Posted on 10/09/2015 9:55:16 PM PDT by NRx
Jerry S. Parr, the Secret Service agent credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life during an assassination attempt in 1981, died Friday at a hospice near his home in Washington. He was 85.
The death was confirmed by Mr. Parr’s wife, Carolyn, who said he died of congestive heart failure.
Mr. Parr was just feet away from Mr. Reagan when John W. Hinckley Jr. opened fire on the president outside the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981.
“When he was about probably six or seven feet from the car, I heard these shots,” Mr. Parr said in a 2013 interview promoting the memoir he wrote with his wife. “I sort of knew what they were, and I’d been waiting for them all of my career, in a way. That’s what every agent waits for, is that.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Secret Service is in trouble for mismanagement and for conducting a leak operation against the Republican congressman who is in charge of oversight of the agency.
A true American hero.
RIP Agent Paar... your actions saved President Reagan’s life.
The car. It was a spiritual moment for me.
Good point. No doubt that procedures were followed and they played the percentages correctly. Just didn’t work out that time. Doesn’t make it a bad decision.
It was a .22 wasn’t it? Hardly anything less predictable than a ricochet off a .22.
But he was right there by the car. He could have been hit by it anyway.
So anyone here thinks any current Secret Service agent would take a bullet for Bath House or the Moose?
Yep, the .22 can be really unpredictable. I know of cases where people have been shot in the head or committed suicide with .22 head shot. It can enter the mouth and hits the inside rear of the skull just right, and spins around the inside of the skull like a race track, literally shredding the brain.
I do not remember it being mentioned that Reagan was upset with Jerry Parr. In fact, a few months later, Reagan arranged a meeting with Parr to congratulate him for a job well done. When Parr walked into the Oval Office, Reagan quipped "You aren't going to throw me over that couch, are you?"
Reagan always had a great sense of humor.
When Reagan was thrown into the car he bumped his head on the edge of the roof and Parr landed on top of him kinda hard. Reagan’s first words were “You SOB you broke my ribs!” Of course he did not know then that he had been hit. Parr never held any hard feelings over the completely understandable heat of the moment outburst but I think Reagan felt a little guilty about it afterwards.
That's nothing. I once saw a sign that said, "Don't even THINK about parking here."
I thought about it.
I AM A REBEL!
If there is whiskey in heaven, I suspect they will have a drink together tonight.
I'm sure they will have a happy reunion in paradise.
His decision to divert the limo to GWU Hospital may well have saved Reagan's life.
IIRC, Reagan thought Parr shoved him so hard it broke his ribs.
That is what I recall, his anger didn’t last, because he realized Parr save his life. But his initial thoughts were that Parr was too forceful.
True. He saw some blood and made the decision immediately.
You're right, it's in the above story.......
Thank god it wasn’t Obama’s team that was on this.
I parked in a handicap zone once.
It was after hours and the lot was empty. Do I get points for being a rebel in spirit?
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