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
Looking at that raw video, I’m tending to believe he was shot from within the car..
Sure looks like a blast that came up through his neck and out the top of his head.
Looks like he reacted to being shot somewhere else first, before that fatal blast.
Seem to recall someone somewhere saying secret service in the car accidentally discharged their gun... reacting to the gunshots and that was the fatal hit.
I don’t know, but its damned clear, the public was not told the truth
From the Wikipedia link:
“On July 9, [Oswald] reported to the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in California. There he met fellow Marine Kerry Thornley, who co-created Discordianism. Thornley wrote the 1962 fictional book The Idle Warriors based on Oswald. This was the only book written about Oswald before the Kennedy assassination.”
Discordianism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discordianism
People hated him. The Democrats knew what he had done.
Blackmail works both ways........................
The rifle was a 6.5mm military rifle. All of the 6.5 mm military rifles at that time were loaded with bullets of full metal jacket, either spitzer or round nose design that weighed between 140 and 160 grains. (whether Swedish, or Japanese, or Italian) the Italian version carried a 162 grain round nose. Bullets of that high sectional density would have NO problem penetrating a human head, or body, and still penetrating a windshield. Not saying where the hole in the windshield came from, I’m just saying it could come from either direction. It may not have been “incoming’
LBJ had already had several enemies murdered by the time he was VP. If I remember correctly, his preferred hitman / fixer was Billy Sol Estes.
It wasn't a mess, it was an assassination and a coverup. It's naive to think the government was going to let the narrative get corrected.
If one SS agent saw this, the rest of them did too. This guy kept his mouth shut and quit. The rest of the SS kept their mouths shut too. Why? Look at the number of people who knew something and who died soon after.
No surprise, actually. They had a story to tell to cover up LBJ's involvement in the assassination. Everyone who cooperated reaped a reward. Just to name a few examples:
There are even more examples, but those are a few that come to mind. Compromising the magic bullet theory would compromise these deep state promotions.
The JFK assination was nothing to lose your head over.
Oh I understand it was a different time. I am not saying LBJ wasn’t involved, I’m just saying seems odd he would kill for the job but then not fight to keep it.
And yes if its possible he was just a puppet in the larger conspiracy and they told him step down or we go public, or we will kill you too.. or something.. Anything is possible.
However I will say this, it sure looks to me like the fatal shot was an upward shot discharged from within the car, up through his neck and out his head.
I remember reading years ago that SS accidentally discharged a gun in the car reacting to the shots... sure as hell looks like that to me.
Looks like he reacts to being hit or something, and then upward blast just blows his head off.
If this is the truth, of the fatal shot, then it explains at least somewhat the cover up. No one wants to destroy a loyal person for an accident.
Either way, the truth, whatever it is, was not what the public was told... but that was how it was. They told the public that those 3 astronauts who burned alive in the apollo capsule “died instantly” as well... which was a bold faced lie.
I understand the times, and I also understand there can be non nepharious reasons to not tell the truth..
All I can say for certain is, that the what has been told to the public, is not the truth.... that much is completely obvious to even the casual observer.
He choked after the fact.
For whatever reason, he did not immediately in that moment turn the found bullet from the limousine over to his superiors.
After that, I can envision the calculus. “I’ll just keep my mouth shut. I $&ucked up.” As the days and weeks passed it became a permanent thing. He would have been reprimanded or possibly fired, or charged with obstruction.
Looked at from a government employee working in a dirty field protecting his sinecure, his livelihood and pension, it makes absolutely perfect sense.
Wow, I hadn’t heard that theory.
NO ONE will ever convince me that the intel agencies were not involved in the JFK assassination!!! These BASTARDS have been up to no good against this nation for DECADES, YET our legislators seem to think that they deserve a BRAND NEW complex larger than the pentagon!! The intel agencies have dirt on every damn one of these legislators, AND you can bank on the fact that Epstein was an intel asset!! PURE SCUM, ALL OF THEM!! Until we clean out these agencies from the top down this country will NEVER be run by the people!!
The more I watch that film, the more it looks like the shot trajectory was upward and out of his skull.. Obviously not a forensic expert, but I don’t see any way any gunman either in the book depository or on the grassy knoll could have produced that angle.... Sure looks to me like the fatal shot anyway was from inside the vehicle.
Pretty sure I read somewhere a SS accidentally discharged their gun when reacting to the shots fired... and if true that would explain many things.
“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.”
I don’t pretend to know how bullets work, but is this possible? Can bullets pop out of a body even if they don’t penetrate deeply? All the other bullets seemed to have done damage.
The flight into Dallas was also part of LBJ's plot. With plane loading and unloading involved, it would have actually been quicker to drive the presidential motorcade the short distance from Ft. Worth to Dallas. But then it wouldn't have gone through Dealey Plaza.
Not in the president’s car, in a secret service following car.
There was at least one M16 or AR photographed that day. It was a brand new weapon fielded. The story goes, after Oswald fired, the agent carrying the weapon lost his footing, round in the chamber, finger on the trigger, and … negligent discharge. One in a million shot, Doc.
Congressman Yarborough (a WWII combat veteran) testified that morning he smelled a strong odor of gunpowder “all the way from Dealey to Parkland”, something unlikely otherwise.
It answers a lot of questions, and also explains why the president’s body had to be removed from the County coroner jurisdiction. Assuming they wanted to cover up a tragedy like that.
Not arguing ai believe this is what happened. But it fits In a lot of ways.
Simple answer: It would have disproven the Warren Report. More complex answer: It might have exposed the deep state.
Doesn’t sound plausible..........................
LBJ was in on it. He was a great actor..
I still say the kill shot came from the sewer grate. If you look on Google Maps it is right there, and the culvert goes away from the scene, conveniently...
Some folks take oaths and even though they see the government lying, they feel compelled to honor those oaths.
They believe the oath is a two way street. When dealing with the government it never is.
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