BOOK REVIEW -- "Kennedy And Lincoln: Medical And Ballistic Comparisons Of Their Assassinations" By Dr. John K. Lattimer
David Von Pein
Are Devastating Blows To Conspiracy Theorists Who Believe That
President John F. Kennedy Was Killed By Multiple Gunmen In 1963......
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0151522812/sr=8-1/qid=1163844124
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"Kennedy And Lincoln: Medical And Ballistic Comparisons Of Their
Assassinations", published in 1980, is an impressive hardcover volume
written by Dr. John K. Lattimer. This book, which spans 398 total
pages, is one that I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested
in researching the JFK case.
Though Dr. Lattimer has a habit of repeating a lot things in the text
of this volume (sometimes providing triple or even quadruple redundancy
when discussing many of the points brought up in the book), his writing
style and paragraphing technique are very reader-friendly and easy on
the eyes, with bold-faced topic headers used frequently to isolate the
various sections of evidence he is discussing.
For the first 120 pages of the book, Lattimer focuses his attention on
the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, as well
as providing interesting details concerning the other two portions of
the intricate conspiracy plot that assassin John Wilkes Booth had
devised for the elimination of two additional Government officials on
that Good Friday back in 1865 -- which were the planned assassinations
of Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William
Seward.*
* = The planned attack on Johnson, however, was aborted entirely; while
Seward survived his terrifying ordeal after being savagely and
repeatedly stabbed by would-be assassin Lewis Payne.
There are many fascinating tidbits of information about the Lincoln
assassination conspiracy in this volume that I previously had never
known, including practically a blow-by-blow description of Payne's
attack on Seward and a fairly-detailed section in the book centering on
the manhunt and eventual killing of John Wilkes Booth in Garrett's Barn
twelve days after Booth had shot and killed President Lincoln.
And, too, there's a section in the book that mentions the irresistible
similarities and coincidences between Lincoln's and Kennedy's deaths.
Such as:
1.) Both victims were shot in the back of the head.
2.) The wife of each victim was sitting right beside her husband when
the attacks occurred, with each First Lady holding the head of her
husband just after the fatal blows were struck.
3.) Both Lincoln and Kennedy were shot on a Friday.
4.) Each victim's Vice President was named "Johnson".
5.) Both Lincoln and Kennedy liked rocking chairs (Lincoln was fatally
shot while sitting in such a chair).
6.) Both Presidential assassins (Booth and Oswald) were each confronted
by an officer named "Baker" while in flight from their crimes.
7.) Lincoln's and JFK's killers both were shot by a single bullet
before either man could stand trial, and each lived for approximately
two hours after being gunned down (and both Booth and Oswald were shot
by "Colt revolvers" as well).
------------------------
The final two-thirds of "Kennedy And Lincoln" deals exclusively with
the JFK assassination, which occurred almost exactly 100 years after
Lincoln's murder (98.5 years to be exact).
Over the course of many years, Dr. Lattimer performed a series of very
detailed tests and experiments, as he attempted to re-create certain
aspects of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination.
Dr. Lattimer had been a surgeon during World War 2 and therefore, prior
to writing this book, he was very familiar with gunshot wounds,
military type rifles, and the ammunition that was used in such weapons.
Lattimer was also aided greatly in his experimental work by having the
unique opportunity to personally examine (in some detail) many of the
crucial pieces of evidence connected with the JFK murder, such as being
able to handle and inspect the famous "Stretcher Bullet" (CE399, deemed
the "Magic Bullet" by conspiracists), plus the original Kennedy autopsy
photographs and X-rays at the National Archives, and the actual
clothing that JFK was wearing on the tragic day of 11/22/63 (consisting
of JFK's suit jacket, shirt, necktie, and back brace).
Dr. Lattimer, in fact, in January of 1972, became the very first
non-government person to ever be granted access to many of the
sensitive and rarely-viewed original items of Kennedy-assassination
evidence.
Each and every one of Lattimer's carefully-conducted experiments
paralleled and generally corroborated the conclusions reached in 1964
by the Warren Commission panel -- i.e., conclusions to the effect that
President Kennedy had been killed by bullets fired from ONLY behind and
above him in Dallas (with both of the bullets that struck the President
on 11/22/63 coming out of a gun owned by Lee Harvey Oswald -- a 6.5mm
Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action carbine, model 91-38, serial number
C2766).
That exact rifle, which was purchased by Oswald via mail-order in March
of 1963, was found 52 minutes after JFK was shot. It was found on the
sixth floor of the building where Oswald was employed -- the Texas
School Book Depository; and three bullet shells, which were positively
ejected from that very same weapon, were also discovered underneath the
window where a sniper -- identified as Oswald -- was located during the
shooting.
Dr. Lattimer's tests were done using the exact same kind of
Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and MC/WCC (Western Cartridge Company) bullets
that Oswald used in his own weapon. In fact, Lattimer's test bullets
came from precisely the same batch of bullets that it was determined
that Oswald used in his Carcano back in '63.
I have found a few (minor) errors within the text of "K&L",
however....including Dr. Lattimer telling his readers (on three
separate occasions in the book) that a noisy freight train was clanking
its way across the Triple Underpass railway bridge in Dallas' Dealey
Plaza at the precise moment when President Kennedy was being shot and
killed by rifle bullets.
The train info is positively an error on Lattimer's part, as a
photograph taken by James Altgens at the time of the shooting verifies.
Altgens snapped a picture looking west toward the Triple Underpass
(bridge) just seconds before JFK's limousine went underneath that
bridge, and there is positively no freight train on the tracks at that
time.
A motion-picture film taken by witness Mark Bell at the time the
President's car was speeding underneath the Underpass also confirms
that there was no train on the railroad bridge at that time.
There's also the fact that the Dallas Police, to my knowledge, had
orders to keep all trains off of the bridge during the time when JFK's
motorcade was driving through Dealey Plaza.
------------------------
Here's a quote from "Kennedy And Lincoln" concerning the ammunition
that Lattimer used:
"The cartridges used by Oswald were an excellent American-made Western
Cartridge Company product. Four sub-lots had been manufactured, and we
tested samples from all four. They had excellent consistency of bullet
weights and powder weights. We fired about 700 rounds in our
experiments, and various government agencies fired about 200 more. We
had no misfires, nor did the other groups. They were sold in boxes of
twenty, and it seems likely that Oswald was down to his last four,
since no more were found among his possessions." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page
252
------------------------
Below I've written out several additional verbatim excerpts from this
intriguing book, which are passages that, in my opinion, go a long way
toward firmly debunking many of the JFK conspiracy theories that have
filled the landscape since 1963.
In particular, these text excerpts tend to irrevocably harpoon and
destroy the widely-accepted theories which revolve around the general
(unproven) idea that President Kennedy was shot one or more times from
the front as part of a "multi-gun plot". ......
------------------------
"These experiments {involving the firing of MC/WCC bullets at a
simulated JFK upper back and neck} confirmed beyond all of my doubts
that the smallness of the exit hole in the front of Kennedy's neck was
due to the fact that the skin was supported by a firm collar band,
which restrained it from bulging and bursting open ahead of the exiting
bullet. .... If the bullet had not exited from the President's neck
just AT the collar band, the exit wound might have been much larger."
-- J.K. Lattimer; Page 239
------------------------
"Five cardboard skins simulating {wounded Texas Governor John} Connally
were placed the same distance from Kennedy's neck as Connally was
seated in the automobile in front of the President. The Carcano bullets
that made the holes in these targets had passed through a simulation of
Kennedy's neck, striking only soft tissues. Five of the six bullets
tumbled end over end after leaving the neck and struck Connally's skin
traveling almost sideways. .... These results confirmed our previous
observations that these bullets almost always tumbled after passing
through a neck." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 237
------------------------
"An oval hole in our simulated back of Connally was caused by our test
bullet that had first passed through a simulation of Kennedy's neck,
causing that bullet to wobble and start to tumble end over end.
Connally's wound of entry was elongated, like the one in the center of
{the test} target.
The punctate round hole, with black margins, of the type that always
occurred when our test bullets struck the Connally target without
hitting something else first, can be seen to the right of Connally's
outline in the photograph {via Figure 106 on Page 265 of "K&L"}.
These bullets never wobbled or tumbled spontaneously; they were stable
in their flight to the target UNLESS THEY HIT SOMETHING ELSE FIRST
{DVP's emphasis}, such as Kennedy's neck, whereupon they turned almost
completely sideways." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 265 (Via a November 1974
article by JKL that appeared in the "Medical Times")
------------------------
"When the {test} bullet {simulating "CE399" and the "SBT"} traversed an
experimental neck, it was slowed down, tumbled, and did not shatter the
leg bone {of a simulation of John Connally}. Since Connally's leg bone
was NOT shattered {during the actual shooting event on 11/22/63}, the
bullet that hit him must have hit something else first, such as
Kennedy's neck, to slow it down." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 273
~~~~~
DVP Interjection -- Dr. Lattimer also explains that during his
experiments of firing Carcano bullets into a simulated "John Connally",
the bullets ALWAYS caused much more damage to the mock Connally bodies
if those bullets struck the test Connally bodies without going through
a mock Kennedy body first (with this extra damage always including
displaced fragments of bone in the wrist and a fractured femur in the
simulated Connally leg).
This, in my view, is an extremely-significant point in favor of the
much-debated "Single-Bullet Theory" being a rock-solid FACT, rather
than mere "theory".
------------------------
"Some critics have contended that the four bullet fragments in Governor
Connally are too many to be accounted for by the two grains of lead
missing from bullet 399. In our experiments we were able to make
forty-one such fragments from the two-grain piece of lead that extruded
from our test bullet. It can safely be said, therefore, that four
fragments are by no means too many to be accounted for by the two
grains missing from bullet 399." -- J.K. Lattimer; Pages 276-277
~~~~~
DVP Interjection -- A follow-up to the above excerpt......
In addition to the common conspiracy-flavored argument by the WC
critics alluded to by Lattimer with respect to the bullet fragments
that were physically removed from Governor Connally, many conspiracy
buffs are also of the (false) opinion that the tiny pieces of metal
that were left inside Connally's body, when coupled with the
approximately one (total) grain of metal fragments taken out of the
Governor, constitute "too many fragments" to have possibly come from
Bullet CE399, which is a bullet that is missing an estimated 2.2 grains
of its original 160 to 161 grains of total mass.
But the Warren Commission testimony of one of Connally's doctors, Dr.
Charles Gregory, tends to put a different light on this matter and also
tends to refute the "too many fragments" theory.
Here's what Dr. Gregory had to say about the metal (bullet) fragments
that occupied space inside John Connally's wrist......
MR. SPECTER -- "Will you describe as specifically as you can what those
metallic fragments are by way of size and shape, sir?"
DR. GREGORY -- "I would identify these fragments as varying from
five-tenths of a millimeter in diameter to approximately two
millimeters in diameter, and each fragment is no more than a half
millimeter in thickness. They would represent, in lay terms,
flakes....flakes of metal."
MR. SPECTER -- "What would your estimate be as to their weight in
total?"
DR. GREGORY -- "I would estimate that they would be weighed in
micrograms, which is {a} very small amount of weight. I don't know how
to reduce it to ordinary equivalents for you. It is the kind of
weighing that requires a micro-adjustable scale, which means that it is
something less than the weight of a postage stamp."
------------------------
"This bullet {a 6.5mm Carcano missile like CE399} can penetrate four
feet of solid wood or three pine telephone poles side by side and come
out looking completely undeformed. On the other hand, if it is fired
into the thick bone of the back of a human skull, the jacket and core
of the bullet will separate, releasing a myriad of additional fragments
of many different sizes." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 277
------------------------
"All of the metal fragments {visible in JFK's head via X-rays} were
confined to the right side of the brain area and all the fragments were
above an imaginary line drawn from the wound of entry through the top
of the frontal sinus.
Their configuration was in keeping with the track of a bullet entering
at the rear of the right side of the skull, near the midline,
disrupting and exiting from the front of the head on the right. It was
compatible with no other direction. There were no bullet fragments in
the left side of the skull to indicate a transverse bullet wound, as
from the front right." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 214
~~~~~
DVP Interjection -- I think a portion of the above statement from page
number 214 deserves to be highlighted and emphasized once again......
"THERE WERE NO BULLET FRAGMENTS IN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SKULL."
I am, therefore, very tempted to ask conspiracy theorists the following
question -- How is this even remotely conceivable if, in fact, the
fatal blow to President Kennedy's head had come from the RIGHT-FRONT
(i.e., the "Grassy Knoll" area of Dealey Plaza), as so many
assassination researchers firmly believe?
Obviously (and realistically), if JFK had been shot in the head from
the Knoll (located to the right-front of the President when he received
the fatal blow), the X-rays of his head would have certainly indicated
the presence of bullet fragments in the LEFT side of the skull/brain,
which, by all rights, is a location (the LEFT side of the head) where
an exit wound should logically have also been located if Kennedy had
been the victim of a massive head injury caused by a Grassy Knoll
gunman.
But the left side of the President's head was completely intact, and
showed no signs of any metal fragments within the left hemisphere of
his head and brain (as Dr. Lattimer correctly points out on Page #214
of this publication).
Therefore, either those official X-rays that reside at the National
Archives (which verify beyond all doubt that the President was shot
through the head FROM BEHIND ONLY) were elaborate and
beautifully-prepared forgeries/fakes that managed to fool many, many
experts over the years....or....the conspiracy quacks who relentlessly
keep insisting that JFK was shot from the Grassy Knoll are just
flat-out wrong. I can see no third option here.
Which of the above explanations regarding the head wound and the X-rays
is most likely to be the correct one? (Not exactly too difficult a
question there, huh?) ~wink~
------------------------
"Any {test} bullets fired into the skull from the right front always
caused very obvious destruction of the left side of the skull and left
bullet fragments against this side of the skull. Since there was no
such damage to the left side of Kennedy's head, and no bullet fragments
against the left side of his skull, and since Mrs. Kennedy was not hit
by any fragments and photographer Zapruder was not visibly jolted from
his perch by a deafening rifle shot almost beside him, we find it very
difficult to believe that another supersonic bullet was fired from the
grassy knoll in the general vicinity of Zapruder." -- J.K. Lattimer;
Page 258
------------------------
"Combinations of human skull tops and melons were tested, and, again,
all fell backward off the stand toward the shooter. No melon or skull
combination ever fell AWAY from the shooter.
Human skulls were then packed with solid melon contents and taped and
sewed tightly together with strong tape and thread to simulate the
scalp. We fired into these at the same point and at the same angle as
the President was struck.
The skull wounds produced were strikingly similar to Kennedy's. Again,
the skulls fell or jumped off the stand toward the shooter, and large
fragments of the top of the skulls flew upward and forward for
distances of forty feet or more, just as fragments of Kennedy's skull
can be seen to have done in frames 313 through 318 of the Zapruder
movie." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 251
------------------------
"I wish to re-emphasize that none of our test objects in these
experiments with melons and skulls ever jumped or fell off the stand
AWAY from the shooter." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 251
------------------------
"Our experiments verified that the backward movement of the President's
head was compatible with his being struck from the rear, and that it
was certainly not necessary to hit the head from the front in order to
make the head move toward the gun." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 255
------------------------
"When combined with the overpowering evidence that the X-rays of
{President Kennedy's} head show metallic bullet fragments arranged only
from back to front in the right side of his brain case and with the
skull damage all centering on the right side of his skull, we are left
with absolutely no indication that he was struck from the front or
right front by an additional bullet, as claimed by critics of the
Warren Commission." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 258
------------------------
"{Marina Oswald was often asked whether her husband Lee} might have
been capable of joining with an accomplice to kill the President.
Marina said: "Never. Lee was too secretive ever to have told anyone his
plans. Nor could he have acted in concert, accepted orders, or obeyed
any orders or plans by anybody else".
The reason that Marina gave was that "Lee had no use for the opinions
of anybody but himself. He had only contempt for other people. He was a
lonely person, he trusted no one and he had the fantasies of a sick
person; to get attention only for himself". The people who knew Lee in
Dallas agreed with her." -- J.K. Lattimer; Page 333
------------------------------------------------
In closing......
I'd like to now pose the following logical question for conspiracy
theorists to ponder --- If John F. Kennedy had, in fact, been shot one
or more times from the front, what do you suppose the odds are that ALL
of Dr. Lattimer's ballistics tests and assassination re-creations would
have aligned and agreed with the "Single Assassin Firing From Behind"
conclusion reached by the members of the Warren Commission in 1964?
If I were a conspiracy theorist who believed that JFK had been cut down
by multiple shooters, I think I'd be scratching my head as I tried to
reconcile the above inquiry in my own mind.
Thankfully, I don't have that problem. For I've seen the "Lone
Assassin" light for quite some time now. And the excellent and
revealing experimental work done by John K. Lattimer -- which is fully
laid out in a very readable and directly-to-the-point manner in
"Kennedy And Lincoln" -- only further solidifies the fact that
President John F. Kennedy was killed by one lone assassin named Lee
Harvey Oswald on November 22nd, 1963.
David Von Pein
November 2006
tomnln
http://whokilledjfk.net/Lattimer.htm
"David Von Pein" <davev...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1163844340.6...@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
David Von Pein
Lattimer's book "Kennedy And Lincoln", that Lattimer was in possession
of Oswald's exact Carcano rifle.
There are several references in the book that indicate Lattimer was
utilizing the same MODEL of Carcano (91-38), but not the exact same
gun.
The "C2766" reference in Lattimer's book is quite obviously an innocent
error, because there were not two rifles in existence with that exact
same serial number (as the WC said in its report, which, naturally, is
info that a kook named Tom will totally disregard out of hand).
Lattimer, in fact, acquired FOUR different Carcano rifles for his
experiments in the 1960s and 1970s....and ended up using one of those
rifles more often than the rest of them. (I'm not entirely clear on how
many times, if any, he utilized the other three Carcanos he obtained
during his vast number of tests and re-creations he conducted. But it's
quite obvious from the totality of text in his book that Lattimer was
not using Oswald's rifle at any time.)
Papa Andy
A
> {DVP's emphasis}, such ...
>
> read more »
David Von Pein
And the fact he was a urologist discredits his experiments...how again?
The "urologist" argument by CTers is a nutty one. Always was. Lattimer
dealt with bullet wounds and firearms daily in WW2 as a surgeon.
And even if he hadn't....ANYONE could have conducted the experiments
that Lattimer carried out (if so equipped)....whether he/she be a
urologist, a plumber, or a two-dollar hooker on the street corner.
Papa Andy
a little thin-skinned aren't we
so would you say that a chicken farmer is just as likely to be a good
researcher as an academic expert
A
David Von Pein
to 20-degree downward angle, and then take pictures of the results
after the bullet passes through a mock JFK and hits a mock JBC
travelling completely sideways??
If the chicken farmer can manage to do those basic things, then, yes,
I'll listen to what he has to say.
tomnln
Is that why you Refused to address his OTHER LIE about the size of the Lapel
he Used???
It's all from his own book found HERE>>>
http://whokilledjfk.net/Lattimer.htm
Unlike you David, I always provide Citations.
You admit Lattimer is Stupid.
I Prove he is Dishonest.
AND, I use his own words to Prove it.
"David Von Pein" <davev...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1163902962.5...@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
tomnln
Ain't he a Pisser???
"Papa Andy" <playiso...@email.com> wrote in message
news:1163908074.0...@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
tomnln
"This one's for work This one's for FUN".
It's his Lies & Deceit that "Discredits" his experience.
You're STILL a Felon Supporter.
"David Von Pein" <davev...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1163909539.5...@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
David Von Pein
& Lincoln" book, so I'm not familiar with any such lapel test conducted
by JKL.
Where did you get that lapel data? Because it sure as heck wasn't in
JKL's K&L?
tomnln
Thank You Andy
"Papa Andy" <playiso...@email.com> wrote in message
news:1163911198....@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
tomnln
Lattimer's book.
Are you attempting to defend a book that you haven't even read???
Here you go AGAIN Rinky-Dink.
http://whokilledjfk.net/Lattimer.htm
David;
You'll Never know how much I NEED your posts to show how
Stupid (criminal) Felon Supporters Really ARE.
"David Von Pein" <davev...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1163912903.6...@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
David Von Pein
As I already said, the lapel stuff IS NOT IN K&L (Lattimer's 1980
hardcover First Edition). It's not there...at all. No mention of any
lapel flip at all.
Of course, that's understandable, since the controversy surrounding the
"lapel" movement didn't surface until several years AFTER Lattimer's
October 1980 first edition was published.
So, Mr. Kook, what book did you get those lapel photos out of? You seem
to be implying on your website that those pics are a part of Lattimer's
"K&L" volume from 1980. But they are not in there, because I just this
minute looked through the entire 390+ pages and found no mention at all
of any Lattimer "lapel" experiment. And (per Amazon's database) there
was only ONE single edition of Lattimer's book ever published (the 1980
1st Ed.), with no re-print or updated versions listed.
So, where did you get the lapel stuff?
tomnln
You offer a Denial that those photos came from Lattimer.
THEN, I'll give you the Source that they are indeed from Lattimer.
THEN, will you address the official Records on my website?
"David Von Pein" <davev...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1163917131....@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
David Von Pein
experiments. But I certainly am not positive of that fact either,
because those pictures are not in his 1st-Edition book "Kennedy And
Lincoln".
Therefore, I'm wondering what your source is. Via your website, you are
implying that the lapel photos are from the SAME book as Page 250 above
them re. the rifle number (which would be "K&L"). To quote your
site....
"Lattimer was Less than Honest when he used a Jacket Style from the
40's with a Large Lapel. (see photo from his book Below)..."
Unless he wrote another Kennedy book, you have incorrect data on your
webpage there when you say "from his book". Perhaps he DID write a
follow-up volume (or just a short addendum "article" of some kind) with
the lapel stuff in it. I have no idea. But Amazon is not listing such a
second publication.
So, you can either tell me what your source is or not....I really don't
care very much either way. Because Mr. Lattimer's experiments in "K&L"
(1980), as I mentioned in detail in my review, certainly go a long way
toward debunking almost all of the CTer claims re. additional shooters
hitting victims, regardless of any additional "lapel" test(s) Mr.
Lattimer might have performed at some later time.
tomnln
>I don't necessarily deny the lapel pics are from some of Lattimer's
> experiments.
Thank You;
As I said;
Lattimer is a Liar and a Felon Supporter just like you.
Ohhhh, he's a Pisser Too.
Maybe you can learn something HERE>>> http://whokilledjfk.net/
Anthony Marsh
You mean you haven't read his articles? I rest my case.
tomnln
That's what Cover-Up Liars always DO.
"Anthony Marsh" <anthon...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:boidnQS6dqyZLP3Y...@comcast.com...
David Von Pein
Only his K&L book, which does not say anything about the "lapel flip".
Tom-Kook misrepresents Lattimer's BOOK content, by saying the lapel
experiment is in the BOOK...but it isn't.
But, anyway, I still want to know HOW Lattimer's lapel test (no matter
WHAT you think of it) INVALIDATES his other work re. the skull tests
and the neck shot....where he PROVES that a bullet will NEVER tumble
into a mock JBC back unless it hits something first....and where he
PROVES that a skull will almost ALWAYS (if not ALWAYS, every time, per
JKL's tests) move TOWARD THE SHOOTER when shot from behind....and where
Lattimer PROVES that the JFK throat wound would have been larger if the
collar had not served to "bind" the exit wound and thus make it smaller
in size.
Are ALL of these Lattimer WC-endorsing experiments supposed to be
tossed down the toilet because a kook or two think the "lapel"
experiment was wrong because of a "1940s style" jacket being utilized
in the test?
Are you guys truly THAT kooky and CT-oriented?