Landmarking the Back Wound

[Pat Speer]

It is a preposterous idea that the wound is at the level of T1/C7. The image itself may be vague, but the geography of the body is very clear where the hole is located. I suspect it is slightly above T3, but it would be perfectly possible to argue it was at the level of T3

Object 2 is the blood spot.

On the back of JFK you will see two labels in yellow A1 + B1. Between these two labels and below the B1 label you will see an outline shape underneath the skin. The shape that is being seen is the outline of part of JFK’s right Scapula.

If you look at the anatomical model that is to the right of the image you will see the complete Scapula on the skeleton. The two labels A1 + B1 in cyan on the skeleton point to these same parts that can be seen through JFK’s body that are labelled A1 + B1 in yellow.

The A1 point is at the Medial edge of the Scapular spine. The Scapula spine is that ridge crossing the Scapula and the Medial edge is the edge of the Scapula nearest the vertebral column.

In order to gain a reference by which to judge the location of the wound, I have drawn a blue line across the model as well as the body from this A1 point. Having done that I now have a base line on the body. This base line is midway between T3 and T4.

If you look at the upper right corner of BE 5, you will see the right hand of Commander Boswell holding JFK’s shoulder. I am assuming that it is Humes doing the measuring. I have tried to guess where Costa IR is on the JFK’s body and have drawn a red line across the body, as well as on the model, signifying where I believe Costa IR is. I accept that, this line signifying the position of Costa IR might be slightly out, but it will not be very far out. This red line now gives me an upper limit beyond which this wound is not located.

What can be said, for certain, is that the wound lies between those two lines. If you look at Boswell’s right hand [ I assume it is Humes that is measuring ] you will see that the nail of his pinkie, just to the right of the label A1, is roughly on the same plane as the wound.

I suspect the position of this wound is above T3 but below T2. One thing is for certain it is nowhere near C7/T1.

Hi James

Well done! I couldn't have explained things any better than that.

I'm finding it a bit difficult to believe how many years we have been looking right at a photo of a bullet hole near the level of T3, and have believed it to be at C7/T1, simply because that is where Humes told us it was. As you say, the spine of the scapula is the only really prominent landmark in that area, and there is no mistaking it in that photo.

Humes never "told us" the wound was at C7/T1. He and Boswell prepared a face sheet that placed it around T-1, and provided measurements which placed it around T-1. When asked to create drawings for the Warren Commission, however, they catered to the commission's concerns this wound was too low to support the single-assassin conclusion, and prepared drawings placing it around C-5. The Johnson Administration then pressured them into standing by these drawings. In 1978, however, the HSCA decided to publish a tracing of an autopsy photo which proved these drawings to have been in error. They concluded that the wound was at T-1, and reflected this in their exhibits. There was a problem with this, however. A bullet headed downwards from the sniper's nest and striking Kennedy in this location would have smashed right into bone, or lung. This then led some single-assassin theorists (such as John McAdams) to start claiming the HSCA claimed the bullet entered at C7/T1. This allowed them to pretend this bullet sailed over the first rib at T-1. I spotted this, moreover, and began correcting McAdams and others whenever the opportunity arose. I even corrected Wikipedia on this point.

So, in sum, the T1 entrance was not something proposed by Humes, but something presented years later by the HSCA which proved Humes to have lied when he pretended the entrance was at C-5. And it is not something proposed by single-assassin theorists, who either insist the HSCA was wrong, and that the bullet entered higher, or pretend the HSCA concluded the entrance was at C7/T1, and not T-1, as depicted in the HSCA's exhibits.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Pat Speer

[Robert Prudhomme]

It is a preposterous idea that the wound is at the level of T1/C7. The image itself may be vague, but the geography of the body is very clear where the hole is located. I suspect it is slightly above T3, but it would be perfectly possible to argue it was at the level of T3

Object 2 is the blood spot.

On the back of JFK you will see two labels in yellow A1 + B1. Between these two labels and below the B1 label you will see an outline shape underneath the skin. The shape that is being seen is the outline of part of JFK’s right Scapula.

If you look at the anatomical model that is to the right of the image you will see the complete Scapula on the skeleton. The two labels A1 + B1 in cyan on the skeleton point to these same parts that can be seen through JFK’s body that are labelled A1 + B1 in yellow.

The A1 point is at the Medial edge of the Scapular spine. The Scapula spine is that ridge crossing the Scapula and the Medial edge is the edge of the Scapula nearest the vertebral column.

In order to gain a reference by which to judge the location of the wound, I have drawn a blue line across the model as well as the body from this A1 point. Having done that I now have a base line on the body. This base line is midway between T3 and T4.

If you look at the upper right corner of BE 5, you will see the right hand of Commander Boswell holding JFK’s shoulder. I am assuming that it is Humes doing the measuring. I have tried to guess where Costa IR is on the JFK’s body and have drawn a red line across the body, as well as on the model, signifying where I believe Costa IR is. I accept that, this line signifying the position of Costa IR might be slightly out, but it will not be very far out. This red line now gives me an upper limit beyond which this wound is not located.

What can be said, for certain, is that the wound lies between those two lines. If you look at Boswell’s right hand [ I assume it is Humes that is measuring ] you will see that the nail of his pinkie, just to the right of the label A1, is roughly on the same plane as the wound.

I suspect the position of this wound is above T3 but below T2. One thing is for certain it is nowhere near C7/T1.

Hi James

Well done! I couldn't have explained things any better than that.

I'm finding it a bit difficult to believe how many years we have been looking right at a photo of a bullet hole near the level of T3, and have believed it to be at C7/T1, simply because that is where Humes told us it was. As you say, the spine of the scapula is the only really prominent landmark in that area, and there is no mistaking it in that photo.

Humes never "told us" the wound was at C7/T1. He and Boswell prepared a face sheet that placed it around T-1, and provided measurements which placed it around T-1. When asked to create drawings for the Warren Commission, however, they catered to the commission's concerns this wound was too low to support the single-assassin conclusion, and prepared drawings placing it around C-5. The Johnson Administration then pressured them into standing by these drawings. In 1978, however, the HSCA decided to publish a tracing of an autopsy photo which proved these drawings to have been in error. They concluded that the wound was at T-1, and reflected in this in their exhibits. There was a problem with this, however. A bullet headed downwards from the sniper's nest and striking Kennedy in this location would have smashed right into bone, or lung. This then led some single-assassin theorists (such as John McAdams) to start claiming the HSCA claimed the bullet entered at C7/T1. This allowed them to pretend this bullet sailed over the first rib at T-1. I spotted this, moreover, and began correcting McAdams and others whenever the opportunity arose. I even corrected Wikipedia on this point.

So, in sum, the T1 entrance was not something proposed by Humes, but something presented years later by the HSCA which proved Humes to have lied when he pretended the entrance was at C-5. And it is not something proposed by single-assassin theorists, who either insist the HSCA was wrong, and that the bullet entered higher, or pretend the HSCA concluded the entrance was at C7/T1, and not T-1, as depicted in the HSCA's exhibits.

Unfortunately, the entrance wound in the photo still appears to be two finger widths (or slightly less) above the plainly visible scapular spine, placing the entrance wound just above T3 vertebra. If it was at the level of T3, it would have struck the 3rd rib.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Robert Prudhomme

[Robin Unger]

Colorized composite.

medical diagram showing the lungs and the location of thoracic vertebra T3.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Robin Unger

[Robin Unger]

Boswell ARRB Testimony

http://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/medical_testimony/Boswell_2-26-96/html/Boswell_0076b.htm

[Cliff Varnell]

This allowed them to pretend this bullet sailed over the first rib at T-1. I spotted this, moreover, and began correcting McAdams and others whenever the opportunity arose.

Meanwhile, Pat Speer pretends JFK was shot in the back at T1 in spite of irrefutable evidence the wound was at T3.

Every time Pat casually raises his right hand to casually wave like JFK the fabric of his shirt along his right shoulder-line INDENTS.

This is a subject about which Pat is in severe denial.