Mr. O'BRIEN. Mr. O'Donnell and I went to the rear compartment where we
joined Mr. Powers and General McHugh. Mrs. Kennedy was seated in one
of the two chairs. Mr. O'Donnell took the other chair. The three of us
stood. The plane took off. And we remained with Mrs. Kennedy for the
duration of the trip to Washington.
We consulted, or were consulted by General Clifton and Mr. Moyers
on two or three occasions during the trip, on arrangements for the
President's activity upon arrival here in Washington. One suggestion
was made that we--that they call in for a meeting of the White
House staff. But that was discarded as impractical at this point.
Arrangements were made, however, which Mr. Moyers checked with me, on
the calling of the bipartisan leaders to a meeting with the President,
and arrangements were put in effect for the President to meet the Under
Secretary of State in the absence of the Secretary and other officials
here.
Mr. ADAMS. How did it come about that the remains of President Kennedy
were taken to the naval hospital?
Mr. O'BRIEN. It was my understanding that the President would be taken
to a hospital. I don't recall any discussion of the reason specifically
other than my assumption that the autopsy would take place at one of
the military hospitals in Washington. And obviously there were two to
select from, and the President being an ex-Navy man, it seemed just
sort of normal to suggest Bethesda.
Mr. ADAMS. And you remained with Mrs. Kennedy during the entire trip?
Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes; I did.
Mr. ADAMS. What was her condition?
Mr. O'BRIEN. She conversed a great deal with us. The one impression
left with me from the entire trip and conversations with Mrs. Kennedy
during the trip, participated in by all of us, was her great concern
for us, really--her feeling that we had, as she put it, been with him
at the beginning and we were with him at the end. We were all bereft.
And I am afraid that the four of us who felt that we should be of some
comfort to her were inadequate to the job in the sense that it was
difficult for us to come up with anything that made much sense by way
of being helpful.
Mr. ADAMS. Do you remember any other general subjects of discussion as
you made the trip up?
Mr. O'BRIEN. No; I do not.
Mr. ADAMS. What happened when you arrived?
Mr. O'BRIEN. A lift was placed at the rear door of the plane. The
honor guard came up the front steps, through the plane, to the back
compartment. We concluded that we would take the body off the plane.
Mr. ADAMS. You say "we." You mean Mr. Powers, Mr. O'Donnell, and
yourself?
Mr. O'BRIEN. General McHugh. And so we proceeded to do just that. We
took the--lifted the coffin, with the help of the crew people, and
placed it on the lift, and it was taken from there.
We--the three of us--four of us--McHugh was with us--got into a car.
The Attorney General and Mrs. Kennedy went into the ambulance, if that
is what it was. And we followed in a car directly behind that, went out
to Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Mr. ADAMS. What did you do when you arrived there?
Mr. O'BRIEN. We went immediately to an upper floor of the hospital,
where we joined members of the President's family. General McHugh went
elsewhere. And we then spent several hours in these rooms on, I don't
know what floor of the hospital.
Mr. ADAMS. When you referred to the President's family, what particular
members were there?
Mr. O'BRIEN. Well, Mrs. Stephen Smith was there.
Mr. ADAMS. Mrs. Attorney General Kennedy?
Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes. I don't recall all the members of the family. The
Attorney General--and there were--there was an occasional person that
came and went during the night But that was basically the group.
We had coffee and received reports from time to time from General
McHugh as to the length of time it would take for the trip from
Bethesda to the White House. And the hours went on and on, until the
early hours of the morning--perhaps 4 a.m.
Mr. ADAMS. And then what did you do?
Mr. O'BRIEN. We came to the White House, at which point several members
of the White House staff, Mr. Shriver, were awaiting the arrival of the
President. He was placed in the East Room. A brief prayer was given,
and that terminated the evening.
Mr. ADAMS. I would like to ask you to go back again and give me
your recollections of the President's views about the nature of the
protection that should be afforded him, or what his attitude was
towards security.
Mr. O'BRIEN. I cannot recall any specific conversation I had with the
President in this area. All I can say is that the President at all
times was most interested in close contact with his fellow Americans,
and in that sense he was quick to move to a fence that separated him
from the people, he was quick to move towards people. He certainly
moved quite freely. But I do not recall ever having a conversation or
being present during the course of a conversation when the specific
protective measures were discussed or what his views were relative to
them.
Mr. ADAMS. Other than what you have said here, do you have any
knowledge at all about the person who did the shooting, whoever it
might be?
Mr. O'BRIEN. None whatsoever.
Mr. ADAMS. Do you have any other thing I have not covered that you
would like to put in this record?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I don't believe so. I believe that to the best of my
recollection I have tried to carefully review all aspects of the
matter, from departure from the lawn of the White House to arrival back
at the White House. And I cannot call anything to mind now that I might
have overlooked.
Mr. ADAMS. Now, finally, it is a custom in this Commission to make
transcripts available to the witnesses if they want to read them before
signing them, or if you would like you can waive that. That is entirely
up to you.
Mr. O'BRIEN. I would like to have the transcript.
Mr. ADAMS. Then we will send it along in the next few days, and when
you have an opportunity to consider it, if you will just send it back
to the Commission we would appreciate it.
Mr. O'BRIEN. I certainly will.
Mr. ADAMS. That closes this deposition.