Harry and the zfilm

[John Dolva]

Lancer:

"Reporter Harry McCormack takes Sorrels to Jennifer Juniors, Inc., in the Dal-Tex Building, 501 Elm St., the office of Abraham Zapruder. Zapruder was emotionally upset; agreed to furnish a copy of the film to Sorrels with the understanding that it was strictly for official use of the Secret Service and that it would not be shown or given to any newspapers or magazines, as he expected to sell the film for as high a price as he could get for it. Mr. McCormack had offered $1,000 for it, but others were also interested.(Memo from Forrest Sorrels to Thomas Kelley)

WFAA-TV calls Eastman Kodak, which agrees to process the film right away. A police cruiser took the men to Kodak on Manor Way. There, Sorrels also met Phil Willis, there with his film for processing. Sorrels left. Dan Rather later claimed credit for arranging for the film's processing. Zapruder had 3 copies made (possibly at Jamieson). The film was previewed at the lab just after being developed. Zapruder was assured no bootlegs had been made. Sorrels later picked up two of the copies.(Trask)

After selling the original and one copy to LIFE, Zapruder seems to have retained an unexplained 4th copy, which Sorrels brought people over to view, being without his copies Nov. 23-26.(Trask)

Nov. 23: With Zapruder at the projector, the film is viewed by Richard Stolley, LIFE's Los Angeles Bureau Chief, the only reporter among a small group of Secret Service agents in a small room of Jennifer Juniors, early in the morning. Zapruder ran the film again and again as newsmen from AP and UPI and other magazines showed up. When the lights were turned on, Zapruder looked ill. Stolley convinces Zapruder to talk with him first. (Richard Stolley, 1973)"

________________________________________________________

Vince Palamera:

"The authors interviewed the following members of the

DPD: Jesse Curry, B.J. Martin, Douglas Jackson, James

Chaney, Stavis Ellis, Marion Baker, Joe M. Smith, and

Earle V. Brown. Also, Jean Hill, Bill Newman, Charles

Brehm, Ralph Yarborough, Joe H. Rich, Bill Greer, Roy

Kellerman***, Henry Gonzalez, Dean Andrews...and HARRY

D. HOLMES.

PAGE 129:

"Also on Friday evening, November 22nd, [Forrest]

Sorrels did a frame-by-frame study of the Zapruder film

in his Dallas office. According to Dallas Postal

Inspector Harry D. Holmes who was present, "...we

thumbed (through) that thing for an hour or more...push (ing)

it up one frame at a time."

PAGE 213:

"A postal inspector [Holmes] picked up a piece of skull

from the Elm St. pavement. He said it was as "...big as

the end of my finger..." Furthermore, it was one of many:

"...there was just pieces of skull and bone and

corruption all over the place..." He later discarded

it.[!!!]"

Seymour Weitzman found a "firecracker" sized skull

fragment on Elm Street which he turned over to the

Secret Service [7 H 107];

the Harper fragment; the back-of-the -head piece Sam

Kinney found lying in the rear of the limo while on the

C-130; the three pieces found in the limo:

what is going on here???

In any event, Harry Holmes is certainly unique: he had

perhaps the best vantage point, witnessing the

assassination THROUGH BINOCULARS on the fifth floor of

the Post Office Terminal Annex Building. Holmes was

previously an FBI informant and, in his capacity as

Postal Inspector, had traced the paperwork concerning

the Oswald mail order rifle and revolver and testified

about it to the Warren Commission. Holmes was present

asking questions during the final interrogation of Lee

Harvey Oswald on 11/24/63, shortly before Ruby would

silence him forever. Holmes was a friend of John

Martin, a man who also worked in the same building who

took a film on that fateful day ("Pictures of the

Pain", p. 574). And, now, we know he found a piece of

President Kennedy's skull on Elm Street---which

he then DISCARDED---and he analyzed the Zapruder film

on NOVEMBER 22, 1963!!!

Vince Palamara"

So Harry saw ("thumbed through, frame by frame") one or both of the two copies Sorrels had?

[Bernice Moore]

Hi John:

Would you happen to know the name of the book, in reference to the pages below

Vince Palamara's name..and possibley have a link..to this information..?

Thanks B..

[Blair Dobson]

Awesome post Mr Dolva.

I have always wondered how many copies of the film itself were made, what the chain of evidence was and who actually viewed it first and when.

Harry Holmes , Postal inspector is another strange character that seems to have slipped into the shadows after the Warren Ommision released it's findings..

Are there any known photos of this Mystery Man and do we know what has become of him?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for that post.

Cheers,

Blair Dobson

[James Richards]

"In Oswald's talks with me, I found that he had a disciplined mind and disciplined reflexes. He unhesitatingly answered questions he wanted to answer, skilfully parried the others, and lied instantly whenever cornered." - Harry D. Holmes to reporter Henry Taylor

James

[John Dolva]

In preparing that post I cropped a part that seemed distracting and cropped out the link heres the lot on this site.

http://www.acorn.net/jfkplace/03/VP/57-VP.html

"The Zapruder Film and Harry Holmes:

by Vincent Palamara

Fred Newcomb and the late Perry Adams interviewed

Harry Holmes for their unpublished manuscript entitled

"Murder From Within"* (a 1974 production

that took five years to research/ write: the authors'

only tv appearance** was on the now-defunct "Inside

Report" on NBC back in May 1990), a great body of work

that introduced everyone to body alteration (years

before Lifton, who offers a "legalese" footnote

pertaining to another topic on page 370--and page

732---of "Best Evidence"), ZAPRUDER FILM TAMPERING (as

acknowledged by Harrison Livingstone in "Killing

Kennedy" and on several pages of "Assassination

Science"), LHO backyard photo fakery (as acknowledged

by Jack White in "The Many Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald"

and in Jim Marrs' "Crossfire"), Dodd Committee/ Seaport

Traders/ LHO theory (see pages 300 and 528 of Henry

Hurt's "Reasonable Doubt"), and, last but not least,

Greer shooting JFK [years before Bill Cooper!] (which,

like Hickey shooting JFK in "Mortal Error", greatly

damaged the good work in the rest of the book). Newcomb

was also the first to track down the Air Force One

transcripts at the LBJ Library back in 1975 ("Best

Evidence", p. 681) and that one of the Willis photos

had been retouched by the FBI ("Who's Who in the JFK

Assassination" by Michael Benson, p. 310), but I

digress..."

I regularly search the web in case a pic has become available, I'm curious to see one too, Blair. I understand Ian Griggs may have unearthed one, I haven't seen it.

[James Richards]

John,

In your search for information and photographs of Harry D. Holmes, may I suggest you impose on one of the forum's Dallas residents to check the phone listing for Robert David Holmes and or Richard Lee Holmes. They are twin sons of Harry D. Holmes, who I am not 100% sure is the ex Postal Inspector. A quick phone call could establish that.

If they are his sons, then they might be able to help with information and images.

James

Edited May 22, 2006 by James Richards

[Lee Forman]

An email from Ian Griggs, being posted here on someone's behalf...

Many thanks for your two messages concerning

Harry D. Holmes. Very interesting - but nothing new.

To be quite blunt, I am amazed at how little

seems to be known about this man. Researchers wishing to

learn more about him - including details of the window of

the Post Office building from which he viewed the

assassination - are urged to read and study Chapter 15 of my

book "No Case To Answer". The chapter is entitled "The Four

Faces Of Harry D. Holmes".

I researched and wrote it in 1996 and presented

it as a research paper at the Lancer Conference in

Dallas in November 1997. It was then published on the

JFK-Lancer website in May 1998 and in hard copy in "The

Fourth Decade"

(vol. 5, no. 5) in July 1998.

I understand that after either the conference

presentation or maybe its appearance on the Lancer website,

members of Holmes' family contacted Lancer to complain

about it. Back in those days, the piece opened with an

explanation of the "four faces" reference and mentioned Big Ben -

the four-sided clock tower at the eastern end of the

Houses of Parliament in London. (Strictly speaking, "Big

Ben" is the name of the huge bell in the tower.)

The second of my introductory paragraphs was as

follows and I feel this is what upset the Homes family.

Anyway, I omitted this paragraph from the version in my

book:

(QUOTE)

In Britain, a person who is untrustworthy or

devious is sometimes said "to have as many faces as Big

Ben."

The expression hardly requires clarification. I

consider that Dallas Post Office Inspector Harry D. Holmes

falls easily into that category and, like the Big Ben clock

tower, I feel that he had four separate and distinct

faces. In his book "And We Are All Mortal", George Michael

Evica puts it slightly more mildly and describes Holmes as

"one of the many all-purpose Commission witnesses to testify

in a number of areas."

(UNQUOTE)

I would urge any serious researchers to check

out one of the sources I mention here - preferably my book

as it has the updated version of the Holmes story.

As for a picture of Harry D. Holmes, one was

published in a big-selling book in 1998, together with Holmes'

own lengthy account of his work in Dallas and his version of

the events of the assassination weekend. The book is

entitled "No More Silence", was written by Larry A. Sneed and

published by Three Forks Press, Dallas, TX. Its ISBN is

0-9637629-6-6.

Highly recommended!

there is still so much more that we don't

know about Harry D. Holmes. Perusal of my published work on

him will indcate a lot - but by all means, not

everything.

Incidentally, HDH retired from the USPS on 1st

January 1967 and died on 14th October 1989, aged 82. When he

retired, aged 61, he had been assigned to the Obscenity

Section of the USPS and he claimed to have made over 500

arrests.

Please feel free to circulate any or all of the above as

you wish. I would appreciate my research and

published contributions being mentioned as basic source

material.

SEEK - FIND - SHARE.

Regards and all best wishes.

IAN

[John Dolva]

Ian, sharing with us anything you have found out about Harry, photos snippets from his life etc, background , ancestry, friends associates, views, description etc and an ongoing update on new material that answer some of the more intriguing questions most appreciated. Harry is an intriguing person popping up all over the place particularly in critical moments in places one would expect him to have no business, plays a pivotal role in 'convicting' Oswald, and delaying transfer time and so on and then...almost as if he never existed...so so strange. I can see why you put the idea of Big Ben on this man. I call him the gofer.

[Ian Griggs]

Ian, sharing with us anything you have found out about Harry, photos snippets from his life etc, background , ancestry, friends associates, views, description etc and an ongoing update on new material that answer some of the more intriguing questions most appreciated. Harry is an intriguing person popping up all over the place particularly in critical moments in places one would expect him to have no business, plays a pivotal role in 'convicting' Oswald, and delaying transfer time and so on and then...almost as if he never existed...so so strange. I can see why you put the idea of Big Ben on this man. I call him the gofer.

John,

I have more info and opinions about HDH which I would be delighted to share and perhaps debate with you. At this stage I am loath to announce them on a public forum - perhaps that can come later.

If you would care to contact me direct at <bjorkian@yahoo.com> I am sure it would be of mutual benefit.

Regards from Pommieland!

Cheers,

IAN

[James Richards]

A friend of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous) put in the hard yards to secure this image of Harry D. Holmes.

James

[John Dolva]

Much gratitude to your friend James.

Methinks perhaps Harry has a cheeky sense of humour? Backyard photo in front of picket fence (plaid,unbuttoned shirt).A date would be good. He was in his fifties I believe in 63.

[Robin Unger]

Well done to James and friend.

Very Nice.

[Ian Griggs]

Much gratitude to your friend James.

Methinks perhaps Harry has a cheeky sense of humour? Backyard photo in front of picket fence (plaid,unbuttoned shirt).A date would be good. He was in his fifties I believe in 63.

This is the HDH pcture taken by Larry Sneed immediately after he had interviewed Holmes for his (Sneed's) book "No More Sience." With most of his subjects, Larry published the picture he took alongside one from 1963 or thereabouts. The fact that he published only this one indicates the scarcity of HDH pix from the sixties. As with almost all of the photos Larry took, the subject has signed it.

Larry's book was published in 1998 but he obviously interviewed HDH at least ten years before that as HDH died in October 1989.

I would estimate that this pic dates back to around the mid or late eighties. I will contact Larry (he's an Overseas Member of our research group) and see if he has any record of when he interviewed HDH.

Incidentally, I am not certain that Harry D. Holmes was a true-born American. I'll leave you guys to chew that one over! Also, before somebody asks, I never did ascertain his middle name.

Great result finding the photo, James!

Regards to all,

IAN

[Antti Hynonen]

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/history/the_d...eed/Holmes.html

From the web site above:

Harry D. Holmes

U.S. Postal Inspector

Born in Indian Territory in 1905, after having moved to Kansas City in 1917, Harry Holmes worked his way through his early school years in a toy factory, a bakery, and as a lamplighter. After taking an examination, he eventually became a mail handler and attended school part-time to become a CPA and later attended dental college. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Holmes, who was still working with the post office, was encouraged to take the postal inspector’s examination. Upon acceptance, he was stationed first in Lake Charles, Louisiana, then to Monroe, Louisiana, and eventually to Dallas in 1948. Because of his position with the post office., Holmes was responsible for much of the investigative work in tracking down the money order used to purchase the rifle which was allegedly used in the assassination. He was also a central figure in the last interrogation of Oswald shortly before he was murdered in the basement of the Dallas City Hall.

-----------------------------------------

(Indian Territory=Oklahoma.)

The website also includes the interview of Holmes by Sneed.

[John Dolva]

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/history/the_d...eed/Holmes.html

From the web site above:

Harry D. Holmes

U.S. Postal Inspector

Born in Indian Territory in 1905, after having moved to Kansas City in 1917, Harry Holmes worked his way through his early school years in a toy factory, a bakery, and as a lamplighter. After taking an examination, he eventually became a mail handler and attended school part-time to become a CPA and later attended dental college. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Holmes, who was still working with the post office, was encouraged to take the postal inspector’s examination. Upon acceptance, he was stationed first in Lake Charles, Louisiana, then to Monroe, Louisiana, and eventually to Dallas in 1948. Because of his position with the post office., Holmes was responsible for much of the investigative work in tracking down the money order used to purchase the rifle which was allegedly used in the assassination. He was also a central figure in the last interrogation of Oswald shortly before he was murdered in the basement of the Dallas City Hall.

-----------------------------------------

(Indian Territory=Oklahoma.)

The website also includes the interview of Holmes by Sneed.

................................................................................

.......................................................

c/o'Sixth floor museum site:

6:00pm

Zapruder and Schwartz returned to Kodak to have the prints prepared for projection.

10:00pm

Schwartz and Zapruder took two prints to Forrest Sorrels**, head of the Dallas Secret Service office, who immediately dispatched one to Secret Service investigators in Washington, D.C.

11:00pm

LIFE magazine Pacific Bureau editor Richard Stolley, who immediately flew from Los Angeles to Dallas after hearing of the assassination, reached Zapruder at his home by phone and arranged to meet in his office at 9:00 the next morning.

====================== November 23, 1963======================

8:00am

Stolley arrived at Zapruder’s office an hour early and waited.

9:00am

Zapruder screened the film again for Secret Service agents, then met with Stolley and agreed to sell only the print rights to LIFE. He expressed concern that the film not be exploited. Stolley left with the original film and one print. The original went to LIFE’s printing center in Chicago and the print went to its corporate office in New York. LIFE personnel examined the film to decide which frames to publish. At some point, they accidentally damaged the original in two places and six frames were removed, leaving visible splice marks.(The original film is the artifact purchased by the US Government in 1999; the duplicate print is now in the Zapruder Collection at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.)

................................................................................

.......................................................

**"Sorrels later picked up two of the copies.(Trask)"

"After selling the original and one copy to LIFE, Zapruder seems to have retained an unexplained* 4th copy, which Sorrels brought people over to view, being without his copies Nov. 23-26.(Trask)"

Where is the copy Sorrels (Schwartz and Zapruder took two prints to Forrest Sorrels, head of the Dallas Secret Service office, who immediately dispatched one to Secret Service investigators in Washington, D.C" sent to Washington.

Presumably if I understand correctly (please correct me) then by midnight the 22'nd, Zapruder has a whole original and one (two?) (whole) copy (/ies). Sorrels is 'thumbing' one (whole) copy with Harry, and one wnole copy is in the bag to Washington

"Also on Friday evening, November 22nd, [Forrest]

Sorrels did a frame-by-frame study of the Zapruder film

in his Dallas office. According to Dallas Postal

Inspector Harry D. Holmes who was present, "...we

thumbed (through) that thing for an hour or more...push (ing)

it up one frame at a time"

The commission then choose the damaged original to view. Who has seen the copy sent to Washington?

__________________

*could this fourth copy be the copy that Sorrels had studied with Harry some hours earlier?

__________________

does anyone know of a detailed history of the splice itself, It's a bit hard to make it out and to piece it together again.

Edited May 26, 2006 by John Dolva