JFK Was Shot From The Front

[John Mytton]

JohnM

[Jerry Organ]

Classic Lone Nutter MO, misrepresenting evidence by using the cut down version of the video.

Actually, of the 37 attempts 17 were called 'no time' because of trouble with the rifle.

Which can only mean the rifle jammed or otherwise malfunctions; that is close to a 50% chance of failure.

Here's what followed when the news-clip ends:

    "A technician at the H. P. White Ballistics Laboratory managed three
     shots in the fastest time, 4.1 seconds, half a second faster than the
     fastest time turned in for the Warren Commission, but only one hit.

        Altogether the eleven volunteer marksmen made 37 attempts to
     fire three shots at the moving target. 17 of those attempts had to be
     called no time, because of trouble with the rifle. In the 20 attempts
     where time could be recorded, the average was 5.6 seconds."

CBS noted "None of the men had much familiarity with the Italian Mannlicher-Carcano". More to the point, all had no familiarity with the actual Carcano rifle they were given that day. None of the riflemen were told in advance they would be duplicating the Kennedy Assassination, thus none could practice beforehand with a Carcano. Howard Donahue (a gunsmith) was asked just that morning by a "hunting pal" to participate; while a fair shot, Donahue was not a shooting champion. Donahue said their "practice" in the basement was with three shots at a bullet-riddled target with no attempt to ascertain where their bullets hit; the purpose was just to acquaint, in a limited way, the riflemen with the bolt-action.

Thus none of the riflemen were as familiar with the Carcano as was Oswald, if we believe Marina's reports about Oswald's "dry-firing" on the porch. Oswald didn't have to "bracket" his shots in a predetermined "kill zone", which placed an encumbrance on the CBS-News shooters. Wind picked up as the test proceeded, making the wooden-frame tower sway. But Donahue said the primary problem he encountered was recycling the bolt-action too swiftly or firmly, causing the action to stick or lag. As to the actual firing into the target, all his shots struck the target. It was probably increasing familiarity with the bolt-action that allowed his third attempt to fully succeed.

[Bill Chapman]

Classic Lone Nutter MO, misrepresenting evidence by using the cut down version of the video.

Actually, of the 37 attempts 17 were called 'no time' because of trouble with the rifle.

Which can only mean the rifle jammed or otherwise malfunctions; that is close to a 50% chance of failure.

As a cup-half-full kind of guy, I'll take this golden opportunity to point out that a 50% chance of failure always comes gift-wrapped with a 50% chance of success.

[Anthony Frank]

The radio log states that when the assassination occurred, Curry, who was driving the lead car of the motorcade directly in front of President Kennedy’s limousine, stated, “Get men on top of the underpass, see what happened up there, go up to the overpass.”

Dallas County Sheriff Bill Decker and Secret Service Special Agent Winston Lawson, who were also in the lead car, further bolstered Curry’s adamant view about shots originating from in front of President Kennedy.

As soon as Curry issued the instructions to “get men on top of the underpass,” Decker stated, “I’m sure it’s going to take some time to get your men in there. Put every one of my men there. Notify Station 5 [Sheriff’s Office] to move all men available out of my department back into the railroad yard and try to determine what happened and hold everything secure until homicide and other investigators can get in there.”

Secret Service Special Agent Winston Lawson wrote in his Secret Service report on November 23, 1963, “Chief Curry gave instructions over his radio for officers to converge on the area where the incident occurred.”

There is no ambiguity in Lawson’s report, as the radio log clearly states that the area where Curry instructed his officers to “converge” was “on top of the underpass.”

Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Forrest Sorrels, who was also in the lead car, wrote a report stating, “When I heard two more shots, I said ‘Let’s get out of here.’ I looked toward the top of the terrace to my right as the sound of the shots seemed to come from that direction.”

He testified to the Warren Commission that he “did not look back” at the Texas School Book Depository “because it was way back in the back.”

Presidential aide Kenneth O’Donnell, who was riding in the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind President Kennedy’s limousine was also aware of shots from the front.

In the autobiography of the late Massachusetts Congressman Tip O’Neill, O’Neill writes, “I was surprised to hear O’Donnell say that he was sure that he had heard two shots that came from behind the fence.”

“‘That’s not what you told the Warren Commission,’ I said.”

“‘You’re right,’ he replied, ‘I told the FBI what I had heard, but they said that it couldn’t have happened that way and that I must have been imagining things. So, I testified the way that they wanted me to.’”

If people were compelled to testify a certain way before the Warren Commission, regardless of what they witnessed, could any of them be trusted to be telling the truth when they said that the shots came from the Texas School Book Depository?

In an Executive Session on December 16, 1963, which was held more than two months before any witness testimony was taken, members of the Warren Commission discussed President Kennedy having been shot from the front.

Warren Commission member Gerald Ford stated, “But that person must have taken the shot over here some place.”

John McCloy, in referring to President Kennedy being shot from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, responded to Ford: “Still I don’t see how he could have been hit in the front from here.” Hale Boggs then stated, “That’s the big question, yes.”

McCloy then stated, “I inquired about this and they said that nobody was permitted on the overpass.”

After McCloy wondered how President Kennedy “could have been hit in the front from here,” and after McCloy mentioned the “overpass” that was in front of President Kennedy, McCloy made a statement about the sixth-floor window from which Oswald allegedly fired, and it is clear that McCloy knew that President Kennedy was shot from the front.

McCloy stated, “I think we ought to take a look at the grounds and somebody ought to do it. And get the picture of this angle to see if it is humanly possible for him to have been hit in the front from a shot fired from that window. Maybe it is.”

If it had been a clear case of President Kennedy being shot from behind, there would have been no reason for McCloy to refer to the sixth-floor window and ask “if it is humanly possible for him to have been hit in the front from a shot fired from that window,” and he would have no reason to say, “I don’t see how he could have been hit in the front from here.”

McCloy would have no reason to bring up “the overpass” that was in front of President Kennedy when he was assassinated.

Warren Commission member Hale Boggs was adamant that “the big question” was “how he could have been hit in the front from here.”

Contrary to what was in the final report of the Warren Commission, the Executive Session on December 16, 1963, shows that Commission members knew with absolute certainty that President Kennedy was shot from the front.

[Jerry Organ]

Presidential aide Kenneth O’Donnell, who was riding in the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind President Kennedy’s limousine was also aware of shots from the front.

In the autobiography of the late Massachusetts Congressman Tip O’Neill, O’Neill writes, “I was surprised to hear O’Donnell say that he was sure that he had heard two shots that came from behind the fence.”

"Man of the House" was not a bona fide autobiography. It was written by professional ghost-writer William Novak, using audiotapes made by O'Neill. One can imagine O'Neill in the comfort of his home with an Irish whiskey waxing poetically with a bit of blarney added. I believe the book drew some criticism from people who said what O'Neill claimed about them didn't happen. It was less academic history and more political anecdote.

“‘That’s not what you told the Warren Commission,’ I said.”

“‘You’re right,’ he replied, ‘I told the FBI what I had heard, but they said that it couldn’t have happened that way and that I must have been imagining things. So, I testified the way that they wanted me to.’”

O'Donnell doesn't seem to merely "go along" with a "narrative"; in 1964, he's laying out the rationale for what he heard:

     Mr. SPECTER. And what was your reaction as to the source of the
          shots, if you had one?
     Mr. O'DONNELL. My reaction in part is reconstruction---is that they
          came from the right rear. That would be my best judgment.
     Mr. SPECTER. Was there any reaction by any of the other people
          around in any specific direction?
     Mr. O'DONNELL. The agents all turned to the rear. I would think,
          watching the reaction of the President when the shot--the first
          shot hit--that it would be automatic it would have to have come
          from the rear. I think any experienced agent would make that
          assumption immediately.
     Mr. SPECTER. And was the reaction of the agents which you have
          referred to as coming from the rear, to the right rear or to the left rear?
     Mr. O'DONNELL. The reaction I note would be right rear. And, again,
          looking at the manner of the President's movement, I would think
          you would have to feel the thrust of the shot was from the right rear.



Now O'Neill said he got Dave Powers to "confirm" the meeting but we don't know to what extent. Powers himself was a "shot from the front" fellow, suggesting the Underpass:

    "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."

          -- Affidavit, May 18, 1964

So if "two shots that came from behind the fence" is accurate, it represents a change as to the source of shots for both men. By 1968, when the dinner meeting was said to have taken place, the "Rush to Judgment" movie was out and the assassination industry was running full-steam. Maybe the meeting took place after the assassinations of King and RFK. We don't have the context of the meeting.

[John Iacoletti]

Thus none of the riflemen were as familiar with the Carcano as was Oswald, if we believe Marina's reports about Oswald's "dry-firing" on the porch.

Marina didn't say anything about Lee "dry firing" on the porch.

[Anthony Frank]

O'Donnell doesn't seem to merely "go along" with a "narrative"; in 1964, he's laying out the rationale for what he heard:

Now O'Neill said he got Dave Powers to "confirm" the meeting but we don't know to what extent. Powers himself was a "shot from the front" fellow, suggesting the Underpass:

Oh, no! What do we have without O'Donnell and O'Neill?

We have all of this:

The radio log states that when the assassination occurred, Curry, who was driving the lead car of the motorcade directly in front of President Kennedy’s limousine, stated, “Get men on top of the underpass, see what happened up there, go up to the overpass.”

Dallas County Sheriff Bill Decker and Secret Service Special Agent Winston Lawson, who were also in the lead car, further bolstered Curry’s adamant view about shots originating from in front of President Kennedy.

As soon as Curry issued the instructions to “get men on top of the underpass,” Decker stated, “I’m sure it’s going to take some time to get your men in there. Put every one of my men there. Notify Station 5 [Sheriff’s Office] to move all men available out of my department back into the railroad yard and try to determine what happened and hold everything secure until homicide and other investigators can get in there.”

Secret Service Special Agent Winston Lawson wrote in his Secret Service report on November 23, 1963, “Chief Curry gave instructions over his radio for officers to converge on the area where the incident occurred.”

There is no ambiguity in Lawson’s report, as the radio log clearly states that the area where Curry instructed his officers to “converge” was “on top of the underpass.”

Secret Service Special Agent Forrest Sorrels, who was in the lead car, wrote a report stating, “When I heard two more shots, I said ‘Let’s get out of here.’ I looked toward the top of the terrace to my right as the sound of the shots seemed to come from that direction.”

He testified to the Warren Commission that he “did not look back” at the Texas School Book Depository “because it was way back in the back.”

[Izraul Hidashi]

Yeah...we know. The shooters were in the pergola.