Part 1

INVESTIGATION OF

THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

HEARINGS Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 11130, an Executive order creating a Commission to ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination and S.J. RES. 137, 88TH CONGRESS, a concurrent resolution conferring upon the Commission the power to administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, receive evidence, and issue subpenas

_Volume_ VI

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1964

For sale in complete sets by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402

PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY

CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN, _Chairman_

SENATOR RICHARD B. RUSSELL SENATOR JOHN SHERMAN COOPER REPRESENTATIVE HALE BOGGS REPRESENTATIVE GERALD R. FORD MR. ALLEN W. DULLES MR. JOHN J. McCLOY

J. LEE RANKIN, _General Counsel_

_Assistant Counsel_

FRANCIS W. H. ADAMS JOSEPH A. BALL DAVID W. BELIN WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, Jr. MELVIN ARON EISENBERG BURT W. GRIFFIN LEON D. HUBERT, Jr. ALBERT E. JENNER, Jr. WESLEY J. LIEBELER NORMAN REDLICH W. DAVID SLAWSON ARLEN SPECTER SAMUEL A. STERN HOWARD P. WILLENS[A]

[A] Mr. Willens also acted as liaison between the Commission and the Department of Justice.

_Staff Members_

PHILLIP BARSON EDWARD A. CONROY JOHN HART ELY ALFRED GOLDBERG MURRAY J. LAULICHT ARTHUR MARMOR RICHARD M. MOSK JOHN J. O'BRIEN STUART POLLAK ALFREDDA SCOBEY CHARLES N. SHAFFER, Jr.

Biographical information on the Commissioners and the staff can be found in the Commission's _Report_.

Preface

The testimony of the following witnesses is contained in volume VI: Drs. Charles J. Carrico, Malcolm Oliver Perry, William Kemp Clark, Robert Nelson McClelland, Charles Rufus Baxter, Marion Thomas Jenkins, Ronald Coy Jones, Don Teel Curtis, Fouad A. Bashour, Gene Coleman Akin, Paul Conrad Peters, Adolph Hartung Giesecke, Jr., Jackie Hansen Hunt, Kenneth Everett Salyer, and Martin G. White, who attended President Kennedy at Parkland Hospital; Drs. Robert Roeder Shaw, Charles Francis Gregory, George T. Shires, and Richard Brooks Dulany, who attended Governor Connally at Parkland Hospital; Ruth Jeanette Standridge, Jane Carolyn Wester, Henrietta M. Ross, R. J. Jimison, and Darrell C. Tomlinson, who testified concerning Governor Connally's stretcher; Diana Hamilton Bowron, Margaret M. Henchliffe, and Doris Mae Nelson, who testified concerning President Kennedy's stretcher; Charles Jack Price, the Administrator of Parkland Hospital; Malcolm O. Couch, Tom C. Dillard, James Robert Underwood, James N. Crawford, Mary Ann Mitchell, Barbara Rowland, Ronald B. Fischer, Robert Edwin Edwards, Jean Lollis Hill, Austin L. Miller, Frank E. Reilly, Earle V. Brown, Royce G. Skelton, S. M. Holland, J. W. Foster, J. C. White, Joe E. Murphy, Roger D. Craig, George W. Rackley, Sr., James Elbert Romack, Lee E. Bowers, Jr., B. J. Martin, Bobby W. Hargis, Clyde A. Haygood, E. D. Brewer, D. V. Harkness, J. Herbert Sawyer, and Gerald Dalton Henslee, who were present at the assassination scene; William H. Shelley, Nat A. Pinkston, Billy Nolan Lovelady, Frankie Kaiser, Charles Douglas Givens, Troy Eugene West, Danny G. Arce, Joe R. Molina, Jack Edwin Dougherty, Eddie Piper, Victoria Elizabeth Adams, Geneva L. Hine, and Doris Burns, employees of the Texas School Book Depository; Mary E. Bledsoe, William W. Whaley, and Mrs. Earlene Roberts, who gave testimony concerning Oswald's movements following the assassination; and Domingo Benavides, and Mrs. Charles Davis, who were present in the vicinity of the Tippit crime scene.

Contents

Page

Preface v Testimony of-- Charles J. Carrico 1 Malcolm Oliver Perry 7 William Kemp Clark 18 Robert Nelson McClelland 30 Charles Rufus Baxter 39 Marion Thomas Jenkins 45 Ronald Coy Jones 51 Don Teel Curtis 57 Fouad A. Bashour 61 Gene Coleman Akin 63 Paul Conrad Peters 68 Adolph Hartung Giesecke, Jr 72 Jackie Hansen Hunt 76 Kenneth Everett Salyer 80 Martin G. White 82 Robert Shaw 83 Charles Francis Gregory 95 George T. Shires 104 Richard Brooks Dulany 113 Ruth Jeanette Standridge 115 Jane Carolyn Wester 120 Henrietta M. Ross 123 R. J. Jimison 125 Darrell C. Tomlimson 128 Diana Hamilton Bowron 134 Margaret M. Henchliffe 139 Doris Mae Nelson 143 Charles Jack Price 148 Malcolm O. Couch 153 Tom C. Dillard 162 James Robert Underwood 167 James N. Crawford 171 Mary Ann Mitchell 175 Barbara Rowland 177 Ronald B. Fischer 191 Robert Edwin Edwards 200 Jean Lollis Hill 205 Austin L. Miller 223 Frank E. Reilly 227 Earle V. Brown 231 Royce G. Skelton 236 S. M. Holland 239 J. W. Foster 248 J. C. White 253 Joe E. Murphy 256 Roger D. Craig 260 George W. Rackley, Sr 273 James Elbert Romack 277 Lee E. Bowers, Jr 284 B. J. Martin 289 Bobby W. Hargis 293 Clyde A. Haygood 296 E. D. Brewer 302 D. V. Harkness 308 J. Herbert Sawyer 315 Gerald Dalton Henslee 325 William H. Shelley 327 Nat A. Pinkston 334 Billy Nolan Lovelady 336 Frankie Kaiser 341 Charles Douglas Givens 345 Troy Eugene West 356 Danny G. Arce 363 Joe R. Molina 368 Jack Edwin Dougherty 373 Eddie Piper 382 Victoria Elizabeth Adams 386 Geneva L. Hine 393 Doris Burns 397 Mary E. Bledsoe 400 William W. Whaley 428 Earlene Roberts 431 Domingo Benavides 444 Mrs. Charlie Virginia Davis 454

EXHIBITS INTRODUCED

Bowron Exhibit No.: Page 2 138 3 138 4 138 Brewer Exhibit A 304 Brown Exhibit A 236 Davis Exhibit No.: 1 457 2 463 3 465 Dillard Exhibit: A 166 B 166 C 166 D 166 Dougherty Exhibit: A 382 B 382 C 382 Edwards Exhibit A 205 Fischer Exhibit No. 1 198 Foster Exhibit: A 249 B 253 Giesecke Exhibit No. 1 73 Gregory Exhibit No. 1 100 Hill Exhibit No. 5 223 Holland Exhibit: A 242 B 242 C 243 D 245 Jenkins Exhibit No. 36 50 Jones Exhibit No. 1 55 Kaiser Exhibit: A 344 B 344 C 344 Miller Exhibit A 227 Molina Exhibit A 368 Murphy Exhibit A 260 Nelson Exhibit No. 1 147 Piper Exhibit A 386 Price Exhibit No. 2 148 3 149 4 149 5 150 6 150 7 150 8 150 9 150 10 151 11 151 12 151 13 151 14 151 15 151 16 151 17 151 18 151 19 151 20 151 21 151 22 151 23 151 24 151 25 151 26 152 27 152 28 152 29 152 30 152 31 152 32 152 33 152 34 152 35 152 Reilly Exhibit A 231 Sawyer Exhibit: A 318 B 322 Skelton Exhibit A 239 Tomlinson Exhibit No. 2 134 Whaley Exhibit A 430 White Exhibit A 254

Hearings Before the President's Commission

on the

Assassination of President Kennedy

TESTIMONY OF DR. CHARLES J. CARRICO

The testimony of Dr. Charles J. Carrico was taken at 9:30 a.m., on March 25, 1964, at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Arlen Specter, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.

Mr. SPECTER. May the record show that Dr. Charles J. Carrico is present in response to a letter request for him to appear so that his deposition may be taken in connection with the proceedings of the President's Commission on the Investigation of the Assassination of President Kennedy in connection with the inquiry into all phases of that assassination, including medical care rendered at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Carrico has been asked to testify relating to the treatment which he rendered the President at Parkland Hospital. With that preliminary statement of purpose, Dr. Carrico, would you please stand up and raise your right hand.

Do you solemnly swear the testimony you will give before the President's Commission in this deposition proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Dr. CARRICO. I do.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you state your full name for the record, please?

Dr. CARRICO. Charles James Carrico.

Mr. SPECTER. What is your profession, sir?

Dr. CARRICO. Physician.

Mr. SPECTER. Are you duly licensed by the State of Texas to practice medicine?

Dr. CARRICO. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. And would you outline briefly your educational background, please?

Dr. CARRICO. I attended grade school and high school in Denton, Tex.; received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from North Texas State College in 1957, and an M.D. from Southwestern Medical School in 1961, and served an internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital from 1961 to 1962, and a year of Fellowship in Surgery at Southwestern, followed by my residency here.

Mr. SPECTER. Are you working toward any specialty training, Doctor?

Dr. CARRICO. I am engaged in a general surgery residency which will qualify me for my boards in general surgery.

Mr. SPECTER. And what were your duties on November 22, 1963, at Parkland Hospital?

Dr. CARRICO. At that time I was assigned to the elective surgery service and was in the emergency room seeing some patients for evaluation for admission to the hospital.

Mr. SPECTER. And what were you doing specifically around 12 o'clock noon?

Dr. CARRICO. Approximately 12 noon or shortly thereafter I was in the clinic and was called to come into the emergency room to see these people and evaluate them for admission and treatment.

Mr. SPECTER. Were you notified that there was an emergency case on the way to the hospital at approximately 12:30?

Dr. CARRICO. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. In which President Kennedy was involved?

Dr. CARRICO At that time I was in the emergency room seeing these patients and the call was received that the President had been shot and was on his way to the hospital.

Mr. SPECTER. What is your best recollection as to what time it was when you received that call?

Dr. CARRICO. This was probably shortly after 12:30.

Mr. SPECTER. And how long after that call was received did the President's party actually arrive at Parkland?

Dr. CARRICO. An estimation would be 2 minutes or less.

Mr. SPECTER. Describe what occurred upon the arrival of the President's party at Parkland, please.

Dr. CARRICO. We were in the emergency room preparing equipment in response to the call we had received when the nurse said over the intercom that they were here. Governor Connally was rolled in first and was taken to one of the trauma rooms.

Mr. SPECTER. And what identification was given to the trauma room to which Governor Connally was taken?

Dr. CARRICO. Trauma room 2.

Mr. SPECTER. Who was present at the time that Governor Connally came into the emergency area?

Dr. CARRICO. As I recall, Dr. Richard Dulany, myself, several of the nurses, Miss Bowron is the only one I can definitely remember. Don Curtis, oral surgery resident, and I believe Martin White, the intern, was there. These are the only people I remember being present at that time. We had already sent out a call for Dr. Baxter and Dr. Perry and the rest of the staff.

Mr. SPECTER. Did Dr. Dulany take any part in the treatment of President Kennedy?

Dr. CARRICO. No, no, sir; he didn't.

Mr. SPECTER. Did Dr. Martin White take any part in the treatment of President Kennedy?

Dr. CARRICO. I believe he was in there and did the--he helped Dr. Curtis with the cutdown, the initial cutdown.

Mr. SPECTER. What did Dr. Dulany do?

Dr. CARRICO. Dr. Dulany and I initially went to see the Governor, as I said, and he stayed with the Governor while I went to attend to the President, care for the President.

Mr. SPECTER. Who was the first doctor to reach President Kennedy on his arrival at Parkland Hospital?

Dr. CARRICO. I was.

Mr. SPECTER. And who else was with President Kennedy on his arrival, as best you can recollect it?

Dr. CARRICO. Mrs. Kennedy was there, and there were some men in the room, who I assumed were Secret Service men; I don't know.

Mr. SPECTER. Can you identify any nurses who were present, in addition to Miss Bowron?

Dr. CARRICO. No, I don't recall any of them.

Mr. SPECTER. What did you observe as to the President's condition upon his arrival?

Dr. CARRICO. He was lying on a carriage, his respirations were slow, spasmodic, described as agonal.

Mr. SPECTER. What do you mean by "agonal" if I may interrupt you for just a moment there, Doctor?

Dr. CARRICO. These are respirations seen in one who has lost the normal coordinated central control of respiration. These are spasmodic and usually reflect a terminal patient.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you continue to describe your observations of the President?

Dr. CARRICO. His--the President's color--I don't believe I said--he was an ashen, bluish, grey, cyanotic, he was making no spontaneous movements, I mean, no voluntary movements at all. We opened his shirt and coat and tie and observed a small wound in the anterior lower third of the neck, listened very briefly, heard a few cardiac beats, felt the President's back, and detected no large or sucking chest wounds, and then proceeded to the examination of his head. The large skull and scalp wound had been previously observed and was inspected a little more closely. There seemed to be a 4-5 cm. area of avulsion of the scalp and the skull was fragmented and bleeding cerebral and cerebellar tissue. The pupils were inspected and seemed to be bilaterally dilated and fixed. No pulse was present, and at that time, because of the inadequate respirations and the apparent airway injury, a cuffed endotracheal tube was introduced, employing a larynzo scope. Through the larynzo scope there seemed to be some hematoma around the larynx and immediately below the larynx was seen the ragged tracheal injury. The endotracheal tube was inserted past this injury, the cuff inflated, and the tube was connected to a respirator to assist the inadequate respiration. At about this point the nurse reported that no blood pressure was obtained.

Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Carrico, with respect to this small wound in the anterior third of the neck which you have just described, could you be any more specific in defining the characteristics of that wound?

Dr. CARRICO. This was probably a 4-7 mm. wound, almost in the midline, maybe a little to the right of the midline, and below the thyroid cartilage. It was, as I recall, rather round and there were no jagged edges or stellate lacerations.

Mr. SPECTER. You said you felt the President's back?

Dr. CARRICO. Yes.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you describe in more detail just what the feeling of the back involved at that time?

Dr. CARRICO. Without taking the time to roll him over and look or to wash off the blood and debris, and while his coat and shirt were still on his arms--I just placed my hands at about his beltline or a little above and by slowly moving my hands upward detected that there was no large violation of the pleural cavity.

Mr. SPECTER. Why did you not take the time to turn him over?

Dr. CARRICO. This man was in obvious extreme distress and any more thorough inspection would have involved several minutes--well, several--considerable time which at this juncture was not available. A thorough inspection would have involved washing and cleansing the back, and this is not practical in treating an acutely injured patient. You have to determine which things, which are immediately life threatening and cope with them, before attempting to evaluate the full extent of the injuries.

Mr. SPECTER. Did you ever have occasion to look at the President's back?

Dr. CARRICO. No, sir. Before--well, in trying to treat an acutely injured patient, you have to establish an airway, adequate ventilation and you have to establish adequate circulation. Before this was accomplished the President's cardiac activity had ceased and closed cardiac massage was instituted, which made it impossible to inspect his back.

Mr. SPECTER. Was any effort made to inspect the President's back after he had expired?

Dr. CARRICO. No, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. And why was no effort made at that time to inspect his back?

Dr. CARRICO. I suppose nobody really had the heart to do it.

Mr. SPECTER. You had begun to describe some of the action taken in order to endeavor to revive the President. Will you continue with that description, please?

Dr. CARRICO. I believe we were to where the endotracheal tube had been inserted. After this, the President--his respirations were assisted by the Bennett machine. We again listened to his chest to attempt to evaluate the respirations. Breath sounds were diminished, especially on the right, despite the fact that the endotracheal tube was in place and the cuff inflated, there continued to be some leakage around the tracheal wound. For this reason Dr. Perry elected to perform a tracheotomy, and instructed some of the other physicians in the room to insert chest tubes, thoracotomy tubes. At the beginning of the resuscitation attempt intravenous infusions had been started using polyethylene catheters by venesection, lactated renger solution, and uncross-matched type O Rh negative bloods were administered and 300 mg. of hydrocortisone were administered. Shortly after the completion of the tracheotomy, Dr. Bashour arrived and had connected the cardiac monitor. Although I never saw evidence of cardiac activity, electrical cardiac activity, Dr. Clark stated that there was a perceptible electrical beat which shortly thereafter disappeared, and closed cardiac massage was instituted. The cardiac massage was successful in maintaining carotid and radial pulses, but the patient's state rapidly deteriorated and at approximately 1 o'clock he was pronounced dead.

Mr. SPECTER. What, in your opinion, was the cause of death?

Dr. CARRICO. A head injury.

Mr. SPECTER. Have you now described all the treatment which was given to the President as best you recollect it?

Dr. CARRICO. As I recall; yes, sir; that's all--I'm sorry.

Mr. SPECTER. Did you have any occasion or opportunity to examine the President's clothing?

Dr. CARRICO. We did not do that.

Mr. SPECTER. And was no examination of clothing made, Dr. Carrico?

Dr. CARRICO. Again, this was a matter of time. The clothes were removed by the nurses, as is the usual practice, and the full attention was devoted to trying to resuscitate the President.

Mr. SPECTER. On the examination of the President's back which you described that you performed, did you note any bleeding from the back?

Dr. CARRICO. There was considerable blood on the cart and on his back. I could not tell if this came from his back or had fallen down from the head injury. There was also some cerebral tissue there.

Mr. SPECTER. What did your examination by feeling disclose with respect to whether he had any back wound?

Dr. CARRICO. I did not feel any. Now, this certainly wouldn't detect a small bullet entrance. All this examination is designed to do is to establish the fact that there is no gross injury to the chest posteriorly.

Mr. SPECTER. Is that a routine type of examination, to ascertain whether there is a gross injury to the chest posteriorly?

Dr. CARRICO. Yes, sir.

Mr. SPECTER. What did you observe as to the President's clothing with respect to the presence of a back brace, if any?

Dr. CARRICO. There was, on removing the President's shirt and coat, we noted he was wearing a standard back support.

Mr. SPECTER. Would you describe that back support, please?