Warren Commission (06 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (06 of 26): Hearings Vol. VI (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. SPECTER. Would you draw it on another portion of the paper here in
terms of its absolute size?
Dr. SHAW. Five cm. it would be--about like that--do you want me to mark
that?
Mr. SPECTER. Put your initials right in the center of that circle.
Dr. SHAW. I'll just put "wound of exit."
Mr. SPECTER. Fine--just put "wound of exit--actual size" and put your
initials under it.
(The witness, Dr. Shaw, complied with request of Counsel Specter.)
Mr. SPECTER. Let the record show that Dr. Shaw has marked "wound of
exit--actual size" with his initials R.R.S. on the diagram 1.
Now, looking at diagram 2, Dr. Shaw, does the angle of declination on
the figure correspond with the angle that the bullet passed through
Governor Connally's chest?
Dr. SHAW. It does.
Mr. SPECTER. Is there any feature of diagram 3 which is useful in
further elaborating that which you have commented about on diagram 1?
Dr. SHAW. No. Again off the record?
Mr. SPECTER. All right, off the record.
(Discussion between Counsel Specter and the witness, Dr. Shaw, off the
record.)
Mr. SPECTER. You have just commented off the record, Dr. Shaw, that
the wound of entry is too large proportionately to the wound of exit,
but aside from that, is there anything else on diagram 3 which will be
helpful to us?
Dr. SHAW. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Is there anything else on diagram 4 which would be helpful
by way of elaborating that which appeared on diagram 2?
Dr. SHAW. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Now as to the treatment or operative procedure which you
performed on Governor Connally, would you now describe what you did for
him?
Dr. SHAW. As soon as anesthesia had been established and an
endotracheal tube was in place so that respiration could be controlled
with positive pressure, the large occlusive dressing which had been
applied in the emergency room was removed. This permitted better
inspection of the wound of exit, air passed to and fro through the
damaged chest wall, there was obvious softening of the bony framework
of the chest wall as evidenced by exaggerated motion underneath the
skin along the line of the trajectory of the missile.
The skin of the chest wall axilla and back were thoroughly cleaned and
aseptic solution was applied for further cleaning of the skin, the
whole area was draped so as to permit access to both the wound of exit
and the entrance wound. Temporarily, the wound of entrance was covered
with a sterile towel.
First an elliptical incision was made to remove the ragged edges of the
wound of exit. This incision was then extended laterally and upward in
a curved direction so as to not have the incision through the skin and
subcutaneous tissue directly over the line of the trajectory of the
bullet where the chest had been softened.
It was found that approximately 10 cm. of the fifth rib had been
shattered and the rib fragments acting as secondary missiles had been
the major contributing factor to the damage to the anterior chest wall
and to the underlying lung.
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