The JFK 100

JIM The magic bullet enters the President's back, headed downward at an angle of 17 degrees. It then moves upward in order to leave Kennedy's body from the front of his neck -- his neck wound number two -- where it waits 1.6 seconds, turns right and continues into Connally's body at the rear of his right armpit -- wound number three. Then, the bullet heads downward at an angle of 27 degrees, shattering Connally's fifth rib and leaving from the right side of his chest -- wounds four and five. The bullet continues downward and then enters Connally's right wrist -- wound number six -- shattering the radius bone. It then enters his left thigh -- wound number seven -- from which it later falls out and is found in almost "pristine" condition on a stretcher in a corridor of Parkland Hospital.

(he shows a mock-up of the "pristine" bullet)

That's some bullet. Anyone who's been in combat can tell you never in the history of gunfire has there been a bullet like this.

(the court laughs)

The Army Wound Ballistics experts at Edgewood Arsenal fired some comparison bullets and not one of them looked anything like this one.

(he shows mock-ups of comparison bullets)

Take a look at CE 856, an identical bullet fired through the wrist of a human cadaver -- just one of the bones smashed by the magic bullet. Yet the government says it can prove this with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Theoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy, but use your eyes -- your common sense --

(he holds the bullet)

Seven wounds, skin, bone. This single bullet explanation is the foundation of the Warren Commission's claim of a lone assassin. And once you conclude the magic bullet could not create all seven of those wounds, you have to conclude there was a fourth shot and a second rifleman. And if there was a second rifleman, there had to be a conspiracy.⁽¹⁾

Does Oliver Stone have a firm grasp of the facts? Let's examine his claims one by one.

The magic bullet enters the President's back, headed downward at an angle of 17 degrees.

 

It then moves upward in order to leave Kennedy's body from the front of his neck -- his neck wound number two . . .

 

However, a photograph taken by Robert Earl Croft about three seconds before the bullet strike (see below) shows the back of the President's jacket bunched up considerably at his neck; this probably accounts for the apparent discrepancy.

Costner's monologue continues:

. . . where it waits 1.6 seconds . . .

 

Governor Connally in Zapruder frames 223 and 224

This is the precise instant John F. Kennedy can also be seen reacting to a bullet strike.⁽²⁾ Viewing the clear digitized copy of the Zapruder film available on the Image of an Assassination DVD, one can observe the President and Governor Connally reacting simultaneously.

Look at these animated images created by researcher Vincent Van. Notice the changes in Connally's facial expression and posture between frames 224 and 225, and the simultaneous movements of Kennedy and Connally's right arms (with Connally clutching his Stetson hat)⁽³⁾ between frames 225 and 226.

Click here to view Vincent Van's detailed analysis of the bullet strike.

Returning to Kevin Costner's monologue in JFK:

. . . [the bullet] turns right . . .

 

A detail of FAA's computer modeling
(Images courtesy of Exponent)

 

Three details from Dale Myers's reconstruction
(Images courtesy of Dale Myers Animation, Inc.)

Not only does the trajectory of Governor Connally's chest and back wound point towards JFK's throat wound, but the trajectories of both men's wounds point back to the "sniper's nest" window
(Image courtesy of Dale Myers Animation, Inc.)

 

Note the actual positioning of the limo's rear and jump seats

Costner's monologue continues:

. . . and [the bullet] continues into Connally's body at the rear of his right armpit -- wound number three.

 

Then, the bullet heads downward at an angle of 27 degrees, shattering Connally's fifth rib . . .

 

. . . and leaving from the right side of his chest -- wounds four and five.

 

The bullet continues downward and then enters Connally's right wrist -- wound number six -- shattering the radius bone.

 

It then enters his left thigh -- wound number seven -- from which it later falls out . . .

 

. . . and is found in almost "pristine" condition on a stretcher in a corridor of Parkland Hospital.

 

That's some bullet. Anyone who's been in combat can tell you never in the history of gunfire has there been a bullet like this.

 

Brehm told researcher Larry A. Sneed:

The people were running helter-skelter here and there. They were running up to the top of that hill it seemed to me in almost sheep-like fashion following somebody up those steps. There was a policeman who ran up those steps also. Apparently people thought that he was chasing something, which he certainly wasn't. There were no shots from that area, but some of the people followed him anyway.

In the meantime, I became surrounded with newspeople from the two buses. They selected me to talk. In that group, I was telling them that there were rifle shots and that they came from up in the corner of the School Book Depository or up in the corner of the building across from it. One of them asked how I knew they were rifle shots; was I ever in the Army? And I slid the jacket up and showed them my damaged arm here from bullet wounds and told them that I had been in the Ranger battalions. I had been in Europe from early morning on D-Day till September 16th when I was wounded, had seen considerable combat, that there had been a lot of rifle-firing around me and that it wasn't a matter of figuring it out; it was a matter of second nature that the rifle shots came from that area up there. . . .

Because the car was a short distance beyond me when it happened and it was moving away, I heard nothing from inside the car. I have to say this: I had tunnel vision at that time. I had never seen a President of the United States. I would not make a very good witness as to what Mrs. Kennedy was wearing or how and when Governor Connally was hit because I was concentrating on the President. He was the center of my attention. That night, when I finally got to the club I was going to, people asked me how in the world Connally could have gotten hurt. Within hours after the knowledge was given to me that Connally was also wounded, I said the only thing that I could think of was that a bullet that went through the President had also obviously hit Connally because there were only three shots fired; one went wild and two hit the President. The question was how could it have happened? At that time, it was very easy for me to open up my shirt and show the bullet wound in what was the solar plexus, to come over here and show the exit wound where it passed through my body and came out between my ribs; then the second part of the bullet, the damage, because the bullet was softened and out of shape, tore my arm apart.

One bullet did that to me! Any questions that night about what a single bullet can do, my God, I was living proof of it that day! . . .

There is something else I want to mention. Since I have a history of using firearms, people have asked me what my opinion was regarding the ability to fire those shots. I have no doubt in my mind that almost anybody who had basic training like I had in the Ranger battalions would have no difficulty at all. And especially the fellow [Oswald] was in the Marines, who are ordinarily crackerjack people with firearms, would have no problem at all. And I understand that he had a full sling which actually melds the rifle to your body. You become one so that your re-aiming is not necessary. You have the rifle in your arms in the same position. So there's no doubt in my mind that he could have gotten off those shots. . . .⁽⁴⁾

 

The Army Wound Ballistics experts at Edgewood Arsenal fired some comparison bullets and not one of them looked anything like this one.

Take a look at CE 856, an identical bullet fired through the wrist of a human cadaver -- just one of the bones smashed by the magic bullet.

 

Yet the government says it can prove this with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Theoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy, but use your eyes -- your common sense . . .

 

Seven wounds, skin, bone.

 

Cahill also notes that the type of ammunition used for the assassination was favored by turn-of-the-century elephant hunters.⁽⁶⁾ Any bullet capable of penetrating elephant hide can be expected to inflict considerable damage upon a human being without suffering excessive mutilation of its own.

. . . This single bullet explanation is the foundation of the Warren Commission's claim of a lone assassin.

 

The Warren Report states:

Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President's throat also caused Governor Connally's wounds.⁽⁷⁾

 

And once you conclude the magic bullet could not create all seven of those wounds, you have to conclude there was a fourth shot and a second rifleman. And if there was a second rifleman, there had to be a conspiracy.

 

The case for the Single Bullet Theory has only grown stronger over the years; but it is grossly inaccurate to suggest that the case for a single gunman is dependent upon the hypothesis.

Some further points: the elliptical shape of Governor Connally's back wound indicates that it had been tumbling when it struck the Governor; this could only be a result of having struck something in between the rifle and the Governor. What was in between the rifle and John B. Connally? President John F. Kennedy was.⁽⁸⁾

Also, the amount of damage inflicted upon Connally's wrist and thigh indicates that its energy had been "partially expended elsewhere" -- not merely on the Governor's chest wound, expert testimony indicates, but also on the President's neck.⁽⁹⁾

"That's some bullet."

Is the Single Bullet Theory a fantasy, as Oliver Stone would have us believe? Or does it flow from the physical evidence of the John F. Kennedy assassination, and has it been repeatedly confirmed in four decades of tests derived from the latest technological advances? And if it is not necessary to the lone assassin theory, what then becomes of Oliver Stone's argument, regardless of whether the theory is correct?

The reader is urged to consult the evidence and formulate an independent conclusion based on all the facts.

NOTES:

1. Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar, JFK: The Book of the Film (New York: Applause, 1992), pp. 152-53. All quotations are from the shooting script and may vary slightly from the finished motion picture.

2. For further analysis of JFK's movements at this instant, click here.

3. Despite his badly injured wrist, Connally would continue to hold onto his Stetson hat throughout the entire shooting. Oliver Stone implies this is impossible, but, as researcher John McAdams has noted, men with considerably more severe injuries than Governor Connally's can hold onto objects. Hawaii Senator Daniel K. Inouye has described such an incident while relating how he lost his arm in combat:

 

At last I was close enough to pull the pin on my last grenade. And as I drew my arm back, all in a flash of light and dark I saw him, that faceless German, like a strip of motion picture film running through a projector that's gone berserk. One instant he was standing waist-high in the bunker, and the next he was aiming a rifle grenade at my face from a range of ten yards. And even as I cocked my arm to throw, he fired and his rifle grenade smashed into my right elbow and exploded and all but tore my arm off. I looked at it, stunned and unbelieving. It dangled there by a few bloody shreds of tissue, my grenade still clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore . . ." (Daniel K. Inouye with Lawrence Elliott, Journey to Washington, [New York: Prentice-Hall, 1967], pp. 151-152.)

 

4. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence (Dallas: Three Forks, 1998), pp. 62-65.

5. John Cahill, e-mail to author, October 21, 2001. Cahill is a competitive shooter and former hunter who describes himself as a pacifist and a reluctant member of the National Rifle Association, with which he has earned a rating of Expert. He is a longtime collector of firearms, particularly military weapons of German manufacture, and is a member of the Northern Virginia Gun Collector's Association. He owns three 91/38 6.5 Mannlicher-Carcanos -- the Short Rifle, a T. S. Carbine, and a Cavalry Carbine -- and considers them "solid, dependable, accurate military firearms."

6. John Cahill, newsgroup post of January 4, 2001.

7. Warren Commission Report, p. 19.

8. Warren Commission Hearings, Vol. V, pp. 85-87, 91-93, 95-97.

9. Warren Commission Hearings, Vol. V, pp. 84-87, 91-93; Vol. VI, p. 102. The consensus of opinion in 1964 was that the bullet that struck the Governor had first struck the President; the likelihood of this has since been confirmed in tests conducted independently by Dr. John Lattimer and Failure Analysis Associates.