AUTOPSY
ORDERED TO SHUT UP
MARKING STAMP: OTIS
HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE
ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY
1 February 1965
SUBJECT: Personal notes on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
TO: Brig. Gen.. J.M. Blumberg, MC, USA
The Director
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20305
1. In compliance with your request, attached are Subject notes.
2. Before the "Warren Report" was published, in September 1964, I
received Directives by telephone, from the White House, through your
Office and through the Naval Medical School in Bethesda, not to discuss
Subject autopsy beyond the contents of the Warren Report.
3. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for the confidence
you have shown in my behalf by giving my name to Cdr. Humes, appointing
me as representative of your Institute in the autopsy of President Kennedy.
(original signed)
Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA
Chief, Military Environmental Pathology Division &
Chief, Wound Ballistics Pathology Branch
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20305
PAGE BREAK
PAGE ONE
THE AUTOPSY OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY
by Lt. Colonel Pierre A. FINCK, MC, USA.
Commander Humes, MC, USN, Director of Laboratories, Naval Medical
School, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, called me at
home by telephone on 22 Nov 1963, 2000 hours. He told me to go
immediately to the Naval Hospital. Brigadier General Blumberg, MC, USA,
Director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D. C.,
had given my name.
I arrived at the Naval Hospital at 2030 hours. I saw a helicopter on the
ground. A seaman escorted me to the autopsy room, guarded outside by
military personnel and inside by Agents of the U. S. Secret Service.
Rear Admiral Galloway, Commanding the Naval Center, Cdr Humes and Cdr
Boswell, MC; USN, Chief of Pathology, showed me the wounds in the
President's head. The brain, the heart and the lungs had been removed
before my arrival. X ray films of the head and chest had been taken.
Also present in the autopsy room were : Rear Admiral Kenney, Surgeon
General of the Navy; Rear Admiral Burkley, White House Physician; one
Army Major General; a Brigadier General, Air Force Aid to the President;
Capt Stover, MC, USN, Commanding the Naval Medical School; Capt Osborne,
MC, USN, Chief of Surgery; Cdr Ebersole, MC, USN, a radiologist; a Navy
photographer, Navy officers and enlisted men; Agents of the U. S. Secret
Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ).
The Autopsy number assigned to the President by the Naval Hospital was :
A - 63 - 272.
PAGE TWO
THE WOUNDS
The scalp of the vertex is lacerated. There is an open comminuted
fracture of the cranial vault, many portions of which are missing. .
The autopsy had been in progress for thirty minutes when 1 arrived. Cdr
Humes told me that he only had to prolong the lacerations of the scalp
before removing the brain. No sawing of the skull was necessary.
The opening of the large head wound, in the right
fronto-parieto-occipital region, is 130 millimeters ( mm ) in diameter.
I also noticed another scalp wound, possibly of entrance, in the right
occipital region, lacerated and transversal, 15 x 6 mm.. Corresponding
to that wound, the skull shows a portion of a crater, the beveling of
which is obvious on the internal aspect of the bone; on that basis, I
told the prosectors and Admiral Galloway that this occipital wound is a
wound, of ENTRANCE. No EXIT wound is identifiable at this 'time in the
skull, but close to midnight, portions of the cranial vault are received
from DALLAS, Texas. X ray films of these bone specimens reveal numerous
metallic fragments. Two of the bone specimens, 50 mm in diameter, reveal
BEVELING when viewed from the external aspect, thus indicating a wound
of EXIT. Most probably, these bone specimens are part of the very large
right skull wound, 130 mm in diameter and mentioned above. This right
fronto-parieto-occipital wound is therefore an EXIT.
There is another wound, in the region of the right trapezious muscle, at
140 mm from the right acromion and at 140 mm from the tip of the right
mastoid process ( I took these measurements ). The wound is OVAL, 7 x 4
mm, and shows well demarcated edges.
PAGE THREE
This wound cannot be probed with the soft probe available. There is
subpleural hemorrhage in the right apical mesial region. The apex of the
right lung is hemorrhagic, without laceration of the pleura.
On the basis that there is a wound possibly of entrance, which cannot be
probed through the body, I SUGGEST X RAY FILMS BE TAKEN, ANTEROPOSTERIOR
AND LATERAL, OF THE ENTIRE BODY, BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER WITH THE
AUTOPSY. This radiologic survey does not reveal any major missile in the
President's cadaver. There are only numerous metallic fragments in the
head, in the sagittal plane. Some of these are recovered and are turned
over to FBI Agents against receipt. I help the Navy photographer to take
photographs of the occipital wound ( external and internal aspects ) as
well as of the wound in the back.
There is a recent TRACHEOTOMY wound ( transversal incision ) with
moderate hemorrhage in the subcutaneous tissue. Thanks to a telephone
call from Cdr Humes to Dallas, I found out later that the surgeon in
Dallas had EXTENDED THE EXIT WOUND in the anterior aspect of the neck to
make his tracheotomy. The tracheotomy wound was examined by the three
prosectors. None of us noticed a bullet wound along its course. THE
ORGANS OF THE NECK WERE NOT REMOVED: THE PRESIDENT'S FAMILY INSISTED TO
HAVE ONLY THE HEAD EXAMINED Later, the permission was extended to the CHEST.
Three civilian embalmers from GAWLER FUNERAL HOME prepared the body for
burial. It took four hours to clean, embalm and dress the body of the
president. The cadaver left the Naval Hospital at 0400 hours, 23
November 1963, in a casket of African mahogany The officers present
saluted the casket covered with a flag.
PAGE FOUR
After the body was placed into a USN ambulance, to be brought to the
White House, 1 saw Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy come out of the hospital and
get into her car, protected by the Secret Service. She had the same pink
dress she was wearing in Dallas at the time of the assassination.
On Sunday 24 November 1963, 1 went to the Naval Hospital to help Cdr
Humes who had written an autopsy report. Humes, Boswell and Finck, the
three prosectors, signed the Autopsy report in the Office of Admiral
Galloway. ( I had suggested several corrections in the autopsy report.
Commander Humes agreed. While we were checking the autopsy report in the
Admiral's office, the Television announced the murder of Oswald by Ruby ).
In my discussion with Cdr Humes, I stated that we should not check the
block "complete Autopsy " in the Autopsy Report Form. In compliance with
the wishes of the Kennedy family, the prosectors had confined their
examination to the head and chest. Humes declared that the block
"complete Autopsy" should be checked.
Cdr Humes called me on 29 Nov 63 that the three prosectors would examine
the brain at the Naval Hospital. I asked if a representative of the
Neuropathology Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology would
be invited to the gross examination of the brain. Humes told me that no
additional persons would be admitted. Humes, Boswell and myself examined
the formalin fixed brain. A US Navy photographer was present.
DESCRIPTION : The formalin fixed brain weighs 1500 grams., The arteries
of the base show no arteriosclerotic plaques. The left hemisphere shows
minimal frontal and parietal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
PAGE FIVE
There is a parasagittal laceration of the right cerebral hemisphere,
extending from the frontal to the occipital lobes and exposing the Thalamus.
The Corpus Callosum is lacerated. No metallic fragments are identified
but there are numerous small bone fragments, between one and ten
millimeters in greatest dimension, in the container where the brain was
fixed. The CONVOLUTIONS of the brain are flat and the SULCI are narrow,
but this is interpreted as a fixation artifact because the change was
not observed at the time of autopsy.
COLOR AND BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS are taken by the US Navy
photographer : superior and inferior aspects of the brain.
Cdr Humes takes SECTIONS from the subarachnoid hemorrhage of the left
cerebral hemisphere and from the laceration of the right. cerebral
hemisphere but does not make coronal sections in order to preserve the
specimen.
On 13 Dec 1963, 1 had the opportunity to examine the weapon used to kill
President Kennedy. I saw the 6.5 mm Carcano Italian Short Rifle in the
Firearms Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI Laboratory).
http://books.google.com/books?id=uEkcakPpDLoC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=humes++autopsy+report+check+box+complete&source=bl&ots=4pPgXfpm3p&sig=PblJN5kOwhMTrv3HoponNzKsz70&hl=en&ei=d4rkSvq6BsKTlAfewPmKBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=humes%20%20autopsy%20report%20check%20box%20complete&f=false
In 1965, Finck asserted that an officer who out-ranked him had denied
him access to the President's clothes and overruled his request to call
the autopsy "incomplete." An acquaintence of Dr. Humes at CBS alleged
Humes told him he had orders from someone he refused to disclose---other
than stating it was Robert Kennedy---to do a complete autopsy. Thus the
autopsy [report] did not go into JFK's kidney disease, etc.
http://karws.gso.uri.edu/Marsh/Jfk-conspiracy/KINNEAR.TXT
HSCA Record Number 180-10096-10261 Agency File Number 002590
Originator-HSCA
From: Blakey
To: Admiral George E. R. Kinnear, II
Date: 10/17/77
Pages: 6
Subjects:
JFK autopsy
Admiral Kinnear
Medical evidence
USN
Release Date: 10/25/93
Contents: A series of four letters requesting the waiver or
alteration of the so called "gag order" on the Naval
personnel who attended the President's autopsy. All
four letters follow in full.
DOCUMENT #1 [undated]
Select Committee On Assassinations
U.S. House of Representatives
3331 House Office Building, Annex 2
Washington, D.C. 20515
Admiral George E. R. Kinnear, II
Chief of Legislative Affairs
Office of Legislative Affairs
Department of the Navy
Washington, D.C. 20350
Dear Sir:
The Select Committee on Assassinations is investigating the
assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. In conjunction with these investigations, the Committee will need
information held by the Department of the Navy.
Commander Vincent Averna has spoken with counsel on our staff,
Donald A. Purdy, Jr., and stated that ass requests for information from
the Navy should he sent to you. He asked that we provide you a list of
our requests for information which are still outstanding.
We would like the appropriate official to rescind the order of
silence issued to personnel present at the autopsy of President John F.
Kennedy and to notify the personnel accordingly. The memorandum on this
mater from Admiral Horgan to the Surgeon General is attached.
The Select Committee would like any information you have
pertaining to an order, including the order itself, that was given to
Commander James J. Humes on or about November 22, 1963, pertaining to
the nature of the autopsy to be performed on President Kennedy. Mr.
Purdy has previously spoken to Capt.
Miller and Lt. Broach on this subject.
[end of page one of document one]
-2-
Finally, we have requested access to all materials in the
possession of the Naval Investigative Service of the Office of Naval
Intelligence concerning both Lee Harvey Oswald and any investigation
into the assassination. Mr. Purdy's letter of August 2, 1977, on the
subject is attached.
Your assistance in expediting these requests would be greatly
appreciated. Thank you for your cooperation in the Select Committee's
investigation.
Sincerely,
/s/ G. Robt. Blakey
G. Robert Blakey
Chief Counsel and Director
Enclosures
GRB:DAPJr:aeh
[end of page two and end of document one]
DOCUMENT TWO
NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER
Bethesda, Maryland - 20014
IN REPLY REFER TO
NNMC:CO2:ss
22 September 1977
Mr. P. [sic] A. Purdy
Counsel
Select Committee on Assassination [sic]
of the House of Representatives
Washington, D. C.
Pursuant to your recent telephone request enclosed please find a copy of
our letter to the Surgeon General of the Navy relative to his
predecessor's verbal order of November 1963.
Sincerely,
/s/
H. P. Miller
Captain, Medical Service Corps, U. S. Navy
Director, Administrative Services
[end of document two]
DOCUMENT THREE
NNMC:CO2:bsz
16 SEP 1977
From: Commanding Officer, National Naval Medical Center,
Bethesda, Maryland 20014
To: Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Subj: Request from the Select Committee on Assassinations
of the House of Representatives for rescission of
a verbal order issued by the Surgeon General,
United States Navy, on or about 22 November 1963
1. Mr. Donald A. Purdy, Staff Counsel for subject Committee advises
that the Committee is experiencing difficulty in obtaining information
from personnel who were on duty and involved with the remains of
President John F. Kennedy at this Center on 22 and 23 November 1963.
The difficulty arises from the refusal of these personnel to provide
information to the Committee because they were advised in writing as
follows by the Commanding Officers, Naval Hospital, Naval Medical School
and National Naval Medical Center:
"1. You are reminded that you are under verbal orders of the
Surgeon General, United States Navy, to discuss with no one
events connected with your official duties on the evening of 22
November - 23 November 1963. [sic]
"2. This letter indicates official notification and reiteration
of those verbal orders. You are warned that
infraction of these orders makes you liable to Court Martial
proceedings under appropriate articles of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice."
The notification to the civilians involved makes reference to
disciplinary action "pursuant to applicable laws, regulations and
instructions" vice the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
2. These letters were addressed:
a. By Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital, National Naval Medical
Center, Bethesda to:
HM3 Jerrol F. Coster [sic], USN, 545 4077
HM3 Edward F. Reed, Jr. USN, 588 6896
[end of page one of document three]
[page 2]
NNMC:CO2:bsz
16 SEP 1977
b. By Commanding Officer, Naval Medical School, National Naval
Medical Center to:
CDR John H. Ebersole, MC, USN, 495 535/2100
CDR "J" Thornton Boswell, MC, USN, 489 878/2100
CDR James Joseph Humes, MC, USN, 497 831/2100
Lt Robert F. Karnei, Jr., MC, USN, 622 774/2100
HMCA Chester Herschel Boyers, Jr., USN, 339 65 16
HM1 Robert W. Rittmeyer, USN, 864 71 27
HM2 Floyd Albert Riebe, USN, 458 47 93
HM2 Harold Alfred Rydbery [sic], USN, 519 04 10
(HM-8497)
HM3 James Curtis Jenkins, USN, 549 96 76
HM3 James E. Metzler, USN, 593 94 40
HM3 Paul Kelly O'Connor, USN, 531 75 34
HM3 Jan Gail Rudnicki, USN, 547 56 35
Mr. John T. Stringer, Jr., GS-11
c. By Commanding Officer, National Naval Medical Center to:
Mrs. Elsie Boehm Closser [sic], GS-9
3. In order that the work of the Committee may not be inhibited by the
proper reticence of these personnel to provide information as requested
by it, it is suggested that the verbal order of the Surgeon General be
rescinded or modified by his succe ssor in office so that any of the
aforementioned members or prior members summoned before it may provide
such information as may be requested by the Committee.
J. T. HORGAN [typed, no sig]
[end of page two of document three]
DOCUMENT FOUR
Select Committee of Assassinations
U.S. House of Representatives
3331 House Office Building, Annex 2
Washington, D.C. 20515
August 2, 1977
Assistant Secretary for International
Security Affairs
Room 3D-882
Department of Defense
Washington, D.C. 20301
Attention: Captain Donald Nielsen, U.S.N.
Dear Captain Nielsen:
The Select Committee on Assassinations requests access to the
material concerning Lee Oswald and the investigation into the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy currently in the possession
of the Naval Investigative Service of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
Your assistance in expediting this request is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Donald A. Purdy, Jr.
Staff Counsel
DAP, Jr.:ce
cc: Naval Investigative Service
[end of document four and end of HSCA 002590]
http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol7/pdf/HSCA_Vol7_M54_Critique.pdf
http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/pdf/md23.pdf
> David Emerling
> Memphis, TN
>
see the bottom paragraph.
Contact Information
tomnln@cox.net