Post by John Duncan on Dec 10, 2021 15:00:10 GMT -5
Random Thoughts
By Raymond Gallagher
2008
(Edited by John Duncan)
It would be senseless to argue that there was not an explosive "report" from the Knoll, and a careful analysis of testimonies clearly indicates that it was the first "report" of three such sounds, but it was not necessarily from a rifle. No one saw a weapon fired. And there was no physical evidence of such a shot. Witnesses did report seeing and smelling smoke on the Knoll.
In previous posts, I suggested that the first "report" was a diversionary pistol shot fired into the air by Jim Brading to draw attention away from the TSBD's shooter, thus, the reason for the extra cartridge found on the floor along with the other two that had resulted from the shots at the motorcade.
Jim Braden was at the Cabana Motel that was visited by Jack Ruby on Thursday night. He also allegedly went to see the same oil people that Jack delivered a young lady to see. They were both in the same building PROBABLY at about the same time.
Jim had his picture taken down by the underpass after the shooting. (See Groden's picture book). Did you ever read his affidavit? Jim Braden (Brading) said he was walking down Elm Street trying to GET A CAB when he heard someone say that the President had been shot. He then "Walked UP AMONG THE PEOPLE." Jim had lived in Dallas at one time and knew, like everyone else, that walking down Elm Street was not the place to get a cab. Main Street, by the Adolphus Hotel, or at the Greyhound Bus Station was where smart folks went for a cab. Even Lee Oswald went to the bus station to get his cab to Oak Cliff.
Besides the three casings, 76.7% of the witnesses said that three shots were fired. Thirty-five (33.7%) said the shots came from the Knoll and fifty-six (53.8%) said the TSBD. I personally believe that both were right.
(Note: I am not sure where he got this statistic from as 123 witnesses were asked where they thought the shots originated from and nearly two-thirds said the grassy knoll area. Thanks to Rob Caprio for the information. -- John Duncan)
It is hard to imagine that one third of the witnesses were wrong when they reported shots from the Grassy Knoll. What's more interesting is what they said.
SS Agent Clinton Hill said that the second and third shots sounded alike they had a different sound..."than the first sound I heard." Sam Holland; "...I definitely saw a puff of smoke and heard the report from under the trees."
Frank Reilly:..."at the park where all the shrubs is up there...up the slope."
James Simmons:..." Fumes of smoke near the embankment."
Austin Miller:..."there is a little plaza on the hill...who threw the firecracker or whatever it was."
Clemon Johnson:..."white smoke was observed by the pavilion."
Mary Woodward, Maggie Brown, Auretia Lorenzo, Ann Donaldson: All on the sidewalk said they heard a horrible. "ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to our right."
John Chism: ..."by the Stemmons sign, I looked behind me,"
Marion Chism;..."It came from behind us."
Ammett Hudson:.."The shots that I heard definitely came from behind and above me." He was sitting on the steps on the Knoll.
Ronald Fisher:..."from just west of the TSBD."
Jean Hill: "I frankly thought they were coming from the Knoll."
Others that reported shots from the Knoll: Charles Brehm, Roy Truly, Virgil Campbell, Mrs. Alvin Hopson, Mrs. Chas. Davis, Dorothy Ann Garner, Steven Wilson, Otis Williams, Victoria Adams, Billy
Lovelady, Danny Arce, Wesley Frazier, James Jarman, Roger Craig, J.E. Decker, James Jarman, Harry Weatherford, and many more names can be added to the list.
And the Warren Commission had the gall to say all the shots...were fired from the sixth-floor within the TSBD..."There is no credible evidence that the shots were fired ...from any other location." WR19
However, they also said that it was possible that only two shots were fired from the sixth floor with the shooter carrying an empty shell in the weapon. Page 110-111 WR
Most people say three. Supposedly, one (the first) shot missed, one shot hit JFK in the neck, passed through Connally and became the alleged magic-bullet. And the third was the fatal shot that hit the president in the head.
The Warren Wizards said: "The consensus among the witnesses at the scene was that three shots were fired. However, some heard only two shots. The most convincing evidence relating to the number of shots was provided by the presence on the sixth floor of three spent cartridges. This led the Commission to conclude that there were three shots...." WR 110-111. (One cartridge was dented on the lip CE 534)
I would like to see anyone duplicate the dented lip on CE 534 bye ejecting a fired shell or even by stepping on it. It also had three sets of markings on its base that were not present on the other two casings and it lacked the chambering marks of the murder weapon. (Hoover)
I have seen similar damage to casings that had been dry fired. When a casing lacks a projectile and it is quickly slammed forward into the breech of the barrel, it will sometimes fail to enter the barrel and hit the outer rim of the barrel entrance causing damage to the neck of the casing similar to CE 534.
But, later they said, "The physical and other evidence examined by the Commission compels the conclusion that AT LEAST TWO SHOTS WERE FIRED... It is possible that the assassin carried an EMPTY SHELL IN THE RIFLE and fired only two shots ...." WR 110-111
Summing up. One shot missed the car completely and there is no record of recovering any of its remains. One shot allegedly passed through Kennedy and Connally and magically remained near pristine and ended up at Parkland Hospital.
This bullet weighed 161 grains before it was fired at the motorcade. When recovered it weighed 158.6 grains which means that very little was lost in its destructive journey.
A fragment weighing 0.5 grains was recovered from Connally's arm. Audrey Bell, the operating nurse, stated that there were four or five fragments "anywhere from three to four millimeters in length and a couple of millimeters wide. " These fragments disappeared at the autopsy.
In addition, what happened to the fragment found in Connally's leg wound? Also, there was a fragment in the governor's chest that was never recovered. He died with fragments still in his body that weighed more that the alleged two to three missing grains from C-399 that was described as near pristine. And the Warrens say, about pristine, "The Governor's wrist wound WAS NOT CAUSED BY A PRISTINE BULLET." p. 94
So, this leaves one bullet and it had to be the fatal projectile that removed part of the president's skull and much of his brains.
After the coup, two bullet fragments were found in the Lincoln. According to Warren, the two fragments weighed 44.6 and 21.0 grains respectively. "The heavier fragment was a portion of a bullet's nose area...the lighter fragment consisted of a bullet's base... the two fragments were both mutilated, and it was not possible to determine from the fragments themselves whether they comprised the base and nose of one bullet or of two separate bullets." WR
If one bullet missed the car completely and one ended up at Parkland almost pristine, the last bullet logically would have to be the bullet that hit JFK in the head and both fragments were from the same projectile I disagree with this conclusion.
I suspect that, with the angle of the neck shot, the above fragments would remain in the car, ergo, the remains of the single bullet, and the head shot bullet probably ended up in tiny bits in Dealey Plaza.
Some say that Tague was hit by the first MISSED shot, but he heard shots before he was hit by a very tiny fragment. So, he was probably hit by a fragment from the third shot instead of the ALLEGED MISSED FIRST SHOT. He also thought that the shots came from the "hill"
I personally do not believe there was a missed shot. If I were the mastermind of the murder, I would be sure to provide evidence that would assure the connection to the rifle and its owner. And since I could not rely on the future condition of the bullets actually fired at the occupants of the limousine, I would fire a bullet through the barrel of the murder weapon before 11-22-63 and be sure to leave it where it would be found. Enter the near pristine Parkland slug.
And enter Jack Ruby and the Parkland slug.
As Assistant. DA Alexander said, "The single bullet is like the Immaculate Conception. Either you believe it or you don't."
I do BELIEVE that a single bullet transited both men, thus, the single bullet, but I will never believe that the Parkland bullet is one and the same bullet. I believe that the JFK/Connally bullet remained in the car and the Parkland bullet was planted on the wrong stretcher, at Parkland, by Jack Ruby, when he failed to plant it in the limousine in Dealey Plaza because the car went on to the hospital.
(Jack Ruby was in Dealey Plaza during the shooting)
SEE:
The Fourth Decade, Volume 4, Issue 2
Current Section: Where Was Jack Ruby on November 21 and November 22?,
by Martha A. Moyer & R.F. Gallagher
At the time of the shooting, Jack Ruby was in front of the Texas School Book Depository, not in the Dallas Morning News as he claimed.
SEE pictures
www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId...
I would agree that there were three shots fired. At least it would be hard to argue that 90% of the witnesses did not hear three SOUNDS that they called gunfire. It is also hard to argue that one of these shots did not come from the grassy knoll, but it may not have been a shot at the President. Witnesses said it sounded different and it was the first sound. Some of us believe that it was Jim Braden firing a 38.
Cal. pistol into the air as a diversion shot to draw attention away from the TSBD and allow our shooter to get away. Was he the alleged Secret Service man that Officer Smith confronted? The Commission may have thought so also, since they had a .38 fired on the knoll during the later reenactment. And how about that bent casing found on the floor of the TSBD? Most of the gun lovers that I know say that it could not have been fired from C-2766 that day or any other day. I agree. (See Tink Thompson Six Seconds in Dallas.) Was it the empty casing that the Commission said may have been carried in the rifle? (P111 WR) If someone fired a diversion shot on the knoll and witnesses reported three shots - it would help if three casings were found in the TSBD to make us believe that three shots were fired from there, NO?
Was Agent Bennett one of them? He was stationed in the right rear seat of the follow up car. He heard a sound like a firecracker as the motorcade proceeded down Elm Street. Could that have been Braden and his .38? Bennett then said, " I looked at the back of the President. I heard another firecracker noise and SAW THAT SHOT HIT THE PRESIDENT ABOUT FOUR INCHES DOWN THE RIGHT SHOULDER. A second shot followed immediately and hit the right rear of the President's head.
Substantial weight may be given Bennett's observation. Although his formal statement was dated November 23, 1963, his notes indicated that he recorded what he saw and heard at 5:30 PM 11-22-63, on the airplane enroute to Washington, prior to the autopsy, when it was not yet known that the President had been hit in the back.
By Raymond Gallagher
2008
(Edited by John Duncan)
It would be senseless to argue that there was not an explosive "report" from the Knoll, and a careful analysis of testimonies clearly indicates that it was the first "report" of three such sounds, but it was not necessarily from a rifle. No one saw a weapon fired. And there was no physical evidence of such a shot. Witnesses did report seeing and smelling smoke on the Knoll.
In previous posts, I suggested that the first "report" was a diversionary pistol shot fired into the air by Jim Brading to draw attention away from the TSBD's shooter, thus, the reason for the extra cartridge found on the floor along with the other two that had resulted from the shots at the motorcade.
Jim Braden was at the Cabana Motel that was visited by Jack Ruby on Thursday night. He also allegedly went to see the same oil people that Jack delivered a young lady to see. They were both in the same building PROBABLY at about the same time.
Jim had his picture taken down by the underpass after the shooting. (See Groden's picture book). Did you ever read his affidavit? Jim Braden (Brading) said he was walking down Elm Street trying to GET A CAB when he heard someone say that the President had been shot. He then "Walked UP AMONG THE PEOPLE." Jim had lived in Dallas at one time and knew, like everyone else, that walking down Elm Street was not the place to get a cab. Main Street, by the Adolphus Hotel, or at the Greyhound Bus Station was where smart folks went for a cab. Even Lee Oswald went to the bus station to get his cab to Oak Cliff.
Besides the three casings, 76.7% of the witnesses said that three shots were fired. Thirty-five (33.7%) said the shots came from the Knoll and fifty-six (53.8%) said the TSBD. I personally believe that both were right.
(Note: I am not sure where he got this statistic from as 123 witnesses were asked where they thought the shots originated from and nearly two-thirds said the grassy knoll area. Thanks to Rob Caprio for the information. -- John Duncan)
It is hard to imagine that one third of the witnesses were wrong when they reported shots from the Grassy Knoll. What's more interesting is what they said.
SS Agent Clinton Hill said that the second and third shots sounded alike they had a different sound..."than the first sound I heard." Sam Holland; "...I definitely saw a puff of smoke and heard the report from under the trees."
Frank Reilly:..."at the park where all the shrubs is up there...up the slope."
James Simmons:..." Fumes of smoke near the embankment."
Austin Miller:..."there is a little plaza on the hill...who threw the firecracker or whatever it was."
Clemon Johnson:..."white smoke was observed by the pavilion."
Mary Woodward, Maggie Brown, Auretia Lorenzo, Ann Donaldson: All on the sidewalk said they heard a horrible. "ear-shattering noise coming from behind us and a little to our right."
John Chism: ..."by the Stemmons sign, I looked behind me,"
Marion Chism;..."It came from behind us."
Ammett Hudson:.."The shots that I heard definitely came from behind and above me." He was sitting on the steps on the Knoll.
Ronald Fisher:..."from just west of the TSBD."
Jean Hill: "I frankly thought they were coming from the Knoll."
Others that reported shots from the Knoll: Charles Brehm, Roy Truly, Virgil Campbell, Mrs. Alvin Hopson, Mrs. Chas. Davis, Dorothy Ann Garner, Steven Wilson, Otis Williams, Victoria Adams, Billy
Lovelady, Danny Arce, Wesley Frazier, James Jarman, Roger Craig, J.E. Decker, James Jarman, Harry Weatherford, and many more names can be added to the list.
And the Warren Commission had the gall to say all the shots...were fired from the sixth-floor within the TSBD..."There is no credible evidence that the shots were fired ...from any other location." WR19
However, they also said that it was possible that only two shots were fired from the sixth floor with the shooter carrying an empty shell in the weapon. Page 110-111 WR
Most people say three. Supposedly, one (the first) shot missed, one shot hit JFK in the neck, passed through Connally and became the alleged magic-bullet. And the third was the fatal shot that hit the president in the head.
The Warren Wizards said: "The consensus among the witnesses at the scene was that three shots were fired. However, some heard only two shots. The most convincing evidence relating to the number of shots was provided by the presence on the sixth floor of three spent cartridges. This led the Commission to conclude that there were three shots...." WR 110-111. (One cartridge was dented on the lip CE 534)
I would like to see anyone duplicate the dented lip on CE 534 bye ejecting a fired shell or even by stepping on it. It also had three sets of markings on its base that were not present on the other two casings and it lacked the chambering marks of the murder weapon. (Hoover)
I have seen similar damage to casings that had been dry fired. When a casing lacks a projectile and it is quickly slammed forward into the breech of the barrel, it will sometimes fail to enter the barrel and hit the outer rim of the barrel entrance causing damage to the neck of the casing similar to CE 534.
But, later they said, "The physical and other evidence examined by the Commission compels the conclusion that AT LEAST TWO SHOTS WERE FIRED... It is possible that the assassin carried an EMPTY SHELL IN THE RIFLE and fired only two shots ...." WR 110-111
Summing up. One shot missed the car completely and there is no record of recovering any of its remains. One shot allegedly passed through Kennedy and Connally and magically remained near pristine and ended up at Parkland Hospital.
This bullet weighed 161 grains before it was fired at the motorcade. When recovered it weighed 158.6 grains which means that very little was lost in its destructive journey.
A fragment weighing 0.5 grains was recovered from Connally's arm. Audrey Bell, the operating nurse, stated that there were four or five fragments "anywhere from three to four millimeters in length and a couple of millimeters wide. " These fragments disappeared at the autopsy.
In addition, what happened to the fragment found in Connally's leg wound? Also, there was a fragment in the governor's chest that was never recovered. He died with fragments still in his body that weighed more that the alleged two to three missing grains from C-399 that was described as near pristine. And the Warrens say, about pristine, "The Governor's wrist wound WAS NOT CAUSED BY A PRISTINE BULLET." p. 94
So, this leaves one bullet and it had to be the fatal projectile that removed part of the president's skull and much of his brains.
After the coup, two bullet fragments were found in the Lincoln. According to Warren, the two fragments weighed 44.6 and 21.0 grains respectively. "The heavier fragment was a portion of a bullet's nose area...the lighter fragment consisted of a bullet's base... the two fragments were both mutilated, and it was not possible to determine from the fragments themselves whether they comprised the base and nose of one bullet or of two separate bullets." WR
If one bullet missed the car completely and one ended up at Parkland almost pristine, the last bullet logically would have to be the bullet that hit JFK in the head and both fragments were from the same projectile I disagree with this conclusion.
I suspect that, with the angle of the neck shot, the above fragments would remain in the car, ergo, the remains of the single bullet, and the head shot bullet probably ended up in tiny bits in Dealey Plaza.
Some say that Tague was hit by the first MISSED shot, but he heard shots before he was hit by a very tiny fragment. So, he was probably hit by a fragment from the third shot instead of the ALLEGED MISSED FIRST SHOT. He also thought that the shots came from the "hill"
I personally do not believe there was a missed shot. If I were the mastermind of the murder, I would be sure to provide evidence that would assure the connection to the rifle and its owner. And since I could not rely on the future condition of the bullets actually fired at the occupants of the limousine, I would fire a bullet through the barrel of the murder weapon before 11-22-63 and be sure to leave it where it would be found. Enter the near pristine Parkland slug.
And enter Jack Ruby and the Parkland slug.
As Assistant. DA Alexander said, "The single bullet is like the Immaculate Conception. Either you believe it or you don't."
I do BELIEVE that a single bullet transited both men, thus, the single bullet, but I will never believe that the Parkland bullet is one and the same bullet. I believe that the JFK/Connally bullet remained in the car and the Parkland bullet was planted on the wrong stretcher, at Parkland, by Jack Ruby, when he failed to plant it in the limousine in Dealey Plaza because the car went on to the hospital.
(Jack Ruby was in Dealey Plaza during the shooting)
SEE:
The Fourth Decade, Volume 4, Issue 2
Current Section: Where Was Jack Ruby on November 21 and November 22?,
by Martha A. Moyer & R.F. Gallagher
At the time of the shooting, Jack Ruby was in front of the Texas School Book Depository, not in the Dallas Morning News as he claimed.
SEE pictures
www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId...
I would agree that there were three shots fired. At least it would be hard to argue that 90% of the witnesses did not hear three SOUNDS that they called gunfire. It is also hard to argue that one of these shots did not come from the grassy knoll, but it may not have been a shot at the President. Witnesses said it sounded different and it was the first sound. Some of us believe that it was Jim Braden firing a 38.
Cal. pistol into the air as a diversion shot to draw attention away from the TSBD and allow our shooter to get away. Was he the alleged Secret Service man that Officer Smith confronted? The Commission may have thought so also, since they had a .38 fired on the knoll during the later reenactment. And how about that bent casing found on the floor of the TSBD? Most of the gun lovers that I know say that it could not have been fired from C-2766 that day or any other day. I agree. (See Tink Thompson Six Seconds in Dallas.) Was it the empty casing that the Commission said may have been carried in the rifle? (P111 WR) If someone fired a diversion shot on the knoll and witnesses reported three shots - it would help if three casings were found in the TSBD to make us believe that three shots were fired from there, NO?
Was Agent Bennett one of them? He was stationed in the right rear seat of the follow up car. He heard a sound like a firecracker as the motorcade proceeded down Elm Street. Could that have been Braden and his .38? Bennett then said, " I looked at the back of the President. I heard another firecracker noise and SAW THAT SHOT HIT THE PRESIDENT ABOUT FOUR INCHES DOWN THE RIGHT SHOULDER. A second shot followed immediately and hit the right rear of the President's head.
Substantial weight may be given Bennett's observation. Although his formal statement was dated November 23, 1963, his notes indicated that he recorded what he saw and heard at 5:30 PM 11-22-63, on the airplane enroute to Washington, prior to the autopsy, when it was not yet known that the President had been hit in the back.