An Obscure Parkland Witness: Dr. Paul Peters
Among the Parkland doctors who crowded into Trauma Room One because they heard that the President of the United States had been shot and was in their hospital, was urologist Dr. Paul Peters. Peters was in an adjacent building preparing a lecture for medical students when he heard over the public radio (probably Sam Pate's broadcast) that the President had been shot and was on his way to Parkland. Upon hearing the news, Peters went to the Emergency area in the main building "to see if (he) could render assistance."
The only assistance he ultimately rendered was to help Dr. Baxter assemble the tracheostomy tube (a two person job?) and help Baxter put the right chest tube in while Dr. Ron Jones put the left one in (apparently without help), and to help Dr. Jones pull down JFK's pants in order to check for a femoral pulse. Basically, he was a hanger-on who contributed to the over-crowded condition of Trauma Room One. However, he is important, because he gave testimony to the Warren Commission that had a couple of very interesting things in it. First, he confirmed a "large wound" in the "occiput" (at the back of the head), subsequently saying "occipitalparietal area" (in the back/side of the head), which of course does not match the (fake) autopsy photos of a blow-out at the front of the head.
But more importantly, and unique to his testimony, Peters noted that the doctors in Trauma Room One speculated whether Kennedy had been shot once or twice in the head.
From Peters' Warren Commission testimony:
Mr. SPECTER - What did you observe as to the nature of the President's wound?
Dr. PETERS - Well, as I mentioned, the neck wound had already been interfered with by the tracheotomy at the time I got there, but I noticed the head wound, and as I remember--I noticed that there was a large defect in the occiput.
Mr. SPECTER - What did you notice in the occiput?
Dr. PETERS - It seemed to me that in the right occipitalparietal area that there was a large defect. There appeared to be bone loss and brain loss in the area.
Mr. SPECTER - Did you notice any holes below the occiput, say, in this area below here?
Dr. PETERS - No, I did not and at the time and the moments immediately following the injury, we speculated as to whether he had been shot once or twice because we saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted the large occipital wound, and it is a known fact that high velocity missiles often have a small wound of entrance and a large wound of exit, and I'm just giving you my honest impressions at the time.
Mr. SPECTER - What were they?
Dr. PETERS - Well, I wondered whether or not he had been shot once or twice that was my question at the time.
Mr. SPECTER - When you say "we speculate," whom do you mean by that?
Dr. PETERS - Well, the doctors in attendance there.
Mr. SPECTER - Any doctor specifically?
Dr. PETERS - I wouldn't mention anyone specifically, we all discussed it. I did not know whether or not he had been shot once or twice.
Like the other Parkland doctors, Peters assumed that the throat wound was an entry, which of course would indicate an upward trajectory to the back of the head. He did not see Crenshaw's forehead wound (just at the hairline above the right eye). Nor did he see the EOP entrance (described in the autopsy report) that Specter was apparently fishing for. But his testimony provides direct evidence that even the Parkland doctors were speculating that Kennedy had been shot in the head twice.
That some Parkland doctors believed there were two head shots is confirmed by the WC testimony of another obscure Parkland doctor, Dr. Gene Akin, who was another hanger-on. (Akin's contribution was to connect the breathing tubes from the anesthesia machine to the tracheotomy and hold it in place while Jenkins "controlled the ventilation with 100-percent oxygen from the anesthesia machine." (By that, I think he means he held the tube while Jenkins adjusted a dial.) Akin was unaware of the Zapruder film or other evidence showing the "chest grab" before the (second) head shot, or any back wound. He saw only the large head wound ("The back of the right occipital parietal portion of his head was shattered, with brain substance extruding.") and the small throat wound, and nevertheless thought Kennedy had been hit twice. This is what Akins' testimony said:
Mr. SPECTER - How many bullets were involved in the wounds inflicted on the President, Dr. Akin?
Dr. Akin - Probably two.
Dr. Akin increases the Parkland doctors observation of speculation about possibly two head shots into the stronger likelihood of "probably" two.
My documentary explains how the (first) forehead shot could account for the throat wound and the shallow back wound via internal and external ricochets of a small and "king-size" fragment, respectively. The importance of Peters' testimony is that it proves evidence of contemporaneous speculation, based on those who had direct observation of Kennedy's body, of two head shots, and that this discussion occurred while Kennedy was still at Parkland Hospital inside Trauma Room One.
Among the Parkland doctors who crowded into Trauma Room One because they heard that the President of the United States had been shot and was in their hospital, was urologist Dr. Paul Peters. Peters was in an adjacent building preparing a lecture for medical students when he heard over the public radio (probably Sam Pate's broadcast) that the President had been shot and was on his way to Parkland. Upon hearing the news, Peters went to the Emergency area in the main building "to see if (he) could render assistance."
The only assistance he ultimately rendered was to help Dr. Baxter assemble the tracheostomy tube (a two person job?) and help Baxter put the right chest tube in while Dr. Ron Jones put the left one in (apparently without help), and to help Dr. Jones pull down JFK's pants in order to check for a femoral pulse. Basically, he was a hanger-on who contributed to the over-crowded condition of Trauma Room One. However, he is important, because he gave testimony to the Warren Commission that had a couple of very interesting things in it. First, he confirmed a "large wound" in the "occiput" (at the back of the head), subsequently saying "occipitalparietal area" (in the back/side of the head), which of course does not match the (fake) autopsy photos of a blow-out at the front of the head.
But more importantly, and unique to his testimony, Peters noted that the doctors in Trauma Room One speculated whether Kennedy had been shot once or twice in the head.
From Peters' Warren Commission testimony:
Mr. SPECTER - What did you observe as to the nature of the President's wound?
Dr. PETERS - Well, as I mentioned, the neck wound had already been interfered with by the tracheotomy at the time I got there, but I noticed the head wound, and as I remember--I noticed that there was a large defect in the occiput.
Mr. SPECTER - What did you notice in the occiput?
Dr. PETERS - It seemed to me that in the right occipitalparietal area that there was a large defect. There appeared to be bone loss and brain loss in the area.
Mr. SPECTER - Did you notice any holes below the occiput, say, in this area below here?
Dr. PETERS - No, I did not and at the time and the moments immediately following the injury, we speculated as to whether he had been shot once or twice because we saw the wound of entry in the throat and noted the large occipital wound, and it is a known fact that high velocity missiles often have a small wound of entrance and a large wound of exit, and I'm just giving you my honest impressions at the time.
Mr. SPECTER - What were they?
Dr. PETERS - Well, I wondered whether or not he had been shot once or twice that was my question at the time.
Mr. SPECTER - When you say "we speculate," whom do you mean by that?
Dr. PETERS - Well, the doctors in attendance there.
Mr. SPECTER - Any doctor specifically?
Dr. PETERS - I wouldn't mention anyone specifically, we all discussed it. I did not know whether or not he had been shot once or twice.
Like the other Parkland doctors, Peters assumed that the throat wound was an entry, which of course would indicate an upward trajectory to the back of the head. He did not see Crenshaw's forehead wound (just at the hairline above the right eye). Nor did he see the EOP entrance (described in the autopsy report) that Specter was apparently fishing for. But his testimony provides direct evidence that even the Parkland doctors were speculating that Kennedy had been shot in the head twice.
That some Parkland doctors believed there were two head shots is confirmed by the WC testimony of another obscure Parkland doctor, Dr. Gene Akin, who was another hanger-on. (Akin's contribution was to connect the breathing tubes from the anesthesia machine to the tracheotomy and hold it in place while Jenkins "controlled the ventilation with 100-percent oxygen from the anesthesia machine." (By that, I think he means he held the tube while Jenkins adjusted a dial.) Akin was unaware of the Zapruder film or other evidence showing the "chest grab" before the (second) head shot, or any back wound. He saw only the large head wound ("The back of the right occipital parietal portion of his head was shattered, with brain substance extruding.") and the small throat wound, and nevertheless thought Kennedy had been hit twice. This is what Akins' testimony said:
Mr. SPECTER - How many bullets were involved in the wounds inflicted on the President, Dr. Akin?
Dr. Akin - Probably two.
Dr. Akin increases the Parkland doctors observation of speculation about possibly two head shots into the stronger likelihood of "probably" two.
My documentary explains how the (first) forehead shot could account for the throat wound and the shallow back wound via internal and external ricochets of a small and "king-size" fragment, respectively. The importance of Peters' testimony is that it proves evidence of contemporaneous speculation, based on those who had direct observation of Kennedy's body, of two head shots, and that this discussion occurred while Kennedy was still at Parkland Hospital inside Trauma Room One.