Not so. He was also autopsied at Parkland Hospital:
Posted on 11/16/2023 6:07:01 AM PST by Red Badger
Now 88 years old, former Secret Service agent Paul Landis is breaking his silence regarding what he witnessed on the day US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Telling his version of events in the book, The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years, Landis’ account could change the way the public has long understood the events of that infamous day.
While the official report states Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter that day, Landis’ account might suggest otherwise.
An eyewitness to John F. Kennedy’s assassination
Paul Landis first joined the Secret Service in 1959, and, by ’63, had been assigned to protect First Lady Jackie Kennedy and her children. Accompanying the family to Dallas, Texas, Landis was one of the agents walking behind the presidential limousine on November 22, 1963.
After hearing the first shot, Landis spun around to locate where it had come from, but didn’t spot anything. When he turned back, he watched fellow agent Clint Hill run toward the limousine. Landis then witnessed JFK get shot in the head. He was so close that he had to duck down to avoid being splattered with the president’s brain tissue.
The limousine rushed both Kennedy and wounded Texas Gov. John Connally to Parkland Memorial Hospital, with several agents following. Once the two men were removed from the vehicle, Landis noticed two bullet fragments in a pool of blood, but left them alone.
However, there was another bullet, still intact, that he found in the seam of the leather cushioning that has to potential to change how we understand the infamous assassination.
Confusion around the bullet
This bullet is the same one that’s the foundation of the single-bullet theory in the Warren Commission’s report. Doctors deduced that the round must have struck JFK from behind, exiting his throat before continuing toward John Connally. It entered the governor’s right shoulder, struck his rib and exited under his right nipple, before continuing through his right wrist and into his left thigh. The near-pristine condition the bullet was in has led many to regard it as a “magic” bullet.
The round was found on Connally’s stretcher and, as such, the Warren Commission stated it “eliminated President Kennedy’s stretcher as a source of the bullet,” as the president’s body was only moved from the stretcher upon it being placed in a coffin. However, Landis claims he was the one to find the bullet in the limousine, placing it in his pocket to prevent souvenir hunters from taking it.
Speaking with The New York Times, the former Secret Service agent says:
“There was nobody there to secure the scene, and that was a big, big bother to me. All the agents that were there were focused on the president. This was all going on so quickly. And I was just afraid that – it was a piece of evidence, that I realized right away. Very important. And I didn’t want it to disappear or get lost. So it was, ‘Paul, you’ve got to make a decision,’ and I grabbed it.”
Once Landis arrived at the hospital, he planned to hand over the round to a supervisor, but in the mass confusion placed it on Kennedy’s stretcher. In doing so, he’d hoped it would help the doctors determine exactly what had happened. He believes the bullet must’ve bounced from JFK’s stretcher onto Connally’s when they were pushed together, leading to the single-bullet theory.
Paul Landis’ account could debunk the single-bullet theory
Paul Landis thinks the bullet he found must have struck JFK in the back and was unable to penetrate deeply, causing it to pop out and fall back in the seat. If this account is true, then the single-bullet theory may be debunked after all.
James Robenalt, a Cleveland lawyer and historical author who worked with Landis, tells The New York Times:
“If what he says is true, which I tend to believe, it is likely to reopen the question of a second shooter, if not even more. If the bullet we know as the magic or pristine bullet stopped in President Kennedy’s back, it means that the central thesis of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory, is wrong.”
Film footage of the assassination shows JFK and John Connally physically reacting to the shooting, but their reactions are about a second apart. Investigators have estimated that it would’ve taken Lee Harvey Oswald 2.3 seconds to reload and fire a second time.
“The FBI recreation suggests that Oswald would not have had enough time to get off two separate shots so quickly as to hit Connally after wounding the president in the back,” Robenault explains in an article in Vanity Fair. As such, it’s believed that, had there been a second shooter, their shot hit likely Connally from “above and to the rear.”
Why is Paul Landis speaking out now?
Being an eyewitness to the assassination, Paul Landis has been haunted by what he saw that fateful day. “The president’s head exploding – I could not shake that vision,” he tells The New York Times. “Whatever I was doing, that’s all I was thinking about.”
After about six more months of trying to work, Landis called it quits and left the Secret Service. The Warren Commission never reached out to him, which was a surprise. He says he thought the agency was simply protecting their own, and after everything that had happened, he didn’t want to talk about it.
However, after reading Six Seconds in Dallas: A Micro-study of the Kennedy Assassination in 2014, he realized his memories of the event didn’t align with the account presented by the Warren Commission.
Speaking about the many theories surrounding JFK’s death, Landis says, “I just paid no attention to that. I just removed myself. I just felt I had been there. I had seen it, and I knew what I saw and what I did. And that’s all.”
However, this brought up mixed feelings. “I didn’t want to talk about it,” he explains. “I was afraid. I started to think, did I do something wrong? There was a fear that I might have done something wrong and I shouldn’t talk about it.” Even Clint Hill discouraged him from coming forward, suggesting how there could be “many ramifications.”
However, while it may have taken a few years, Landis still feels his account needs to be shared. “There’s no goal at this point,” he explains. “I just think it had been long enough that I needed to tell my story.”
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Samantha Franco is a Freelance Content Writer who received her Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Guelph, and her Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Western Ontario. Her research focused on Victorian, medical, and epidemiological history with a focus on childhood diseases. Stepping away from her academic career, Samantha previously worked as a Heritage Researcher and now writes content for multiple sites covering an array of historical topics.
In her spare time, Samantha enjoys reading, knitting, and hanging out with her dog, Chowder!
linkedin.com/in/samantha-v-franco
Not so. He was also autopsied at Parkland Hospital:
The question we all have to ask now is, Where was Donald Trump the day Kennedy got shot?
are you saying there was a 2nd spitter?
LBJ was a mean old bastard that would make Hillary look like an angel.
He hated the Kennedy brothers, and was pissed he had to take the VP slot.
Murder was not beneath him...................
Funny, they just ran a special with all the doctors in the operating room and they all said there had to be two gunmen.
He had good reason to fear for his life - the CIA was offing witnesses left and right. Now he’s 88 and doesn’t give two shits.
Sigh. I’m reluctant to say anything at all, but I’ll say this: a very elderly friend of mine, whom I trust as much as I trust myself, was in a position to know, and has publicly stated what you’ve said. He zealously guards matters protected by his then-security clearance so, odd as it may seem, I’ve never asked him to explain the details
There is no doubt the truth was not told to the public about the assassination of JFK.
No one can watch that video and conclude what was publicly claimed is accurate.
This sounds implausible. I see two plausible reasons. One, someone moved it. Two, someone lied.
Yup.
Which pissed off the Dallas corner/police. The autopsy should have taken place in Dallas, TX. Where the murder had taken place.
If LBJ was behind it, why would he not run in 68?
He’s willing to kill for the job, but not fight to keep it?
I am not saying he wasn’t involved, just trying to understand.
One thing is absolutely clear, what has been publicly stated about this is not the truth, that is blaring obvious.
Oswald background details similar to many of “modernity’s” youth who are attracted to socialism:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald
He didn’t want to accidentally shoot himself in the back of the head with a shotgun.
Perhaps, but if he was willing to kill to get the job, why didn’t he fight to keep it in 68?
There are many stories about the JFK Assassination.
Bob Schieffer Democrat and former CBS anchor worked in Fort Worth as a newspaper reporter took the phone call from Oswald’s mother on November 22, 1963 took her to the police station in Dallas along with the wife and baby of Oswald.
Schieffer recounts the night before as one where members of the White House press corps and Secret Service agents patronized Fort Worth’s circa 1963 strip clubs and consumed adult beverages.
I think it’s more plausible that LBJ was afraid he’d be next. He knew how things were done...
The JFK cover-up relied heavily on the ethical culture of the SS and police/investigators in the early 1960s to keep their mouths shut. Most of them had fought in WWII or Korea and lived through the McCarthy communist-hunts and took their oaths very seriously. That’s why this guy hasn’t spoken until now, and I’d bet he still is not revealing all he knows or thinks. It was a very different time.
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