Phil Willis Slide #14 (Willis 8)

This picture is generally known as Willis 8, meaning the eighth of twelve images Mr. Willis marketed in a single packet; all were copied from a master copy set, not directly from the original picture. Unlike this scan of the original picture, the slides in each packet are all slightly cropped, as was the set given to investigators by Mr. Willis. 

When the Warren Commission reproduced the twelve slides (identified as Willis Exhibit), conspiracy researchers suspected that the face of the man wearing sunglasses at the right was cropped because he was really Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. Ruby's presence in Dealey Plaza minutes after the assassination, they suspected, suggested his involvement in the president's assassination. 

However, investigators already knew that Ruby was actually blocks away at The Dallas Morning News advertising department with people who had known him for years. - Gary Mack, Curator

Phil Willis' entire family joined him in Dealey Plaza to see the president's motorcade: his wife, Marilyn, their daughters Linda and Rosemary, and Marilyn's parents, Mr. & Mrs. William H. Stubblefield.  Neither Rosemary nor the Stubblefields were questioned by the Warren Commission, although the other members of the family were interviewed. - Gary Mack, Curator

In addition to witnessing the assassination of President Kennedy, Phil Willis was also present at another historic event: the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, Willis was assigned to the 86th Observation Squadron at Bellows Field in Oahu, Hawaii, during the Japanese attack. During World War II, he flew a total of 52 combat missions.

Mr. Willis passed away in January 1995, before he could record an oral history with the Museum.  However, his wife, Marilyn Willis, participated in a videotaped group interview with other assassination eyewitnesses on November 22, 1996. - Stephen Fagin, Curator