Mr. JACKSON. And they came and saw me in the office, I believe on
Saturday.
Representative FORD. How did they happen to contact you? Had you made a
statement publicly before?
Mr. JACKSON. Our newspaper ran an article by me or I got a byline on it
stating this in general which I have stated today.
Representative FORD. Following this initial contact have you made
subsequent statements to various organizations or any organization?
Mr. JACKSON. I made statements to the Secret Service also. Other than
that there was none other.
Representative FORD. How good are your eyes, do you wear glasses?
Mr. JACKSON. No, sir.
Representative FORD. Have you had an eye examination recently or when
was the last examination?
Mr. JACKSON. I had a physical when I reenlisted in the National Guard,
let's see, that was, I believe, about a year and a half ago, I had that
physical and I had 20-20 vision.
Representative FORD. 20-20 vision?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. You just indicated you were in the Texas National
Guard?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. How long have you been in the Texas National Guard?
Mr. JACKSON. I joined in October 1958.
Representative FORD. And you have been in continuously since?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. So you are familiar with guns in general?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. So you would readily identify, if you saw it, a
rifle?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. Did any others in the automobile in which you were
riding recollect as far as you know, hearing you say "There is the gun."
Mr. JACKSON. I don't know whether they would remember it or not.
Representative FORD. Have you ever talked with any others in the car?
Mr. JACKSON. I have never sat down and talked with them about the
events, no, sir. I have seen them, of course, several times but I have
never discussed it with them.
Representative FORD. You never discussed what you said or what they
said?
Mr. JACKSON. No, sir. I guess the one man I have discussed it more
with than anybody else was Tom Dillard, the chief photographer for the
Dallas News, and we recalled to each other the scene but we really
never went into any detail or as to what each one of us said either.
Representative FORD. At the time you were in the car, after it had
turned from Main onto Houston, was there any noise from the crowd on
either side of the street, Houston Street?
Mr. JACKSON. There was very little crowd on Houston, as I recall. On
Houston itself. The crowd--I mean as compared to Main Street, to the
other end of town and down through Main. The crowd thinned out as we
got down near the intersection of Main and Houston, and there were a
lot less people but I couldn't make an estimate of how many.
Representative FORD. There was no noise from the crowd at that point?
Mr. JACKSON. No, sir; no noise, I would say.
Representative FORD. At the time you heard the first shot, what was
your position in the car? Were you standing or sitting?
Mr. JACKSON. I was sitting on the back of the seat, on the right-hand
side of the back seat, sitting up.
Representative FORD. Did you have your camera in your hand?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes; I had one camera around my neck and the camera I
had just emptied, it was in my lap. I had thrown my film out to this
reporter over the side of the car as we rounded the corner and I still
had the camera lying in my lap, and the other one was around my neck.
Representative FORD. Was this the position you were in at the time you
heard the first shot?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. After the third shot and as the car hesitated,
did you see any law enforcement officials move in any concentrated or
concerted direction?
Mr. JACKSON. I saw at least one, there may have been more, run up the
School Depository steps, toward the door. That is one of the things I
saw in this confusion.
Representative FORD. This was separate from the policeman on the
motorcycle?
Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir. Yes. I should have said that a while ago. There
was a policeman who moved toward the door of the Depository. But to my
best knowledge there was no concentrated movement toward any one spot.
It looked like general confusion to me, and of course, I stayed in the
car. As we did turn the corner our driver speeded up and we went by the
scene pretty fast and I do recall this Negro family covering up their
child on the grass, and I, as we passed them, they were just getting up
and he had the child in his arms and the child looked limp and I didn't
know whether the child was shot or not. But then we were moving fast
and went on under the underpass.
Representative FORD. That is all, Mr. Chairman.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Wright, do you have any questions?
Mr. WRIGHT. No, Mr. Chief Justice, I passed a question on.
Mr. SPECTER. I have just one additional question, and that is whether
Mr. Jackson had any occasion to see anybody leave the scene of the
Texas School Book Depository Building?
Mr. JACKSON. No, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. That is all, Your Honor.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Jackson, thank you very much for coming.
Mr. JACKSON. Thank you.
The CHAIRMAN. We appreciate it.
Who is next?
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Rowland.
The CHAIRMAN. Would you raise your right hand and be sworn, please.
Do you solemnly swear the testimony given before this Commission will
be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you
God?
Mr. ROWLAND. Yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Specter will conduct the examination.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you state your full name for the record, please, but
before you do, Mr. Chief Justice, is it your practice to read that
statement to the witness?
The CHAIRMAN. Yes. I will read a short statement to you for the purpose
of the hearing.
The purpose of today's hearing is to hear the testimony of Arnold Louis
Rowland, Amos Lee Euins, James Richard Worrell, and Robert H. Jackson,
who were in the vicinity of the assassination scene on November
22, 1963. The Commission proposes to ask these witnesses for facts
concerning their knowledge of the assassination of President Kennedy.
A copy of that statement was furnished to you, was it not?
Mr. ROWLAND. No.
The CHAIRMAN. You didn't see it. You have one before you. Very well.