DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
To Vince Palamara,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply of June 18, 2008.
VINCE PALAMARA SAID:
I DO have an ego (so what? Millions do...and don't tell me the great Mr. Bugliosi, who I majorly respect, does not; LOL).
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
LOL indeed, Vince P.
Good point. And a point well taken.
I, in fact, have even pointed that out in some posts about Mr. Bugliosi that I've written on the Internet:
"Yes, Vince [Bugliosi] has a decent-sized ego. I readily admit that. I think he does indeed. But I also think that that ego is a DESERVED ONE. He's EARNED the right to have that ego re. certain books he has had published." -- DVP; June 3, 2007
Mr. Palamara, like everyone else, has a right to his own opinions, and he has a right to post any kind of reviews he chooses to post at Amazon.com, or here, or wherever. It's a free country and the Internet, as Vince P. pointed out, is a great tool with which to get a particular point across (and for free).
But when I see Mr. Palamara posting comments like the one quoted below, it just makes me wonder what Mr. Palamara's current beliefs truly are with respect to many of the specific issues brought up in Vincent Bugliosi's mega-tome on the JFK assassination ("Reclaiming History"), including the Single-Bullet Theory?
The quote below is currently attached to one of Vince Palamara's June 2008 YouTube videos, which means this was posted by Vince P. MANY MONTHS after he had already gone on record as fully supporting and endorsing Mr. Bugliosi's book; which, in effect, also means he had gone on record, by necessity, as fully supporting and endorsing THE SINGLE-BULLET THEORY.
Mr. Palamara says this in the area at YouTube.com reserved for a video's description:
"This ultra-rare classic from the vast Vince Palamara archives (trust me, it's humongous!) finds Dr. Robert Shaw, Governor John Connally's chief surgeon, in a Parkland Hospital press conference (WFAA/ ABC tv), telling the amassed news media (and millions in tv land) that "the bullet is in the leg: it hasn't been removed...it will be removed...left thigh...before he goes to the recovery room [note the time sequence!]" ...what?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Single Bullet Theory..." -- Vince Palamara; June 17, 2008
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=7OyI0P6WYIY
Now, to anyone viewing that video of Dr. Shaw (which is a rarely-seen clip, I'll admit....thankfully, I too have it in my own WFAA video archives as well), and to anyone also reading Mr. Palamara's descriptive blurb he provides to accompany the video at the above webpage, it would certainly seem that Vince P. is hinting that the SBT is quite possibly just what most long-time conspiracy theorists think it is -- a theory which is untrue and has no basis in FACT.
But if Vince Palamara were to have added a few more words to his descriptive passage there at YouTube, he could have explained that Dr. Robert Shaw was one of only THREE different doctors who were responsible for treating injured Texas Governor John Connally at Parkland Hospital.
Dr. Shaw, in point of fact, was in charge of caring for Connally's chest wounds, not the wounds the Governor sustained to his wrist or thigh. Dr. Charles Gregory and Dr. Tom Shires were the Parkland physicians who treated Connally's wrist and thigh wounds, respectively. Not Shaw.
And Vince P. could have added the following quote from Dr. Gregory with respect to any bullet being lodged in Governor Connally's thigh [emphasis added by DVP]:
DR. GREGORY -- "I think again that bullet, Exhibit 399, could very well have struck the thigh in a reverse fashion and have shed a bit of its lead core into the fascia immediately beneath the skin, yet never have penetrated the thigh sufficiently so that it eventually was dislodged and was found in the clothing. I would like to add to that we were disconcerted by not finding a missile at all. Here was our patient with three discernible wounds, and no missile within him of sufficient magnitude to account for them, and we suggested that someone ought to search his belongings and other
areas where he had been to see if it could be identified or found, rather."
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In addition, Mr. Palamara might have also wanted to mention the following comments made to the Warren Commission by Dr. George Thomas Shires, who was in charge of treating Connally's leg/thigh injury:
DR. SHIRES -- "The X-rays of the left leg showed only a very small 1-millimeter bullet fragment imbedded in the femur of the left leg. .... So, it appeared, therefore, that the skin wound was either a tangential wound or that a larger fragment had penetrated or stopped in the skin and had subsequently fallen out of the entrance wound."
ARLEN SPECTER -- "What size fragment was there in the Governor's leg at that time?"
DR. SHIRES -- "We recovered none. The small one that was seen was on X-ray and it was still in the femur and being that small, with no tissue damage after the debridement, it was thought inadvisable to remove this small fragment."
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Yes, Dr. Shaw DID, indeed, think that a bullet was probably still lodged in John Connally's left thigh at the time of his Parkland press conference on the afternoon of November 22, 1963.
But he would discover very soon afterward that NO SUCH BULLET EXISTED in the Governor's body at all. The bullet fell out of the wound instead of becoming lodged in the leg. And Dr. Shaw NEVER SAW ANY BULLET in the thigh of Governor Connally. And Shaw's Warren Commission testimony bears out that fact:
ARLEN SPECTER -- "Dr. Shaw, what wounds, if any, did the Governor sustain on his left thigh?"
DR. SHAW -- "He sustained a small puncture-type wound on the medial aspect of the left thigh."
MR. SPECTER -- "Did you have an opportunity to examine that closely?"
DR. SHAW -- "No."
MR. SPECTER -- "Did you have an opportunity to examine it sufficiently to ascertain its location on the left thigh?"
DR. SHAW -- "No, I didn't examine it that closely, except for its general location. .... I didn't examine the wound of the thigh so I can't testify as to that. Dr. Gregory, I think, was there at the time that the debris was carried out and he may have more knowledge than I have."
[...]
MR. SPECTER -- "Now, as to the wound on the thigh, could that bullet have gone into the Governor's thigh without causing any more damage than appears on the face of that bullet [CE399]?"
DR. SHAW -- "If it was a spent bullet, yes. As far as the bullet is concerned, it could have caused the Governor's thigh wound as a spent missile."
MR. SPECTER -- "Why do you say it is a spent missile, would you elaborate on what your thinking is on that issue?"
DR. SHAW -- "Only from what I have been told by Dr. Shires and Dr. Gregory, that the depth of the wound was only into the subcutaneous tissue, not actually into the muscle of the leg, so it meant that missile had penetrated for a very short period. Am I quoting you correctly, Dr. Gregory?"
MR. SPECTER -- "May the record show Dr. Gregory is present during this testimony."
DR. GREGORY -- "I will say yes."
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Does Vince Palamara want people watching his YouTube video to get the impression that Vince P. does NOT believe that the Single-Bullet Theory is an ironclad FACT? (And virtually all "LNers" who endorse Mr. Bugliosi's book, like Vince P.*, certainly are of the opinion that the SBT is, indeed, an ironclad fact. Right? I am definitely of that opinion.)
[* 2012 EDIT -- Mr. Palamara, shortly after going on record endorsing Vince Bugliosi's JFK book, changed his stripes and went back to take up residence in the kooky world of the conspiracy theorists once again. And he has now, in 2012, descended even deeper into the pit of conspiracy-oriented absurdity by fully endorsing Judyth Vary Baker's book, "Me & Lee", via a 5-star review. Amazingly silly, Vince.]
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Baseball Addendum:
Hey Vince P.,
Since you are a big Pittsburgh sports fan, I wonder if you have an archived video copy of portions of Game 5 of the 1972 baseball playoffs (the NLCS) between your Pirates and my Cincinnati Reds? (That's probably a silly question, since your Bucs lost that series in five games. You probably hate that year's NLCS with a passion. But Game 5 was a classic finale anyway.)
"Back goes Clemente! At...the...fence!! She's gone!!!" -- Al Michaels; October 11, 1972
David Von Pein
June 18, 2008
VINCE PALAMARA SAID:
I wish I did [have the 5th game of the '72 NLCS on video]...why, do you? :)
That game was amazing: Clemente's final game, the bitter ending to arguably the greatest Pirates team ever (even though they won the World Series the previous year, many pundits agree that the '72 team was slightly better).
And Bob Moose, who threw the bizarre wild pitch, would meet his end on his 29th birthday, 10/9/76, in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, in a car with 2 women who weren't his wives (they survived)...the very next day, Joe Turkey Jones of the Cleveland Browns pile-drove Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw into the ground, handicapping arguably the greatest STEELERS team ever: the 1976 Steelers (even though they didn't win the SB that year, again, many pundits feel this team was the best).
So, to sum up: OHIO WAS A BAD PLACE TO BE BETWEEN 1972-1976!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
P.S. I confess: the Shaw video description was a tease...it is compelling, though.
DAVID VON PEIN THEN SAID THIS.
