicants.
Mr. BELIN. When did you leave the city hall?
Mr. HILL. The President had passed the corner of Commerce or--excuse
me, Main and Harwood, turned off Harwood onto Main, and proceeded west
on Main.
I had watched it from the personnel office window, which is on the
third floor of the police and courts building, and Capt. W. R.
Westbrook, who was my commander, had apparently been on the streets
watching the parade, and he came back in and we were discussing some
facts about how fast it passed and the police unit in it, and we had
seen the chief's car in it, and how Mrs. Kennedy was dressed, and we
were sitting in the office when a lady by the name of Kemmey, I believe
is the way she spelled it, came in and said that the President had been
shot at Main and Lamar.
Our first reaction was one of disbelief, but a minute later--she just
made the statement and walked out--and a minute later Captain Westbrook
said, "She wasn't kidding."