TONY FRATINI SAID:
David - is there any aspect of the WC investigation that you are unsatisfied [with] or concerned about?
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
No, not really. The bottom line is -- the Warren Commission GOT IT RIGHT -- i.e., Oswald killed Kennedy and Tippit and very, very likely acted alone in so doing. That's the most important thing.
But if I were to pick one single thing that I'm not "satisfied" with regarding the Warren Commission, it probably would be the incredibly silly decision by the Commission to not study the autopsy photos and X-rays during the WC's investigation (although some people have said that Arlen Specter saw the back-wound photo and that Earl Warren briefly looked at all of the autopsy pictures; but even if this is true, it's not enough, IMO).
Here we have the WC tasked with investigating the murder of the President...and they steadfastly refuse to look (in any depth) at some of THE MOST IMPORTANT evidence in the case--the photos and X-rays of the dead Chief Executive. That, IMO, is just totally ridiculous.
Yes, I know that the Commission agreed from the get-go to "publish" all of their findings and all of the exhibits. And that's a good thing. But, for Pete sake, surely a compromise to that general "We must publish everything" rule could (and should) have been reached when it came to the autopsy pictures and X-rays.
I realize that the Commission didn't want to publish the gory pictures of JFK in the 26 volumes. And I agree with that decision. But the WC could still have examined the photos and then printed an explanation to the world as to why the autopsy pictures are not present in the 26 volumes. A "For Reasons Of Taste" disclaimer, as it were.
But, even though the Commission didn't look at the autopsy pictures in any great depth....they still arrived at the correct conclusions in the final Warren Report -- i.e., President Kennedy was shot twice, with both bullets entering from behind.
And that bottom-line conclusion was later confirmed by other official Government panels (e.g., HSCA, Clark Panel, and Rockefeller Commission). And those panels/committees DID have full access to the original autopsy photographs and X-rays.
So, even without looking at those autopsy photos, the Warren Commission still was able to GET IT RIGHT when it came to the fundamental questions concerning JFK's wounds. (The awful and inaccurate Rydberg drawings notwithstanding, of course.)
TONY FRATINI SAID:
What happened to the large exit wound (right side) to JFK's head? An autopsy photo shows no such thing.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I don't know why you're saying this. The autopsy photos (and, even more importantly, the autopsy X-rays) are perfectly consistent with the conclusion that JFK was struck in the head from behind (and only from behind), with the large exit wound being located at the RIGHT-FRONT portion of the head:
David Von Pein
October 21, 2009
