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
Now, just how much, depends of course upon what the original missile
weighed. In other words, on the basis of the metal left behind in
Governor Connally's body, as far as I could tell, the missile that
struck it could be virtually intact, insofar as mass was concerned, but
probably was distorted.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you have any idea at all as to what the fragments
which you observed in the Governor's wrist might weigh, Doctor?
Dr. GREGORY. No, not really, but it would have been very small--very
small.
Mr. SPECTER. What treatment or action did you take with respect to
treating the Governor's wrist for him, Dr. Gregory?
Dr. GREGORY. Upon completing the debridement, we were then faced with a
decision as to whether we should suture his wound in the conventional
manner or not, and we chose not to, leaving the wound open in deference
to potential infection that might be produced by retained fragments
of clothing. Having decided upon that course of action, the fractured
radius bone was then manipulated into a reduced position and the entire
limb was encased in a plaster-paris cast.
Mr. SPECTER. Did that complete your operative procedure?
Dr. GREGORY. That completed my operative procedure for that day for
Governor Connally--yes.
Mr. SPECTER. What other wounds, if any, did you notice on the Governor
at that time?
Dr. GREGORY. In addition to the chest wound and the wound just
described in his right forearm there was a wound in the medical aspect
of his left thigh. This was almost round and did not seem to have
disturbed the tissues badly, but did definitely penetrate and pass
through the skin and to the fascia beneath. I could not tell from the
superficial inspection whether it had passed through the fascia. An
X-ray was made of his thigh at that time and there was not present in
his thigh any missile of sufficient magnitude, in my opinion, to have
produced the wound observed on his medial aspect. Repeat X-rays failed
to reveal any such missile and an additional examination failed to
reveal any wound of exit.
Mr. SPECTER. What did the X-rays reveal with respect to the presence of
a missile?
Dr. GREGORY. In the thigh there was a very small shadow, perhaps 1 mm.
by 2 mm. in dimension, lying close to the medial aspect of the femur,
that is, the thigh bone, but was in my opinion much too small to have
accounted for the dimensions of the wound on the medial aspect of his
thigh or a wound of that character.
Mr. SPECTER. What were the dimensions of the wound on the medial aspect
of his thigh.
Dr. GREGORY. I would say that that wound was about a centimeter in
diameter, much larger than the identifiable fragment of metal in the
thigh. I might add that this prompted some speculation on our part, my
part, which was voiced to someone that some search ought to be made in
the Governor's clothing or perhaps in the auto or some place, wherever
he may have been, for the missile which had produced this much damage
but which was not resident in him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account