Vince Palamara

I saw your twin brother on CNN last night- ever heard of Director Steven Spielberg?

Hi, Pat! From my first book: Sam stated, “I saw all three shots hit,” without acknowledging the known missed shot(s); even Governor Connally and Dave Powers did not acknowledge a missed shot.151 In regard to JFK’s head wound, the author inquired, “Was the back of Kennedy’s head really gone?” To which Kinney responded, “Yeah … He had no brain left – it was blown out. Clint Hill and I unloaded him out of the car. There was nothing left … [it was] the whole back of the head as far as I am concerned. I saw it hit and I saw his hair come out … I had brain matter all over my windshield and left arm, that’s how close we were to it … it was the right rear part of his head152 … because that’s the part I saw blow out. I saw hair come out, the piece blow out, then the skin went back in – an explosion in and out.”153 Elaborating further, Sam said, after being told that’s where the Parkland doctors saw the wound, “I would say that, too … it involved half his head.” Asked to explain the 1500 gram brain at the autopsy (the upper limit of a normal, undamaged brain), Sam seemed perplexed, saying, “there was brain matter all over the place. Mr. Connally even said he was covered with it.” Sam also said, in regard to the “Today” show interview of 11/22/93,154 “I told them ‘I’m going to tell you some things that haven’t been in books yet’: I brought a piece of the President’s skull back in my suit pocket. Now, all these books are wondering about this hole, this unbelievable missing part. I got the answer to that but nobody’s called me … I went over that automobile coming home … I found it on the plane [C-130] in the car and I put a phone patch in to Admiral Burkley155 who was a very good friend of mine – he was one hell of a man; I’ve got his picture hanging on my wall along with the president’s and I thought just as much of him as I did them.” Returning to the skull fragment, Kinney added that it looked “like a piece of a flowerpot, clean as a pin … like piece of a clay pot – there wasn’t blood or hair or anything on it … I don’t know what else it could have been but the back of his head … mine was a big piece … I told him [Burkley], ‘I may have something that is crucial to the autopsy’ … I gave it [the fragment] to one of his aides [Tommy Mills].” Interestingly, Sam was aware of the separate “Harper” fragment found 11/23/63,156 as was fellow agent Clint Hill.15

I do agree and believe in his role in publicizing the route. NOT Betty Forsling Harris [1988 video]*; NOT Forrest Sorrels (as claimed by Jim Lehrer) [2013 video]**; NOT JFK [famous mythology]. It was Sam Kinney's sole decision, as he was adamant to me on 3 occasions [audio excerpt included + A COUP IN CAMELOT excerpt] and to the Today show 11/22/93***. Also included are all the films and photos depicting the bubble top being used in good weather motorcades- approximately one third of all of JFK’s motorcades. * Despite Bill Moyers HSCA testimony, Kinney disputed his claim of responsibility. I always found that bizarre because Moyers had no authority to do so. This would be tantamount to a Kamala Harris aide telling a Joe Biden Secret Service agent to do something...not going to happen. **Kinney disputed this, as well. As a local DALLAS agent, Sorrels did not have the authority that the White House Detail agents had. ***Kinney is also pictured putting the top ON the limo at Parkland after the assassination.

Kinney disputed that. I always found that bizarre because Moyers had no authority to do so. This would be tantamount to a Kamala Harris aide telling a Joe Biden Secret Service agent to do something...not going to happen.

Good point. I do not know.

Hi, Joe! No--totally different. Sam said "mine was a big piece."

THE REAL DEATH OF A SECRET SERVICE AGENT THE MONTH BEFORE DALLAS 10/14/63 remastered with some sound I uploaded this very important and provocative video months ago and a lot of people wished it had some sound, so I have remastered/slightly expanded it to include some intermittent sound clips (including from one of my presentations).

One of three lengthy interviews I did with the follow-up car driver on 11/22/63 (and countless other trips) 1994. Sam confirms that he was solely responsible for the bubble top's removal on 11/22/63; the right rear of JFK's head was gone AND he had the skull piece while on the C-130 transport plane; his windshield was splattered with blood; he believes in conspiracy; no missed shots- all 3 shots made their mark; JFK did NOT order the agents off his limo; confirms that Emory Roberts did indeed order the other agents not to move during the assassination (yet gives it a "benign" spin); etc.

I tend to agree. It is hard to dismiss Loucks "revelations" as a whole, but, at the same time, I am skeptical, especially based on my own interviews with Kinney (2 in all) which pre-date the release of the 1978 HSCA interview with Kinney in 1996 by the ARRB, Kinney's death in 1997 and Loucks revelations in 2013.

In other words, neither was a deal breaker; just an "aw shucks." In the big picture, no big deal (although I am SURE some lone-nutters will disagree). Stone even admitted on the audio commentary and (I think) the annotated screenplay for JFK that the 3 tramps...well...turned out to just be 3 tramps and were identified. Like the Lovelady/man in the doorway Altgens photo issue, some researchers (still?) refused to acknowledge the error, but it is what it is. Likewise, I feel the "ET"/Elmer Todd initial issue regarding CE399 is of the same caliber (no pun intended)- it doesn't put a dent (no pun intended) in the 2 or 4 hour documentaries as a whole; just something to duly note (borrowing a phrase from Humes) as an error. Like the 3 tramps issue, the "ET" issue WAS alive and well right before release of the Stone productions. It was just that new information came to light. There are still many issues regarding the SBT: chain of possession, condition, trajectory, disbelief of many (including Clint Hill, Paul Landis, the Connallys, Dr. Robert Shaw, etc.) and so forth. In addition, there are many who feel that OF COURSE CE399 would match up to Oswald's rifle---like the rifle itself, the whole goal was to frame Oswald, so it had to match. For one, I subscribe to the Barry Ernest/Flip de Mey school of thought- Oswald's alleged rifle was involved but OSWALD did not fire it, as he was not on the 6th floor at the time. He was in the building, but on a lower floor. I believe he had to have been involved in some capacity, but as a lone wolf shooter acting totally on his own with no conspiracy, I do not believe this [although I once thought that, while there were undoubtably multiple conspiracies to kill Kennedy, Oswald beat them to the punch. This was circa several months in 2007 when I was briefly swayed by the other Vince not named Palamara, DiMaio, Drain, or Salandria: ole Bugliosi. I added that so DVP doesn't reply "oh, Vince, I remember when you" etc.] But I digress. Also- Dr. Guinn's NAA has been totally debunked as junk science, so much so that even the FBI has dismissed it of any value. There was a time when THIS was always used by lone-nutters (Paul Hoch and Ken Rahn especially) as "proof" of Oswald's guilt. So much for that...and the debunking of Guinn's NAA is of far greater consequence than a set of initials will ever be.

I am on the fence about this whole thing. On the one hand, Kinney (in conversations I had between 1992-1994) told me he believed there was a conspiracy, that all three shots made their mark with no missed shot, and that he had THE piece of the back of JFK's head when he was on the C-130 transport plane with the limousines heading back to D.C., all of which is corroborated with his 1978 HSCA interview released in 1996 via the ARRB. Kinney never espoused some of these other things Loucks is alleging to either myself or to the HSCA (and he passed away in 1997). So, we have Loucks word for all of this, while my interviews were recorded (one of the main ones is online [audio] on my you Tube channel), while the HSCA transcript is public domain. Loucks is like that Parkland nurse who came forward in 2013 for the 50th anniversary: came and went.

Awesome! Thanks, Dave!!

Welcome back, Dave! Now don't be mean LOL; be nice. You definitely have a good side to you. You have an impressive archive of materials.

Well, no worries-David Von Pein has the identical video on HIS channel and this NBC video has 0.0 to do with him, so he has zero claim on it, so it is all good.

Well said!

No. It appears Blaine had a copy of this relatively mundane document and added that scrawl much later on in an attempt to make it appear "contemporary." He also forgot to mention it in either his book or documentary-oops.

Outstanding as usual, Stu!

@James DiEugenio see above

Good points. The "ET" initials also remind me of the 6.5 mm metal fragment not seen on the night of the autopsy, yet it magically appears later on via x-rays. To my eyes, the "ET" looks haphazard, as if someone hastily added it. It would be very easy to do, one would think; just a matter of seconds. Yes, I am saying there is the possibility that this was added later but BEFORE Hunt's low-resolution photos AND before Roe's better-resolution photos. All that said, there is also the possibility they WERE there all along (although it seems very hard to believe everyone missed it). HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF LATER-DAY FORGERY OVER AN OSTENSIBLY "CONTEMPORANEOUS" ITEM: [Gerald Blaine came out with his book The Kennedy Detail in an attempt to refute my work which demonstrates that JFK never ordered the agents off his car and other related matters. I spoke to and corresponded with Blaine several years before his book came out, there are obvious references to myself in his book, his attorney sent me a threatening letter before publication, both Blaine & Clint Hill spoke at length about me---twice---on C-SPAN, and a whole lot more. This is just to preface the following--Blaine felt the need to plant this in the Archives shortly before MY book (which he was much aware of) was due to come out...but he makes a fatal error] Gerald Blaine’s handwritten notes on a November 1963 schedule [with underlines and bold by myself, as well as bracketed commentary]: “Frank Yeager and myself have the advance in Tampa, Fla. Everything goes well and I feel real good. Never a thought of the tragedy that is due to occur on the 22nd. Kennedy makes the first of fateful steps that seem to lead toward the tragedy. He states that he wants no agents riding on the rear of his car as we did in Europe. If one was there the assassination might not have occurred. An agent’s life is a frustrating one. You can set all of the security in the world, but its only as good as the President lets it be. The day will come when the only way the public will be able to see the president is by television. The country seems to be loaded with eccentrics and potentials.” “I don’t think I have ever been filled so low emotionally by anything like the president’s assassination. There wasn’t a thing anyone could have done to stop it and the Secret Service did everything it could do. [what a joke] My shift worked midnight in Ft. Worth on the 22nd. We took them to the airport – They flew to Dallas, went to Austin to sleep for the next nights duty. I had been asleep about ten minutes in the Commodore Perry Hotel. Art Godfrey came in the room and almost broke the door down. ‘The boss was hit in Dallas.’ I was groggy but the sickening truth seemed to sink through and I couldn’t do anything but swing my legs over the bed and when the shock hit me I couldn’t find the strength to stand and I was hit with a sudden wave of chills. Then I tried to fight off the despair and asked Art if he was sure. He said he knew that Kennedy was shot, but didn’t know if it was fatal. We turned on the radio and finally got through on the security phone to hear the horrible truth. We just withdrew in our own thoughts.” “We flew back in a SAC Bomber, myself, Art Godfrey, Bob Faison, Jerry O’Rourke, Paul Burns and John Bailey (National Democratic Chairman). We arrived back after Kennedy’s body and set up security at the Johnson residence. (What a disgusting settlement – Kennedy replaced by Johnson – like a pro-ball player going from the Yankees to the bottom of the league.)” “They say that not many single things have an influence on history, but I am sure this one will.” “Even though we could have done nothing to prevent it, nor was there anything anyone could have done except use a bulletproof automobile, we are all suffering from guilt and failure [why?!?!? I thought there was zero you could have done to prevent it?!?!?!?!] in our one task. The ordeal we were to all go through for the next few months was a sad one, but we all came out with a feeling of hope far greater than we had ever had before. We shall all be stronger for the experience in the years to come. President Kennedy left us a little of his courage and we lost not only a fine president but a friend we will never forget and always admire.” "The ordeal we were to all go through for the next few months...""The ordeal we were to all go through for the next few months...""The ordeal we were to all go through for the next few months..."OOPS--I thought these notes were supposed to be contemporaneous "proof" of something?! A SOURCE AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES WHO WAS ADAMANT ABOUT NOT BEING QUOTED SAID IT WAS HIS/HER BELIEF THAT THE HANDWRITTEN "SCRAWL" IN "BALL POINT PEN" WAS ADDED YEARS LATER...I say decades (say, around late 2012), but you get the point. But imagine how this could be used by someone: "This is PROOF that JFK did order the agents off his car!!!!!!"

Great! Thanks, Jim!

Hi, Jim! I am dying to know what you think of the whole Elmer Todd/ET issue. Parnell thinks it debunks the Stone film and the two & four-hour documentary combined hahaha! In my opinion, it is just an "aww shucks" matter; one peg out of many regarding CE399.

Thanks, Pat. So, just to be clear- in your opinion, this discovery, while important, neither confirms the chain of custody of CE399 or the validity of the single bullet theory? It just knocks down one peg out of the list, correct?