TESTIMONY OF GERALD DALTON HENSLEE

The testimony of Gerald Dalton Henslee was taken at 4 p.m., on April 8, 1964 in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. David W. Belin, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.

Mr. BELIN. Sergeant, do you want to stand and raise your right hand, please, to be worn.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. HENSLEE. I do.
Mr. BELIN. Will you please state your name.
Mr. HENSLEE. Gerald Dalton Henslee.
Mr. BELIN. Your occupation?
Mr. HENSLEE. A police officer.
Mr. BELIN. For what police department?
Mr. HENSLEE. City of Dallas.
Mr. BELIN. How long have you been a police officer?
Mr. HENSLEE. 16 years.
Mr. BELIN. You are a sergeant now?
Mr. HENSLEE. Sergeant.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do before you became a police officer?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was a student In SMU.
Mr. BELIN. At SMU?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Prior to that time?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was a dance instructor at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.
Mr. BELIN. And prior to that?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was In the United States Army.
Mr. BELIN. Honorable discharge, sir?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. How old are you?
Mr. HENSLEE. 40.
Mr. BELIN. Married?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Sergeant, what were your duties on November 22, 1968?
Mr. HENSLEE. I was supervising the radio dispatcher's office at the Dallas Police Department.
Mr. BELIN. Could you just describe your duties there as to what they included?
Mr. HENSLEE. Well, in this Instance, I was not only supervising the channel 1 radio and the incoming radio cans, but was the police dispatcher for channel 2, covering the special event of the arrival of the President of the United States, President Kennedy.

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Mr. BELIN. What were your hours of work that day?
Mr. HENSLEE. My assigned hours?
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. HENSLEE. 6:30 until 2 p.m. 6:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Mr. BELIN. Did you stay on after that?
Mr. HENSLEE. I stayed until about 5:30, as I recall, approximately.
Mr. BELIN. You mentioned channel 2. How many channels do you have?
Mr. HENSLEE. Two channels.
Mr. BELIN. Was channel 2 being used for the motorcade that day?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. I am going to hand you what has been marked Sawyer Deposition Exhibit A, and ask you to state if you know what this is?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes. This is a transcript of the radio log of that date.
Mr. BELIN. For what channel?
Mr. HENSLEE. Channel 2.
Mr. BELIN. Covering from?
Mr. HENSLEE. From 10:25 a.m., until 1:53 p.m.
Mr. BELIN. Now I notice on the covering page it says that: "The following was recorded on channel 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This report includes information prior to the arrival of the President's plane, progress of the motorcade, the shooting, and the escort to Parkland Hospital. Also included are events concerning the shooting of Officer Tippit."
Mr. HENSLEE. That is correct.
Mr. BELIN. Have you attempted to cover all calls that occurred that day or just the calls pertaining to the subject matter that is included in the covering paragraph.
Mr. HENSLEE. Pertaining to the subject matter, to the covering paragraph only.
Mr. BELIN. All right, I hand you what has been marked Sawyer Deposition Exhibit B, and ask you to state If you know what this is?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. What is Sawyer Deposition Exhibit B?
Mr. HENSLEE. That is a transmission pertaining to the shooting of President Kennedy and Officer Tippit on channel 1.
Mr. BELIN. All right, I notice times on Sawyer Deposition Exhibits A and B. Does this mean a time according to your police clock there when an event happened?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. For Instance, on Sawyer Deposition Exhibit A, I see until 12:40 p.m., a number of conversations. Then the next one is 12:43 p.m. Does that mean that all the conversations took place between 12:40 and 12:43 p.m.?
Mr. HENSLEE. That's correct.
Mr. BELIN. They took place in the order in which they are listed here?
Mr. HENSLEE. Right There were so many, we couldn't get the time in after each transmission.
Mr. BELIN. Who prepared Sawyer Deposition Exhibits A and B, if you know?
Mr. HENSLEE. Well, I am pretty sure these are the ones I prepared. They are copies of them.
Mr. BELIN. Do you know from what source they were prepared?
Mr. HENSLEE. They were prepared from the tapes on the channel 1. We have a tape on channel 1, and we have a record on channel 2. Two separate tape records, but they are prepared from those records and tapes.
Mr. BELIN. Under your supervision?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. I notice numbers here. For instance, I see on Sawyer Deposition Exhibit A, the No. 531 often appears. Would that be your call number?
Mr. HENSLEE. This designates the radio dispatcher.
Mr. BELIN. Then I see the number 1 here, No. 1 sometimes appears. Who Is that?
Mr. HENSLEE. That Is the number assigned to Chief J.E. Curry.
Mr. BELIN. I see a No. 9. Who is No.9?

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Mr. HENSLEE. That is the number assigned to Inspector J.H. Sawyer.
Mr. BELIN. Different numbers are assigned to different people?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. If an officer is patrolling a district, does he have the number assigned to a district if he Is not a high officer in the Department?
Mr. HENSLEE. That's correct.
Mr. BELIN. For instance, I see the No. 78 here. Does that appear to be the number of J.D. Tippit?
Mr. HENSLEE. On that particular day it was.
Mr. BELIN. All right, anything else you can think of, Sergeant, that might be relevant to the investigation into the assassination of the President or the shooting of Officer Tippit?
Mr. HENSLEE. No. The only thing I have is what I observed over the police radio that day. That is all the knowledge I have at all.
Mr. BELIN. All right, sir; we thank you very much for your cooperation. One other thing, you have the right to read this deposition and sign it before it goes into Washington, or else you can waive the reading and have It go directly to Washington.
Do you have any preference?
Mr. HENSLEE. Yes, I would like to read it before I sign it.
Mr. BELIN. That is all right. It makes no difference to us. And again, we thank you.
Mr. HENSLEE. What else can I do for you?