Thanks for the clarification. I inseerted the [Iranian Hostage Crisis] part in the quote I posted for clarification but I guess I must have misread the article.
One of my favorite LBJ stories is the one where he was at a military base, getting ready to fly somewhere in a helicopter.
He started to walk toward the nearest 'copter, only to be stopped by an airman who pointed at another machine and said, “No, Mr. President, that’s **your **helicopter.”
LBJ looked down at the man and said, “Son, they’re *all ***my **helicopters.”
I just read the original 1978 NY Times story referred to in that article. The author of the book made a few minor mistatements. The event happened. But the Secret Service was supposed to have been advised that it was gonna happen, just so they didn’t fire at an unannounced helicopter. They weren’t advised.
The book’s author said that Brzezinski and secretary were whisked away to “Mount Weather.” The Times story said they were carried to Andrew’s AFB in MD, where the President’s 747 Airborn Command center was on standby. The Times story also said that it is a 10 minute helicopter trip from point to point. But it took twice that for the helicopter to arrive to pick them up. NOt exactly an hour.
The Times story said that later, similar test took less that the allotted time because of all the practice drills that Carter/Brzezinski called.
While I suspect the identity of the current holder is not something the White House particularly publicises, there’s traditionally no secrecy about those who’ve held the position in the past. For example, the “bagman” accompanying Kennedy to Dallas (and LBJ back) was Warrant Officer Ira D. Gearhart.
To my knowledge, none have ever spoken about the role. By all accounts, they tend to be relatively isolated figures, even within the retinue.
This may have happened, but it wasn’t the incident I was thinking of. I recall reading it in the newspaper so it must have been more current than the Kennedy administration.