A Closer Look…

[Charles Collins]

Pierce Allman was standing among the crowd that we are taking a closer look at. Here is a snip from his living history interview at the Sixth Floor Museum:

They turned the corner and…boom. …
When the first shot… happened… it, it really didn’t… it, it, no one, no one around me recognized it as a shot. Connally said later that he did because he was a hunter. But it wasn’t a sharp sound that a rifle makes. It was, it was loud. I turned to Terry and said something: “That was firecrackers?” And then (slams fist) second shot. But during the first shot I looked up and across, that’s where the sound was coming from. …ok, there’s the sixth floor and the sixth floor window. The sixth floor window was up a little bit. To this day, I couldn’t tell you whether I saw a rifle or not. But there were three guys… hanging out of that fifth floor window. And they were looking up and pointing. This is all at a glance. Please understand the time perspective. The total time from when the limo turned until it went… left under the triple underpass was 18 or 19 seconds. And the shots were six and a half or seven seconds. So, I glanced up and then glanced down and the second shot. And Kennedy didn’t have a violent reaction. He was… his right arm was on.. the uh, frame of the car. And he just sort of turned and then both arms and hands went up in this sort of reaction. And Jackie sort of leaned forward and the car kept progressing. The car never slowed down.
The car never took evasive action. And then the… I had glanced kind of over at the hillside a little bit and then the third shot hit. And it was pretty evident that uh he was hit. I did not see the uh Bill Newman on the other side of the street, I was on this side of the street. And I didn’t see the moment of the disintegration of the skull. But the split second after, when he went forward, went to the side… Remember, on the second shot… Kennedy was wearing a back brace. He had on this very tightly laced back brace. And he didn’t topple over. So he just, he was still upright. The assassin had for the third shot, essentially the second shot, just a few feet further. But on the third shot he did… topple over. And Jackie was screaming.

[Andrew Mason]

I am really not seeing a startled expression.

In the frames that follow, he then begins smiling at the girls on the sidewalk, more than likely because he pobably thought it was a firecracker.

But there's no need to speculate Steve, we know exactly why JFK turned to his right and started smiling and waving. And we know why Jackie turned to her right at the same moment. We have the first-hand eye-witness account of reporter Mary Woodward as proof of why they were reacting the way they did at that moment.

I would be interested in hearing from the early missed shot speculators where they think JFK turned and acknowledged Mary Woodward and her friends.  Do they really think Woodward missed hearing that first "horrible ear-shattering noise"?

[Andrew Mason]

Pierce Allman was standing among the crowd that we are taking a closer look at. Here is a snip from his living history interview at the Sixth Floor Museum:

They turned the corner and…boom. …
When the first shot… happened… it, it really didn’t… it, it, no one, no one around me recognized it as a shot. Connally said later that he did because he was a hunter. But it wasn’t a sharp sound that a rifle makes. It was, it was loud. I turned to Terry and said something: “That was firecrackers?” And then (slams fist) second shot. But during the first shot I looked up and across, that’s where the sound was coming from. …ok, there’s the sixth floor and the sixth floor window. The sixth floor window was up a little bit. To this day, I couldn’t tell you whether I saw a rifle or not. But there were three guys… hanging out of that fifth floor window. And they were looking up and pointing. This is all at a glance. Please understand the time perspective. The total time from when the limo turned until it went… left under the triple underpass was 18 or 19 seconds. And the shots were six and a half or seven seconds.

Not that Allman was a clock, but... if you work back 6.5 seconds from z313 the first shot would be at z194.

So, I glanced up and then glanced down and the second shot. And Kennedy didn’t have a violent reaction. He was… his right arm was on.. the uh, frame of the car. And he just sort of turned and then both arms and hands went up in this sort of reaction. And Jackie sort of leaned forward and the car kept progressing. The car never slowed down.
The car never took evasive action. And then the… I had glanced kind of over at the hillside a little bit and then the third shot hit. And it was pretty evident that uh he was hit. I did not see the uh Bill Newman on the other side of the street, I was on this side of the street. And I didn’t see the moment of the disintegration of the skull. But the split second after, when he went forward, went to the side… Remember, on the second shot… Kennedy was wearing a back brace. He had on this very tightly laced back brace. And he didn’t topple over. So he just, he was still upright. The assassin had for the third shot, essentially the second shot, just a few feet further. But on the third shot he did… topple over. And Jackie was screaming.[/i]

In his WFAA radio interview at 1:45 pm 22Nov63, Allman said he saw JFK react to the first shot.  He said "I looked and saw the President, I thought, duck". Here is the recording (interview is in the first minute. The quoted remark begins at 1:25):

[Charles Collins]

Not that Allman was a clock, but... if you work back 6.5 seconds from z313 the first shot would be at z194.

In his WFAA radio interview at 1:45 pm 22Nov63, Allman said he saw JFK react to the first shot.  He said "I looked and saw the President, I thought, duck". Here is the recording (interview is in the first minute. The quoted remark begins at 1:25):

He absolutely positively does NOT attribute JFK’s reaction to the first shot. You are mistaken.

[Dan O'meara]

I would be interested in hearing from the early missed shot speculators where they think JFK turned and acknowledged Mary Woodward and her friends.  Do they really think Woodward missed hearing that first "horrible ear-shattering noise"?

They're all blanking Woodward's account of events. It's really weird.
They're blanking the testimonies of Croft, Betzner and Altgens.
And that the SS agents don't respond to a shot as early as z150.
"The First Shot" thread crushes any ridiculous notion of such an early first shot.
There is a mountain of evidence against such a notion but I have the feeling this thread is some kind of "love-in" or industrial back-patting session.
I feel like I'm intruding on something intimate.

[Dan O'meara]

Excellent work as usual Jerry. Thanks again. I agree with what you said. Also, note that the woman next to Willis (Mrs. Willis?) appears to be looking toward the TSBD instead of toward JFK. It is hard to tell for sure, but at the very beginning she appears to be still turning (snapping?) her head toward the TSBD. The gold top lady does appear to suddenly jump then raise her right hand to her mouth in shock. Well done Jerry!

Firstly, I have to agree that it is excellent work by Jerry, yet again.
But that's where the love-in ends.


Also, note that the woman next to Willis (Mrs. Willis?) appears to be looking toward the TSBD instead of toward JFK.

 
She is waving at the motorcade and is tracking it with her head through the whole clip.

The gold top lady does appear to suddenly jump then raise her right hand to her mouth in shock.

Unbelievable!
This extended clip shows exactly what I'd said it did - it is just a young woman running.
You tried to make out it was someone jumping in shock and it was nothing of the sort. Just a young lady running along with the rest of the crowd trying to get a last glimpse of the limo.
She raises her right hand to her mouth in shock??!!
Are you sure? Is she just coughing? Is she picking her nose?
Can you see the shock on her face?
Is she jumping in shock to your proposed first shot in the z130's??

[Andrew Mason]

He absolutely positively does NOT attribute JFK’s reaction to the first shot. You are mistaken.

Here is what he said:

"And right after Mr. Kennedy passed right in front of me I heard one big explosion and my immediate thought was, like I think most of the people standing around me, this is firecrackers but it's pretty poor taste. I looked and saw the President, I thought, duck. Evidently he was slumping at the time."

Now you can suggest that he meant that he saw the President duck after the second big explosion but he didn't say that.  He said what he said and he refers to the reaction of JFK after the "ONE BIG EXPLOSION".  To provide evidence that he is mistaken, you need someone to contradict his statement. For example, someone to say that they saw JFK continue to smile and wave after the first big explosion. I have not found a single witness who said that.  On the contrary, all the witnesses reported seeing what Allman reported seeing: JFK reacting to the first big explosion. The following people recalled that JFK reacted visibly to the first shot :

• T.E. Moore (24 H 534, "President KENNEDY had reached the Thornton Freeway sign, a shot was fired and Mr. MOORE observed the President slumping forward in the Presidential car.")
  
• Nellie Connally (4 H 147. "I turned over my right shoulder and looked back, and saw the President as he had both hands at his neck.")
  
• David Powers (7 H 473: "I noticed then that the President moved quite far to his left after the shot from the extreme right hand side where he had been sitting. There was a second shot and Governor Connally disappeared from sight and then there was a third shot which took off the top of the President’s head")
  
• Bobby Hargis (6 H 294):
  “….I was next to Mrs. Kennedy when I heard the first shot, and at that time the President bent over, and Governor Connally turned around. He was sitting directly in front of him, and a real shocked and surprised expression on his face.
  Mr. STERN. On Governor Connally’s?
  Mr. HARGIS. Yes; that is why I thought Governor Connally had been shot first, but it looked like the President was bending over to hear what he had to say, and I thought to myself then that Governor Connally, the Governor had been hit, and then as the President raised back up like that (indicating) the shot that killed him hit him. I don’t know whether it was the second or the third shot. Everything happened so fast.
  
• Gayle Newman (19 H 488: "President Kennedy kind of jumped like he was startled and covered his head with his hands and then raised up. After I heard the first shot, another shot sounded and Governor grabbed his chest and lay back on the seat of the car")
  
• William Newman (19 H 490 "The President jumped up in his seat, and it looked like what I thought was a firecracker had went off and I thought he had realized it.") (this was his first (22Nov63) statement and he described only 2 shots
  
• John Chism (19 H 472 “When I saw the motorcade round the corner, the President was standing and waving to the crowd. And just as he got just about in front of me, he turned and waved at the crowd on this side of the street, the right side; at this point I heard what sounded like one shot, and I saw him, "The President," sit back in his seat and lean his head to his left side.”
  
• Faye Chism (19 H 471 “As the President was coming through, I heard this first shot, and the President fell to his left.”)
  
• James Altgens (7 H 520. He said his z255 shot was after first shot and before any other. It shows JFK reacting.)
  
• Abraham Zapruder (WFAA TV interview at 2:00 pm Nov. 22/63: " I heard a shot, and he slumped to the side, like this. Then I heard another shot or two, I couldn't say it was one or two)
  
• SA Clint Hill (2 H 138, Recalled only two shots. After the first: "I saw President Kennedy grab at himself and lurch forward and to the left". CE1024, 18 H 742: "I saw the President hunch forward and then slump to his left.").
  
• Linda Willis (7 H 498. “ Yes; I heard one. Then there was a little bit of time, and then there were two real fast bullets together. When the first one hit, well, the President turned from waving to the people, and he grabbed his throat, and he kind of slumped forward, and then I couldn’t tell where the second shot went.)
  
• SA George Hickey (CE1024, 18 H 761. Perhaps 2 or 3 seconds elapsed from the time I looked to the rear and then looked at the President. He was slumped forward and to his left, and was straightening up to an almost erect sitting position as I turned and looked. At the moment he was almost sitting erect I heard two reports which I thought were shots and that appeared to me completely different in sound than the first report and were in such rapid succession that there seemed to be practically no time element between them.”)
  
• SA Sam Kinney (CE1024, 18 H 731. “As we completed the left turn and on a short distance, there was a shot. At this time I glanced from the tail lights of the President's car that I use for gauging distances for driving. I saw the President lean toward the left and appeared to have grabbed his chest with right hand. There was a second of pause and then two more shots were heard”).
  
• SA Emory Roberts (CE1024, 18 H 734. “12:30 p.m. First of three shots fired, at which time I saw the President lean toward Mrs. Kennedy. I do not know if it was the next shot or third shot that hit the President in the head, but I saw ,,,what appeared to be a small explosion on the right side of the President's head, saw blood, at which time the President fell further to his left.”).
  
• Cecil Ault (24 H 534. Viewing from court house on Houston. Reported to have seen JFK rise up in his seat after first shot.)
  
• Harold Norman (3 H 191. “but I know I heard a shot, and then after I heard the shot, well, it seems as though the President, you know, slumped or something,”)
  
• Malcolm Summers (Affidavit, 19 H 500 “The President's car had just come up in front of me when I heard a shot and saw the President slump down in the car and heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "Oh, no", then a second shot and then I hit the ground as I realized these were shots.”)