The Shanklin Memo
It (finally) occurred to me that with the JFK Lancer website no longer hosting important John Hunt articles , that the so-important Shanklin memo no longer is readily available on the web. So here it is, below. I discuss the importance of this memo in some of my books, in my documentary series, and in my latest article, "The Connally Bullet Revisited." I was fortunate enough to download this from Hunt's "The Mystery of the 7:30 Bullet" before it disappeared, which was my original source for this important memo. It was a "Memo for File," meaning Shanklin wanted a record of it in his own files. Read it, and judge for yourself its level of importance, especially in light of the two separate chains of custody for two separate "stretcher" bullets, as I outline in "The Connally Bullet Revisited." Pay attention to the "Players": Belmont was FBI in Washington, "Shanklin" was FBI in Dallas, and Sorrels was Secret Service in Dallas. Pay attention to the date--11/22/63, the same day as the assassination. Pay attention to the chain of custody of the bullets involved in the assassination (nose and tail fragments found in the car, the "two stretcher bullets" outlined in my article). And pay attention to the chain of custody of the Oswald Mannlicher-Carcanno rifle, which was found by the Dallas Police and transferred directly to the FBI without ever passing through the hands of the Secret Service.
Here is the Shanklin memo:
In an e-mail to me dated 12/29/22, John Costella expressed his belief that the word "bullet" (singular) on the second line had originally been "bullets" (plural) with the final "-s" whited out. Indeed, there is an extra space after the word "bullet." He says he has noticed "similar things with some of the other reports from the day (Moorman etc.—the exact same thing of a plural being turned into a singular)." I can't otherwise prove that "bullets" was changed to "bullet," but that extra space is an interesting observation (which I didn't really notice until Costella drew my attention to it) that should be pointed out.
I recently found a version of this memo (below) on the Mary Ferrell website at https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=237155#relPageId=3&search=124-10027-10263 (Thank you, John Hunt, for posting the RIF #!) The Mary Ferrell website posts a yellowing color version of the Hunt version (although without the tear across the top), and underneath that, a somewhat different version. There are some subtle differences between the two versions. The second one doesn't have the "Memorandum" letterhead or the "TO:" or "FROM:" or "SUBJECT:" headings, or the handwritten notations. I'm not sure what all that means, except that two similar memos were found in two different sources? And Hunt found a copy of the top one in the box he dug through and copied it?
Here are the two versions found on the Mary Ferrell website:
I recently found a version of this memo (below) on the Mary Ferrell website at https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=237155#relPageId=3&search=124-10027-10263 (Thank you, John Hunt, for posting the RIF #!) The Mary Ferrell website posts a yellowing color version of the Hunt version (although without the tear across the top), and underneath that, a somewhat different version. There are some subtle differences between the two versions. The second one doesn't have the "Memorandum" letterhead or the "TO:" or "FROM:" or "SUBJECT:" headings, or the handwritten notations. I'm not sure what all that means, except that two similar memos were found in two different sources? And Hunt found a copy of the top one in the box he dug through and copied it?
Here are the two versions found on the Mary Ferrell website:
See also the "Rosen Memo" at https://www.a-benign-conspiracy.com/the-rosen-memo.html for another FBI memo, placing "the rifle that had allegedly been used to assassinate the President" in the hands of the Secret Service on the same day as the assassination!