Upon re-reading a portion of Part 4 of James DiEugenio's "Reclaiming History" book review, I found one more thing that Jim gets totally wrong. Jim D. says this in his book review:
"In describing the images on the Zapruder film, he ["Reclaiming History" author Vincent Bugliosi] focuses on two crucial pieces of evidence. First, in referring to the stunning backward movement of Kennedy's body that bounces him off the back seat, he writes, "the APPARENT backward snap of the president's head at the moment of the head shot" (Bugliosi, p. 451, [emphasis] in original).
Second, in referring to the time lag between a) Kennedy's reaction to a projectile and b) Connally's discernible later reaction, he writes, "the ALLEGED delayed reaction between Kennedy and Connally around the time the Warren Commission claimed they were hit by a single bullet" (Ibid, [emphasis] in original).
He then concludes that neither of these "allegations" -- the rapid rearward movement of Kennedy and the "delayed reaction" -- is actually true. (p. 452)." -- JAMES DiEUGENIO
[End DiEugenio quote.]
Regarding JFK's head snap to the rear, DiEugenio above tries to imply that Vincent Bugliosi is telling the readers of "Reclaiming History" that the rear head snap never occurred at all.
But that is not what Bugliosi is saying at all. Not even close! Because the key words in the VB quote on page 451 that DiEugenio cites above are: "at the moment of the head shot."
DiEugenio evidently missed the significance of those important words, "at the moment of the head shot".
For emphasis, Bugliosi put the word "apparent" in italics on page 451 of his book. And the reason for emphasizing that word in that particular sentence is because of the continued misconception that people still have to this very day about the movements of JFK's head as seen in the Zapruder Film (at frames 312 and 313).
I.E., most people still think that the ONLY discernible movement of President Kennedy's head is a BACK AND TO THE LEFT movement right after the bullet strikes him. But, of course, this is not true, as this super-slow-motion clip shows:
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As can easily be seen in the above clip (and as was confirmed on CBS-TV via the tests done by the Itek Corporation in 1975 and 1976), JFK's head moves a few inches FORWARD at the critical moment-of-impact frame--Z313.
Therefore, when Bugliosi says "the APPARENT backward snap of the president's head at the moment of the head shot", he isn't DENYING the existence of the head snap to the rear (quite obviously, since Vince talks about that rear head movement openly and honestly in various other parts of his book, and Vince talked about the rear head snap a lot in many of his radio interviews in 2007).
Vince is merely saying that "AT THE MOMENT OF THE HEAD SHOT" (i.e., AT Z-FRAME 313), any perceived "backward snap" of Kennedy's head is a false perception on the part of casual viewers of the film. Because JFK's head FIRST moves forward after the bullet strikes him....and only after the discernible forward movement does his head begin to move toward the rear.
As for Mr. Bugliosi's use of the words "ALLEGED delayed reaction" when referring to the reactions seen by John Connally in the Zapruder Film---
Bugliosi uses the word "alleged" there for a pretty good reason, in my opinion -- and that's because it's the proper word to use when talking about any POSSIBLE (but not PROVEN) so-called "delayed reaction" on the part of Governor Connally.
And since Mr. Bugliosi is of the opinion (which I disagree with) that Connally was almost certainly hit by the "SBT" bullet (CE399) while Connally was behind the Stemmons Freeway sign, then we cannot possibly know FOR SURE if Governor Connally was "reacting" to the bullet hitting him during those Z-Film frames when JBC was hidden from Zapruder's view.
Therefore, Bugliosi recognizes the possibility that Connally could have been "reacting" in some way prior to Z222. But we can never know this for certain, because of that damn sign being in the way.
Here's a passage from an endnote in Bugliosi's book that touches on this very subject:
"The HSCA’s final report noted that the governor [John Connally] was completely hidden from view by the Stemmons Freeway sign for a 0.82-second interval from frame “207 to frame 221,” and therefore it could not be determined if Connally’s reaction began before he reemerged from behind the sign. The committee added that “Connally could conceivably have started his reaction at frames 200–206 (just before he disappears behind the Stemmons sign), but too little of his body is visible during these frames to permit such a finding” (HSCA Report, p.82 footnote 18), the inference being, of course, that Connally might not have experienced a delayed reaction at all." -- VINCENT T. BUGLIOSI; PAGES 322-323 OF ENDNOTES IN "RECLAIMING HISTORY" (c.2007)
David Von Pein
December 21, 2008
