Rewriting history

60-year-old memories not reliable

Memory loss and aging go hand in hand. Over the years and time after time, memories morph into ever-changing scenarios from their original perception. It is simply a trait of human nature. Memories change a little each time we revisit them. Our brain stores memories and consolidates them.

Here is an example of a historical circumstance and memory consolidation: the tragedy of the John F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.

In September, Paul Landis, a former Secret Service agent, was featured in a New York Times article regarding his recollection with the presidential motorcade in downtown Dallas on that fateful day when three shots rang out in Dealey Plaza as the motorcade slowly made its way past the Texas Schoolbook Depository.

Allow me to quickly summarize the sequence. The first shot missed the limousine, striking a tree branch, then ricocheting to the curb. The second blast entered the throat of JFK from behind, exited and continued to Gov. John Connally, striking him in his back, fracturing a rib, then puncturing his lung, striking his wrist, then exiting and hitting his leg. The third and fatal shot struck the president in the rear upper right side of his head.

Let’s re-examine the second shot. That second bullet, herein referred to as “pristine/magic bullet” entered Kennedy, went through soft tissue in his neck, and exited. It continued its trajectory into the back of the governor who was seated in the front “jump” seat of the limo, slightly to JFK’s left, where it also struck soft tissue and exited almost fully intact.

This “pristine” or “magic bullet” as it is equally called, was found on Connally’s gurney at the ER of Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. It was presumed that the bullet fell out as it exited his pants cuff while being placed on the gurney wheeling him into the ER, and was pocketed by a nurse in the hallway while Connally was lying on a gurney. The nurse turned it over to a Secret Service agent.

Landis claimed 60 years later that he discovered that “pristine, magic bullet” in the back seat of the limo where first lady Jacqueline Kennedy was seated, when the limousine was parked at the ER entrance of Parkland Hospital. He stated it was the “pristine/magic bullet” that now resides in the National Archives along with other JFK assassination artifacts. This led to the “single bullet,” or “pristine/ magic bullet” theory.

It should be noted that Connally did not believe in this theory. What is even more surprising to me and others is why Landis waited 60 years to reveal it. He has since published a book, “The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After 60 Years.”

Conspiracy theories flourished slightly before and more so after The Warren Commission Report was released. The commission was made up of senators, representatives, the head of the CIA, and the former president of the World Bank, for a total of seven people (not counting attorneys and staff) to study and report exactly what transpired and who was responsible for the assassination. They concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and fired all three shots from the sixthfloor window of the schoolbook depository.

A Gallup Poll released a few months after the assassination investigation concluded showed that 87 percent of the American public believed there was no conspiracy, and that Oswald acted alone. Fast-forward three years later: Mark Lane’s “Rush to Judgment” came out and the Gallup Poll spiraled downward. Even when the House Select Committee on Assassinations released its finding in 1978, there were even more doubters that Oswald acted alone.

Then came what I theorize is the downfall of an ill-informed public. Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” based on New Orleans attorney Jim Garrison’s claims of a conspiracy (in 1966), in which Stone, at least to me, theorized that it could be a mishmash of then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, the CIA, the Mafia, the friendly ice cream man down the street—that anyone could be complicit, and most assuredly not Lee Harvey Oswald. Stone relied on Oswald’s claim that he was a “patsy” and on Garrison’s claims. He simply was not having the Warren Commission findings. Garrison was roundly criticized by conspiracy theorists and analysts alike.

Singer/songwriter David Crosby, on stage in front of a large audience at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, went off on the Warren Commission’s report and pontificated that the government was “covering” it up and there were multiple shooters. Actor/writer/director Rob Reiner currently has a JFK conspiratorial podcast espousing that there were four gunmen who killed JFK! Actors, musicians, film directors, etc., should not use their “celebrity” to espouse their personal political or religious views; they should stick to their professions.

But I digress. As I stated earlier, perceptions consolidate or change over time. It’s human nature. This is exactly why I believe Paul Landis’ recollection of the events of that tragic day is erroneous. Landis is 17 years older than me, and even I have a hard time remembering why I walked into the kitchen. That is my point. Let us not attempt to rewrite history, especially after 60 years.