On January 30, 1968, I had a conversation with a Staff Sergeant Sheridan (I believe that was his name) who was the Sergeant in Charge of the Maximum Security Compound where I was in Vietnam.

As bullets whistled above our heads during the opening phase of the TET Offensive, Sheridan told me a most interesting story.

While a member of the Georgia National Guard during 1945 he and others were called to Warm Springs and the Roosevelt residence. Upon arrival, Sheridan was stationed at the bottom of the steps to the veranda/porch area. An elderly black man, identified as the president's piano player, was rocking back and forth in a chair, crying uncontrollably, and he made the following statement.

"Oh, the master's gone. The master done shot his self.

Immediately, the FBI and Secret Service agents present whisked the old black man away and he was not seen again during the National Guards occupancy of the grounds.

There was some discussion about the old black man being blind. Whether he heard a shot or had some other indication of the president's demise was not known to Sheridan. He did comment, however, that the funeral was held as closed casket. Sheridan also worked at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in 1960 and one of his duties was to read mail sent into prisoners located there. He recalled numerous letters from Eleanor Roosevelt to Rudolph Able describing efforts underway to trade Able for Gary Powers. Sheridan was later transferred to Ft. Leavenworth.

Hopefully this information helps.

Regards,
John McCarthy