A Montgomery County collectibles firm is at the center of a stunning historical moment, writes Mike Newall for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ardmore-based Raab Collection has listed an original Air Force One recording from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for $750,000. The recording offers more than two hours of real-time radio traffic from Nov. 22, 1963. Audio captures somber and shaken exchanges between Kennedy aides aboard the plane and officials awaiting the flight in Washington as they confronted the logistics of a presidential death.
The conversations include urgent decisions about transporting the president’s casket, caring for Jackie Kennedy, and preparing for Lyndon Johnson’s arrival as the new commander-in-chief.
Long thought lost, the tape is believed to be the earliest and most complete version of the Air Force One communications from that day, far surpassing the heavily edited segments previously released by President Johnson.
The recording was discovered in 2011 among the personal belongings of Gen. Chester Clifton. Clifton was a key military aide who rode in the Dallas motorcade and later boarded the flight. Raab digitized the reel-to-reel tapes and recently donated the second matching copy to the National Archives under a settlement.
President Nathan Raab called the artifact “a powerful moment in American history.” It’s a rare reminder of the nation’s most sobering transition.
To learn more about Raab Collection’s historic listing, visit The Philadelphia Inquirer.
