Cecil In 1998, President Kennedy’s Air Force One – the aircraft which flew the assassinated President back to Washington after his fateful 1963 Dallas trip – was flown to the USAF Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to be added to the Museum collection of Presidential aircraft. No longer named “Air Force One,” she was renamed SAM (Special Air Mission) 26000. As media, Kathy and I had been invited to witness the landing but, unfortunately, could not make it, so we got a rain check to visit the aircraft at a later date. Several days later, we were sitting at a picnic table beside a runway, enjoying a morning coffee. Beside us stood the magnificent silver, white and blue former Air Force One. Apart from a work crew finishing some maintenance on board, there was nobody else around and we suspected that we were going to have SAM 26000 to ourselves once the workers had left. As we waited for the workers to leave, I noticed an elderly gentleman in a beige raincoat crossing the field heading in our direction. He asked if he could join us which, of course, we happily agreed to. Quiet and unassuming, he introduced himself as Cecil and, as we chatted, I found to my surprise that he was Cecil Stoughton, the official White House photographer who had accompanied President Kennedy to Dallas and was in the motorcade a few cars behind when the President was assassinated. Cecil took the famous photograph in Air Force One's stateroom of Johnson being sworn in as president. As the official photographer, he had flown with Kennedy (and later with President Johnson) in Air Force One many times; fortuitously, he became our very knowledgeable tour guide and told us many details about the feelings and emotions of that fateful day in Dallas. He took us to the stateroom and showed us where he had taken the photo with his Hasselblad, stooped over in a corner due to the ceiling’s curvature. The stateroom was only 17 x 15 feet and very crowded. He had to ask Jackie to turn in towards Johnson so that the bloodstains on the right side of her pink coat did not show. He said that it was one of his most difficult shots to compose, given the physical restrictions and the somber and strong emotions within the cabin. Cecil was very reluctant to take the photo, but knew that he had to since it would be of historic importance. He also ensured that the ceremony was recorded by using a dictation unit which they found in Kennedy’s desk. After the ceremony, Johnson was very anxious to get away from Dallas Love Field and his first words as president after the Oath were, “Let’s get airborne.” From the stateroom, we walked down the narrow passage to the spot where Kennedy’s coffin had lain next to the port rear bulkhead; Jackie spent the flight time on the floor immediately opposite it. We sawwhere part of the rear bulkhead had to be cut away to accommodate Kennedy’s coffin through the rear door. Cecil did not return to Washington with Air Force One since he needed to get his film developed locally and under military security conditions. Thanks to Cecil’s tour, I was able to sketch the accompanying plan of Air Force One on that fateful day in Dallas. Cecil Stoughton has to be numbered among the most memorable people whom I have met on my I-75 drives. Late President Kennedy's Air Force One. Now SAM 26000. CSANews | FALL 2022 | 23 Travel
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