Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. KELLEY. The officials at Hess Eisenhardt, who have the original
plans of the President's car, conducted a test to ascertain how high
from the ground a person 72-1/2 inches would be seated in this car
before its modification. And it was ascertained that the person would
be 52.78 inches from the ground--that is, taking into consideration the
flexion of the tires, the flexion of the cushions that were on the car
at the time.
Mr. SPECTER. When you say 52.78 inches, which individual would that be?
Mr. KELLEY. That would be the President.
Mr. SPECTER. And what part of his body?
Mr. KELLEY. The top of the head would be 52.78 inches from the ground.
When Mr. Anderton was placed in the followup car, it was found that the
top of his head was 62 inches from the ground. There was an adjustment
made so that there would be--the stand-in for Governor Connally would
be in relatively the same position, taking into consideration the
3-inch difference in the jump seat and the 2-inch difference in his
height.
Mr. SPECTER. Considering the 3-inch difference in the jump seat--and
I believe it would be an inch and a half difference in height between
President Kennedy and Governor Connally--how much higher, then,
approximately, was President Kennedy sitting than the Governor on
November 22?
Mr. KELLEY. I am not----
Mr. SPECTER. Would the President have been about an inch and half
higher than the Governor on the day of the assassination?
Mr. KELLEY. The day of the assassination, yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And were----
The CHAIRMAN. Wouldn't the height of these men depend upon the length
of their torso?
Mr. KELLEY. Well,----
The CHAIRMAN. You have some people who are shortwaisted, some people
who are longwaisted. I don't know which either of these men were who
were of the same height. But I know there is a lot of difference in
men. We sometimes see the--a man who looks large sitting down, when he
stands up he is small, because he has a long torso, and vice versa.
Mr. KELLEY. Of course the relative positions are apparent from the
films that were taken at the time of the assassination. It would be, of
course, that judgment--and it would have to be a judgment. But I think
the films indicate there was just about that much difference in their
height when both were seated.
Mr. SPECTER. Inspector Kelley, I hand you a photograph marked as
Commission Exhibit No. 697, which has heretofore been admitted into
evidence, and identified by Governor Connally as depicting the
President and the Governor as they rode in the motorcade on the day of
the assassination, and I ask you if the stand-ins for the President and
the Governor were seated in approximately the same relative positions
on the reconstruction on May 24.
Mr. KELLEY. Yes, sir; in my judgment that is very close.
Mr. SPECTER. What marking, if any, was placed on the back of President
Kennedy--the stand-in for President Kennedy?
Mr. KELLEY. There was a chalk mark placed on his coat, in this area
here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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