The Joint Chiefs of Staff meet with German General Staff 11/22/63

 According to William Manchester in his award winning The Death of a President: November 22-November 25, 1963,

On Friday, November 22 in Washington DC, "Tight security was also enforced in the Pentagon's Gold Room, down the hall from McNamara, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in session with the commanders of the West German Bundeswehr [armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany]. General Maxwell Taylor, the Chiefs' elegant, scholarly Chairman, dominated one side of the table; opposite him was General Friedrich A. Foertsch, Inspector General of Bonn's armed forces. Everyone was dressed to the nines—the Germans out of Pflicht [duty], the Americans because they knew the Germans would be that way—and the meeting glittered with gay ribbons and braid. . . .

Simultaneously the Pentagon’s command center sounded a buzzer, awakening General Maxwell Taylor, who was napping in his office between sessions with the Germans. McNamara had a tremendous reputation, and he deserved it. Despite his deep feeling for the President — the emotional side of his personality had been overlooked by the press, but it was very much there — he kept his head and made all the right moves. An ashen- faced aide came in with the bulletin. Jerry Wiesner studied the man’s expression as the secretary read it. Wiesner thought: The Bomb’s been dropped. McNamara quietly handed the slip around — Wiesner felt momentary relief; anything was better than a nuclear holocaust — and then the Secretary acted quickly. Adjourning his conference, he sent Mac Bundy back to the White House in a Defense limousine and conferred with Taylor and the other Joint Chiefs. Over the JCS signature they dispatched a flash warning to every American military base in the world; 

1. Press reports President Kennedy and Governor Connally of Texas shot and critically injured. Both in hospital at Dallas, Texas. No official information yet, will keep you informed. 

 Manchester continues . . . In the Pentagon McNamara and the Joint Chiefs remained vigilant, though after their conference in the Secretary's office the Chiefs decided they should leave sentry duty to subordinate sentinels and rejoin their meeting. General Taylor in particular felt that it was important to present a picture of stability and continuity, that it would be an error to let their visitors from Bonn suspect the depth of the tragedy until more was known. 

At 2:30 he and his colleagues filed back into the Gold Room. He told the Germans briefly that President Kennedy had been injured. General Friedrich Foertsch replied for his comrades that they hoped the injury was not too serious. The Chiefs did not reply, and for the next two hours they put on a singular performance. Aware that the shadow of a new war might fall across the room at any time, they continued the talks about dull military details, commenting on proposals by Generals Wessel and Huekelheim and shuffling papers and directives with steady hands. Even for men with their discipline it was a stony ordeal, and it was especially difficult for Taylor, who had to lead the discussion and whose appointment as Chairman had arisen from his close relationship with the President. As America’s first soldier he would be expected to make the first military decision should war come. Meanwhile he had to sit erect and feign an interest in logistics and combined staff work. At 4:30 the meeting ended on schedule. The Joint Chiefs rose together and faced their rising guests. Taylor said evenly, “I regret to tell you that the President of the United States has been killed.” 

The Germans, bred to stoicism, collapsed in their chairs.