FORMER AGENT DAN EMMETT RESPONDS

[Editor's Note: Former Agent Dan Emmett's comments are so well written that I had to make them their own blog- I didn't want them to exist merely as only a blog comment. Dan's words provide a virtual and much needed slap in the face some of us need from time to time- in our zeal to criticize Blaine's book, perhaps some of us go too far in bringing Hill into the matter. I added the picture of Dan's forthcoming book, as well- VMP]

To Whom It May Concern,
Over the past few months I have read many criticisms of Mr. Hill and have become quite tired of it. I would invite his detractors to read my below comments.
Clint Hill did the best he could on that day in Dallas under difficult and probably impossible circumstances. I doubt if there was a man living on 22 November 1963 who could have responded to the shooting any faster than did Agent Hill.
People who continually criticize Mr. Hill because he was not fast enough to get his own head blown off saving the president, which he would have gladly done, should carefully read “The Man in The Arena” by President Theodore Roosevelt. They should then ask themselves the question; are they as Clint Hill was in Dallas, the man in the arena, or are they the timid soul that criticizes the actions of others while themselves knowing neither victory nor defeat. I suspect they are the timid souls.
Agent Clint Hill, United States Secret Service, Presidential Protective Division lost that day as did the entire Secret Service, but he was there in the arena doing his best. He was there moving under fire trying to save the president and first lady. He was there. Where were the timid souls on that day who now feel the need to continue berating a man such as Clint Hill? Many were yet to be born.
As far as a man having nightmares of a presidents head exploding mere feet in front of him, then covering that mass of brain matter and gore with his body while awaiting the next rifle bullet to slam into his own head, I would certainly expect Mr. Hill to have those dreams and do not consider it whining.
BTW, Buckner was a baseball player, not a Secret Service agent. Baseball is a game where if you lose, or if a ball goes through your legs there is always the next game. For Secret Service agents, protecting the president unlike baseball is no children’s game played by adults. It is a life and death profession where if one loses, there is no next game.
Dan Emmett
Author: “Within Arms Length”
Special Agent, United States Secret Service (Retired.)
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