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November 22, 1963 was a day no American will ever forget. Most people remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. At precisely 12: 30 P. M. [Central Standard Time], the 35 th president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Constituted by Lyndon B Johnson, and led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Warren Commission was assembled to investigate the assassination of John F.
Kennedy. This commission was conceived in recognition of the right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning these events. This statement has been challenged by many over the past 40 years. The commissions relatively short investigation and controversial evidence has left much room for doubt among the American people. The Warren Commission arrived at twelve distinct conclusions after investigating the case.
Among the most controversial are conclusion numbers one, two, three, four and ten. Conclusions one and four state that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin, firing shots from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository. These conclusions were based on witnesses, many of whom happened to disappear shortly after interviewed; evidence and pictures from an autopsy preformed on the president, which were never disclosed to the public; and Oswald's background information, which conveniently fit the mold. Another questionable conclusion in the Warren Report is conclusion number two; the weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired, was left completely unexplained, with no supporting evidence. Conclusion three states that of the three supposed shots fired, one wounded both Texas Governor, John Connally and President Kennedy. However, it also states that Governor Connally's statements leave room for doubt as to which bullet hit him.
Although these conclusions leave questions unanswered, the most debated conclusion of the Warren Report is number ten. In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence of conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the U. S. Government by a Federal, State, or local official. Similar to conclusion number two, there is no supporting documentation under this claim.
Under all but three conclusions in the Warren Report supporting evidence is provided immediately following. It is ironic that two of these three have proven to be the most controversial. Although these investigators were considered the best, they were not able to completely rule out the possibility of alternative scenarios for the assassination. Were they simply being too cautious, or was it something more that kept them from a verdict that did not create any doubt for the American public? The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired. Among the numerous conclusions by forth by the Warren Commission, this has been most easily disputed.
According to the Dallas Times Herald, (afternoon edition, November 22, 1963) Witnesses said six or seven shots were fired. Most would not find this number of shots excessive. Between the President and Governor Connally, there were nearly ten significant wounds discovered. According to the Warren Commission, one shot passed through the presidents neck and then most probably passed through the Governors body, a subsequent shot penetrated the presidents head, no other shot struck any part of the automobile... one shot probably missed the car and its occupants.
It seems incredible that only three shots, with only two reaching their targets, could have caused such damage. The magic bullet theory, described by the Warren Commission, explains how a single bullet could have passed through both Kennedy and Connally. This theory creates significant doubt as to its validity. The panel arrived at the conclusion that there was a single bullet which entered the upper right back of Kennedy, emerged from the front of his neck and subsequently caused all Governor Connally's wounds. Governor Connally was not only wounded in the left thigh, but below the armpit, and the radius bone in his right wrist was completely shattered.
The bullet that supposedly did this was found completely intact, with no dents or lesions. A test bullet [of the same type as the magic bullet] was fired into a wrist bone of a cadaver, simply to see how it would be effected. The bullets head was completely smashed. Obviously, no ordinary bullet could perform tasks even close to this, thus the magic bullet. This depiction in itself simply sounds outrageous. According to Lt.
Colonel Pierre Finck, one of the doctors who preformed the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the Warren Commissions explanation is impossible... for the reason that there are more grains of metal still in Governor Connally's wrist than there are missing from that bullet. That bullet could not have done it. Why then, would the governments committee lie and make up an unlikely story about the number of shots fired? There appears to be only one explanation for this; there was something to hide.
The magic bullet theory is not the only questionable finding in the Warren Report. Directly following the shooting, President Kennedy was taken to the closest hospital, Parkland Hospital, where the President was examined, treated, and cleaned up before transport to Bethesda. While investigating the assassination, the Warren Commission ordered an autopsy to be performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital, in order to determine the nature of the presidents wounds. Bethesda Naval Hospitals Mission Statement reads as follows. To conduct research, development, tests and evaluations to enhance the health, safety, and readiness of Navy and Marine Corps personnel in the effective performance of peacetime and contingency missions, and to perform such other functions or tasks as may be directed by higher authority.
Some believe Kennedys body was tampered with during its transport from one hospital to the other. At Parkland Hospital in Dallas, a tracheotomy was performed by a highly skilled surgeon, Malcolm Perry, M. D. , in an attempt to save the Presidents life. Numerous witnesses have testified that his incision was neatly made across a small bullet hole just to the right of the trachea. However, if one were to see a photo of the throat wound at Bethesda, it would look rather large and jagged, not clean and neat as witnesses from Parkland Hospital have testified it to have been. According to the Warren Report, ...
the doctors concluded that the bullet exited from the front portion of the Presidents neck that had been cut away by the tracheotomy. What happened between Parkland and Bethesda is not discussed in the Warren Report. While reviewing the reported findings of both Parklands and Bethesda's examination of the Presidents body, one will find significant differences. Regarding President Kennedys head wound, the dissimilarities between the two reports are astounding. At Parkland Hospital, the large defect in the Presidents head was measured approximately 2 - 3 / 4 inches, and the bullet was reported to have exited from the back of the head.
Parkland believed the bullet had a front-to-back trajectory. Bethesda's measurement of the large defect in the Presidents head was 5 - 1 / 8 inches, and the bullet was reported to have exited from the top right portion of the head, therefore having a back-to-front trajectory. Which hospitals report should be believed; the hospital that received the body directly after the assassination, or the one who received the body nearly 24 hours after the murder? Could there have been a higher authority involved as alluded to in Bethesda's Mission Statement, documented above? According to the Warren Commission, The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired by [only] Lee Harvey Oswald. The inconsistencies between the two medical examiner reports indicate it would be nearly impossible for one person to have fired all the shots.
The trajectory of the bullets striking President Kennedy and Governor Connally could very well have originated from two separate locations. One man cannot fire the same rifle from two separate locations. As mentioned earlier, Bethesda Naval Hospitals doctors observed the trajectory of President Kennedys head wound as back to front. They also observed Kennedys wound to the throat as an exit wound. They claimed that bullet entered directly above the shoulder.
Parkland, on the other hand, indicated that the wound entered the throat, front-to-back. These different observations seem inconsistent. Where did the bullets enter, exit and come from? How many bullets were fired? These questions make it difficult to believe that there was just one assassin.
From the time the first shot was fired until the last, the Warren Commission and many other scientists have concluded that 5. 6 seconds had elapsed. If the Warren Report is accurate, Lee Harvey Oswald would have had to fired three rounds in that time. Not only would he have had to be one of the quickest, Oswald had to have been remarkably accurate as well. To be able to hit President Kennedy in the back of the head, while in a moving vehicle turning a curve is an extraordinary task. Not to mention the fact he was supposedly six stories high and not a trained sniper. Shooting a sniper rifle is not easy.
When setting up a shot, the weather, time of day and temperature must be taken into consideration; the gun should then be adjusted as needed. According to reports, the rifle identified as the murder weapon was found to have a defective scope [eyepiece used to aim] and a worn down barrel [which is crucial in firing a sniper rifle correctly and accurately]. The description of the defective weapon, the trajectory inconsistencies and Oswald's average rifle skills create substantial doubt that the scenario described by the Warren Commission is accurate. Did Oswald really work alone, as reported by the Warren Commission? Was it possible for a lone man to assassinate the president?
These thoughts have plagued both investigators and the American public for nearly 40 years. Oswald's past seemingly fit the pattern of someone who would attempt such an act. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, two months after the death of his father. As a child, he was often in trouble and according to a psychiatrist, emotionally disturbed.
In 1956, Oswald dropped out of school at the age of 17 and joined the United States Marine Corps. For the next three years, Oswald served in several different areas of the military. In 1959, at his own request, he was discharged from the Marines. Nearly one later, Oswald traveled to Moscow. In Moscow, he tried to renounce his citizenship of the United States, apparently upset with his government. In February...
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Research essay sample on Lee Harvey Oswald November 22 1963
