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JFK Assassination Hearings - The Weapons Experts Panel (Part III) and Dr. Vincen
(15:38:04) Fithian asks about the amount of usage the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle of Oswald has gotten since the assassination day in order to confirm that this usage would have altered it in such a way as to not allow the current panel's bullets fired from it to be matched to those fired from it in '63 and '64 by the FBI and Oswald - Champagne responds that is has been fired a lot since then (15:39:26) Stokes recognized the panel's right to suppliment their testimony - Lutz answers that the panel feels it has done the most comprehensive job it could and goes on to thank the respective states of the panel members employment for letting them come to testify and to thank the committee (15:41:23) Stokes thanks and dismisses the panel (15:42:03) Chair recognizes Professor ROBERT BLAKEY who gives a history and explanation of scientific techniques used by the Warren Commission to analyze the bullet and fragments found after the assassination: Emission Spectography and Neutron Activation Analysis, both of which produced inconclusive results, the conducting of the later test was not made public until 1973 - Blakey then goes on to introduce Dr. VINCENT P. GUINN, give his credentials and explain breifly the higher degree of sophistication his Neutron Activation tests had
JFK Assassination Hearings - The Weapons Experts Panel (Part III) and Dr. Vincen
(15:46:14) Chair calls Guinn and swears him in (15:46:52) Chair recognizes Committee Counsel JIM WOLF - Wolf asks several questions about Guinn's background in science and litigation (15:48:05) Guinn explains with what purpose one conducts a Neutron Activation Analysis test (15:48:42) Wolf gives a hypothetical scenario about someone being murdered with an axe, he asks if neutron activation analysis could prove that metal fragments found in the victim's head matched the axe in question - Guinn responds that it could only determine that they came from the same type of axe (15:49:35) Guinn explains that this test makes it easier to differentiate between metallic objects rather than conclude they come from the same source (15:50:03) Wolf asks several questions in order to review the steps of the test procedure and how it works for the committee (15:53:53) Wolf asks how many different bullets Guinn has analysed - Guinn reponds 165 different brands and production lots (15:54:15) Guinn lists the elements that commonly come up in bullet lead: antimony, copper and silver, and then the less common ones (15:56:35) Guinn answers several questions about his analysis of Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition, in his answers he lists the peculiar traits of this ammunition: that it is low in antimony and that within a single production lot there is a lot of compositional variety - Guinn adds that most bullets within a production lot are carbon copies of one another, even to neutron analysis - Guinn answers other questions about these peculiarities
JFK Assassination Hearings - The Weapons Experts Panel (Part III) and Dr. Vincen
(16:00:44) Wolf asks several questions about the evidence Guinn examined mainly confiming its having been tamper free (16:01:38) Guinn lists the bullet fragment evidence that could not be tested and the reasons for this (16:04:34) Guinn lists the bullets and fragments that he did test and identifies each one with a description and number (16:06:13) **** A man in the back of the gallery voices loudly an interruption which is too faint to be made out, he is quickly removed by two men in suits - Guinn stops his testimony, saying "we'll wait until they get the kooks out" (16:07:05) Guinn picks up with his list
JFK Assassination Hearings - The Weapons Experts Panel (Part III) and Dr. Vincen
(16:24:30) Wolf asks what Guinn's response is to Dr. CYRIL H. WECHT's testimony that bullet 399 could not have gone through Connally's wrist and emerged in such good shape - Guinn responds that many people have opinions that "don't agree with facts" (16:25:12) Wolf has Guinn's report of his tests entered into the record (16:25:38) Representative FLOYD J. FITHIAN is recognized by Stokes to question the witness, he, using the tip of his broken pencil lead (which he is corrected by Guinn as being actually graphite) as an illustration, asks several questions about how the neutron activation analysis process and what the differences are between the equipment now used and that used by the FBI in '64 (16:30:33) Fithian asks Guinn to define hardened lead, a term that came up earlier in his testimony - Guinn does so and the tape neatly cuts off right at his conclusion
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Vincent P. Guinn (Conclusion)
(16:30:48) Shot opens to Representative FLOYD J. FITHIAN asking witness, Dr. VINCENT P. GUINN, about the composition of a bullet - Guinn gives the percentage of the bullet's lead composition (16:31:07) Fithian wants Guinn to go further in explaining the certainty of the tests he's done to show that the fragments of lead found in Governor JOHN CONNALLY'S wrist match up with the infamous bullet 399, the "pristine bullet" - Guinn can only say that the tests he ran show the fragment and bullet 399 are indistinguishable in their composition, vs. in comparison with the other bullet fragments which they do not match (16:32:41) Guinn: "It is very unlikely" that the bullet fragment is from a bullet other than 399, though it is possible (16:33:17) Fithian asks Guinn to confirm his conclusion that there is no evidence of any other bullets from a compositional diagnosis of the bullet and fragments - Guinn confirms that all fragments match up with two bullets only (16:34:20) Fithian asks Guinn to explain the advantages and differences of and between Neutron Activation Analysis vs. the method of analysis used by the Warren Commission, Emission Spectrographic Method - Guinn responds that activation analysis is much more sensitive in its readings, gives measurements quantitatively versus abstract categories of different levels (e.g. a trace), and does not necessitate the destruction of the sample being analyzed
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Vincent P. Guinn (Conclusion)
(16:36:30) Fithian asks about an article published that said Guinn was not reliable for such testimony as he had participated in the Warren Commission - Guinn responds he never worked for or was consulted by the Warren Commission - Guinn then goes on in response to another Fithian question to tell the committee that the Warren Commission did conduct Neutron Activation Analysis tests but that the results of them were not released for a long time (16:38:45) Fithian asks why the test results were not divulged earlier - Guinn responds that he believes it is because the results were inconclusive, the Warren Commission felt no one needed to know this, he reads from a letter issued by J. EDGAR HOOVER which sums up the results as inconclusive (16:41:57) Guinn gives the story of the FBI's utilization of Neutron Activation Analysis for the Warren Commission in 1964, he believes this is the first time they had ever used it (16:43:54) Guinn says that his review of the raw data from the initial activation tests done in '64 was also inconclusive, then he did the tests he is presenting today and they came out very conclusive so he returned to the initial tests data, now looking back after success Guinn was able to figure out how the measurements in the initial test did work out in the same conclusive way
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Vincent P. Guinn (Conclusion)
(16:46:55) Fithian asks if Guinn is saying that the 1964 data was actually conclusive - Guinn responds yes, the data was there but the correct interpretation of it was not (16:47:32) Fithian and Guinn have a fairly technical discussion of how the Neutron Activation Analysis test works, charts of gamma ray measurements are incorporated in this (16:50:50) Fithian asks if Guinn did his tests on the same pieces as were used in '64 - Guinn responds no, that those pieces were not at the National Archives and that he does not know where they are - Fithian asks further questions about why they might be lost and again confirms that the data from this original test was in fact conclusive (16:52:43) Fithian says that he's stressing the fact that '64 tests produced conclusive data that was not released to the public because during this time people had leveled the criticism at the Warren Commission that they were not doing the test because the results would prove something other than the single bullet theory - Guinn reiterates that all he knows is that the tests were conducted and at that time they couldn't conduct a proper statistical analysis of the data, which he was able to do after a second round of successful tests (16:55:05) Fithian asks if anywhere in the results or data from the initial tests if there's anything that suggest the fragment found in Connally's wrist was from a bullet other than 399 - Guinn responds no
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Vincent P. Guinn (Conclusion)
(17:04:48) Stokes recognizes Guinn's opportunity to supplement his testimony - Guinn takes this time to undercut his test results by explaining that the composition numbers represented in his report do not match up exactly and that to see that fragments belong to the same bullet one has to take into consideration variability of composition within the bullet itself (17:09:35) Stokes is provoked by Guinn's closing statements to ask if another expert on Neutron Activation Analysis would come to the same conclusions as Guinn - Guinn says yes on close examination (17:10:20) Counsel JIM WOLF puts forth for the record that an independent Neutron Activation specialist has been consulted and he came to the same conclusions with Guinn's data
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Vincent P. Guinn (Conclusion)
(17:10:58) Stokes adjourns the hearings (17:11:05) Hearings host SANDFORD UNGAR voices over committee shot to sum up afternoon's testimony of Guinn, shot soon after switches to him and after concluding his summary of the testimony he introduces panel members Professor JACOB COHEN of Brandeis University and DAVID LIFTON Warren Commission critic who give differing opinions about the significance of Guinn's testimony (17:14:10) Ungar closes out the hearing (17:14:33) Shot of almost empty hearing room (17:14:43) PBS funding credit
Speeches of JFK Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961
A compilation of speeches made by John Fitzgerald Kennedy. President JOHN F. KENNEDY delivering Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 (of less than great image quality):
Speeches of JFK Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961
President JOHN F. KENNEDY delivering Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 (of less than great image quality): "Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens: We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
Speeches of JFK Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961
President JOHN F. KENNEDY delivering Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 (of less than great image quality): "This much we pledge, and more. To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom, and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside. To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge, to convert our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house."
Speeches of JFK Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961
President JOHN F. KENNEDY delivering Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 (of less than great image quality): "To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support, to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run. Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction. We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed. But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course, both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war. So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
Speeches of JFK Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961
President JOHN F. KENNEDY delivering Inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 (of less than great image quality): "...ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own." At outset, Mr. Kennedy shakes hands with Vice President LYNDON JOHNSON and DWIGHT EISENHOWER.
Washington Week Show - WW 4221 - "JFK"
Gwen Ifill commemorates the 39th anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy by asking the panelists where they were on that day.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Representative CORNWELL asks if Dr. CYRIL H. WECHT still holds view, which he expressed in an article that since the fragment of bullet found in Governor JOHN CONNALLY'S wrist is indistinguishable from bullet 399 that this strongly supports the single bullet theory - Wecht responds that he wrote article before knowing of the bullet's trajectories through the bodies it supposedly struck.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Cornwell asks if there were evidence that the fragments in Connally s wrist were proved to match bullet 399 that if it would make a substantial impact on Wecht's contestation of the single bullet theory - Wecht responds that it might have an impact if all the bullet fragments were tested to see if they belonged to bullet 399 but cannot respond to Cornwell's hypothetical question.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Chairman STOKES begins the operation of the five minute rule, and himself questions Wecht, he asks, since Wecht was only one of nine forensic pathologists on the committee appointed panel to disagree with the panel's findings what basis other than scientific might these eight other panel members be making their decision - Wecht responds that Stokes would have to ask them but suggests the panel's finding could have been career motivated, saying that two of the panelists have served on other government appointed panels - Wecht can only speculate.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Stokes: "What should the average American believe," Wecht or the panel - Wecht sites poles in which a majority of Americans have found fault with the Warren Commission's findings and says he only hopes that they will believe him.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Representative SAMUEL L. DEVINE asks Wecht if reasonable men can come to different decisions without questioning the motives of the others - Wecht answers yes when the facts allow for different interpretations, however in this case Wecht does not feel the hard scientific facts of trajectories, men's positioning in the car, etc allow for divergent interpretations
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Devine ends that he's sure the other members of the panel would disagree with him, that the facts aren't open to interpretation.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Representative CHRISTOPHER DODD asks Wecht if his expertise includes photo analysis and goes on to ask him about his analysis of the Zapruder film and its importance to his perception of what happened.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Dodd asks Wecht if he's ever witnessed a shooting or footage of shootings - Wecht says he's seen some footage of killings.
JFK Assassination Hearings - Dr. Cyril H. Wecht (Part III)
Dodd asks Wecht to what extent there is a body of knowledge about body movements upon being shot - Wecht responds there is some, that it depends on different factors such as position of the wound and position of the body itself, Wecht concedes that this is not a hard science.