BOOK REVIEW -- "The Killing Of A President" By Robert J. Groden
David VP
BUT CERTAINLY *NOT* FOR THE "THEORIES" THAT RESIDE WITHIN THIS BOOK
www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0140240039
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Robert J. Groden's "The Killing Of A President" is a very good resource
book for many of the photographs connected with the events surrounding
the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy.
The softcover version of "TKOAP" that I own, published in 1994,
consists of 223 pages and is printed on very high-quality (thick) paper
stock. The book measures approximately 9-1/4" (W) x 10-7/8" (H), and
has a nice "collectible" feel to it.
This volume is just crammed full of high-quality photographs and
still-frames from motion-picture sequences that were taken on November
22, 1963 (the day of JFK's murder). Some of the pictures depicted here
are large-sized and take up entire pages, with a few filling out full
two-page spreads.
Several of JFK's autopsy photos are published within this volume, as
well, and are rather graphic and gruesome in nature (especially if
you've never had the chance to view them before via other means). So,
be forewarned before you turn to Pages 72 through 85.
The book's text and photo captions are all "pro-CT" in nature (i.e.:
pushing the idea that a vast, multi-shooter conspiracy existed to
assassinate President Kennedy in Dallas' Dealey Plaza).
It's a nicely-styled publication, IMO. But the book's 'style' certainly
doesn't mean Mr. Groden has proven that any type of "conspiracy"
existed on 11-22-63. I do not think he has; and I also don't think that
more than one man (Lee Harvey Oswald) was aiming a weapon at JFK that
day in Dallas. The overwhelming evidence in the case (on the whole)
tells me that one lone killer was involved in ending the President's
life that sunny Friday afternoon.
I'm forced to chuckle when reading in this book of Mr. Groden's
"8-Shot" shooting scenario that he believes took place on 11/22. (He
even suggests that there might have been up to TEN shots fired at the
President's limousine, despite the fact that ONLY THREE of these many
shots were heard by the large majority of the witnesses at the scene.)
Mr. Groden obviously realizes that in any such 8-to-10-shot scenario, a
total of up to SEVEN of the bullets had to somehow disappear from view
before they could enter any kind of 'official' record in the case
(because Oswald, the resident "Patsy" in the JFK killing, per CT
accounts, could only have fired three shots from his rifle in the
allotted timeframe during the shooting).
And we must also keep in mind -- per Mr. Groden's theory (in which he
has Texas Governor John B. Connally hit TWICE, not just once) -- that
FIVE total bullets, including the JFK head-shot missile, MUST
"disappear" completely from the record AFTER having gone into TWO
different victims' bodies (JFK & Connally). And this includes the
'disappearance' of TWO bullets that struck a man who LIVED through the
shooting (Connally). Talk about "Magic Bullets"! Mr. Groden apparently
has not just ONE, but FIVE such miracle (vanishing) missiles. Quite
remarkable indeed.
How in the world could ANY "plotters" possibly EXPECT a crazy
multi-shot plan like this to succeed? It's completely nutty to think
that anyone wanting to "frame" Lee Oswald would be WILLING to shoot
that many times at the ONE intended target and from multiple angles and
locations.
Another thing to ask yourself (if you believe in this notion of 8 or 10
shots actually being fired at JFK) -- Just what kind of CRAPPY shooters
were being employed to rub out the Chief Executive on November 22nd?
Mr. Groden is purporting that up to HALF the shots that were fired (5
out of 10 in the ludicrously-high TEN-SHOT theory being proposed) not
only missed their intended target (which was obviously JFK), but all
these various shots missed the ENTIRE AUTOMOBILE! Some great riflemen,
huh?
Want another good belly-laugh? Keep reading......
Good Gosh! Would you look at this! .... Up to TEN shots and (per
Groden) NOT ONE OF THEM being fired from Oswald's "Sniper's Nest" in
the Texas School Book Depository Building?! (He hints that ONE, and
only ONE, of these many shots COULD have come from the "Oswald window",
but he feels that even THAT shot "probably" came from elsewhere -- the
Dal-Tex Building on Houston Street.)
You'd THINK that, given an 8- or 10-shot shooting scenario, that Mr. G.
might have a few more of the shots emanating from the ONLY POSITIVELY
KNOWN SOURCE OF GUNFIRE -- the southeastern-most window on the 6th
Floor of the Depository, from where Oswald HIMSELF was positively
identified as firing a rifle at the motorcade!
Evidently, Mr. Groden must think that this rifle-toting "Oswald
Look-alike" in the SE corner window on the 6th Floor of the Depository
was only PRETENDING to fire his rifle at President Kennedy, in order to
further implicate "Patsy Oswald". I guess it didn't matter to any of
the conspirators that NONE of the wounds on the victims would 'line up'
properly if the 'plotters' don't have some bullets coming from that
Oswald window -- but that (apparently) didn't concern the architects of
this doomed-to-fail-from-the-start "Frame-The-Patsy" conspiracy plot.
And then there's also the testimony of Harold Norman to consider when
evaluating the overall validity of any of Mr. Groden's claims. Norman
worked in the Book Depository Building and was situated on the 5th
Floor, directly underneath the 'Oswald window' at the time of the
shooting. Norman actually HEARD the working of the rifle's 'bolt' above
him, and HEARD three cartridge cases hitting the floor right above him.
Given such detailed testimony from someone within the Book Depository
itself (including Norman's preciseness re. hearing the hulls/shells
dropping to the floor and hearing exactly "three" shots being fired),
how can Mr. Groden possibly purport a theory which includes ZERO shots
(or just ONE shot) coming from the Sniper's-Nest location?
Mr. Groden also postulates in this book, as I previously mentioned, his
belief that Governor Connally was hit by two separate bullets, the last
of these (which Groden says caused the wrist injury to Connally)
supposedly occurring six-tenths of a second AFTER the fatal head shot
to JFK.
This "2-shot" theory to 'JBC' is totally unsupported by the evidence
and the filmed (Zapruder) record -- not to mention the fact that
NEITHER of these bullets, per this theory, is ever found by Parkland
Hospital personnel. The ONE bullet discovered at Parkland (bullet
CE399), according to many or most conspiracists, was "planted" inside
the hospital by some unknown conspirator. Connally's doctor (Dr. Shaw),
however, said on 11/22/63 that all of Connally's wounds were probably
caused by "one bullet" (not two).
And then there's the "Zapruder Film", which (IMO) verifies that
Connally's wrist was struck by a bullet WELL prior to the JFK head
shot. This "verification", IMO, occurs on the Z-Film in the form of a
very rapid movement of Connally's right arm just a few Z-Frames after
what I consider to be the one and only shot to John Connally's body --
that being the "Single-Bullet Theory" missile, which occurs at
Z223-Z224 on the Zapruder home movie. The extremely fast UP then DOWN
movement of JBC's right arm confirms, in my mind, the fact that his
wrist has been hit by something at that precise moment. It's obviously
an involuntary arm movement.
I also get particular amusement when I read anything pertaining to the
so-called "Umbrella Man" in connection with the Kennedy murder. The
"Umbrella Man" ("TUM") was a bystander in Dealey Plaza who held an open
umbrella above his head as JFK's car passed by him on Elm Street. Some
"CTers" seem to feel that this man fired a "poisoned dart" or some
other type of projectile into the throat of JFK, thereby paralyzing the
President just prior to the fatal head shot.
Other conspiracists prefer to believe in an alternate "TUM"
theory....one which has Mr. Umbrella Dude (or "MUD" if you prefer an
acronym) "signaling" to the multiple gunmen in Dealey Plaza by pumping
his open umbrella up and down, telling the shooters that the target is
in the "kill zone". (Which is utter nonsense of course. I'd sooner
believe that President Kennedy committed suicide than swallow either of
these silly notions about "Umbrella Man".)
While Mr. Groden doesn't come right out in this book and say he
believes either of those cockeyed conspiracy theories re. "TUM", he
does give Umbrella Man a nice two-page layout in "TKOAP" (pages
188-189), and hints at the possibility that this man waving his
rain-shielding device was more than just a man carrying an umbrella.
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To Summarize.........
"The Killing Of A President" is definitely a 'Must-Have' publication
for any JFK assassination buff or researcher (CTers and LNers alike) --
but ONLY for the large photographic record of the tragic assassination
that is documented within these 223 pages. If all of this
pro-conspiracy text that's printed in the book could be eradicated, it
would be an even better volume, IMHO.
David Von Pein
November 2005
Ben Holmes
Another 'cut & paste' job of Davey-boy. It's too bad that he's too cowardly to
actually respond to a refutation.
In article <1145586516....@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com>, David VP
says...
--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth
David VP
I sure hope you're not implying I have "cut-&-pasted" someone else's
words and took credit for them as my own. That's not what you're
insinuating here....or is it?
Because if that's not what you are implying....the best retort to your
"paste" remark is.....
So What??
aaronhi...@yahoo.com
>total of up to SEVEN of the bullets had to somehow disappear from view
>before they could enter any kind of 'official' record in the case
The book shows a photo of a man in a suit picking up something from the
grass in DP near the curb. Buddy Walthers in looking on, and he
verified this.
>only missed their intended target (which was obviously JFK), but all
>these various shots missed the ENTIRE AUTOMOBILE! Some great riflemen,
>huh?
One shot hit the curb. One shot hit the grass and was picked up (see
above).
Aaron Hirshberg
curtj...@webtv.net
Certainly two bullets could be accounted for in JBC's wounds since the
missing portion of the magic bullet was not equivalent to the amount
left in JBC's body by doctor opinion/evidence. One bullet came out of
JFK's back when he was lifted from the coffin onto a gurney by three
Bethesda witnesses. Two doctor's at Parkland had a bullet in JFK's
chest cavity and lung. Sibert and O'Neill's first report the day of
the assassination had a ''missile" obtained from the autopsy itself.
The one or two bullets that hit JFK in the head had at least one of
them being a frangible bullet which left a snow-trail affect as opposed
to a whole bullet or two big fragments.
Robert Groden spends much of his time on the Grassy Knoll expounding
his theories. I took him to be quite knowledge beyond just a picture
collector.
CJ