The John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage

Navigation

  » Introduction
  » The Report
  » The Hearings

Volumes

  » Testimony Index
 
  » Volume I
  » Volume II
  » Volume III
  » Volume IV
  » Volume V
  » Volume VI
  » Volume VII
  » Volume VIII
  » Volume IX
  » Volume X
  » Volume XI
  » Volume XII
  » Volume XIII
  » Volume XIV
  » Volume XV
Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VI - Page 85« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. Robert Shaw)

Mr. SPECTER. Permit me to make available on the record for you the operative record which has been heretofore marked as Commission Exhibit No. 392, with the exhibit consisting of the recorded of Parkland Hospital on President Kennedy as well as Governor Connally and I call your attention to a 2-page report which bears your name as the surgeon, under date of November 22, 1963, of thoracic surgery for Governor Connally, and, first, I ask you if in fact this report was prepared by you?
Dr. SHAW. It was.

Mr. Specter.
Now, with that report, is your recollection refreshed as to the starting time of the operation on Governor Connally's chest?
Dr. SHAW. Yes; the anesthesia was begun at 1300 hours.
Mr. Specter.
Which would be 1 p.m. ?
Dr. SHAW. 1 p.m., and the actual incision was made at 1335 or 1:35 p.m.
Mr. Specter.
And what time did that operation conclude?
Dr. SHAW. My operation was completed at 1520 hours, or 3:20.

Mr. SPECTER. Will you describe Governor Connally's condition, Dr. Shaw, directing your attention first to the wound on his back?
Dr. SHAW. When Governor Connally was examined,, it was found that there was a small wound of entrance, roughly elliptical in shape, and approximately a cm. and a half in its longest diameter, in the right posterior shoulder, which is medial to the fold of the axilla.
Mr. Specter.
What is the axilla, in lay language, Dr Shaw?
Dr. SHAW. The arm pit.
Mr. Specter.
Dr. Shaw, will you describe next the wound of exit?

Dr. SHAW. Yes; the wound of exit was below and slightly medial to the nipple on the anterior right chest. It was a round, ragged wound, approximately 5 cm. in diameter. This wound had obviously torn the pleura, since it was a sucking wound, allowing air to pass to and fro between the pleura cavity and the outside of the body.
Mr. Specter.
Define the pleura, please. Doctor, in lay language.
Dr. SHAW. The pleura is the lining of the chest cavity with one layer of pleura, the parietal pleura lining the inside of the chest wall, diaphragm and the mediastinum, which is the compartment of the body containing the heart, its pericardial sac, and great vessels.
Mr. SPECTER. What were the characteristics of these two bullet wounds which led you to believe that one was a wound of entry and one was a wound of exit, Dr Shaw?
Dr. SHAW. The wound of entrance is almost invariably the smaller wound, since it perforates the skin and makes a wound approximately or slightly larger than the missile. The wound of exit, especially if it has shattered any bony material in the body, will be the larger of the wounds.
Mr. SPECTER. What experience, Doctor, have you had, if any, in evaluating gunshot wounds?
Dr. SHAW. I have had considerable experience with gunshot wounds and wounds due to missiles because of my war experience. This experience was not only during the almost 2 years in England, but during the time that I was head of the Thoracic Center in Paris, France, for a period of approximately a year.
Mr. SPECTER. Would you be able to give an approximation of the total number of bullet wounds you have had occasion to observe and treat?
Dr. SHAW. Considering the war experience and the addition of wounds seen in civilian practice, it probably would number well over a thousand, since we had over 900 admissions to the hospital in Paris.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the line of trajectory, Dr. Shaw, between the point in the back of the Governor and the point in the front of the Governor, where the bullet wounds were observed?
Dr. SHAW. Considering the wound of entrance and the wound of exit, the trajectory of the bullet was obliquely downward, considering the fact that the Governor was in a sitting position at the time of wounding.
Mr. Specter.
As an illustrative guide here, Dr. Shaw--
Dr. SHAW. May I add one sentence there?
Mr. Specter.
Please do.
« Previous | Next »

Found a Typo?

Click here
Copyright by www.jfk-assassination.comLast Update: Wed, 3 Aug 2016 21:56:36 CET