On 3/29/2014 6:21 PM, mainframetech wrote:
Because you are not a researcher you are not privy to information beyond
the WC. Years later she gave more of the story to researchers who
tracked her down.
Killing the Truth, page 183
Statement by Nurse Diana Bowron:
"When the body was placed in the coffin
the wound in the back of the head was
packed with gauze squares and wrapped
in a small white sheet."
Here's what a real researcher did:
Subject: Re: Those "Unreliable" Parkland Nurses 1.
Date: 27 Jun 2003 14:29:18 GMT
From: Martin Shackelford <
msh...@concentric.net>
Organization: Concentric Internet Services
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy.jfk
In case the copy with the photo doesn't download properly, here's the
text without the photo:
Harrison Livingstone has granted permission for me to post the contents
of a letter from Diana Bowron, dated 24th January 1993, and which
arrived too late for inclusion in High Treason 2. He recently ran across
it again, and thought it might be of interest. The only items omitted
are several personal notes, salutations, and her married name, which she
asked not be published.
The Cover Letter:
I have enclosed two photostats of photographs which may be of help to you.
1. From the Illustrated London News dated Nov 30th 1963 showing the
arrival of the casket at Andrews Air Force Base. That is the casket in
which we placed the President's body. The colour was bronzeand according
to the people from the funeral home it was the best they had.
2. From the Hospital Highlights the news letter of the Dallas County
Hospital District, of the trauma room where Kennedy was treated. The
photograph was taken for that edition of the news letter so it shows the
room as it was at the time of the assassination. I thought it might help
with the placement or non-placement of photographs, eg. tiles, also gurney
covers which were black. As I remember all the wall tiles in the emergency
room were the same height.
I understood the last time I was in Dallas, about two years after the
assassination, that the Emergency Room was to be moved and enlarged so I
am assuming that it no longer exists in its original form.
[Note: The photostats were not enclosed, as both pictures are widely
available.]
[A copy of a JFK back photo, F5, is enclosed, indicating "This is where
I remember the wound," but adding, "This is not the back I saw." The
location is indicated on the attached copy of the photo.]
[The main statement follows:]
The following is in answer to your questions.
When the president expired everyone left the room apart from Miss
Hinchcliffe, a male orderly and myself. We tidied the room and changed
the linen on the gurney and washed the body as best we could. Miss
Hinchcliffe and the orderly left the room, but I was told to remain with
the body until the casket arrived. I was told that I had to stay because
I had been one of the people who had taken the body from the car. I
remained in the room while the widow paid her respects. After she had
left I was asked, by a man I assumed was Secret Service, to collect all
pieces of skull and brain I could find and place them in a plastic bag
which he gave me. This I did and returned the bag to him (there were
only a few fragments of bone that had stuck to the dressings and towels
that we had used to pack the hole in the back of the head). I remained
in the room until the people from the funeral home arrived. After we had
placed the body in the casket and it had been closed I was allowed to
leave. During the time I was with the body only the widow and the priest
came into the room, any dealings I had with the Secret Service were done
in the doorway; no one else entered the room and no photographs were taken.
Apart from 2-3 mins, when I left the trauma room to collect blood from
the Blood Bank, I was with the body from the car until it was placed in
the casket.
Being new to the establishment, I was assigned to Minor Medicine and
Surgery, which was across the hall from the Triage desk and the major
sections of the Emergency room. It being very quiet, there were only two
or three patients waiting for the results of tests, I was talking with
the Triage nurse when the call went up for gurneys. I grabbed a gurney
in the hall and together with an orderly ran to the entrance. I saw that
the person in the back of the car was injured so I climbed in to render
what assistance I could until such time as we could move him to a
trolley, then to the trauma room (others were assisting the Governor in
the front seat). I saw that there was a massive amount of blood on the
back seat and in order to find the cause I lifted his head and my
fingers went into a large wound in the back of his head; I turned his
head and seeing the size of the wound realized that I could not stop the
bleeding. I turned his head back and saw an entry wound in the front of
the throat, I could feel no pulse at the jugular and having seen the
extent of the injury to the back of the head I assumed that he was dead.
(not my job, only a Doctor can certify death) When we got the President
to the Trauma room, word had reached the Trauma team and they were ready
with I.Vs etc. I worked with the team, assisting where needed for about
10 mins (time is difficult to judge in those circumstances), when I was
told to go to the Blood Bank. I was away 2-3 mins and on my return I
continued to assist where needed until the President was declared dead.
Miss Margaret Hinchcliffe and an African-American orderly and I prepared
the body for the coffin. [Marginal note: David Sanders]
I observed no strange activity of any kind and saw no bullets.
As explained above, I thought after examination in the car that he was
dead. There was no damage to the front of his face, only the gaping
wound in the back of his head and the entry wound in his throat.
When we prepared the body for the coffin we washed the face and closed
the eyes; there was no damage to the face, there was no flap of scalp on
the right, neither was there a laceration pointing toward the right
eyebrow from the scalp.
When we were preparing the body for the coffin we rolled it over in
order to remove the bloodstained sheet from underneath and to wipe away
the blood from the back of the body. I saw another entry wound in the
upper back (the other entry wound being in the front of the throat).
With reference to the photograph The Back (F5) I only saw one wound, and
not the number of wounds in the photograph; I do not think that the
photo (F5) is of the President. I have marked for you on the photostat
that you sent me where I think the entry wound was.
I first saw the large wound in the back of the head in the car; when we
were preparing the body for the coffin I had the opportunity to examine
it more closely. It was about 5ins in diameter, there was no flap of
skin covering it, just a fraction of skin along part of the edges of
bone, there was however some hair hanging down from the top of the head
which was caked with blood, and most of the brain was missing. The wound
was so large I could almost put my whole fist inside.
When we prepared the body I washed as much blood as I could from the
hair; while doing this I didnot see any other wound either in the
temples or in other parts of the head.
I did not see anything suspicious about any of the doctors, though there
were far more doctors there than they should have been; perhaps because
it was the president they all wanted to get in on the act. You must
remember that I had only been there a short time and I did not know all
the doctors, some I never saw again, but they were all known to each
other. With regard to a post: in this context I think it would refer to
a gathering of the doctors after the event, to discuss the case. This
was standard practice, when more than one or two doctors were involved.
When the body was placed in the coffin the wound at the back of the head
was packed with gauze squares and wrapped in small white sheet, there
was no terrycloth or other type of towel used.
The coffin or casket was bronze with plain fittings, as in the enclosed
photograph. [This refers to the Andrews Air Force Base photo.]
I don't think the body was removed from the coffin. After I left the
Trauma room I was in a position to see if any one entered or left the
room. No one entered or left until they removed the coffin.
A clear plastic sheet was placed in the bottom of the coffin, which may
have been a mattress cover; the body was wrapped in at the most two
sheets plus the one around the head, all the sheets were white and none
had zips. There was no "body bag".
Perhaps the following will be of interest to you.
As soon as the coffin left the trauma room, I went back to Minor Med.
and Surg. to resume my work: I don't know anything about the fight with
Earl Rose, which happened at that time.
When I arrived there I found that the patients had been moved elsewhere,
and the department had been taken over by the Vice President and his
staff. They were getting ready to leave when I got there, as they passed
me I heard the Vice President say to his wife "Make a note of what
everyone says and does".
Again I hope this is of some help to you.
[Signed] Diana Bowron