Taking JFK's body out of Dallas and back to Washington wasn't the
slightest bit sinister. Nor was it really even very surprising under
the circumstances.
Plus: It was really Jacqueline Kennedy who was the primary reason for
the Secret Service bulldozing JFK's casket out of Parkland Hospital.
(Plus Ken O'Donnell and Larry O'Brien, don't forget--and those guys
were JFK's aides and very close friends, so they certainly weren't
part of some "plot" to steal the President's body and fly it to some
kind of Conspiracy BatCave at Walter Reed in order to have covert
head-altering surgery performed.)
JACKIE was the MAIN REASON for why the body was bulldozed out of
Parkland and back to Washington the way it was. And that's because
Jackie refused to leave her husband's side. And, for some reason,
O'Donnell, O'Brien, et al, felt they had to get Jackie out of Dallas
asap. And since Jackie wouldn't budge without JFK by her side--then
JFK had to go too.
Nothing sinister there whatsoever. And whether or not it was technically
illegal and against Texas law is not a major point at all. The main question
to ask regarding the removal of the President's body on 11/22/63 is this
one: WAS PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S BODY TAKEN OUT OF DALLAS AS PART
OF A CONSPIRACY AND/OR COVER-UP?
And the obvious answer to that question is: No.
Or do some conspiracy theorists want to accuse Kenneth O'Donnell,
Lawrence O'Brien, the Secret Service, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy
of being part of a plot and/or cover-up?
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"[Jackie Kennedy's] response to me was she would not leave her husband's body. At that point, I realized that she would not. The doctor had continually attempted to get her to take some form of sedation. And she had consistently refused, and told me she would not take anything, that she was going to stay with her husband. I realized that she was going to stay with her husband, no matter what anybody did, and there was no possible way of in any way getting her to leave. And so, therefore, the only alternative I could see was that we move the President. It is an assumption I probably would have arrived at anyway, but I arrived at it in this manner."
-- Kenneth P. O'Donnell; May 18, 1964; Via his Warren Commission testimony [7 H 452]
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"2:04 p.m. [CST] --- By the time the president's body is ready to be moved from Parkland Hospital, the row over the state of Texas's jurisdiction over the body has turned into a major imbroglio. Medical examiner Dr. Earl Rose refuses to listen to the pleading of Dr. Kemp Clark, the head of neurosurgery, who sides with the presidential party, or to the advice of Dallas district attorney Henry Wade, who advised him by phone to give it up.
Tempers are at the melting point. Kennedy's men have had about all of Dallas law they can stand. Rose sees the casket bearing the president's body being pushed out of Trauma Room One, Mrs. Kennedy at its side. The medical examiner blocks the way with his own body, his hand flying up like a traffic cop. "We are removing it," Admiral Burkley says, enraged. "This is the president of the United States and there should be some consideration in an event like this."
"We can't release anything!" Rose screams. "A violent death requires a postmortem! There's a law here. We're going to enforce it."
A crush of forty sweating men are clustered around the wide doorway as curses fly back and forth. One of them looks like he might belt the medical examiner at any moment. Admiral Burkley, in an attempt to calm everyone down, informs the conclave that a justice of the peace has arrived and has the power to overrule the medical examiner.
Theron Ward, a young justice of the peace for the Third Precinct of Dallas County, makes his way down the corridor. Too timid to buck the medical examiner, the young justice tells them there is nothing he can do.
"In a homicide case, it's my duty to order an autopsy," Ward says in a tone much too weak for Dr. Rose's pleasure. "It shouldn't take more than three hours."
Special Agent Kellerman tells Ward there must be something inside of him that tells him it wouldn't be right to put Mrs. Kennedy and all of the president's people through any further agony in Texas, but Ward can only say, "I can't help you out."
Ken O'Donnell pleads with him, "Can't you make an exception for President Kennedy?"
Incredibly, Ward tells him, "It's just another homicide case as far as I'm concerned."
O'Donnell's response is instantaneous. "Go fuck yourself," he yells. "We're leaving!"
A policeman next to Rose points to the medical examiner and the justice of the peace and says to the president's men, "These two guys say you can't go."
"Move aside," shouts Larry O'Brien, moving toward the officer. "Get the hell out of the way," O'Donnell hollers. "We're not staying here three hours or three minutes. We're leaving now! Wheel it out!" he orders.
The Secret Service men shoulder their way into the patrolman, who wisely capitulates. Rose, overpowered by circumstance, steps out of the way as the casket is wheeled toward the emergency exit, Mrs. Kennedy hurrying alongside, her fingertips touching the bronze finish.
As they move out toward the waiting hearse, Justice Theron Ward dashes to the nurses station and telephones District Attorney Wade and is stunned to hear him say the same thing he told Earl Rose earlier--he has no objection whatsoever to the removal of the president's body."
-- Pages 110-111 of "Reclaiming History: The Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy"
(c.2007 by Vincent Bugliosi)
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David Von Pein
May 2010
LINK TO ORIGINAL POST (MAY 22, 2010)
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