ST. CLAIR SHORES SENTINEL • APRIL 5, 2023
20A
Agent
er asked Jones. “He said if no one knows I’m going to walk the route it will be a surprise. So, we walked the entire route.”
girl’s hand. Jones then spotted a man coming towards him carrying two paper bags. “I notice the bags are stained. As he got a little bit closer, I noticed he had matches and he’s trying to light them, so I hollered his name,” he said. “He looked at me and I dove at him. We’re wrestling around trying to get the gasoline away from him. Finally, we got him handcuffed. Fortunately, he wasn’t able to set himself on fire because I think some people would have gotten seriously injured. I always think back to the lady with the little girl, whether she may have been burned also.” A decade later, Jones was involved in the planning of Carter’s inauguration in 1977, which set a new precedent for the 1.7mile parade route. “Most presidents have ridden in a car and gotten out at the Treasury Building and they’ve walked to the White House,” Jones said. Carter, however, told organizers he wanted to walk the entire route down Pennsylvania Avenue rather than be driven. Security wasn’t crazy about the idea, but Carter’s idea prevailed. “Isn’t the best security a surprise?” Cart-
‘She made a line right to where the president was because she wanted to kiss him.’
from page 12A
Robert Kennedy’s assassination in June 1968 was a shock. Jones was off duty when his wife told him the news. Jones shared details of the senator’s funeral train procession from New York City to Washington, D.C. “They put the casket on top of chairs in the train so people could see it,” Jones remembered. “There were all types of people along the route. It was heartening to see the respect they had for the senator.” Six months later, the senator’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, sent Jones a personal note. “I got a message (that said), ‘Thank you for all the nice things you’ve done for me,’” Jones said. “These are some of the things you don’t hear about with dignitaries.” One of Jones’ photos depicted the exact moment in 1975 when Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme tried to shoot Ford in Sacramento, who was swiftly evacuated from the area. “(Fromme) didn’t load the (handgun) properly so it wouldn’t have fired but you don’t know that when it happens,” Jones said. On a lighter note, the MORE attend-
ees chuckled when Jones recalled the episode surrounding Ford’s attendance at the 1979 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at the Kingdome in Seattle. Morganna the Kiss-
ing Bandit, who routinely ran onto baseball fields and basketball courts to kiss athletes, sprinted over to the former commander in chief for a smooch. It didn’t go over well.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Retired Secret Service agent and Lake Orion resident Radford Jones served under six presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. During his presentation March 29 at the Lorenzo Cultural Center in Clinton Township, Jones shared details of a time in which Reagan visited Detroit.
0034-2306
0034-2306.indd 1
1/12/23 2:24 PM
