NOVEMBER 22, 1963 (Friday) 12:00 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Nine Secret Service agents drinking at Pat Kirkwood’s bar the “Cellar Door” in Fort Worth, Texas. Several of the women serving liquor to the agents are also strippers from Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club in Dallas. (Pat Kirkwood is a li- censed pilot and owns a twin-engine plane. He will fly to Mexico hours after JFK’s assassination.) Bob Schieffer, night police reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram remembers “... the waitresses wore underwear. That was their business attire, as it were, and people sat around on cushions on the floor.” The Carousel Club in Dallas sits across the street from the Hotel Adolphus at 13121⁄2 Commerce St., upstairs from a delicates- sen. The outdoor walls are covered with provocative photos of scantily clad burlesque dancers, offering a glimpse of what can be viewed inside for a $2 cover charge. In Madrid, Spain today - the CIA reports hearing from a Cuban journalist who claims to have received a letter stating that GPIDEAL [President Kennedy] will be killed today. On this date, Aristotle Onassis is in Germany for the christening of his newest ship “The Olympic Chivalry.” On this date, Clay Shaw is in San Francisco. Note on Clay Shaw: It is now known that Clay Shaw, eventually charged by New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison in the JFK murder, has a relationship with the CIA. Besides being a contact of the CIA’s Domestic Contact Division, a 1967 memo released in 1992 notes that Shaw has been granted a covert security approval in December 1962 for “Project QKENCHANT.” Another person approved for this same project is E. Howard Hunt, of Watergate fame. Gerry Patrick Hemming is reportedly in Miami. E. Howard Hunt is reportedly in Dallas. Jack Ruby meets Richard Meyers, of Brooklyn, NY for five minutes at the Cabana Motel in Dallas. H&L In today’s issue of Life magazine, Clint Murchison’s lawyers, Bedford Wynne and Thomas Webb, are named as members of the “Bobby Baker Set.” Wynne is under federal investigation regarding government funds he is receiving through a Murchison family corporation, some of which have ended up as payoffs (via Thomas Webb) to the law firm of Bobby Baker. [Baker is LBJ’s right hand man. Murchison’s empire overlaps with that of Mafia financial expert Meyer Lansky and Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa.] HT 12:30 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Marina Oswald notices that her husband, LHO, is still awake. 12:50 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) JFK arrives at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. 2:00 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Seven Secret Service agents are still drinking at “The Cellar.” 2:15 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Mary Lawrence, head waitress at the Lucas B&B Restaurant - two doors down from the Vegas Club, says she is positive that LHO enters the restaurant and tells her and the night cashier that he is waiting for Jack Ruby. When Ruby enters the restaurant, the two men sit together and talk for over a half an hour and then leave. A week and a half after the assassination, Mary will receive a phone call from an unknown man who says, “If you don’t want to die, you better get out of town.” H&L 3:30 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) The Secret Service men at “The Cellar” are joking about how several firemen are the only ones left guarding the President at the Hotel Texas, in Fort Worth. 5:00 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) One Secret Service agent is still drinking at “The Cellar.” ALL AGENTS HAVE TO REPORT FOR DUTY AT 8:00 AM ON THE MORNING OF THE 22ND -- three hours from now. Bob Schieffer remembers: “While there, we were joined by some Secret Service agents from Kennedy’s detail. They were off-duty, but they wanted to go. They weren’t drinking. But we man- aged to see the dawn come up and see the sun rise in Fort Worth before we left the place.” PKHBS Lee Harvey Oswald has been awake most of the night, not able to sleep, finally dozing off about this time. Marina avoided him last night - soaking in a bath for an hour before coming to bed. 6:15 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Mrs. Marie Tippit has made breakfast for her husband, Dallas Police officer JD Tippit, who routinely leaves the house no later than 6:15 a.m. each day. She, too, has a hectic schedule. To make extra money, she is baby-sitting a boy during the day and other children during the evening. The Tippits have three children of their own: Charles Allan, born in 1950; Brenda, born in 1953; and Curtis, born in 1958. Officer Tippit is no stranger to tough situations while on duty. Once, a suspect’s gun failed to fire. He has also been stabbed in the knee with a knife. His wife loved the therapy recommended by the doctor – dancing. So the couple has made regular visits to a Dallas dance club, where they have lovingly embraced while dancing to Bob Wills’ “Faded Love.” 6:40 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Marina Oswald awakens to feed her baby, Rachel, and checks on her other child, June. TDKWS 7:00 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) In Dallas, seventeen men line up before Deputy Chief W. W. Stevenson. The patrolmen are told that their function will be to “seal” the Trade Mart in preparation for JFK’s visit. Two thousand, five hundred people are expected to attend this event which is scheduled for 12:30 PM. TDKWS J.D. Tippit reports for duty. According to one source, Tippit’s wife - Marie - visits a neighbor later this morning in tears be- cause “on that morning Officer Tippit has told her he wanted a divorce to marry someone else.” Conspiracy Some researchers have pointed out the fact that J. D. Tippit closely resembles JFK - so much so that some members of the Dal- las Police force often jokingly call Tippit “Jack” and “JFK.” This similarity has led some reserchers to advance the theory that it is Tippit’s body in the autopsy photographs proporting to show the body of JFK. Additionally, Tippit’s head wounds and JFK’s head wounds are in almost identical locations - again leading some researchers to advance the theory that X-rays of Tippit’s skull were later substituted for JFK’s. It will also be noted that Tippit’s body is taken from the murder scene before the arrival of police and is subsequently taken to two hospitals. This morning, Sergeant Robert Vinson, takes a bus to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, planning to hitch a ride home on the first available flight going to Colorado Springs or its vicinty. He is eventually told that he can leave on a C-54 which is set to depart for Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. Vinson boards the plane, which he finds empty, and waits. The plane is unlike all the other planes Vinson has hitched a ride on. This C-54 bears no military markings or serial numbers. Its only identification is on its tail - a rust-brown graphic of an egg-shaped earthy, crossed by white grid marks. After a few minutes, two men board the plane and walk past Vinson without saying a word. The men enter the cockpit and close the door. The engines rev up and the plane takes off. Two Secret Service agents are at Fort Worth Police Headquarters examining two limousines which have been rented for the Kennedys and the Secret Service to use during the four-mile drive from the Hotel Texas to Carswell Air Force Base. TDKWS JFK’s valet, George Thomas, awakens the President - who is asleep in Suite 850 of the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth. TDKWS 7:08 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry appears on local television and announces that the President will be in Dallas today and that Dallas wants no incidents. Curry concludes by asking all good citizens to please report to the Dallas Police Department anyone who has voiced violent opinions against the President or who has boasted, publicly or privately, of plans to demon- strate today. TDKWS 7:10 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Lee Harvey Oswald is still asleep ten minutes after his alarm goes off. Marina wakes him. He rushes to dress in order to leave for work at this time. He tells his wife that she should buy new shoes for baby June. TDKWS While showering this morning, JFK takes off his Saint Jude and Saint Christopher Medals and leaves them hanging on the shower head. When later “sweeping” the room, Secret Service agent Ron Pontius finds the medals and puts them in his pocket, with intentions of returning them to JFK after the Dallas motorcade. Pontius eventually gives the medals to Marty Underwood who, at last report, still retains them. As JFK dresses this morning in Fort Worth, Texas, he dons his underwear and a surgical corset. He laces it tightly, then pulls a long elastic bandage over his feet and twists it so that it forms a figure eight. He then slips it up over both legs. Finally, it is adjusted over his hips where it supports the bottom of his torso, while the back brace holds the lower spine rigid. TDKWS The Warren Commission notes that JFK’s back brace is six inches wide and only waist high, no higher than the navel. BT 7:15 AM (Nov. 22, 1963) Lee Harvey Oswald leaves his home to go to work at The Texas Book Depository Building.