Inexplicable Wounds made by Special Bullets

[Bob Prudhomme]

Okay, time to talk about the wounds, and to see if it is possible to tie them to the frangible bullets we discussed earlier. (I can hear everyone exhaling "Finally!!")

Just a quick observation on the frangible bullets. I believe the 6.5mm M.37 Carcano frangible/range bullets would need a slight modification to make them into any kind of lethal bullet. It would be necessary to drill through the small opening in the nose of the bullet jacket and into the solid maillechort/lead projectile in the tip to convert these frangible bullets into hollow points.

This discussion may get quite involved, and I might have to deal with only one wound per post. My old eyes get sore if I look at a computer screen for too long.

The first wound is the back wound, the one moved from 5.75" below the collar line up to the collar line. This is the wound the WC apologists steadfastly maintain exited at JFK's throat and, when it is explained to them how impossible this is, their favorite response is "Well, where did the bullet go then?" Up to this point in time, this has always been a difficult question, and the matter was further confused by Humes not dissecting the supposed track of this wound and by stating he was only able to probe this wound about an inch with his baby finger. I measured the width of my baby finger, and found it to be just shy of 3/4". As the diameter of a 6.5mm Carcano bullet is just over 1/4", Humes would have to have fingers like a little girl in order to probe this wound with a finger.

To find out where the bullet really went, we have to look at observations made by PH doctors while they were still attempting to save JFK's life.

1. JFK's trachea (windpipe) was deviated to the left. My experience and education as a part time paramedic on our town's ambulance tells me this likely means only one thing; JFK was experiencing a life threatening condition known as a "tension pneumothorax" in his right lung.
2. Dr. Marion Jenkins spoke of the deviated trachea in discussing JFK, and also spoke of "obvious signs of a pneumothorax"; presumably meaning a tension pneumothorax.
3. Chest tubes were put in, or were in the process of being put in, to JFK's right and possibly left lung, just before resuscitation attempts were abandoned.

Quickly, I will go over what a pneumothorax is, both the "tension" and "open" variety, as they are connected and an open pneumothorax can easily develop into a tension pneumothorax.

Let us say, for example, someone is shot in the upper back and the bullet goes into the lung, damaging it, and does not exit the front of the patient. You now have two compromises; the first being a hole to the atmosphere through the wall of the chest and the pleural lining, and the second a hole in the lung itself, which is now no longer an airtight inflatable bag. If left untreated, each time the patient takes a breath, air will be drawn through the entrance wound in the back and inflate the pleural cavity between the lung and the pleural lining. The lung will not inflate, and the patient stands a very good chance of asphyxiating within a few minutes. The treatment for this condition involves placing a one way valve over the wound. We have a special rubber dressing called an Asherman Chest Seal dressing as seen below:



This dressing is adhesive, and the rubber valve allows air to escape out of the pleural cavity, but does not allow air to enter. If there is no hole in the lung itself, this dressing will allow the lung to inflate normally, and keep the patient alive until a doctor can see him.

However, should there be a hole in the lung itself, and the valve on the Asherman Chest Seal dressing plugs or malfunctions, or an inexperienced care giver should seal the wound with tape, or a patient with a bullet wound in his back should be laid on his back on a metal ER table thus sealing the entrance wound, an open pneumothorax can quickly develop into a tension pneumothorax, if air building up in the pleural cavity is not allowed to escape.

When a patient inhales, the diaphragm moves downwards, increasing the volume of the space in the pleural cavity and creating a negative pressure. Atmospheric pressure, 14.7 psi at sea level, enters the nose and mouth in an attempt to fill the lungs and equalize this pressure. Should the chest cavity be sealed and the lung have a hole in it, instead of this lung inflating, air will pass through the hole in the lung and fill the space between the lung and the chest walls. When the patient exhales, the lung collapses, sealing this hole, and the air in the pleural cavity becomes trapped. With each breath, this cycle is repeated, and the volume of air in the pleural cavity grows.

Eventually, enough pressure is present on the affected side of the chest cavity to begin having an effect on the other organs in the pleural cavity, including the heart, major veins returning to the heart (superior and inferior vena cava), the opposite lung and the bronchii. The pressure is great enough to force these organs to the side away from the lung with the pneumothorax, and explains JFK's trachea (windpipe) being deviated to the left. Fatality occurs quickly, as the function of all the organs mentioned is impaired by this condition, and, without them, perfusion of the body's cells with oxygen cannot take place.

This condition is worsened when assisted ventilation is performed by first responders or ER staff, as even greater volumes and pressures can be attained in the pleural cavity when air is forced into the lungs.

The accepted treatment for a tension pneumothorax, should there be no obvious wound into the pleural cavity to apply an Asherman Chest Seal to, is decompression of the affected side of the pleural cavity. A large bore needle is inserted in the 2nd or 3rd intercostal space (space between the ribs) at a point near the mid-clavicular line (halfway down the collar bone). This will relieve the built up air pressure and remove the impairment affecting the other organs sharing the pleural cavity. Once again, a one way valve dressing, as shown above, should be applied following this procedure to prevent an open pneumothorax and still allow air to escape the pleural cavity. As the Parkland doctors were aware of a pneumothorax, but unaware of the back wound, they assumed the cause to be related to the trachea wound, and inserted bi-lateral chest tibes.


This is why chest tubes were being inserted into JFK's right lung. The story given about the chest tubes being inserted to relieve "subcutaneous emphysema" is nothing more than a fairy tale to keep the sheeple quiet. Subcutaneous emphysema is a non-life threatening condition that tends to develop following a tension pneumothorax, when trapped air under pressure makes its way to the layers of the skin, and becomes trapped as air bubbles. It is considered a cosmetic defect, and certainly not something ER doctors would be addressing while attempting to resuscitate a pulseless, non-breathing patient.

If JFK were shot with a full metal jacket 6.5mm Carcano bullet, I would expect PH doctors to be dealing with two open pneumothoraxes, one on JFK's back and one on his chest, as this bullet was more than capable of going straight through JFK and through Connally, as well, and possibly even through Kellerman. As, to the best of my knowledge, this did not occur, we can rule out the FMJ bullet, and look for something else. My prime suspect, and this will be supported by discussion of the other wounds, is a hollow point frangible bullet, as discussed earlier. As it entered JFK's right lung, fluid and semi-fluid matter would enter the hollow point, build up a great hydraulic pressure, and cause the powdered core of the frangible bullet to disintegrate into a cloud of lead powder. This cloud of lead powder would come to a stop almost instantly and wreak great damage on the right lung and blood vessels present in the lung.

Jerrol Custer was an x-ray technician at Bethesda and was present at the autopsy of JFK. In an interview given years later, he found, among many other things, two things disturbing. First, no x-rays were taken of JFK's chest before the heart and lungs were removed. Second, he and other staff were not allowed to be present when the heart and lungs were removed.

Next: The mysterious throat wound