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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 102« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. Robert Roeder Shaw)

Mr. Dulles.
I have practiced there continuously except for a period from June 1942, until December 1945, when I was a member of the Medical Corps of the Army of the United States serving principally in the European theater of operations.
I was away again from December 1961, until June of 1963, when I was head of the MEDICO team and performed surgery at Avicenna Hospital in Kabul, Pakistan.
Mr. Dulles.
Will you tell us a little bit about MEDICO. Is that the ship?
Dr. SHAW. No; that is HOPE. MEDICO was formed by the late Dr. Tom Dooley.
Mr. Dulles.
Yes; I know him very well. He was the man in Laos.
Dr. SHAW. Yes, sir; this was one of their projects.
Mr. Dulles.
I see.
Dr. SHAW. I returned to----
Mr. Dulles.
An interesting project.
Dr. SHAW. I returned to Dallas and on September 1, 1963, started working full time with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School as professor of thoracic surgery and chairman of the division of thoracic surgery.
In this position I also am chief of thoracic surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas which is the chief hospital from the standpoint of the medical facilities of the school.
Mr. Specter.
Are you licensed to practice medicine in the State of Texas?
Dr. SHAW. I am.
Mr. Specter.
Are you certified?
Dr. SHAW. By the board of thoracic surgery you mean?
Mr. Specter.
Yes; by the board of thoracic surgery.
Dr. SHAW. Yes; as of 1948.
Mr. Specter.
What experience, if any, have you had, Dr. Shaw, with bullet wounds?
Dr. SHAW. I have had civilian experience, both in the work at Parkland Hospital, where we see a great amount of trauma, and much of this involves bullet wounds from homicidal attempts and accidents.
The chief experience I had, however, was during the Second World War when I was serving as chief of the thoracic surgery center in Paris, France. And during this particular experience we admitted over 900 patients with chest wounds of various sort, many of them, of course, being shell fragments rather than bullet wounds.
Mr. Specter.
What is your best estimate as to the total number of bullet wounds you have had experience with?
Dr. SHAW. It would be approximately 1,000, considering the large number of admissions we had in Paris.
Mr. Specter.
What were your duties in a general way on November 22, 1963.
Dr. SHAW. On that particular date I had been at a conference at Woodlawn Hospital, which is our hospital for medical chest diseases connected with the medical school system. I had just gone to the Children's Hospital to see a small patient that I had done a bronchoscopy on a few days before and was returning to Parkland Hospital, and the medical school.
Woodlawn and the Children's Hospital are approximately a mile away from Parkland Hospital.
Mr. Specter.
Were you called upon to render any aid to President Kennedy on November 22?
Dr. SHAW. No.
Mr. Specter.
Were you called upon to render medical aid to Gov. John B. Connally on that day?
Dr. SHAW. Yes.
Mr. Specter.
Will you describe briefly the circumstances surrounding your being called into the case.
Dr. SHAW. As I was driving toward the medical school I came to an intersection of Harry Hines Boulevard and Industrial Boulevard.
There is also a railroad crossing at this particular point. I saw an open limousine pass this point at high speed with a police escort. We were held up in traffic because of this escort Finally, when we were allowed to proceed,
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