THE EARLIEST REPORTS

(THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE)

EXCERPTED FROM "JFK: The Medical Evidence Reference" (339 pages)]By Vincent M. Palamara
[abridged entries and excerpts from over 100 entries, out of a total of 325, from the author's 1998 book,
(c) COPYRIGHT VINCENT M. PALAMARA 1998. ALL RIGHT RESERVED

1) Dr. William Kemp Clark, Chief Neurosurgeon:
WR 516-518/ 17 H 1-3 / CE 392 [undated summary; see also 21 H 150-152
:Clark's 11/23/63 report to Admiral Burkley with the verbatim summary .
In addition, see "Assassination Science", pp. 416-418: this is an FBI
report dated 11/25/63 which includes the verbatim summary to Burkley
from 11/23/63]---"..in the occipital region of the skull "; "There was a
large wound in the right occipitoparietal region "; "Both cerebral and
cerebellar tissue were extruding from the wound.";
2) Dr. Malcolm Oliver "Mac" Perry, Attending Surgeon:
a) WR 521-522/ 17 H 6-7/ CE392: report written 11/22/63---"A large wound
of the right posterior cranium ";
b) Parkland press conference, 11/22/63 [see "Assassination Science", pp.
419-427; silent film clip used in "Reasonable Doubt" (1988), "20/20"
(4/92), etc.]---"There was an entrance wound in the neck It appeared to
be coming at him The wound appeared to be an entrance wound in the front
of the throat; yes, that is correct. The exit wound, I don't know. It
could have been the head or there could have been a second wound of the
head." (apparently, based off this conference, the Associated Press
dispatch on 11/22/63 stated that Dr. Perry "said the entrance wound was
in the front of the head," while all the AP wires for this day stated
that JFK had a large hole in the "back" of his head.);
3) Dr. Robert Nelson McClelland, Attending Surgeon:
a) WR 526-527 / 17 H 11-12 / CE 392: report written 11/22/63---" a
massive gunshot wound of the head with a fragment wound of the
trachea The cause of death was due to massive head and brain injury from
a gunshot wound of the left temple.";
b) "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", 12/1/63---"This [the neck wound] did
appear to be an entrance wound."
c)e) 6 H 33-34, 35, 37 / testimony---" I could very closely examine the
head wound, and I noted that the right posterior portion of the skull
had been extremely blasted probably a third or so, at least, of the
brain tissue, posterior cerebral tissue and some of the cerebellar
tissue had been blasted out "; " there was definitely a piece of
cerebellum that extruded from the wound "; " the loss of cerebral and
cerebellar tissues were so great massive head injuries with loss of
large amounts of cerebral and cerebellar tissues "; "The initial
impression that we had was that perhaps the wound in the neck, the
anterior part of the neck, was an entrance wound and that it had perhaps
taken a trajectory off the anterior vertebral body and again into the
skull itself, exiting out the back, to produce the massive injury in the
head.";
4) Dr. Marion Thomas "Pepper" Jenkins, Chief Anesthesiologist [deceased
11/22/94]:
WR 529-530 / 17 H 14-15 / CE 392: report addressed to Administrator
C.J. Price dated 11/22/63 (the verbatim, retyped report, this time
addressed to Dean A.J. Gill, can be found at 20 H 252-253)---" a great
laceration on the right side of the head (temporal and occipital),
causing a great defect in the skull plate so that there was herniation
and laceration of great areas of the brain, even to the extent that the
cerebellum had portruded from the wound."[see also p. 35 of Jesse
Curry's 1969 book entitled "JFK Assassination File"];
5) Dr. Charles James "Jim" Carrico, Resident Surgeon:
a) WR 519-520 / 17 H 4-5 / CE 392: handwritten report dated
11/22/63---"[the skull] wound had avulsed the calvarium and shredded
brain tissue present with profuse oozing attempts to control slow oozing
from cerebral and cerebellar tissue via packs instituted ."; "small
penetrating wound of ent. neck";
6) Dr. Ronald Coy Jones, Chief Resident Surgeon:
a) 20 H 333: handwritten report dated 11/23/63---" severe skull and
brain injury was noted as well as a small hole in anterior midline of
neck thought to be a bullet entrance wound air was bubbling through the
neck wound.";
b)a) 6 H 53-54, 56 / testimony (3/24/64)---" he had a large wound in the
right posterior side of the head There was large defect in the back side
of the head as the President lay on the cart with what appeared to be
some brain hanging out of this wound with multiple pieces of skull noted
with the brain "; "what appeared to be an exit wound in the posterior
portion of the skull the only speculation that I could have as far as to
how this could occur with a single wound would be that it would enter
the anterior neck and possibly strike a vertebral body and then change
its course and exit in the region of the posterior portion of the
head."; "The hole [in the throat] was very small and relatively clean
cut, as you would see in a bullet that is entering rather than exiting
from a patient.";
7) Dr. Gene Coleman Akin, Resident Anesthesiologist [a.k.a. Solomon Ben
Israel]:
6 H 65 and 67 / testimony---"The back of the right occipitalparietal
portion of his head was shattered, with brain substance extruding."; "I
assume the right occiptalparietal region was the exit, so to speak, that
he had probably been hit on the other side of the head, or at least
tangentially in the back of the head "; "this [the neck wound] must have
been an entrance wound ";
8) Dr. Paul Conrad Peters, Urologist:
6 H 70-71 / testimony---"It was pointed out that an examination of the
brain had been done we saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted
the large occipital wound ";" I noticed that there was a large defect in
the occiput It seemed to me that in the right occipitalparietal area
that there was a large defect.";
9) Dr. Charles A. Crenshaw, Resident Surgeon:
a) "Conspiracy of Silence" (1992), p. 86 (and throughout [inc. photos of
himself])---"I walked to the President's head to get a closer look. His
entire right cerebral hemisphere appeared to be gone. It looked like a
crater---an empty cavity From the damage I saw, there was no doubt in my
mind that the bullet had entered his head through the front, and as it
surgically passed through his cranium, the missile obliterated part of
the temporal and all the parietal and occipital lobes before it
lacerated the cerebellum."; [p. 79] "I also identified a small opening
about the diameter of a pencil at the midline of his throat to be an
entry bullet hole. There was no doubt in my mind about that wound.";
b) "High Treason 2", pp. 110-115 and 549 (interviews of 7/12/80 [90?]
and 9/21/91)---" it was in the parietal-occipital area"; thinks the
body was tampered with at Bethesda;
c) WC references to his presence on 11/22/63: 6 H 40 (Baxter), 6 H 31-32
(McClelland), 6 H 80-81 (Salyer), 6 H 141 (Henchcliffe), 6 H 60
(Curtis)+15 H 761: index;
d) Completely overlooked WC reference to his presence on 11/24/63: 21 H
265(report by Parkland Administrator Charles Price)---"Dr. Charles
Crenshaw was in the corridor and said they had been alerted. He said,
'You're not going to put him [Oswald] in the same room the President was
in, are you?' [I] told him I surely was glad he had thought of it and by
all means, not to.";
10) Dr. Charles Rufus Baxter, Attending Surgeon:
WR 523 / 17 H 8 / CE392---handwritten report dated 11/22/63----" the
right temporal and occipital bones were missing and the brain was lying
on the table, with [extensive?] maceration and contusion ";
11) Dr. Robert G. Grossman, Resident Neurosurgeon:
a) "High Treason", pages 30, 36, 51, 53, 459 ("The Boston Globe", June
21, 1981-notes placed in JFK Library [see also "Killing Kennedy", pp.
303-304, "Between The Signal and the Noise" by Roger Bruce Feinman
(1993) and Groden's "TKOAP", p. 181])---saw two separate head wounds: a
large defect in the parietal area above the right ear, as well as "a
large [albeit smaller than the first wound described], separate wound,
located squarely in the occiput."; " described a large hole squarely in
the occiput, far too large for a bullet entry wound "; Grossman: "It was
clear to me that the right parietal bone had been lifted up by a bullet
which had exited."; noticed the skin flap near the right temple; Dr.
Clark picked up the back of the head to demonstrate the wound;
b) 6 H 81 (Salyer)---confirms Grossman's presence in Trauma Room One;
12) Dr. Richard Brooks Dulany, Resident Surgeon [Dulaney]:
a) 6 H 114 /testimony (3/25/64)---" he had a large head wound-that was
the first thing I noticed." Arlen Specter did not have him elaborate on
any details.;
http://www.informatik.uni-rostock.de/Kennedy/index.html
b) other WC references: WR 56, 529; 3 H 358, 384; 6 H 2, 11, 46, 52-53,
69, 73-74; 17 H 14; 21 H 241;
c) "High Treason", pages 43, 46, 460,and 489 ("The Boston Globe",
6/21/81 [see also "Killing Kennedy", page 303])---"The copy of the
autopsy photo was shown to him by the Globe and he stated that it was
not accurate. When shown the official picture, he said that there was a
"definite conflict" and "that's not the way I remember it."**; "Somebody
lifted up his head and showed me the back of his head. We couldn't see
much until they picked up his head. I was standing beside him. The wound
was on the back of his head. On the back side the whole back-side was
gone..it was a big gaping wound."; **"The tape and summary of Dulaney is
in the JFK Library, and I have since talked with him, verifying this.";
13) Dr. Adolph Hartung "Buddy" Giesecke, Jr., Anesthesiologist:
a) 20 H 5-7: 11/25/63 report re: care of Gov. Connally;
b) 6 H 74 / testimony---"..I noticed that he had a very large cranial
wound, with loss of brain substance, and it seemed most of the bleeding
was coming from the cranial wound from the vertex to the left ear, and
from the browline to the occiput on the left-hand side of the head the
cranium was entirely missing.";
14) Dr. Fouad A. Bashour, Chief Cardiologist:
a) WR 528 / 17 H 13 / CE392: handwritten report dated 11/22/63---very
brief report that doesn't mention the wounds;
b) 6 H 61-62 /testimony---" the head wound was massive ": no details
were elicited during Bashour's brief testimony;
http://www.informatik.uni-rostock.de/Kennedy/index.html
c) other WC references: WR 53-54, 518, 537; 3 H 360, 371; 6 H 4, 11, 20,
32, 40, 64, 145, 149; 17 H 3, 22; 20 H 5; 21 H 152;
d) January 1964 "Texas State Journal of Medicine" article "Three
Patients at Parkland", p. 63---repeats the gist of his brief 11/22/63
report;
e) "High Treason", p. 45 ("The Continuing Inquiry", 10/80; see also
"Conspiracy", p. 481)---"He was most insistent that the official picture
was not representative of the wounds, and he continually laid his hand
both on the back of Livinsgtone's head and his own to show where the
large hole was. "Why do they cover it up?" he repeated numerous times.
"This is not the way it was!" he kept repeating, shaking his head no.";
15) Dr. Kenneth Everett Salyer, Resident Surgeon:
6 H 81 /testimony---" he did have some sucking wound of some type on his
neck ";" (JFK) had a wound of his right temporal region I came in on the
left side of him and noticed that his major wound seemed to be in his
right temporal area, at least from the point of view that I could see
him, and other than that---nothing other than he did have a gaping scalp
wound---cranial wound.";
16) Nurse Patricia B. "Trish" Hutton (Gustafson):
21 H 216: report of activities on 11/22/63---"Mr. Kennedy was bleeding
profusely from a wound in the back of his head A doctor asked me to
place a pressure dressing on the head wound. This was no use, however,
because of the massive opening on the back of the head.";
17) Chief Supervising Nurse Doris Mae Nelson [deceased 10/3/83]:
a) 21 H 155: 11/25/63 affidavit re: Record of Death;
b) 20 H 640-643 /21 H 241-244: report of activities [see also
Manchester, p. 673];
c) 6 H 145 /testimony---" I could look and see [JFK] and tell that it
was him mainly his head ": Specter did not ask nor did she volunteer
info. regarding the head wound;
d)12/82 interview with David Lifton ("BE", p. 704)---"Doris Nelson told
me the tracheotomy was not the one she remembered: "Looks a little
large to me [it] shouldn't be that big It wasn't any 7-8 cm. [It was]
just wide enough to get the trach tube in."; "She looked at [the
official autopsy photos of the back of the head] and shook her head from
side to side..she remembered a large wound there.";
18) Nurse Audrey N. Bell :
a) 6 H 52 (Jones);other WC references: WR 536; 17 H 21, 841; 20 H 333;
21 H 172, 187, 246, 248; 24 H 26;
b)12/82 interview by David Lifton ("BE", p. 704)---"The wound she saw
was so localized at the rear that, from her position on the right hand
side, with Kennedy lying face up, she couldn't see ANY damage Perry
pointed to the back of the President's head." Re: trach photo: "Looks
like somebodyhas enlarged it You don't make trachs that big. Not if
you've got as much experience as Perry has.";
19) Nurse Diana Hamilton Bowron:
19 H 167-170: 11/23/63 newspaper articles---"There was a gaping wound in
the back of his head.";
20) Dr. William Midgett, Ob-Gyn Resident:
a) 6 H 135-136 (Bowron), 21 H 213 (Lozano)---confirm Midgett's presence
and duties;
b) "JFK-Conspiracy of Silence"(1992), p. 74---same;
c) 4/16/92 interview with Gerald Posner for "Case Closed", 287,
310-311---" it was more parietal than occipital---that much I could
see.";
d) 2/8/93 interview with Wallace Milam [transcript provided to
author]---"Midgett saw one wound---in the head. He called it "right
parietal area" and said it was behind the ear. He estimated it as being
6 cm in diameter. A piece of skull was missing and there was an absence
of brain (Midgett called it "a hole" where the brain had been). Midgett
said, "The brain was all over the car.";
21) Dr. Don Teel Curtis, Resident Oral Surgeon:
a) 6 H 60 / testimony---" I went around to the right side of [JFK] and
saw the head wound...fragments of bone and a gross injury to the cranial
contents, with copious amounts of hemorrhage.": no specific details on
orientation and the like where elicited from Curtis;
b) 9/30/98 letter to Vince Palamara---" The wound involving the right
posterior lateral surface of the skull appeared to me to be an exit
wound or a tangential entrance wound.";
22) Donna Willie:
"High Treason", p.456 (based off article by Nicole Levicoff of the
"Jenkintown [PA] Times Chronicle")---"the President had a wound in his
throat that the Commission said was an exit wound or was made from a
tracheotomy the entry wound is always small, and the exit wound is much
larger. I saw the entry wound in the front of the President's neck. I
know he was shot from the front, and I couldn't understand why that
wasn't released.";
23) Dr. Philip Earle Williams:
a) 21 H 215 (Nurse Bertha Lozano's report)---"Then the presidnet's body
was escorted out. The crowd vanished, and then I felt so confused that I
just had to leave the desk for a few minutes. I later went to the dining
room with Pat Hutton AND A DR. WILLIAMS and had coffee and afterwards,
went home (emphasis added)";
b) "High Treason 2", photo section+ pp. 287, 294, 301-302, 308-312
(interviewed 4/6/91[inc. on unreleased video] and 5/10/92)---"Certainly
the President's cerebellum was severely damaged and "swinging in the
breeze", as it was described by Dr.Philip Williams"; "The bone in the
back of President Kennedy's head was missing"; disputes the x-rays;
24) Nurse Margaret M. Hinchliffe (Hood) [Hinchcliffe; Henchcliffe]:
a) 21 H 239-240: report of activities for 11/22/63 [see also Manchester,
p. 671]---nothing specific related to the wounds;
b) 6 H 141 and 143 /testimony---" his head was very bloody "; " a little
hole in the middle of his neck About as big as the end of my little
finger An entrance bullet hole---it looked to me like I have never seen
an exit bullet hole---I don't remember seeing one that looked like
that."; " it was just a small wound and wasn't jagged like most of the
exit bullet wounds that I have seen.";
c)"High Treason", pages 45, 68-69, 454 ("The Boston Globe", 6/21/81 [see
also "Killing The Truth", p. 702])---"Interviewed by reporters in 1981,
she drew a picture of the large wound on a model of a skull. She
sketched a gaping hole in the occipital region which extended only
slightly into the parietal area, thereby rejecting out of hand the
official picture. She also insisted the President had an "entry" wound
in his throat.";

25) Dr. Jackie Hansen Hunt,Anesthesiologist-only woman M.D.:
a) 6 H 76-79 / testimony---was blocked from seeing the wounds;
b) "High Treason", p. 52 ("The Continuing Inquiry", 10/80; author's
tape-JFK Library)- " Livingstone showed her the [official
autopsy]picture in 1979 and she instantly denounced it. She did not see
the back of the head because she was standing directly over the
President, but she insisited that the back part of the head was blown
out and rejected the official picture. "That's he way it was described
to me," she said, saying that the back of the head was gone. Had the
large defect been anywhere else, she would have seen it and described
it. Dr. Akin said that if you looked directly down on Kennedy, you could
not see the large hole. Therefore, Dr. Hunt's testimony is significant.
Dr. Hunt responded to Livingstone's question: "so, the exit wound would
be in the occipital-parietal area?" "Yeah, uh-huh. It would be somewhere
on the right posterior part of it " She pointed to the sketch from Six
Seconds In Dallas: "That's the way it was described to me. I went around
this way and got the equipment connected and started---but I saw the
man's face like so, and I never---the exit wound was on the other
side---and what was back there, I don't know. That is the way it was
described to me, " she said, pointing to the sketch showing the large
hole in the back of the head. "I did not see that. I did not see this
part of his head. That would have been here," she said, and put the palm
of her hand on the back of Livingstone's head. She did this before
Livingstone showed her the sketch from Thompson.";
26) Dr. Martin G. White, Resident Surgeon:
a) 6 H 82-83 /testimony---" I saw the wound in his head ":
unfortunately, he did not get specific, nor was he asked to by Specter;
b) 1989 letter to Joanne Braun ("The Third Decade", March 1991)---did
not see the V-shaped feature at Parkland;
27) Dr./ Admiral George Gregory Burkley, Physician to the President
[deceased 1/91]:
a) 22 H 93-97: 11/27/63 report of his activities surrounding the
assassination of JFK [see also Manchester, p. 670]---(22 H 94 and
97)"[at Parkland]It was evident that death was imminent and that he was
in a hopeless condition."; [at Bethesda]" his appearance in the casket
gave no evidence of the injury he had received.": perhaps because the
wound was in the BACK of the head? ;
b) 11/22/63 Press Conference by Asst. WH Press sec. Mac Kilduff (please
see "Best Evidence", pp. 330-331 and photo 28 [Kilduff Press Conference,
11/22/63, Transcript 1327B-LBJ Library; USSS RIF# 154-10002-10194]: "Dr.
Burkley told me, it is a simple matter, Tom, of a bullet right through
the head": he then points to his right temple! Question: "can you say
where the bullet entered his head, Mac?" "It is my understanding that it
entered in the temple, the right temple."; "They [the shots] came from
the right side." [see Thomas Atkins' film clip as shown in "The Men Who
Killed Kennedy", "The Jim Garrison Tapes" video 1992, "JFK: The Case for
Conspiracy" video 1993, "High Treason 2", p. 290, Groden's "TKOAP", p.
59; "POTP", p. 408] This information was repeated by Chet Huntley on NBC
that day: ""President Kennedy, we are now informed, was shot in the
right temple. 'It was a simple matter of a bullet right through the
head,' said Dr. George Burkley, the White House medical officer." [NBC
video, 11/22/63, 1:47 p.m. CST; clip repeated in Prof. James Fetzer's
video "JFK: The Assassination, The Cover-Up, and Beyond"];
28) Orderly David Sanders:
21 H 224: report on activities for 11/22/63---washed off the President's
face and helped place him in the casket; nothing on the nature of the
wounds;
29) Dr. Donald W. Seldin, Chief Internist:
a) WC references by others present: WR 528; 3 H 371; 6 H 11,32,60-61,64;
17 H 13; 20 H 5; 21 H 184-185, 258, 263;
b)8/27/98 letter to Vince Palamara---"The bullet struck the President in
the forehead and literally exploded in his skull, so that the entire
frontal, parietal and temporal bones were shattered I believe that the
official story is accurate in all details." [!];
30) Dr. William H. Zedlitz, Resident Surgeon [Zedelitz]:
a) WC reference: 6 H 83;
b) 11/4/98 letter to Vince Palamara---"...obviously had a massive head
injury to the right occipito-parietal area (right posterior-lateral) of
his cranium. This area was a mass of bloody tissue with multiple skin,
hair, and bony fragments matted together with blood and brain tissue and
covered an area approximately ten by twelve centimeters in diameter. His
left eye also seemed to be bulging from his eyesocket. At this point,
Dr. Carrico indicated that he was unable to effectively ventilate the
patient via the endotracheal tube. Dr. Baxter and Perry immediately
began to perform a tracheostomy. Prior to making the incision, it was
noted that a small (5mm to 7mm) hole in the front of the neck below the
thyroid cartilage was present. This was in the exact location where the
tracheostomy was to be performed. Dr. Baxter and Perry decided to do the
procedure by extending the transverse incision on either side of this
hole so that the tracheostomy tube ended up being inserted in the site
of the former hole.";
31) Surgeon David Stewart:
a) "New Lebanon, Tennessee, Democrat", 3/30/67 ,
b) 4/10/67 "The Joe Dolan Show", KNEW radio, Oakland, CA and
c) "Post Mortem", pp. 60-61---Dolan said he was particularly concerned
with the "statement about the shot" that killed JFK "coming from the
front." Dr. Stewart said, "Yes, sir. This was the finding of all the
physicians who were in attendance. There was a small wound in the left
front of the President's head and there was a quite massive wound of
exit at the right backside of the head and it was felt by all of the
physicians at the time to be a wound of entry which went in the front.";
32) Justice of the Peace Theran Ward:
a) WC reference: 15 H 509; 21 H 163, 262;
b)"The Killing of a President" (1993), p. 88---photo [from video
outtakes?] of Ward pointing toward the rear of the head to show where
the skull wound was: "[I t was] right back here.";
33) Dr. Joe D. "Jody" Goldstrich:
a) "JFK: Breaking The Silence" (1993) by Bill Sloan, Chapter 4: pp.
84-97[inc. a photo]---"The first thing I saw was JFK lying on his back
on an operating table I didn't have a clear view of the back of his
head, but I have a vague recollection of seeing a portion of his brain
exposed It [the neck wound] was a small, almost perfectly
round---somewhere between the size of a nickel and a quarter [?]---and
it was right in the middle of the front of his neck, just below the
Adam's apple the wound was exactly the right size and exactly the right
spot to accommodate a tracheostomy tube."; disturbed by the photos of
JFK's neck at autopsy: "The whole front of his neck was wide open It had
simply been fileted."; " I realized how impossible it would have been
for the neck wound I saw to have been an exit wound ";
34) First Lady Jackie Bouvier Kennedy (Onassis) [deceased 5/19/94]:
a) 5 H 180 / testimony [see also "Murder From Within" by Fred Newcomb
and Perry Adams (1974), pp. 138-139]---"And just as I turned and looked
at him, I could see a piece of his skull sort of wedge-shaped like that,
and I remember it was flesh colored with little ridges at the top. I
remember thinking he just looked as if he had a slight headache. And I
just remember seeing that. No blood or anything. And then he sort of
did this [indicating], put his hand to his forehead and fell in my lap
[Reference to wounds deleted]"---!;
http://www.informatik.uni-rostock.de/Kennedy/index.html
b) 4/11/72 declassified testimony excerpts (as reproduced in "Post
Mortem" by Harold Weisberg, pp. 380-381 [Groden quotes this in the
program "JFK: An Unsolved Murder", KRON, 11/18/88, which was repeated in
"JFK: The Case for Conspiracy" video 1993, as well as "TKOAP", p.
38)---"I was trying to hold his hair on. But from the front there was
nothing. I suppose there must have been. But from the back you could
see, you know, you were trying to hold his hair on, and his skull on..";
35) OR Assistant Supervisor Jane Caroyln Wester:
6 H 121 / testimony (see also "High Treason 2", p. 79)---"I received a
phone call from the emergency room asking us to set up for a
craniotomy."; Specter: "What doctors were in attendance of Governor
Connally at that time." " Dr. Ray, I believe, was there "[this is the
only reference to "Dr. Ray"];
http://www.informatik.uni-rostock.de/Kennedy/index.html
36) Head Nurse Ruth Jeanette Standridge:
6 H 118-119 / testimony---saw JFK on a stretcher cart in the emergency
room while the orderlies were cleaning up the room:"..they were trying
to protect his head with a sheet---it was wrapped around his head.";
37) Chief of Security O.P. "Pokie" Wright (husband of Elizabeth Wright)
[deceased]:
a) 21 H 229-332: report of activities 11/22/63---NOTHING about CE399!;
(21 H 230) JFK's watch: Nurse Diana Bowron to Wright to Secret Service
agent Roger Warner [misspelled "Warren"] on 11/26/63;
b) 24 H 412 / CE2011---"He advised he could not positively identify C1
as being the same bullet which was found on November 22, 1963." (Chief
Rowley and SA Johnsen both "could not identify this bullet", while
Darrell Tomlinson "cannot positively identify the bullet");
38) Elizabeth L. Wright (Good), Director, Nursing Service:
a) 21 H 198: page from lengthy/ 10-page (21 H 193-202) 12/11/63 report
on activities 11/22-11/24/63 [see also Manchester, p. 675]---"Mr. Wright
had somewhere down the line asked me if I could ascertain the path of
the bullet---or bullets---determine the path, and find out where the
instrument of injury actually was." (!);
39)Priest Oscar L. Huber [deceased 1975] (administered the last rites):
WR 55, 7 H 489, 21 H 159, 160, 195, 233: WC references for Huber. Huber
was interviewed 11/24/63 on WFAA and 11/25/63 on WBAP/ Texas News (see
"Kennedy In Texas" video 1984). The 11/24/63 "Philadelphia Sunday
Bulletin" reported that Father Huber said that JFK had a terrible wound
over his left eye [see "Best Evidence", p. 46, and "Who's Who in the JFK
Assassination", p. 202]; 8/26/64 and 9/20/64 interviews with William
Manchester ("The Death of a President", numerous, inc. p.
216)---performed the sign of the cross on JFK's forehead, evidently
still intact; interviewed by Jim Bishop ("The Day Kennedy Was Shot", p.
684); "The (Denver) Register", 12/8/63: article by Huber entitled
"President Kennedy's Final Hours"; JFK Library Oral History1964; photo
of Huber: p. 23 of "JFK: For a New Generation" by Conover Hunt; "Four
Days In November" (1964, David Wolper): inc. part of his WFAA
interview;
40)Asst. Undertaker Aubrey "Al" L. Rike, employee of the O'Neal Funeral
Home.
a) "Best Evidence: The Research Video" ([Oct.]1980/ 1990 [clips repeated
in "The Fifth Estate-Who Killed JFK?" 1983, "Nova" 11/15/88
,"Dispatches: The Day The Dream Died" 11/16/88 London, and "A Current
Affair" 9/4/90] ---"[JFK] still dripping quite a bit of blood from the
wound in the back of his head [motioning]";
b) 11/22/97 interview with Vince Palamara---he placed his hand three
times to the right rear of his head to show where the wound was located
at: "I could feel the brain and the jagged edge yeah, it [the back of
the head] was gone almost in the middle of the back of the head; on the
side alittle bit."Regarding the autopsy photos, Rike believes they
"pulled [the] hair back over" the wound;
41) Scripps-Howard reporter Seth Kantor [deceased 8/17/93] (saw Jack
Ruby at Parkland [see also Wilma Tice and Roy Stamps]):
a) 20 H 353: Kantor's notepad for 11/22/63---"intered [sic] right
temple";
b) 15 H 71-96 / testimony---saw "a great deposit of blood" on the ground
to the right of JFK's limo;
42) Texas State Highway Patrolman Hurchel D. Jacks (drove LBJ's car in
motorcade)[deceased 12/19/95]:
18 H 801: 11/28/63 report re: 11/22/63---"Before the President's body
was covered it appeared that the bullet had struck him above the right
ear or near the temple.";
43)Secret Service agent Samuel A. Kinney (driver of the Secret Service
follow-up car in the motorcade) [deceased 7/21/97]:
a) 18 H 732: report dated 11/22/63---" it appeared he had been shot
because he slumped to the left. Immediately he sat up again. At this
time the second shot was fired and I observed hair flying from the right
side of his head.";
b) 18 H 730-731: report dated 11/30/63---"I saw the President lean
toward the left and appeared to have grabbed his chest with his right
hand. There was a second pause and then two more shots were heard I saw
one shot strike the President in the right side of the head [doesn't
indicate front or back]";
c) RIF # 180-10078-10493:HSCA summary of an interview with Sam Kinney
conducted on 2/26/78. In regard to the shooting sequence, Sam said
the following:
"SA Kinney immediately recognized the first sound as that
of gunfire,
realizing that it was a "shot from over our right shoulder"
which hit the
President IN THE THROAT. The President, his movement (in
Kinney's opinion)
affected by the brace he wore, fell toward "Jackie", who
"after catching him,
set him back up." SA Kinney commented on Mrs. Kennedy's
influence on the
position of the President by remarking that the SS preferred
not to have
persons riding in jump seats with the President. The writer
understood this
remark to mean the President might have had room to be pushed
to the floor.
"While Jackie was setting him back up, Connally turns right, then left
then pow, pow. THE SECOND SHOT" (hit Connally and) "left
Connally's back
open." "THE THIRD SHOT HIT THE PRESIDENT." As the third shot
landed, SA Kinney was able to see "hair coming up." At this point he hit
the siren on the
follow-up car." (emphasis added); "Inside the aircraft [the
C-130 transport plane] during flight, the loading sergeant, who had been
in the rear compartment where the cars were stored, entered nthe forward
cabin and said, "I can't stand to be back there." SA Kinney gave him his
seat and returned to the resar compartment. At this point he discovered
in the Presidential limousine (1) a skull fragment under the jump seat
where Connally had been seated, and (2) a bullet fragment in the front
seat between the driver's and passenger's seat. He remarked that the
bullet fragment "looked like it had hit the windshield frame above the
windshield." SA Kinney put on a radio patch to Presidential Physician
Admiral Burkley to inform him that he had discovered the skull fragment.
Chief Petty Officer Tommy Mills, an aide to Burkley, received the
message. SA Kinney then announced that he was going to go directly to
the White House non-stop. The Washington Field Office learned of this
and sent 6 or 7 Park police to escort SA Kinney to the White House
Garage. In the garage they weere met by FBI agents."";
d) 10/19/92, 3/5/94, and 4/15/94 interviews with Vince Palamara ("The
Third Alternative-Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the JFK
Murder", pp. 8-9, 28, 55-56, 78-80,81-82, 110-111)---
Sam told me twice that he saw the back of JFK's head come off
immediately when the fatal shot struck the President's head (Kinney was
watching Kennedy's head-and the rear bumper of the limousine-as a normal
part of his duty to maintain a five-foot distance between the follow-up
car and JFK's limo, something he did hundreds of times before). Sam told
me "it was the right rear-I saw that part blow out." Kinney added that
his windshield and left arm were hit with blood and brain matter
immediately after the head shot.
Once at Parkland Hospital, Kinney helped remove the President from the
back seat of the limousine along with Clint Hill, Roy Kellerman, and
Dave Powers, thereby receiving an extremely vivid, close-up look at the
wound on JFK's head. "His brain was blown out," Sam said, " there was
nothing left !" I pressed further, to which Sam added: "There was brain
matter all over the place...he had no brains left in his head."
44) Milton T. Wright, Jr. :Texas Highway Patrolman(driver of Mayor
Cabell's car):
a) 18 H 802: report dated 11/28/63---"At the hospital we unloaded the
Governor first and then the President. Then we were instructed to keep
the news media away from the car."---nothing specific about the wounds;
b) 8/28/98 letter to Vince Palamara---" I do recall helping to move the
President from the car to the stretcher. As I recall about a 1/4
[quarter] of his head was missing, mostly to the left of the back of the
head. I believe he died instantly from the wound I saw.";
c) 9/3/98 e-mail to Vince Palamara---"On your 2nd question[asking for
more clarity/ specifics], the wound was left ear to back of head,
generally.";
45)Presidential aide David F. Powers (rode in Secret Service follow-up
car)[deceased 3/27/98]:
a) 7 H 472-474: Affidavit dated 5/18/64---" the first shot went off I
noticed then that the President moved quite farto his left after the
shot from the extreme right hand side where he had been sitting. There
was a second shot and Governor Connally disappeared from sight and then
there was a third shot which took off the top of the President's head
and had the sickening sound of a grapefruit splattering against the side
of a wall. The total time between the first and third shots was about 5
or 6 seconds. My first impression was that the shots came from the right
and overhead, but I also had a fleeting impression that the noise
appeared to come from the front in the area of the triple overpass. This
may have resulted from my feeling, when I looked forward toward the
overpass, that we might have ridden into an ambush ";
b)Interviewed for Ralph Martin's "A Hero For Our Time" (1983): see esp.
pages 519 and 545---Powers appears strongly to be the source for the
following sentence: "The third shot tore off the top back half of his
head 'and we could see the hair and all the stuff go right up in the
air', an aide said.";
46) Fort Worth Newsman Roy Stamps:
a) "Crossfire", pp. 362 [re: wounds], 366-367; "JFK: Conspiracy of
Silence", p. 108; "The People Vs. Lee Harvey Oswald" by Walt Brown, pp.
505-506 [re: wounds]; article "The Head Shot From The Front" (1996) by
Michael T. Griffith [re: wounds]---like Kantor (and Tice), saw Ruby at
Parkland. Also, regarding JFK's head wound, he said: "I rushed up and
saw Kennedy lying in the car on his side. His foot was hanging over the
side of the car. The back of his head was gone.";
47) Asst. Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff:
a) see reference "b)"to Dr. Burkley, above;
b) "Time" magazine, 11/28/88: article by Hugh Sidey, p. 45, re: Kilduff,
on 11/22/63: "I saw that man's head." He sobbed. "I couldn't believe it.
I nearly died. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.";
c) "High Treason 2", pp. 443-450: 4/17/91 interview with Harry
Livingstone-" it [the head wound] was clearly in the left side of his
head I do not accept the so-called 'Magic' Bullet Theory No, I can't
buy that one I have [sic] been swimming with Connally in the pool at the
White House, and I saw a clean scar in his back I talked to Connally
about it several times, and his feeling on that and mine are precisely
the same [this squares with what Sam Kinney told me and what Connally
himself insisted on for years] It was a very short period of time
between the second and third shot the left part of his forehead looked
like---when I got over to the car---looked like two pounds of ground
beef the left part of his forehead They found that piece of skull, over
by the curb, either later that afternoon or the following morning, with
hair on it.";
48)UPI White House Reporter Merriman Smith [deceased 4/13/70:
self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head]:
a) UPI story, 11/23/63 (see "Four Days", UPI, p. 32)---'The President's
car, possibly as much as 150 or 200 yards ahead, seemed to falter
briefly [at Parkland] I ran to the side of the bubbletop [the
limousine]. The President was face down on the back seat I could not see
the Presdient's wound. But I could see blood splattered around the
interior of the rear seat and a dark stain spreading down the right side
of the President's dark gray suit the bloody scene in the rear of the
car ;"
49) Dr. Lito Porto:
a) "High Treason", p. 460---"The first doctor to see what he said was a
bullet entry wound near the left temple was Dr. Leto (sic) Porto."[only
reference to Dr. Lito Porto];
b) 9/8/98 call from Dr. Boris Porto to Vince Palamara (relaying info.
from his father)- His father said that "he needs to keep his mouth
quiet"but referred me to Drs. Charlie Baxter and Jim Carrico; Boris: "he
was there he was the neurosurgery chief resident, the first one to come
out of that program"---Kemp Clark was "overseeing my father";
50) Dr. Robert Roeder Shaw (operated on Gov. Connally)[deceased]:
a) 11/29/63 "Houston Post"---"The assassin was behind him[JFK], yet the
bullet entered at the front of his neck. Mr. Kennedy must have turned to
his left to talk to Mrs. Kennedy or to wave to someone.";
51) Dr. George Thomas Shires (operated on Gov. Connally and, later, on
Oswald ):
a) 21 H 252-253: statement re: Oswald 11/24/63 [see also Manchester, p.
674];
b) 6 H 104-113 / testimony---did not think JFK and Connally were struck
by the same bullet;
52) Evelyn Lincoln, JFK's secretary [deceased 5/11/95]:
a) 4/21/91 interview with Harry Livingstone for "High Treason 2", pp.
435-437---" I remember coming into Parkland Hospital, and Dr. Burkley
telling me that he [JFK] had gone, and Jackie was sitting outside of the
place where he was being kept---they were doing the autopsy or whatever
they were doing, and I went up to her and tried to console her."; "I
never looked at any of that [the autopsy materials]. Nothing. I kept it,
and then Bobby [Kennedy] moved it into another room. It was all sealed
up. I never saw any of it I had no access to it."; "It was a conspiracy.
There was no doubt about that...J. Edgar Hoover was involved in it.";