The testimony of James Thomas Tague was taken at 3:15 p.m., on July 23,
1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you rise and raise your right hand? Do you solemnly
swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. TAGUE. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. My name is Wesley J. Liebeler. I am an attorney on the
staff of the President's Commission investigating the assassination of
President Kennedy.
I have been authorized to take your testimony by the Commission
pursuant to authority granted to it by Executive Order 11130 dated
November 20, 1963, and joint resolution of Congress No. 137.
Under the Commission's rules of procedure, you are entitled to have
an attorney present, and you are entitled to 3 days, notice of the
hearing, and you are entitled to the usual privileges so far as not
answering questions are concerned.
Since you are here without an attorney, I presume that you are prepared
to go ahead without the presence of counsel?
Mr. TAGUE. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you state your name for the record?
Mr. TAGUE. James Thomas Tague.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your address?
Mr. TAGUE. My address is 700 West Euless in Euless, Tex.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your employment?
Mr. TAGUE. I am a salesman for Cedar Springs Dodge.
Mr. LIEBELER. Here in Dallas?
Mr. TAGUE. Dallas; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. When were you born?
Mr. TAGUE. October 17, 1936.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is my understanding that you were in the vicinity
of the Texas School Book Depository Building at the time of the
assassination, is that correct?
Mr. TAGUE. That's correct; yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you tell us how you happened to be there and what
you saw, and what happened.
Mr. TAGUE. I was going downtown to pick up my wife--she was my girl
that I was going with at the time--to take her to lunch, and I
accidentally came upon the motorcade.
I was not planning to watch the parade or anything. There were several
cars stopped in front of me, and I stopped there myself under the
triple underpass and got out and was standing there just, oh, about a
minute before the President's car came by.
Mr. LIEBELER. Where was your car actually located?
Mr. TAGUE. The nose of the car was sticking out from underneath the
triple underpass.
Mr. LIEBELER. What street were you on?
Mr. TAGUE. What is the farthest street to the south?
Mr. LIEBELER. Commerce Street?
Mr. TAGUE. Commerce; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Commerce Street is one-way going east?
Mr. TAGUE. Right; that's correct.
Mr. LIEBELER. So they stopped all traffic on Commerce Street?
Mr. TAGUE. Cars in the left lane were stopping, the ones next to the
curb, and several cars had stopped in front of me, and I stopped. The
car was just halfway out from underneath the underpass, and I got out
of my car and stood by the bridge abutment.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you were just out from under the triple underpass so
that you could see the President's car and the motorcade coming on down
Elm Street, is that correct?
Mr. TAGUE. That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the motorcade come down Elm Street?
Mr. TAGUE. Yes; I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Go ahead and tell us what you saw.
Mr. TAGUE. Well, I was standing there watching, and really I was
watching to try to distinguish the President and his car. About this
time I heard what sounded like a firecracker. Well, a very loud
firecracker. It certainly didn't sound like a rifleshot. It was more
of a loud cannon-type sound. I looked around to see who was throwing
firecrackers or what was going on and I turned my head away from the
motorcade and, of course, two more shots.
And I ducked behind the post when I realized somebody was shooting
after the third shot. After the third shot, I ducked behind the bridge
abutment and was there for a second, and I glanced out and just as I
looked out, the car following the President's car, the one with the
Secret Service men, was just flying past at that time.
Mr. LIEBELER. Going on Elm Street under the triple underpass?
Mr. TAGUE. Right. Going on Elm. So I stood there looking around. I
looked up--there was a motorcycle policeman, and he stopped and had
drawn his gun and was running up the embankment toward the railroad
tracks. A crowd of people; several people, were starting to come down
into that area where he was running, and the people pointing, and
excitement up there and so on, and about that time a patrolman who
evidently had been stationed under the triple underpass walked up and
said, "What happened?" and I said, "I don't know; something."
And we walked up to the--by this time the motorcycle policeman returned
back close to where his motorcycle was, and we walked up there and
there was a man standing there. Seeing that he was very excited--I
don't remember his name--at the time I did have it on the tip of my
tongue--very excited saying he was watching the President and it seemed
like his head just exploded. This was a couple or 3 minutes after this
happened. And the patrolman said, "Well, I saw something fly off back
on the street."
We walked back down there, and another man joined us who identified
himself as the deputy sheriff, who was in civilian clothes, and I
guess this was 3 or 4 minutes after. I don't know how to gage time on
something like that.
And I says, "Well, you know now, I recall something sting me on the
face while I was standing down there."