JFK RFK MLK Assassination Forum

Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Charles James Carrico on March 25, 1964 - 6H, 5Mr. SPECTER. Would you describe as precisely for me as possible the nature of the head wound which you observed on the President?Dr. CARRICO. The wound that I saw was a large gaping wound, located in the right occipitoparietal area. I would estimate to be about 5 to 7 cm. in size more or less circular, with avulsions of the calvarium and scalp tissue. As I stated before, I believe there was shredded macerated cerebral and cerebellar tissues both in the wounds and on the fragments of the skull attached to the dura.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Charles James Carrico on March 30, 1964 - 3H, 361Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe as specifically as you can the head wound which you have already mentioned briefly?Dr. CARRICO. Sure. This was a 5- by 71 [sic]-cm defect in the posterior skull, the occipital region. There was an absence of the calvarium or skull in this area, with shredded tissue, brain tissue present and initially considerable slow oozing. Then after we established some circulation there was more profuse bleeding from this wound.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. William Kemp Clark on March 21, 1964 - 6H, 20Mr. SPECTER. What did you observe the President’s condition to be on your arrival there?Dr. CLARK. The President was lying on his back on the emergency cart. Dr. Perry was performing a tracheotomy. There were chest tubes being inserted. Dr. Jenkins was assisting the President’s respirations through a tube in his trachea. Dr. Jones and Dr. Carrico were administering fluids and blood intravenously.The President was making a few spasmodic respiratory efforts. I assisted in withdrawing the endotracheal tube from the throat as Dr. Perry was then ready to insert the tracheotomy tube. I then examined the President briefly.My findings showed his pupils were widely dilated, did not react to light, and his eyes were deviated outward with a slight skew deviation.I then examined the wound in the back of the President’s head. This was a large, gaping wound in the right posterior part, with cerebral and cerebellar tissue being damaged and exposed. There was considerable blood loss evident on the carriage, the floor, and the clothing of some of the people present. I would estimate 1,500 cc. of blood being present.As I was examining the President’s wound, I felt for a carotid pulse and felt none. Therefore, I began external cardiac massage and asked that a cardiotachioscope be connected. Because of my position it was difficult to administer cardiac massage. However, Dr. Jones stated that he felt a femoral pulse.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Marion Thomas Jenkins on March 25, 1964 - 6H, 48Mr. SPECTER. Now, will you now describe the wound which you observed in the head?Dr. JENKINS. Almost by the time I was-had the time to pay more attention to the wound in the head, all of these other activities were under way. I was busy connecting up an apparatus to respire for the patient, exerting manual pressure on the breathing bag or anesthesia apparatus, trying to feel for a pulse in the neck, and then reaching up and feeling for one in the temporal area, seeing about connecting the cardioscope or directing its being connected, and then turned attention to the wound in the head.Now, Dr. Clark had begun closed chest cardiac massage at this time and I was aware of the magnitude of the wound, because with each compression of the chest, there was a great rush of blood from the skull wound. Part of the brain was herniated; I really think part of the cerebellum, as I recognized it, was herniated from the wound; there was part of the brain tissue, broken fragments of the brain tissue on the drapes of the cart on which the President lay.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Ronald Coy Jones on March 24, 1964 - 6H, 53Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe as precisely as you can the nature of the head wound?Dr. JONES. 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 next with the brain and with a tremendous amount of clot and blood.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Robert Nelson McClelland on March 21, 1964 - 6H, 33Mr. SPECTER. Before proceeding to describe what you did in connection with the tracheostomy, will you more fully describe your observation with respect to the head wound?Dr. MCCLELLAND. As I took the position at the head of the table that I have already described to help out with the tracheotomy, I was in such a position that I could very closely examine the head wound, and I noted that the right posterior portion of the skull had been extremely blasted. It had been shattered, apparently, by the force of the shot so that the parietal bone was protruded up through the scalp and seemed to be fractured almost along its right posterior half, as well as some of the occipital bone being fractured in its lateral half, and this sprung open the bones that I mentioned in such a way that you could actually look down into the skull cavity itself and see that 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 a large amount of bleeding which was occurring mainly from the large venous channels in the skull which had been blasted open.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Malcolm Oliver Perry on March 25, 1964 - 6H, 11Mr. SPECTER. What do you observe as to the President’s head, specifically?Dr. PERRY. I saw no injuries other than the one which I noted to you, which was a large avulsive injury of the right occipitoparietal area, but I did not do a minute examination of his head.Mr. SPECTER. Did you notice a bullet hole below the large avulsed area?Dr. PERRY. No; I did not.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Malcolm Oliver Perry on March 30, 1964 - 3H, 372Mr. SPECTER. Will you now describe as specifically as you can, the injury which you noted in the President’s head?Dr. PERRY. As I mentioned previously in the record, I made only a cursory examination of the President’s head. I noted a large avulsive wound of the right parietal occipital area, in which both scalp and portions of skull were absent, and there was severe laceration of underlying brain tissue. My examination did not go any further than that.Mr. Specter. Did you, to be specific, observe a smaller wound below the large avulsed area which you have described?Dr. PERRY. I did not.Mr. SPECTER. Was there blood in that area of the President’s head?Dr. PERRY. There was.Mr. SPECTER. Which might have obscured such a wound?Dr. PERRY. There was a considerable amount of blood at the head of the cartilage.Warren Commission Testimony of Dr. Paul Conrad Peters on March 24, 1964 - 6H, 71Mr. SPECTER. What did you observe as to the nature of the President’s wounds?Dr. PETERS. Well, as I mentioned, the neck wound had already been interfered with by the tracheotomy at the time I got there, but I noticed the head wound, and as I remember-I noticed that there was a large defect in the occiput.Mr. SPECTER. What did you notice in the occiput?Dr. PETERS. It seemed to me that in the right occipitalparietal area that there was a large defect. There appeared to be bone loss and brain loss in the area.End of quotations.Shown below is the location of the parietal and occipital bones of the human skull:Another diagram, portraying different parts of the brain. Some of the doctors spoke of seeing "cerebellar tissue" (cerebellum) protruding from the wound. Note the location of the cerebellum (purple) in the lower rear of the skull cavity, posterior to the brain stem:

Dear Mr. Robert P.:Robert - Excellent Post and Headline. The information that you provided is very analytical, and descriptive.A careful reading of this information further confirms for me that:1. JFK was dead instantly with the head shot to his right temple.2. The language describes wounds and effects totally consistent with a Mercury Filled, Exploding Hollow Point.Comments ?Respectfully,BB.

Whether or not JFK died instantly from the head shot could be debated forever. It would lead us eventually to the question, what defines death? Cardiac arrest or the total cessation of all brain activity? It is interesting to note that a number of the Parkland doctors described seeing JFK in a state of "agonal respiration" when he first entered the ER. Below is a definition of agonal breathing:Agonal Respirations By Rod Brouhard, About.com GuideDefinition: Irregular, gasping breaths often seen during cardiac arrest. In most cases, rescuers will see victims take these gasping breaths no more than 10 to 12 times per minute; that's one every five to six seconds. Agonal respirations do not provide adequate oxygen to the body and should be considered the same as no breathing at all (respiratory arrest).~~end quote~~Note that the definition states "often seen during cardiac arrest". This means that, even though the heart has stopped and the brain is dying from hypoxia (no oxygen), there is still a primitive part of the brain called the brain stem that is making a crude attempt to perfuse the cells with oxygen. Below is another perspective on agonal breathing; which part of the brain creates it and the possible purpose it serves:Agonal respirations during cardiac arrest.SourcePublic Health--Seattle and King County, Emergency Medical Services Division, Seattle, Washington 98104-4039, USA. rea123@u.washington.eduRECENT FINDINGS: Agonal respirations originate from lower brainstem neurons as higher centers become increasingly hypoxic during cardiac arrest. No single layperson descriptor consistently identifies agonal respirations; rather, laypersons use a collection of terms to describe the abnormal breathing of agonal respirations. Animal studies demonstrate that agonal respirations can produce clinically important ventilation, oxygenation, and circulation. In human studies, agonal respirations are apparent in 40% of persons suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Agonal respirations are associated with witnessed events, ventricular fibrillation, and survival, suggesting that agonal respirations are a marker of an arrest's early phase and may potentially directly affect cardiopulmonary function. Although agonal respirations appear to exert favorable cardiopulmonary effects, they may paradoxically inhibit rescue efforts by preventing arrest recognition. A standardized dispatch approach can help dispatchers identify agonal respirations by distinguishing normal and abnormal breathing in the unconscious patient. Future study should consider how information about agonal respirations might be integrated into the resuscitation to optimize outcomes.SUMMARY: Agonal respirations have physiologic and care implications. Efforts to identify agonal respirations and integrate this information into resuscitation care may improve outcome from cardiac arrest.~~end quote~~While agonal breathing often only lasts a few minutes, not long enough to get JFK from Dealey Plaza to the ER at Parkland, there are cases where agonal breathing has lasted several hours:Presentation The American Heart Association notes that agonal breathing can present as a snorting, gurgling or gasping sound. The duration differs from person to person, lasting from a few minutes to sometimes hours. Normal respirations are regular in regards to timing. Agonal breathing is irregular and sporadic. It is important to remember that agonal breathing is not sufficient in delivering oxygen to the body. It is a sign of distress and is therefore not considered breathing.Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/36241 ... lJK7O~~end quote~~As I said, the boundaries are not clearly defined.As to the type of bullet used, it very well might have been a mercury filled hollow point round, although, in my hunting experience, a simple hollow point bullet could easily have produced a fist sized wound in the right rear of JFK's head. Remember, what we see in the Zapruder film is a cartoon wholly uncorroborated by the testimony of the ER professionals who first dealt with JFK. Not ONE of them described anything other than a large gaping wound in the right rear of the head. The explosion seen from the top and front side of JFK's head in frame z313 is nothing more than a painted in cartoon. I believe that even a soft point hunting bullet could have produced the wound described by Parkland doctors.

The evidence from the Parkland doctors of seeing cerebellum tissue leaking out of the wound cannot be understated. This is a major problem for Warren Commission apologists and the best that they can seemingly come up with is that the doctors were 'mistaken'. The Parkland doctors were reknown clinicians at a busy teaching hospital - at the top of their game and in sharp contrast the the Bethesda administrative pathologists. Cerebellar and cerebral tissue are quite different in both colour and texture and difficult to confuse. As stated in previous posts here, this is important evidence in relation to the position of the head wound, but also shows that the Brain 'exaimined' by the Bethesda pathologists (or at least that described in the report) CANNOT be the same as that described by the Parkland doctors.

JDThomas wrote:The evidence from the Parkland doctors of seeing cerebellum tissue leaking out of the wound cannot be understated. This is a major problem for Warren Commission apologists and the best that they can seemingly come up with is that the doctors were 'mistaken'. The Parkland doctors were reknown clinicians at a busy teaching hospital - at the top of their game and in sharp contrast the the Bethesda administrative pathologists. Cerebellar and cerebral tissue are quite different in both colour and texture and difficult to confuse. As stated in previous posts here, this is important evidence in relation to the position of the head wound, but also shows that the Brain 'exaimined' by the Bethesda pathologists (or at least that described in the report) CANNOT be the same as that described by the Parkland doctors.In my time on the jfkassassinationforum.com , I learned that any witness whose statement or testimony contradicted any of the Warren Commision findings was either:1. Mistaken2. Confused3. Lying4. Seeking fifteen minutes of fame5. Seeking to get rich quick6. "Mis-remembering" (my personal favorite)7. Not professionally qualified to make an observation or understand what was seen8. All of the above

Yep Robert what you just described for sure sounds like that Lone Nutter Forum.

Interview with Dr. Charles Crenshaw:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs5f4I5hK-c

God bless you, Dr. Crenshaw. I can only imagine the abuse and intimidation being heaped upon this good man, following his release of the truth. It would have been very easy, for a man of his age, to take the simple road into retirement but he has chosen the hard and lonely path of the brave and the few.Once again, God bless you, Dr. Crenshaw.

Interview with Dr. Robert McClelland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p40LqmK5sBw