2025 files confirm the military’s quiet involvement in JFK’s final motorcade route-and their strategic silence afterward.
🛣️ The Turn That Changed History
The route change that brought JFK’s limo past the Texas School Book Depository and into Dealey Plaza involved an abrupt detour.
Officially, it was a Secret Service decision made for “crowd visibility.”
But the 2025 disclosures include internal Pentagon memos and a Joint Chiefs of Staff comm log that suggest otherwise:
The route wasn’t just known-it was reviewed by defense officials three days before the assassination.
🗂️ File: “Dallas Advance Routing – DoD Eyes Only”
Marked TOP SECRET and dated November 19, 1963, this memo from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) outlines JFK’s planned visit with a section labeled:
“Alternative motorcade configuration approved by DSAA liaison. Coordination with Secret Service Field 4 complete.”
DSAA = Defense Security Assistance Agency, not previously known to be involved in Dallas logistics.
📞 Comm Transcript: Joint Chiefs Phone Brief – Nov. 21
A call log entry between Gen. Maxwell Taylor (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) and Lt. Gen. W.C. Westmoreland shows the following exchange:
Taylor:
“Dallas route has been adapted. Should still have clear perimeters.”
Westmoreland:
“Understood. The bend is where?”
Taylor:
“Elm. Sharp right.”
“Elm. Sharp right.” That’s the fatal turn into Dealey Plaza.
🧠 Why Was the Military Involved?
The 2025 file set includes a document titled “Presidential Visit Threat Grid – Dallas 112263”, detailing projected crowd size, risk assessments, and mapping overlays.
The file was generated by Army Intelligence-not the Secret Service.
It explicitly notes:
“Exposure window increases by 22 seconds with modified route-acceptable.”
Who deemed it acceptable?
The document doesn’t say-but the signatures include Col. Sam Davis, Army liaison to the NSC.
🚫 Post-Assassination Silence
No military reports from Nov. 23 reference the route change.
In fact, several memos previously assumed to be lost-like the Fort Sam Houston briefing packet-were finally declassified in 2025 and show blank pages where motorcade maps should’ve been.
An internal Pentagon email from 1964 includes the warning:
“Do not offer commentary on operational changes or intelligence handoffs related to 11/22. Maintain narrative integrity.”
🔚 They Knew, and They Chose Silence
The Pentagon wasn’t in the dark.
It was in the loop-and part of the loop that allowed a vulnerable turn, a slowed vehicle, and a fatal exposure.
The generals reviewed the map.
The turn stayed in.
And afterward-they said nothing.
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