HSienzant
Philosopher
This is the exact passage from the Barnum diary dated 11/29/1963, shown in David Lifton's BEST EVIDENCE:
In his November 29, 1963 account, Coast Guardsman George Barnum wrote that as the men were having sandwhiches and coffee sometime after midnight, Admiral Burkley came in and talked to them, and said three shots had been fired, that the President had been hit by the first and third, and he described the trajectories of the two that struck:
"The first striking him in the lower neck and coming out near the throat. The second shot striking him above and to the rear of the right ear, this shot not coming out...."
The second part where it says "this shot not coming out...." is what confuses me. It sounds kind of like a reference to the first theory on the shallow back wound, that the bullet did not make an exit wound but rather barely penetrated the back and then naturally squeezed out of it's own entry hole. But it appears to be referencing one shot which struck "above and to the rear of the right ear". A reference to the mythical "bullet lodged behind the ear" referenced in that FBI memo? Who knows.
So you admit Barnum got stuff wrong, butchering the findings of the autopsy.
What confuses me is why you then turn around and argue then for the veracity of his claims.
3:12AM is "sometime after midnight".
Isn't it?
How long was Burkley and Barnum at Bethesda? You never did answer. When did this happen? I've asked you this a number of times and you never did answer, ignoring the question each time. I've pointed out you've ignored it a number of times as well, and drew a conclusion from your failure to respond.
Now, if Burkley imparted that info to Barnum at 3:12AM on Saturday morning, that was after the autopsy concluded, was it not? And possibly after Humes phone call to Perry learning of the throat bullet wound?
But the Barnum Diary is definitely describing a wound in his "lower neck".
And there was a wound in the lower neck found in the autopsy. And a wound in the head.
You are presuming Burkley knew all the facts and all the conclusions of the autopsy doctors and relayed them accurately to Barnum, and Barnum heard and understood accurately all the facts that Burkley stated, and recorded them accurately. All while admitting Barnum's account is wrong in places. Make up your mind. Can't be both.
We have been over why a "right after the autopsy while the morticians were treating the body" throat wound discovery doesn't work.
Remind me why it doesn't work.
Dr. Humes has even said that he and his children went to a church function before he finally got around to calling Dr. Perry much later in the morning of 11/23/1963. He estimated to was 10-11 AM to the HSCA and 7-9 AM to the ARRB.
So you're still stuck trying to wedge 15 and 33-year after the round recollections into square holes and try to get them to conform to contemporaneous notes. Uh, no. We've covered recollections extensively in the past, and I even quoted the ARRB's own caution against what you're doing:
The deposition transcripts and other medical evidence that were released by the Review Board should be evaluated cautiously by the public. Often the witnesses contradict not only each other, but sometimes themselves. For events that transpired almost 35 years ago, all persons are likely to have failures of memory. It would be more prudent to weigh all of the evidence, with due concern for human error, rather than take single statements as "proof" for one theory or another.
You are taking Humes 15- and 33-year after the fact recollections as gospel. And Barnum's hearsay account of what Burkley said as gospel as well.
Sorry, no.
Hank
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