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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 135« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Gov. John Bowden , Jr. Connally)

Mr. Specter.
When you turned to your right. Governor Connally, immediately after you heard the first shot. what did you see on that occasion?
Governor CONNALLY. Nothing of any significance except just people out on the grass slope. I didn't see anything that was out of the ordinary, just saw men, women, and children.
Mr. Specter.
Do you have any estimate as to the distance which the President's automobile traveled during the shooting?
Governor CONNALLY. No; I hadn't thought about it, but I would suppose in 10 to 12 seconds, I suppose you travel a couple of hundred feet.
Mr. Specter.
Did you observe any bullet or fragments of bullet strike the windshield?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Mr. Specter.
Did you observe any bullet or fragments of bullet strike the metal chrome?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Mr. Specter.
Did you experience any sensation of being struck any place other than that which you have described on your chest?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Mr. Specter.
What other wounds, if any, did you sustain?
Governor CONNALLY. A fractured wrist and a wound in the thigh, just above the knee.
Mr. Specter.
What thigh?
Governor CONNALLY. Left thigh; just above the knee.
Mr. Specter.
Where on the wrist were you injured, sir?
Governor CONNALLY. I don't know how you describe it.
Mr. Specter.
About how many inches up from the wrist joint?
Governor CONNALLY. I would say an inch above the wrist bone, but on the inner bone of the wrist where the bullet went in here and came out almost in the center of the wrist on the underside.
Mr. Specter.
About an inch from the base of the palm?
Governor CONNALLY. About an inch from the base of the palm, a little less than an inch, three-quarters of an inch.
Mr. Specter.
Were you conscious of receiving that wound on the wrist at the time you sustained it?
Governor CONNALLY. No, sir; I was not.
Mr. Specter.
When did you first know you were wounded in the right wrist?
Governor CONNALLY. When I came to in the hospital on Saturday, the next morning, and I looked up and my arm was tied up in a hospital bed, and I said, "What is wrong with my arm?" And they told me then that I had a shattered wrist, and that is when I also found out I had a wound in the thigh.
Mr. Specter.
Can you describe the nature of the wound in the thigh?
Governor CONNALLY. Well, just a raw, open wound, looked like a fairly deep penetration.
Mr. Specter.
Indicating about 2 inches?
Governor CONNALLY. No; I would say about an inch, an inch and a quarter long is all; fairly wide, I would say a quarter of an inch wide, maybe more, a third of an inch wide, and about an inch and a quarter, an inch and a half long.
Mr. Specter.
Were you conscious that you had been wounded on the left thigh at the time it occurred?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Mr. Specter.
Did you first notice that in the hospital on the following day also?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes.
Mr. Specter.
In your view, which bullet caused the injury to your chest, Governor Connally?
Governor CONNALLY. The second one.
Mr. Specter.
And what is your reason for that conclusion, sir?
Governor CONNALLY. Well, in my judgment, it just couldn't conceivably have been the first one because I heard the sound of the shot, In the first place, don't know anything about the velocity of this particular bullet, but any rifle has a velocity that exceeds the speed of sound, and when I heard the sound of that first shot, that bullet had already reached where I was, or it had reached
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