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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. II - Page 381« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Lt. Col. Pierre A. , Physician, U. S. Army Finck)

Mr. Specter.
And what characteristics of dumdum bullets were absent, in your opinion--in your evaluation of these wounds?
Colonel FINCK. I would expect more jagged, more irregular and larger wounds of entrance than described in this case.
Representative Ford.
With a dumdum bullet?
Colonel FINCK. With a dumdum bullet.
Mr. Specter.
With respect to the question of likelihood of Governor Connally having been wounded in the back and chest with the same bullet which passed through President Kennedy in 385, what reduction would there be, if any, in the velocity, considering the relative positions of the two men in the automobile as reflected in photograph, Exhibit 398?
Colonel FINCK. Of course, to reach precise figures we would need experiments and similar circumstances with the same type ammunition at the same distance through two human cadavers, which I did not do.
On the basis that if we assume that this is one bullet going through President Kennedy's body and also through Governor Connally's body, the reduction of velocity would be of some extent after passing through President Kennedy's body, but not having hit bones, the reduction in velocity, after going through President Kennedy's body, would be minimal.
Mr. Specter.
Would there be sufficient force then to inflict the wound which Dr. Humes described from the Parkland Hospital records as having been inflicted on Governor Connally's back and chest?
Colonel FINCK. There would be enough energy to go through the body of the Governor.
Mr. Specter.
In expressing your opinion on that subject, Doctor Finck, have you taken into account the assumptions on distance, that we are dealing here with a weapon that has a muzzle velocity in the neighborhood of slightly in excess of 2,000, and that the vehicle carrying these two individuals was approximately 150, about 150 feet away from the site of origin of the missile?
Colonel FINCK. At this range, a bullet of this velocity loses very little velocity, and keeps upon impact a large amount of kinetic energy.
Mr. Specter.
You heard the whole of Doctor Humes' testimony, did you not?
Colonel FINCK. Yes; I did.
Mr. Specter.
Do you have anything that you would like to add to what he said?
Colonel FINCK. No.
Mr. Specter.
Or would you like to modify his testimony in any way?
Colonel FINCK. No.
Mr. Specter.
Do you subscribe to the observations and procedures which he outlined during the course of his testimony?
Colonel FINCK. I do.
Mr. Specter.
As having been conducted on President Kennedy?
Colonel FINCK. I do.
Mr. Specter.
And do you share the opinions which he expressed in their entirety in the course of his testimony here today?
Colonel FINCK. I do.
The Chairman.
You might be seated, Colonel.
Mr. Mccloy.
Just as truthful seated as standing.
Representative Ford.
How many cases did you investigate to develop this theory shown by Commission Exhibit 400?
Colonel FINCK. Among the more than 400 cases I have reviewed, several of them--I cannot give you an exact figure, I do not tabulate them, but many of them had through and through wounds of the skull as well as of flat bones, as, for instance, the sternum. the bone we have in front of our chest and this would apply also to a through and through wound of the sternum. I have cases like that.
There was a specific case in which I was able to identify the entrance at the level of the sternum on the same basis as the criteria I have given for the skull. Whenever a bullet goes through a flat bone, it will produce that beveling, that cratering, shelving, and that I have seen in numerous cases.
Representative Ford.
Is this a generally accepted theory in the medical profession?
Colonel FINCK. Yes, sir; it is. Am I allowed to quote a standard textbook?
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