Incredible Audio: Secret Service Releases Tape of Reagan Assassination Attempt
- Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:54am by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Secret Service audiotape 30 years old sheds light on the chaotic aftermath of Ronald Reagan‘s shooting when neither the president nor his guardians realized he’d been shot, and an agent’s snap decision to get him to a hospital might have saved his life.
You can listen to the audio here.
“Let’s hustle,” agent Jerry Parr is heard barking as Reagan’s limousine suddenly changed course, the sight of the president’s blood signaling there was more wrong with him than a bruised rib or two, as everyone thought right after the March 30, 1981, attack. The car, which had been spiriting Reagan back to the security of the White House after the spray of gunfire, sped to George Washington University Hospital instead. Reagan lost about half his blood and came closer to death that day than Americans realized for years later.
The Secret Service released the tape Friday in response to a public-records request from Del Wilber, a Washington Post reporter whose book, “Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan,” comes out next week.
Just over 10 minutes, the tape captures the urgent, confused yet coolly methodical radio communications among agents on the scene and the Secret Service command post, starting when the president and his entourage walked out of the Washington Hilton while John Hinckley Jr., with a pistol, stood waiting.
Hinckley opened fire, wounding press secretary James Brady in the head, police officer Thomas Delahanty in the back and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy in the abdomen before his last bullet ricocheted off the limousine, grazing Reagan’s rib and lodging in his lung. As has been known, Reagan and his protectors at first thought he’d merely hurt his ribs from being shoved into the vehicle by Parr.
At 2:27 p.m., 19 seconds into the tape, agent Ray Shaddick radios: “Advise, we’ve had shots fired. Shots fired. There are some injuries, uh, lay one on.”
Sixteen seconds later, Parr radios assurance about a president whose Secret Service code name was drawn from the Westerns he loved: “Rawhide is OK. Follow-up. Rawhide is OK.”
“You wanna go to the hospital or back to the White House?” Shaddick asks.
“We’re going right. we’re going to Crown,” Parr says, using a code word for the White House.
“Back to the White House,” Shaddick repeats. “Rawhide is OK.”
Twenty-four seconds later, a voice asserts again: “Rawhide’s alright.”
But 25 seconds after that, the plan abruptly changes: “We want to go to the emergency room of George Washington.”
Nowhere in the tape does anyone state that the president is hurt.
Inside the car, however, as participants have told it, Reagan was worsening. Parr had quickly checked Reagan as they sped away and finding nothing terribly amiss, preferred the safety and medical facilities of the White House to an unsecured hospital. And when Reagan found blood in his mouth, the president told his men he must have cut his lip. But Reagan was becoming more ashen, complained of trouble breathing and the bleeding did not appear to be from a mere cut. Parr ordered the diversion to the hospital.
“Go to George Washington fast,” agent Drew Unrue is heard saying, at 01:57 minutes into the tape.
“Get an ambulance,” Parr tells the command post, known as Horsepower. “I mean get the, um, stretcher out there.” He wants the hospital to be ready to wheel the president in.
“We’ve made the call,” Horsepower replies.
“Let’s hustle,” Parr says.
Sirens are heard, and a voice confirms that authorities have captured a suspect. Hinckley was piled on and arrested at the scene.
Less than four minutes after Reagan left the Hilton, the car carrying the stricken president arrives at the hospital. Moments later, “Rainbow” – Nancy Reagan – is on her way.
Reagan had suffered extensive internal bleeding, but his gunshot wound was not discovered until doctors examined him. As it turned out, he did not enter on a stretcher but got out of the car, walked in with the help of agents and began to collapse before those around him picked him up and carried him to the emergency room. Doctors were able to stabilize his blood pressure in short order before removing the bullet in surgery.
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Comments (89)
ItTakesFaith
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:47pm@JZS
“But let’s not rewrite the history. The national debt tripled during the eight years of Reagan’s administration, from 900 billion to 2.8 trillion.”
While you may be correct (I didn’t take time to check your figures), the reason the national debt rose, had everything to do with this little thing we like to call the “Cold War”. President Reagan was busy winning the war, and bankrupting the evil Soviet empire by re-building our sorely depleted military (credit that to Billy Beer’s brother!). Winning the War Without a Single Shot took quite a bit of spending…! Reagan’s military genius (including his bluffs!) are the stuff of legend! Had he been followed by a Vice President who actually shared his fiscal conservatism, the deficit would have been fixed quickly…!
May the Good Lord Bless my President Ronald Reagan…!
Report Post »teresa2010
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:20amOnly Libs rewrite history…. Nobody gives a rat rear end about them
Report Post »pandora
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:45pmCain / West 2012.
Report Post »RingADingDing
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:32pmI was in grammar school when that happened. It was big news.
Report Post »Warphead
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:24pmYeah I remember that day. I remember the GD liberals spouting off wherever they could that it was a shame he didn’t die. I didn’t like liberals before that but now what I feel for them would not be appropriate for me to describe here. I will say this. The sooner the liberal is driven back into his hole or removed from society altogether the sooner our world will be a better place. Tolerance is the reason for their recent uprising. They have plagued civilization since civilization began. My imagination cannot grasp the lost potential of the human species due to the continiuos drag of the liberal sickness among us. But I dream of the greatness we may become when they are gone.
Report Post »pwatkins
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:23pmDoubtful there will ever be another Reagan, great guy,but do pray for one like him, and I pray to God there will never be another Hussein Obama, care to join me in prayer anyone?
Report Post »My Sacred Honor
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:00pmAmen.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:03pmi was very young when this happened and frankly I am sad to admit I did not like reagan so I was not upset. later as I got older and in my teenage years I formed my concervative views and went back to study this event.. amazing that he made it and what a great man he was before and after this.. I am sure he is in heaven watching over the country..
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:49pmI actually remember my parents had the TV on and the NASTY DC residents were cheering and dancing and saying too bad they didn’t kill him. I remember thinking that was so cruel. I guess this war between liberals and conservatives has been going on since the 1980′s. How sad for our country…
Report Post »Amren
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:12pm@Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Report Post »Wow, Snowy, this may be the first time I’ve ever agreed with you. But, a lot of strange things have happened this week. I was even carded for buying a bottle of wine (I’m 47.)
You’re right, though. We need a LEADER with a spine, and a set of brass ones, who’s not afraid of anybody. That would be nice, for a change.
NateD
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:55pmIt is amazing to see how selflessly those agents reacted. All they did was react. In a matter of seconds they had the perp in custody and were already attending to the wounded. Amazing heroes.
Report Post »usmcsgt.ret.
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:53pmWhat we need to do is get the DNA from Regan and John Wayne put them together and then we will have a presidant with all the balls anyone would want.
Report Post »Smitty1969
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:33pmPresident Reagan is still with us, He is headed full steam to Japan (CVN)
Semper Fi
Report Post »My Sacred Honor
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:58pmSemper Fi, Smitty, and EXCELLENT post brother!
Report Post »SpontaneousVomit
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:44pmGreat man. Great President. Sorely missed / needed.
Report Post »texanpatriot
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:41pmI lived in Paris at the time and after four years of the peanut farmer they were thrilled to have a real man in the Whitehouse. Remember that they needed us to keep the USSR at bay. My friends in Paris were grieving more than I did.
Report Post »It was a while before we heard that “The Gipper” would be OK.
teachermitch32
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:31pmSad point in history, to say the least. what followed was a barage of legislation by the “Brady” bill that has nicked away at our 2nd ammendment rights little by little. Brady, sadly, has still not forgiven the shooter and has continued his efforts to blame guns as the culprit without clearly seeing that it was the shooter who was the demon in the crowd, not the gun. Even though he wants the shooter to have a little of his own medicine. Truely a mixed up thinking.
Report Post »wkw58
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:27pmGood training and quick thinking….God bless the Secret Service for saving the life of our last really great President.
Report Post »VTDave
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:23pmI remember my 8th grade social studies teacher telling us that if Reagan got elected as president we were going to die in a nuclear war. Can’t imagine why I have such a distaste for liberals now…..
Report Post »Silence D
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:23pmthe president said, ‘Tim, listen, it was McCarthy, Reagan, Delahanty, Brady, what the hell did this guy have against the Irish?
to his wife ” Honey, I just forgot to duck”
Always looking to make other people feel better. I miss you Mr. Prersident
Report Post »Amren
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:15pmDitto, that!
Report Post »He was a class act!
SoCalWalt
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:20pmAn amazing piece of history, and a testimony to the training and bravery of the secret service and police present. Notice the way they all immediately swarmed the shooter when your normal animal instinct would be to dive away from such a danger. Spine tingling heroism.
Report Post »WAR PIGS CRAWLING
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:17pmWell said…they are a special breed of people.
Report Post »PunditPawn
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:11pmHard to believe Regan walked into the hospital on his own initially. America would look much different today had Regan not pulled through.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:10pmHe still had his sense of humor at the hospital when he told the attending physician, “I hope you’re a Republican”. There will never be another like him.
Report Post »firstHat
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:10pmI’ll never forget watching that with my then cop husband who told me more than the TV commentators could tell us. I remember waiting and waiting to find out if the President would survive. Scary stuff
Report Post »APatriotFirst
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:05pmCorrection…my math is bad. Was 35 then.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:12pmWell then, that makes you…old as dirt! :-) Me too buddy, just kidding.
Report Post »bassist237
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:05pmWow.. Good reaction, I just do not know what drives people to commit these crimes. People are crazy. Thankfully they had the training to take care of this effectively.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:24pmWell, in John Hinkley’s case, what drove him to commit this horrible act was someone by the name of Jody Foster and desire to “impress” her.
Report Post »augustusIV
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:04pmwow…
Report Post »APatriotFirst
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:04pmI remember this, I was 40 years od then. Sometimes I think the nuts out number the rest of us.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:37pmYou’re right about the nuts specially in these days .
Report Post »We need an anti communist president these days like Reagan .
Warphead
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:27pmI was seventeen. It touched me deeply. I remember the rage of those liberals who would make cracks about it being a shame he didn’t die. I became a patriot that year.
Report Post »randy
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:59amSad day.
Report Post »Angry_Bird
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:07pmWe need another Ronald Reagan today. God Bless him.
Report Post »Jethro212
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:10pmThose agents showed incredible restraint. I recall that day, I was quite young, we did cards for President Reagan at my elementary school.
Report Post »patriot308
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:15pmI know in this day and age, random events do happen….. Am I the only one who thought it strange, to release this right after the calls to escalate the violence in Wisc. I know, a reach but after all the “just a guy I know” events…. I look for schemes in just about everything.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:20pmSad day indeed, thank God the POTUS survived, for Regan was needed then and there for the job he had; many want another Reagan for today, yet what we need is a POTUS who will face todays set of unique challenges, most the same as in Reagans day, yet worse with the out of control fed’s and a debt about to take us over the cliff.
What we need is a Refounder and a Restorer for the people and the constitution; one who will do the will and wishes of the People of USA and for the generations to follow.
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:21pmA Real Man… A Real President..
We Haven’t had one since.
Report Post »jblaze
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:25pmAnd this tape was bound for the trash! Makes you wonder what else has gone undetected into the trash!
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:35pm@ Angry_bird
We need a lot of Reagans right now. Great leader IMHO.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:37pmMAULEMALL
Report Post »Bush 41 got shot out of the sky by the Japanese, He paddled his one man raft away from the only land within 1,000 miles with Japanese boats coming after him, He had 6 shots in his service revolver and planned on using 5 against the Japs and using the last one on himself. He may not have been the president Reagan was, but he is a MAN. There is film of the whole thing, if you care to look. Here is a link to the story.
http://timelines.com/1944/9/2/george-hw-bush-is-shot-down-in-the-pacific-ocean
taxed
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 12:58pmMan, that was a close call. I watch Reagan videos once in a while and he totally pumps me up. He left no doubt that he loved this country, unlike Hussein.
http://conservativepoliticalforum.com/
Report Post »jzs
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:08pmYes, sad day. Reagan was a good leader.
But let’s not rewrite the history. The national debt tripled during the eight years of Reagan’s administration, from 900 billion to 2.8 trillion.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 1:18pmA Great man…Regan
Report Post »Pailin is the one to fill his shoes…Barracuda 2012!!!
Sinista MACE
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:08pmThat was the Bush’s boy trying to kill Reagan…..
fertlmind
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:22pmWhat a man
Report Post »what a president
I miss him
we need someone like him
someone with brains and heart
I’m beginning to really like Hermain Cain
He is not a politician
he can right a budget
he speaks from the heart
he has common sense
and the debate between Herman Cain and Obamma would be pure poetry!
Keep your eye on Herman Cain!
RCScrolls
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:35pmReagans, Step Son and Bachman need to run, even Dems would vote for Him
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:36pmMade me cry to think of how close we came to losing him!
Report Post »Knight Templar
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:54pm@jzs
Report Post »Also remember that the Dems controlled both houses for 8 years and actually increased his submitted budgets.
obfuscatenot
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 3:29pmI got to Rainbow and burst into tears. God blessed this nation with a great man.
Report Post »I always go to the who, what, where and why……why is this coming out now?
Distraction mode?
Dale
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:48pmWalkIntoTheSea;
Crime increases as gun control goes into effect. Get you facts straight, and take a Walk.
Report Post »stoned.on.freedom
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:52pmThe communications quality sucked. I forgot how bad CB radio was back then.
Report Post »MHP
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:02pmThank God he survived.
Best President we’ve ever had.
Report Post »JackMan2008
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:06pmThe Greatest Pres. EVER!!!!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 10:17pmI remember Reagan telling the doctor that treated him “I hope you are a republican”
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 10:49pmJZS and who ran the congress? Hint, Demorats
Report Post »Reagan did rebuild the military because O’Carter did everything he could to destroy it.
As a result….you know who to thank when you use that cell phone………
O’Carter and The Charlatan would invest that money in crack-heads smoking newports, watching soaps & waiting for the next Govie check or Mexicans building million dollar turtle tunnels in Florida…..(their voting base)
lionslayer44
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 7:29pm@GONZO its too bad he didnt drown maybe we wouldnt have had the cia, vietnam, opium imports, his presidency, his idiot sons presidency, osama bin laden, and a NWO. not to fear though for the Lord will be here soon and will sort it all out!!!! GOD BLESS!!!
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