The First Shot

[Andrew Mason]

I just noticed this zombie post from 6 years ago. You seemed to be less emphatic about your denial of an early first shot miss. You seemed more sensible back then.

As I pointed out in the thread about Clint Hill, the 9 occupants of the follow up car gave us 9 different versions of the shooting either in their reports or testimony. This demonstrates just how unreliable human memory can be even with trained professionals like Secret Service agents. It also shows how you can make a case for just about eny scenario you want based on the witnesses you choose to believe. It's why I take uncorroborated witness accounts with a grain of salt.

First of all, there were 10 occupants and they all provided statements. second, their observations were different because they were observing from different positions and looking in different directions at different times. Why would their observations be identical?  The question is: what did they all have in common? That tells you much more about what happened.

[John Corbett]

First of all, there were 10 occupants and they all provided statements. second, their observations were different because they were observing from different positions and looking in different directions at different times. Why would their observations be identical?  The question is: what did they all have in common? That tells you much more about what happened.

Not the number of shots.

Not the spacing of the shots.

Not which shot first hit JFK.

Not the elapsed time of the shots.

Minor details like that.

Yes, there were 10 men onboard. I failed to count Roberts himself when reading his report which stated the following:

The following persons departed Love Field in Secret Service Follow-up car, 679 X and were located in and on running boards of car as follows:

ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts--front seat--operating radio.
SA Samuel Kinney--driving (did an excellent job)
Mr. Kenneth O'Donnell, Appointment Secretary to the President, left jump seat.
Mr. David Powers, Presidential Aide, right jump seat.
SA Glen Bennett, left rear seat.
SA George Hickey, right rear seat (manning AR-15 (rifle)
SA Clinton Hill, left running board, front.
SA William Mclntyre, left running board, behind Hill.
SA John D. Ready, right running board, front.
SA Paul Landis, right running board behind Ready.

Note: On shift report for Nov. 22, 1963, I listed SA Rybka as riding in center of rear seat, which was in error, as he was not in car. As mentioned above, he remained at Love Field.