European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 4, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse May 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 special agent reminisces protecting presidents president Reagan is surrounded by his Security guards wherever he photo by red Grandy by Maureen Santini associated press As the Man who walked one step be Hind president Reagan for 3 Viz Robert Deprospero began every Day knowing he could be called upon to place his body Between the president and a there never was any doubt that hed do i always Felt i was the Guy he theres no question that if you Madea wrong move or did not do what you were supposed to do it would ruin your your family life and would ruin anyone who was associated with that what i those were the pressures i reflected in a recent interview on his just concluded tour As special agent in charge of the presidential protective he recalled learning of the assassination of John Ken Nedy in 1963 while he was driving Home from a High school where he was a teacher and that was two years before he joined the secret i never did consider myself to be an emotional but i found myself with tears in my he i what is the Guy doing who the head of the detail he must be suffering As much As anyone and so when the Protection Baton was passed to that memory became a motivating i always think about what i did in that car driving he since he was recruited into the secret service in Deprospero has spent More time than any other agent protecting including Dwight Lyndon Nelson Edmund Spiro Gerald Jimmy and Ronald Erma Bombeck i read a depressing Story the other Day that said after age 40 the number of brain cells lost each Day added up to thousands or maybe it was Mil i probably would have known which it was two weeks i have talked with our contemporaries and they too have difficulty recalling places and with one except they Are couples can Complete a sen what one cant the other partner my husband and i forget exactly the same thing at the same he uses this to drive me we were vacationing in Tel Aviv when we saw a theater marquee showing a picture of a known american his name was in said my theres what is Bis name dont Start with i he especially remembers showing up unannounced at Rockefeller Home on june the Day after Robert Kennedy was assassinated to inform him that secret service Protection had been ordered for All presidential con from that june until after the november de Prospero was on the Road almost i was Home probably five he it was his said she worried occasionally whether her husbands frequent absences would adversely affect their and the kids never were encouraged to follow in their fathers but Robin now works for the secret service Shes not an agent and who is in recently announced that Hes considering the secret service As a Deprospero took charge of the presidential detail in july 1981 months after the attempt on reagans life from Jerry the Man who shoved the president into his limousine after the shooting Deprospero successor is Raymond who was at parrs Side that in the aftermath of the assassination attempt and the Rise of International Deprospero presided Over per haps the greatest increase Ever in White House yet in his it could never be i had a reputation for overkill and everybody thought i was he i knew i had that reputation and that didst bother his was never to let up not on him not on a White House staff with whom there were inevitable disagreements about Security related and not on the before every presidential Deprospero made it a habit to talk by Telephone to the Advance agent on the before Reagan visited Deprospero spent All night on the Telephone resolving Las minute prob lems and then boarded air Force one for the 18hour Between Deprospero tried to inspire agents to re main at a High of with occasional meetings and fitness the secret service refuses to say How Many agents Are on the presidential but its probably about the object was to help them guard against boredom in a profession that depends so totally on constant during the last weeks of the 1984 when a meeting was impractical because everyone was on the Deprospero tried to Pep up his troops with a tape recording in which he referred to the years he coached his son in it always was the same theme never let you can be ahead and if you Ever let up the other Guy can pin you and youve lost the whole he Deprospero single minded Pursuit of his Mission earned him respect and sometimes but not Over whelming i am not Overly he replied when asked if he had left a i am certainly not the most suave i dont have the greatest but i think i have the ability to Lead men and that the place you can do it because you have a lot of Good men and they Are after Strong Deprospero preferred to Lead by example with a style that was a bit More formal than his for he began calling his deputies in front of the they got the message and soon referred to him As d rather than which is How he was known to the White House he was in Arthur with Liza in not see in humming to Hes really come help i think it starts with an it Doest Start with an i i know that for what is it then i dont we must have walked in silence for 35 minutes before i Dudley Moore and if you do this to me i will walk out of your life and youll never see me now i he he dated the tall blonde who did the mattress in warning wait a her name begins with a another 20 minutes of silence passed with not a word Between i said Susan what Are you so sore about he to int i remember Telly Savalas last week big Deal i remembered Sneezy was the seventh Dwarf you and i suppose remembering the name of the neigh Bor who lived next door to us on Holly Avenue when we first married Doest i was going thru ought the i i would have come up with it when i got to the he i think we should never have gotten what and missed having Andy and the Little one youre Arent you he it begins with a after a few minutes i lets not talk for a he c lot Syndicate
