(Testimony of Dr. Charles Francis Gregory)
Mr. Specter.
Dr. GREGORY. The missile that struck his wrist had sufficient energy left after it passed through the radius to emerge from the soft tissues on the under surface of the skin. It could have had enough to partially enter his thigh, but not completely.
Mr. Specter.
In the way which his thigh was wounded?
Dr. GREGORY. I believe so; yes.
Mr. Specter.
What did you do, Dr. Gregory, with the missile fragments which you removed from his wrists?
Dr. GREGORY. Those were turned over to the operating room nurse in attendance with instructions that they should be presented to the appropriate authorities present, probably a member of the Texas Rangers, but that is as far as I went with it myself.
Mr. Specter.
I now show you a part of a document heretofore identified as Commission Exhibit 392, a two-page report which bears your name on the second page, and I ask you if this is the report you made of the operation on Governor Connally?
Dr. GREGORY. It appears to be the same; yes.
Mr. Specter.
Are the facts set forth therein true and correct?
Dr. GREGORY. In essence they are true and correct; yes.
Mr. Specter.
Dr. Gregory, does that report show the name of the nurse to whom you turned over the metallic fragments?
Dr. GREGORY. There are two nurses who are identified on this page. One is the scrub nurse, Miss Rutherford, and the second is the circulating nurse, Mrs. Schrader.
Mr. Specter.
And is one or the other the nurse to whom you turned over the metallic fragments?
Dr. GREGORY. I do not remember precisely to whom I handed them. I do not know.
Mr. Specter.
I now hand you a document marked Commission Exhibit No. 679, which Dr. Shaw used to identify the wounds on the Governor's back, and I ask you to note whether these documents accurately depict the place and the identity of the entry and exit wounds.
Dr. GREGORY. They do not in that, though the location of the wounds on the forearm is correct, and the dimensions, it is my opinion that entrance and exit terms have been reversed.
Mr. Specter.
Would you delete the inaccurate statement and insert the accurate statement with your initials by the side of the changes, please? Will you now describe the operative procedures----
Mr. Dulles.
Could I ask one question that relates, I think, to your question. Assuming that the wrist wound and the thigh wound were caused by the same bullet, would you agree that the approximate trajectory is as indicated in this chart where Dr. Shaw has drawn a trajectory that he assumed taking into account three bullets instead of two? I am only asking you about the two wounds, namely the wrist and the thigh.
Dr. GREGORY. It would strike me, sir, that the trajectory to the wrist and the subsequent wound of the thigh could be lined up easily in a sitting position.
Now, those two could probably be lined up with a trajectory of the wound in the chest as well, but this would require a more precise positioning of the individual.
Mr. Dulles.
But do you agree in general, taking the two wounds with which you are particularly familiar, that that would have been the trajectory as between the wrist and the thigh as drawn on that chart?
Dr. GREGORY. Yes, essentially so; yes, sir.
Mr. Specter.
For the record, how was that chart identified, Doctor?
Dr. GREGORY. This is identified as Commission Exhibit 689.
Mr. Specter.
Would you outline briefly the operative procedures which you performed on the Governor, please?
Dr. GREGORY. Yes. The wound on the dorsum of the Governor's wrist was treated by debridement, which means to remove by sharp surgical excision all contaminated tissues and those which are presumed to have been rendered nonviable by force. This meant removing a certain amount of skin, subcutaneous
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