nevitably, the conversation drifts
back to 1963 and the tragedy that staggered the
world - and put Rufus Youngblood's name in a
hundred reporters' notebooks.Up until the time the presidential motorcade turned onto Elm Street, "it looked like just another very successful political trip," Youngblood remembers. "They wanted crowds, and they got crowds."
As the procession crawled into Dealey Plaza, Youngblood glanced up at the clock on the roof of the Texas School Book Depository. It flashed 12:30. Less than a minute to the freeway, and only five minutes to the Trade Mart, he thought. That instant, piercing through the shouts of the thinning crowd, and the stuttering and backfiring of police motorcycles, Youngblood heard the shattering crack! of a rifle. His reaction was immediate and instinctive.
"Get down!" he yelled. "GET DOWN!" And in
the time it takes to pull the bolt of a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, Youngblood had vaulted over the back
of the limousine seat onto Vice President Johnson,
pushing him to the floor of the Lincoln convertible
and shielding Johnson's body with his own.
- Spring 1992