class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">117

C 117 D 117 Willis Exhibit No. 1 497 Yarborough Exhibit A 440

---

Hearings Before the President's Commission
on the
Assassination of President Kennedy

TESTIMONY OF JOHNNY CALVIN BREWER

The testimony of Johnny Calvin Brewer was taken at 3:15 p.m., on April 2, 1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. David W. Belin, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.

Mr. Belin. Will you stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Brewer. I do.

Mr. Belin. Would you please state your name for the record?

Mr. Brewer. Johnny Calvin Brewer.

Mr. Belin. How old are you, Mr. Brewer?

Mr. Brewer. Twenty-two.

Mr. Belin. Where do you live?

Mr. Brewer. 512 North Lancaster, apartment 102.

Mr. Belin. What city and state?

Mr. Brewer. Dallas, Tex.

Mr. Belin. Were you born in Texas?

Mr. Brewer. Born in Miami, Okla.

Mr. Belin. In Oklahoma?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. When did you move to Texas?

Mr. Brewer. About 2 years after I was born. My father was foreman on a construction company and we moved to Texas.

Mr. Belin. Where did you go to school in Texas, please, sir?

Mr. Brewer. I went first year in Lockhart. The second year we moved to Houston, for a year, and we moved back to Lockhart, and I went there 10 years in Lockhart.

Mr. Belin. You graduated from high school?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. Did you go to school after you graduated from high school?

Mr. Brewer. I went to Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos a year, and a year in Nixon Clay Business College in Austin.

Mr. Belin. Then what did you do?

Mr. Brewer. I got married and quit school and went to work for Hardy's Shoe Store. I—that was in September, and I got married in December. And I have been with them ever since.

Mr. Belin. When did you go to work for Hardy's Shoe Store?

Mr. Brewer. In September of 1961.

Mr. Belin. Do they assign you to any particular store?

Mr. Brewer. I worked at the Capital Plaza Shopping Center in Austin for about 10 months, and then they transferred me to Dallas and gave me a store down on Jefferson.

Mr. Belin. In Austin were you just a shoe salesman?

Mr. Brewer. I was assistant manager.

Mr. Belin. And they transferred you to a shop on Jefferson?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. In Dallas?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. What is the address of that shop in Dallas?

Mr. Brewer. 213 West Jefferson.

Mr. Belin. They made you the manager of that shop?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. How long have you been manager?

Mr. Brewer. Since August of 1962.

Mr. Belin. From August 1962 on?

Mr. Brewer. Yes.

Mr. Belin. Until the present time?

Mr. Brewer. Until the day I was made manager of the downtown store.

Mr. Belin. Today is the 2d of April, or the 3d?

Mr. Brewer. Second.

Mr. Belin. You were made manager of the Hardy's Downtown Shoe Store?

Mr. Brewer. Yes, sir. It wasn't April Fool's. I thought they were firing me, but it turned out they weren't.

Mr. Belin. Did he call you in yesterday to tell you?

Mr. Brewer. Day before yesterday and told me to get ready for an audit, that I would be going to town, if I wanted it, and I said yes.

Mr. Belin. Would this be considered a promotion?

Mr. Brewer. A better store, more volume, and make more money. It would be considered a promotion.

Mr. Belin. Any children at all, Mr. Brewer?

Mr. Brewer. No.

Mr. Belin. I want to take you back to November 22, 1963. This was the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. How did you find out about the assassination, Mr. Brewer?

Mr. Brewer. We were listening to a transistor radio there in the store, just listening to a regular radio program, and they broke in with the bulletin that the President had been shot. And from then, that is all there was. We listened to all of the events.

Mr. Belin. Did you hear over the radio that the President had died?

Mr. Brewer. I heard a rumor. They said that—one of the Secret Service men said that the President had died, and said that was just a rumor.

Mr. Belin. Do you remember hearing anything else over the radio concerning anything that happened that afternoon?

Mr. Brewer. Well, they kept reconstructing what had happened and what they had heard, and they talked about it in general. There wasn't too much to talk about. They didn't have all the facts, and just repeated them mostly. And they said a patrolman had been shot in Oak Cliff.

Mr. Belin. Is Oak Cliff the area in which your shoe store was located?

Mr. Brewer. Yes, sir.

Mr. Belin. All right, would you describe what happened after you heard on the radio that an officer had been shot?

Mr. Brewer. Well, there was heard a siren coming down East Jefferson headed toward West Jefferson.

Mr. Belin. What is the dividing street between East and West