J. D. Tippit

J. D. Tippit (September 18, 1924 – November 22, 1963) was a police officer with the Dallas, Texas Police Department who, according to witnesses, was slain by Lee Harvey Oswald after Tippit stopped Oswald following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Biography

Tippit was born in Clarksville, Red River County, Texas to Edgar Lee Tippit and Lizzie Mae Rush. It is often reported that J.D. stood for "Jefferson Davis", but in fact, the initials do not stand for anything. Tippit attended public schools through the tenth grade and was raised as a Baptist. He entered the United States Army on July 21, 1944 and was assigned to the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the US 17th Airborne Division. He saw combat in Operation Varsity, the airborne crossing of the Rhine River in March 1945, earning a Bronze Star, and remained on active duty until June 20 1946.

Tippit was married to Marie Frances Gasaway on December 26 1946, and the couple would become the parents of three children. That same year, he went to work for the Dearborn Stove Company. He next worked for Sears, Roebuck and Company in the installation department from March 1948 to September of 1949, when he moved to Lone Star, Texas and attempted cattle raising.

Tippit attended a Veterans Administration vocational training school at Bogata, Texas from January 1950 until June 1952-. He was then hired by the Dallas Police Department as a patrolman on July 28 1952. Officer Tippit served capably and was cited for bravery in 1956 for his role in disarming a fugitive.

At the time of his death, Tippit was earning a salary of $5,880 a year as a Dallas policeman( $36,000 in 2006).

Death

On November 22, 1963 Tippit was working beat number 78, his normal patrol area in south Oak Cliff, a residental area of city. He was ordered to patrol the central Oak Cliff area after the shooting of President Kennedy. At approximately 1:15 p.m., 45 minutes after Kennedy was shot, Tippit stopped Oswald, who was on foot and who fit the general description of the assassin that was being broadcast. Oswald walked over to the passenger side of Tippit's patrol car. They spoke briefly through an open vent window, then Tippit got out of his car. As Tippit walked toward the front of his patrol car, he was shot three times at point blank range with a .38 calibre revolver. He was then shot in the head whilst on the pavement, which proved to be the fatal shot. Four witnesses identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the shooter. Seven others saw Oswald fleeing the scene.

After the subsequent investigation by the Warren Commission, Tippit's name was placed into many conspiracy theories, but none were found to have any credibility.

On the evening of the assassination, both Robert F. Kennedy and new President Lyndon Johnson called Tippit's widow to express their sympathies. The plight of Tippit's family also moved much of the nation and a total of $647,579 ($3.9 mil. in 2006) was donated to them following the assassination. One of the largest individual gifts was the $25,000 ($152,000 in 2006) that Abraham Zapruder donated after selling his film of the assassination.

Funeral services for J.D. Tippit were held on November 25 at Beckley Hills Baptist Church, with burial following at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Dallas.

In January 1964 Tippit was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor from the National Police Hall of Fame and also received the Police Medal of Honor, the Police Cross, and the Citizens Traffic Commission Award of Heroism.

Tippit's widow married Dallas police lieutenant Harry Dean Thomas in January 1967.

In film, Tippit has been portrayed by Price Carson in 1991's JFK, and David Duchovny in 1992's Ruby.

Reference

• Dale K. Myers. With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit. ISBN 0-9662709-7-5

External link

• J.D. Tippit website by Dale Myers