PSC482G, Spring 2000
Answers to Assignment 17
Warren Commission Report 8
(N.B. This assignment is for your guidance only. It need not be turned in.)
Read: Warren Commission Report Appendix XII (pp. 637–668).
Answer these questions (briefly):
Appendix XII contains something like 127 speculations on 10 broad topics within the assassination, together with the Warren Commission’s answers to them. They make fascinating reading as well as the perfect preparation for our entering the world of conspiracy later.
Find ten of these speculations that you think are weak or incorrect. Using reasoning or actual evidence (some of which may have appeared after the Commission was dissolved), show how to counter or disprove each of the answers (i.e., how to demonstrate that an answer portrayed as conclusive is actually uncertain or wrong). As always, make your answers as objective and rigorous as possible. Try to distribute your responses over several topics. Don't just shoot from the hip—think carefully about each of your answers.
(1) Speculation #1 under “The Source of the Shots”: The shots that killed JFK came from the railroad overpass. The Commission answered that there is no evidence that any shots were fired from anywhere but the TSBD. I believe this is false. The president’s backward lurch, shown in the Zapruder film, is extremely strong evidence that at least one shot was fired from the grassy knoll.
(2) #5 under same topic: Jean Hill said she saw a man run toward the triple underpass and disappear. The Commission responded that it could not corroborate Hill’s report. Nevertheless, they could not disprove it.
(3) Speculation #7 under the same topic: More than three shots, perhaps as many as five or six, were fired at the President and Governor Connally. Although the weight of the evidence indeed favors only three shots, there is no way to prove that there could not have been more. The Commission "concluded," not "proved."
(4) Speculation #13 under same topic: JFK’s throat wound was one of entrance, according to Parkland doctors. The Commission said that the doctors claimed it to be either an entrance or exit wound, and then accepted it as an exit wound after the autopsy. Both claims seem exaggerated or false. Dr. Kemp Clark clearly called it an entrance wound at the press conference, and some of the Parkland doctors believe it to be so to this day. Nothing is served by diminishing this mistake, for there are good reasons why that exit wound strongly resembled an entrance wound.
(5) Speculation #8 under “The Assassin”: Laboratory tests showed that the remains of the chicken lunch found on the sixth floor were two days old. The Commission's answer to the effect that the remains were left there by Bonnie Ray Williams on the 22nd does not directly address the question of lab tests. The Commission should have stated that the remains were not tested because Williams's explanation was considered sufficient.
(6) Speculation #13 under the same topic: Oswald could not have fired three shots from the TSBD in 5.5 seconds or less. The Commission responded that experts had fired three shots from the same rifle within 5.5 seconds. This claim is very misleading. It fails to note that only one of three experts did, and that stationary targets were used.
(7) Speculation #14 under the same topic: Oswald was not a good enough shot to have done the deed. The Commission appealed to his ranking of “marksman” while in the Marines. Better to have noted that “marksman” was a relatively low ranking. Best to have noted that the actual display of shooting was not very good—one shot missed everything, one hit the body instead of the head, and the last shot came within an inch or so of missing the head altogether.
(8) Speculation #19 under same topic: The WCC/MC ammunition was 20 years old, and thus unreliable. The Commission responded that the ammunition was being made currently. This claim appears to be false. According to Winchester-Western, this type of ammunition had not been made since 1944 (see Mark Lane, Plausible Denial, p. 411).
(9) Speculation #1 under “Oswald and U.S. Government Agencies”: Oswald worked for FBI or CIA. The Commission responded that directors of both agencies testified that he had not worked for them, and that these claims were buttressed by lack of documentation for any link to either agency. As discussed previously, secret agents must remain secret, and directors may lie concerning them. Official records may also be destroyed.
(10) Speculation #5 under “Conspiratorial Relationships”: Ruby and Oswald were seen together at Ruby’s Carousel Club. The Commission claimed that all such assertions had been investigated and found baseless. But serious reports continue. Beverly Oliver, the “Babushka Lady” of the Zapruder film and a former singer at the Carousel Club, now claims that Ruby introduced her to Oswald at the club, and that she subsequently saw him there several times. Oliver is now married to a Baptist minister, and seems to be making her claims in good faith.