See other History Articles
Title: How steel back brace made JFK a sitting duck in Dallas
Source:
The Standard
URL Source: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Opinion/FK27Df02.html
Published: Sep 9, 2009
Author: James Reston
Post Date: 2009-09-09 21:10:18 by Turtle
Keywords: None
Views: 2197
Comments: 135
Two years ago, historian Robert Dallek revealed new details about the extraordinary range of shots, stimulants and pills former United States President John F Kennedy took to control his physical pain and present his youthful image to the world. Important and interesting as these details are, they should not distract us from the one medical remedy that probably killed the president: his corset. Members of Kennedy's inner circle had often witnessed the painful ritual that Kennedy endured in his private quarters before he ventured in public, when his valet would literally winch a steel-rodded canvas back brace around the president's torso, pulling heavy straps and tightening the thongs loop by loop as if it was a bizarre scene out of Gone With the Wind. Once in it, the president was planted upright, trapped and almost bolted into a ramrod posture. Many would wonder how JFK could ever move in such a contraption. And yet move he did, and, besides his painkillers, his corset contributed to the youthful, high-shouldered military bearing that he presented glamorously to the world. But this simple device imparted a fate almost Mephistophelean in its horror to the sequence of events in Dallas 41 years ago. In researching my biography of governor John Connally of Texas 15 years ago, I was led to the critical importance of Kennedy's corset in the ghastly six seconds in November 1963 by a former Texas senator, the late Ralph Yarborough, who was in the motorcade that day. Yarborough growled softly about that ``damned girdle,'' and this led me to the remarks of two doctors, Charles James Carrico and Malcolm Oliver Perry, buried in Volume 3 of the 26-volume set of testimony that attended the Warren Commission report. In November 1963, Carrico was the 28-year-old resident in the emergency room of Parkland Hospital who first received the injured president in the trauma room; Perry came quickly to the emergency room to supervise the case - and then to pronounce the president dead a half-hour later. Before the Warren Commission, Carrico told of removing Kennedy's back brace in the first seconds after his arrival. He described the device as made of coarse white fibre, with stays and buckles. Apart from the never-ending controversy over how many bullets Lee Harvey Oswald actually fired from the Texas School Book Depository, most experts agree with the Warren Commission that Oswald's first bullet passed cleanly through Kennedy's lower neck, missing any bone, then entered Connally's back, streaking through the governor's body and lodging in his thigh. This was the first so-called magic bullet. When Connally was hit, he pivoted in pain to his left, his lithe body in motion as it swivelled downward, ending up in the lap of his wife, Nellie. But because of the corset, Kennedy's body did not act as a normal body would when the bullet passed through his throat. Held by his back brace, Kennedy remained upright, according to the Warren Commission, for five more seconds. This provided Oswald the chance to reload and shoot again at an almost stationary target. The frames of the Zapruder film confirm this ramrod posture: Kennedy's head turns only slightly in those eternal seconds, and his upper body almost not at all, from frame 225 (when the first shot entered his neck) to the fatal frame of 313. Without the corset, the force of the first bullet, travelling at a speed of 600 metres a second, would surely have driven the president's body forward, making him writhe in pain like Connally, and probably down in the seat of his car, beyond the view of Oswald's cross hairs for a second or third shot. With no bones struck and the spinal cord intact, the president almost certainly would have survived the wound from the first bullet. Both Carrico and Perry testified to this likelihood (and apropos of the decades-long controversy, both testified that the small, round, clean wound in the front of Kennedy's neck was an exit wound rather than an entry wound). To Perry, under the questioning of then-assistant counsel - now senator from Pennsylvania - Arlen Specter, the injury was ``tolerable''; the president would have recovered. Because the bullet had passed below the larynx, the wound would not even have impaired his speech later. In the new focus on cortisone shots, codeine painkillers, barbiturates, stimulants such as Ritalin, and gamma globulin injections, the simple corset needs to be emphasised, tragically, in the context of those medical strategies Kennedy used to create the illusion of the vigorous leader.
Poster Comment: I've always been amused by Kennedy "experts" who've pontificated to me about three shooters, the grassy knoll, his driver shot him...and not one of them knew Kennedy was straight-jacketed into his back brace, and that the throat shot was not fatal, indeed not even that bad of a wound.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Turtle (#0)
There is no such thing as a magic bullet. If you need to rely on "magic" to explain an event, then the story is bullshit.
The back brace was no secret, at least not after the assassination, and was mentioned (as limited JFK's voluntary and involuntary movement when being shot) in the Warren Commission Report and in Josiah Thompson's Six Seconds in Dallas. The single bullet theory is, in fact, perhaps the only plausible explanation for Connally's injury's. Connally was hit by a bullet on a downward trajectory, evidently considerably reduced in speed and force by having passed through something else first. An examination of the Zapruder film shows that his wrist was in alignment with the bullet holes in his back and chest only about the same moment that JFK was first shot. To have hit Connally's back from Oswald's window (or anywhere in that vicinity, if you think the shot came from another window), the bullet must first go through JFK since Oswald did not have a clear view of Connally's back.
This is the bullet that magically entered JFK's back, did a left hand turn, stopped and did a sharp 90 degree turn to exit his throat, hit Connally in the back, turn, exit, hit him in the wrist, turn, travel up his hand, turn, then hit in the leg, all without damaging the bullet at all... Here's a diagram of what the Warren Commission claimed happened. More info below; I've never known any Kennedy conspiracist who knew about his back brace. It doesn't fit in with their fantasies, just as his worshippers don't know about his massive drug use and his extensive sexual immorality.
LOLOLOL
So it's ok with you that he was assassinated because he had a fling or two, or had some serious back pain? Of course, anyone who doesn't believe the fairy tale crap about a "lone gunman" is a "nut" in your eyes, right Turtle?
In 2007, the FBI reported on concern about white supremacists recruiting soldiers, saying "hundreds" of neo-Nazis were in the active military. But in April, a Department of Homeland Security report on extremism that reiterated much the same point was widely criticized by veterans groups and some conservative politicians as being unpatriotic, leading the Justice Department to retract the DHS report. Critics acknowledge that extremism in the Army is a touchy political subject. Typical conspiracist nonsense from an ignoramus. The bullet hit Kennedy in the back, exited through his throat, tumbled upright, made a "keyhole" wound in Connely's back, exited, hit his wrist and bounced into his thigh. I will tell you what I tell all conspiracist crackpots: I will give you 10,000 years to prove your case, be it Kennedy or the "Truther" nonsense. You're never do it.
Isn't it bizarre that some people swallow whatever is fed to them by the government, especially if it comes from "experts"... It's almost as if they worship the government as some form of god or something, and the words of the government are right up there with the Bible in their view.
Actually the bullet that went through JFK's throat entered the back of his neck considerably higher than in your drawing. The autopsy drawing put a dot for the entry wound in the shoulder right around the shoulder blades, which was Very misleading to all those amateur sherlocks, but the doctor wrote down on the same page very exact measurements in centimeters of the hold in relation to JFK's right mastoid process (that bony prominance right behind the ear and a standard anatomical landmark) which makes it clear that the bullet hole was not in the shoulder itself but in the back of JFK's neck, at or just a tiny bit above the top of the shirt collar, so the bullet did not take an upward turn at all but went through the neck in a fairly straight line, hitting only soft tissue.
The only problem I have with Kennedy is that he wasn't killed before he got us in Vietnam,
This is one of the most insane fables ever postulated. Lee and Jack and their handlers would be really, really proud of this one.
The only problem with this explanation is that the front of JFKs head explodes, leaving lots of goop on the trunk of the car.
Have you ever fired a gun Turtle? Bullets are made of lead and deform when they enter soft tissue, and if they hit bone they fragment. You're wasting your time. Conspiracists don't operate on facts and logic; they operate on fantasy and immature feeling, which is why I consider them, ultimately, to be leftists.
Eisenhower got us into Vietnam, Kennedy was about to pull out all troops but was assassinated before getting it done. Johnson escalated it to what it became.
Have you ever fired a gun Turtle? Bullets are made of lead and deform when they enter soft tissue, and if they hit bone they fragment. You are truly an ignoramus. The bullet was steel-jacketed.
Bullets don't look brand new when they hit two people, and you're very gullible if you believe that it is possible.
Typical immature leftist nonsense. Kennedy had no intention of pulling out. He was an evil man, a pure politician, as bad as Lincoln, Bush, or Clinton.
Only a mentally-ill crackpot holds a trial for almost 50 years and gets exactly nowhere. You'e never fired a firearm in your life. Don't say you have, because I don't believe you.
No it wasn't, and any halfway intelligent person can look at the bullet and see that it was copper jacketed, just as any other modern round. If it was a steel jacketed bullet it would NOT have been deflected by anything and would have torn through the car itself, and would certainly not have landed softly with no marks on it other than rifling.
Then again you believe anything the government tells you because you worship it. Are you byeltsin?
My God, you can't even tell a steel-jacket by looking at it. I was right - you've never fired a gun in your life.
Besides qualifying as Rifle Expert in the USMC, I have quite a few different firearms I own personally which I have fired thousands of rounds through. So shove it up your lying ass idiot.
Look it up on the web douchbag, the "magic bullet" was a copper jacketed bullet, not steel. Do you know how to use Google, or does your handler need to do it for you?
I don't believe a word you're saying. The last guy who lied to me about being in the military who a security guard who told me he "didn't use" military time when he was in.
I was right -- a mentally ill conspiracist, lying about being in the military. paranoid, seeing conspiracies everywhere, and says the bullet was lead, now changes his mind and says copper-jacked, and doesn't understand the generic term for any bullet like that is "steel-jacket."
I heard about it first maybe five or six years ago. For many years, you didn't hear it because of the whole Camelot cult and they didn't want to admit that their stoned cripple president was corsetted up like Scarlett O'Hair and thus made himself a rigid target for a second fatal shot by an assassin.
Loddy, you ever hear of such an animal? One would think that a steel jacket would weld itself to the barrel.
He was an evil man, a pure politician, as bad as Lincoln, Bush, or Clinton. You are a liar and a shill. That makes you much more evil than anything you see in Kennedy that drives you to see that. Besides his EO announcing a troop pullout in Vietnam, Kennedy fired CIA Director Dulles, was about to disband the CIA entirely, was very upset about Israeli nuclear bomb making, and started printing real money backed by silver, pissing off the boys who run the FED. Wake up.
So I see your game here Turtle. You lay dormant on the forum, acting like a tard amusing people occasionally, but when push comes to shove you act like yukon over at LP. Is that you yukon?
I heard about it maybe five, six years ago, but I knew what a vile person Kennedy was long before that. His worshippers cannot tolerate the fact one lowlife (Oswald) killed another lowlife (Kennedy(. They have to create all kinds of bizarre fantasies about magic bullets, three shooters, grassy knolls, and his own driver shooting him, in order to keep their fantasies intact.
Fuck you asswipe, I was serving in the USMC while you were fondling your boyfriend in the backseat of your mom's car. If I ever by chance meet you in person, perhaps I'll show you what I do to people who call me a liar about my military service. But of course you'd never say it to my face you fucking coward.
That's a big myth, one punctured quite easily. Look at Wikipedia, to name just one source: This executive order delegates to the Secretary of the Treasury the president's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act. The order was for the Treasury to issue silver certificates against all silver held by the government which did not already have certificates against it. The order was needed due to the passage of Public Law 88-36 which repealed the Silver Purchase Act and other related monetary measures. One result was that after the repeals, only the President could issue new silver certificates.[citation needed] The Federal Reserve System could replace the certificates, but only in larger denominations. The thrust of the order returned the authority to issue new silver certificates (and specify denominations) back to the U.S. Treasury. This executive order allowed for the Federal Reserve System to distribute and exchange currency at lower denominations that met the growing economic need. The authoritative basis for the Order was substantially nullified on September 13, 1982 with the passage of Public Law 97-258. [1] The order was never directly reversed, but on September 9, 1987, Executive Order 12608 revoked the section that Executive Order 11110 had added to Executive Order 10289,[2] essentially nullifying the order. This executive order is the subject of one of many conspiracy theories concerning the assassination of President Kennedy, with the claim that it was the first step in a plan to close the Federal Reserve Bank.
Big mouth + no balls = coward. Live in your mentally-ill conspiracist fantasy world all you want. I find it amusing. I repeat: anyone who holds a trial for almost 50 years, and can get nowhere, is mentally ill.
So are you really as stupid as you sound, or are you paid to be that way?
Do you deny that he fired Allen Dulles?
BTW, ANYONE can write whatever they want on Wiki.
Loddy, you ever hear of such an animal? Great catch there - I missed it. No, of course not. Copper or lead, or copper-clad lead, form the bullets.
Oh no no no -- you're puncturing the conspiracist's fantasies! Don't you know the bankers killed him? No, wait -- it was the CIA! Or was it Castro?
Comments (41 - 135) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#2. To: Turtle (#0)
#3. To: Turtle (#0)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#4. To: Shoonra (#2)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#5. To: FormerLurker (#3)
This is the bullet that magically entered JFK's back, did a left hand turn, stopped and did a sharp 90 degree turn to exit his throat, hit Connally in the back, turn, exit, hit him in the wrist, turn, travel up his hand, turn, then hit in the leg, all without damaging the bullet at all...
#6. To: Turtle (#4)
(Edited)
It doesn't fit in with their fantasies
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#7. To: christine (#5)
#8. To: FormerLurker (#3)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#9. To: christine (#5)
LOLOLOL
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#10. To: FormerLurker (#3)
#11. To: FormerLurker (#6)
So it's ok with you that he was assassinated because he had a fling or two, or had some serious back pain due?
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#12. To: Turtle, Magic Bullet Fans (#0)
#13. To: Turtle (#0)
#14. To: Turtle (#8)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#15. To: Shoonra (#10)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#16. To: Turtle (#11)
The only problem I have with Kennedy is that he wasn't killed before he got us in Vietnam
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#17. To: FormerLurker (#14)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#18. To: Shoonra (#10)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#19. To: FormerLurker (#16)
Kennedy was about to pull out all troops but was assassinated before getting it done. Johnson escalated it to what it became.
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#20. To: FormerLurker (#18)
Bullets don't look brand new when they hit two people, and you're very gullible if you believe that it is possible.
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#21. To: Turtle (#17)
The bullet was steel-jacketed.
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#22. To: Turtle (#20)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#23. To: FormerLurker (#21)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#24. To: Turtle (#20)
You'e never fired a firearm in your life
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#25. To: Turtle (#23)
My God, you can't even tell a steel-jacket by looking at it. I was right - you've never fired a gun in your life.
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#26. To: FormerLurker (#24)
Besides qualifying as Rifle Expert in the USMC, I have quite a few different firearms I own personally which I have fired thousands of rounds through.
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#27. To: FormerLurker (#25)
does your handler need
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#28. To: Turtle (#4)
I've never known any Kennedy conspiracist who knew about his back brace.
#29. To: Lod, Turtle (#17)
The bullet was steel-jacketed.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#30. To: Turtle (#19)
Kennedy had no intention of pulling out.
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#31. To: Turtle (#27)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#32. To: TooConservative (#28)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#33. To: Turtle (#26)
The last guy who lied to me about being in the military who a security guard who told me he "didn't use" military time when he was in.
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#34. To: FormerLurker (#30)
...[JFK]...started printing real money backed by silver, pissing off the boys who run the FED.
In essence, this was a bit of bookkeeping, not some glorious return to the silver standard, a myth apparently promulgated for years to give the Camelot imprimateur to returning to silver money. Of course, the silver bugs, holding huge quantities of silver, would be happy to have silver money in wide circulation again. So, no, JFK wasn't starting any silver standard. Only ignorant people believe this myth. You don't have to believe me; go look at the law and the EO at Wikipedia. It spells it all out and there is some writing from the time about what Kennedy was doing.
Executive Order 11110 was issued by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963. Purpose
Conspiracy theory
#35. To: FormerLurker (#33)
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
#36. To: Turtle (#35)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#37. To: TooConservative (#34)
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#38. To: TooConservative (#34)
Look at Wikipedia, to name just one source:
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#39. To: Esso, shooters (#29)
The bullet was steel-jacketed.
#40. To: TooConservative (#34)
not some glorious return to the silver standard
There's no place better thanTurtle Island.
.
.
.
