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. What causes the shock waves there, Doctor?
Dr. BAXTER. This is just the velocity imparting pressure to surrounding
tissues which damages them. It does not show, however, in the early
course after a missile has passed through.
Mr. SPECTER. Well, would the shock waves have any effect upon the size,
and nature of the hole of exit?
Dr. BAXTER. No.
Mr. SPECTER. And if the bullet passed through the fascial plane without
striking tissues of great density, would it have a tendency to tumble
at all?
Dr. BAXTER. No, it would not.
Mr. SPECTER. What has your experience been, if any, Doctor, with
gunshot wounds?
Dr. BAXTER. For the past 6 years--we admit and treat, I would estimate,
around 500 gunshot wounds per year--thereabouts.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you ever had any formal training in gunshot wounds?
Dr. BAXTER. Only that I received in the Army, with demonstration of
various velocities and that type missile wounds.
Mr. SPECTER. Where was President Kennedy lying when you first saw him,
Dr. Baxter?
Dr. BAXTER. On the cart, on the emergency cart in trauma room 1.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he ever taken off of that cart from the time you first
saw him until the time he was pronounced dead?
Dr. BAXTER. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he ever turned over?
Dr. BAXTER. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Would your examination have been conducted in any
different way had this particular victim not been the President of the
United States?
Dr. BAXTER. I think--yes--in that we would have, particularly,
postmortem examined the body much more carefully than we did. We would
certainly have undressed him completely and determined all of the
direction of the wounds at the time. This did not seem feasible under
the circumstances.
Mr. SPECTER. Why was it not feasible under the circumstances?
Dr. BAXTER. Mrs. Kennedy was in the room, there was a large number of
people in the room by that time--Secret Service Agents, the priests and
so on. As soon as the President was pronounced dead, the Secret Service
more or less--well, requested that we clear the room and leave them
with the President's body, which was done. Everything that the Secret
Service wished was carried out.
Mr. SPECTER. What was that?
Dr. BAXTER. Everything that the Secret Service asked us to do, we did,
as rapidly as possible and this was one of their requests.
In addition, I must say that the emotional condition of all of us at
that time was such that probably we would not--we didn't feel that we
should do any more, since we were certain that autopsy would take care
of all that we were going to miss.
Mr. SPECTER. Did the emotional situation have any effect in your
professional opinion on the quality of the medical care which was
rendered to the President?
Dr. BAXTER. No; none at all. We, I think, everyone present in the room
was certainly emotionally involved in the care of the President, but in
no instance did I see less than the most meticulous and best judgment
used in the care of the President.
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