/internal/media/dispatcher/25987/fullPhil Willis Slide #2711/22/19632 × 2 in. (5.1 × 5.1 cm)FilmPhil Willis Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza2002.040.00230Original 35mm color slide taken by assassination witness Phil Willis showing Dealey Plaza with the Texas School Book Depository building and the Dal-Tex building in the background. The image is taken from Commerce Street by the triple underpass, and several vehicles and a red motorcylcle are visible in the foreground. Dallas police officers and police vehicles are visible along Elm Street.Photographs649325.08001016005.080010160023025SlideOriginal 35mm color slide taken by assassination witness Phil Willis showing Dealey Plaza with the Texas School Book Depository building and the Dal-Tex building in the background. The image is taken from Commerce Street by the triple underpass, and several vehicles and a red motorcylcle are visible in the foreground. Dallas police officers and police vehicles are visible along Elm Street.AssassinationPhotographsEyewitnessesDealey PlazaElm StreetMain StreetCommerce StreetTriple underpassHertz signPoliceWillis, PhilKennedy, John F.Texas School Book DepositoryDal-Tex BuildingDallas Police DepartmentDallasPhil 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, CuratorIn 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