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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. IV - Page 137« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Gov. John Bowden , Jr. Connally)

Mr. Specter.
Indicate its location, please, Doctor, on his back.
Dr. SHAW. This is lower on the right back in what we refer to as the posterior axillary line, roughly this line.
Mr. Specter.
There you are drawing a vertical, virtually vertical line?
Dr. SHAW. Yes. It is on the right back, but getting close to the lateral portion of the chest. This also was a stab wound which was never sutured. There was a rubber drain through this that led to what we call a water seal bottle to allow for drainage of the inside of the chest.
Mr. Specter.
Indicating again the second medically inflicted wound.
Dr. SHAW. Yes; that is right.
Mr. Specter.
Will you now, Doctor, describe the location of the wound of exit on the Governor's chest, please?
Dr. SHAW. Yes. The wound of exit was beneath and medial to the nipple. Here was this V that I was indicating. It is almost opposite that At the time of the wound there was a ragged oval hole here at least 5 centimeters in diameter, but the skin edges were. excised, and here again this scar does not look quite as nice as it does during the more lateral portion of the surgically induced incision, because this skin was brought together under a little tension, and there is a little separation there.
Mr. Specter.
Will you describe the entire scar there, Doctor, for the record, please?
Dr. SHAW. Yes. The entire surgical incision runs from the anterior portion of the chest just lateral to the, we call it, the condral arch, the V formed by the condral arch, and then extends laterally below the nipple, running up, curving up, into the posterior axillary portion or the posterior lateral wall of the chest.
Mr. Specter.
What is the total length of the scar, Doctor?
Dr. SHAW. Twenty centimeters, about.
Mr. Dulles.
Where was the center of the bullet wound itself in that scar about?
Dr. SHAW. Here.
Mr. Dulles.
There?
Dr. SHAW. Yes. All of the rest of this incision was necessary to gain access to the depths of the wound for the debridement, for removing all of the destroyed tissue because of the passage of the bullet.
Mr. Dulles.
Would you give us in your hand the area of declination from the entry to the----
Dr. SHAW. This way.
Mr, DULLES. Yes.
Mr. Specter.
Can you estimate that angle for us, Doctor?
Dr. SHAW. We are talking about the angle now, of course, with the horizontal, and I would say--you don't have a caliper there, do you?
Dr. GREGORY. Yes.
Dr. SHAW. I was going to guess somewhere between 25° and 30°.
Mr. Dulles.
Sorry to ask these questions.
Governor CONNALLY. That is fine. I think it is an excellent question.
Dr. SHAW. Well, this puts it right at 25°.
Mr. Specter.
That is the angle then of elevation as you are measuring it?
Dr. SHAW. Measuring from back to front, it is the elevation of the posterior wound over the anterior wound.
The Chairman.
The course being downward back to front?
Dr. SHAW. Yes.
Governor CONNALLY. Back to front.
The Chairman.
Yes.
Dr. SHAW. At the time of the initial examination, as I described, this portion of the Governor's chest was mobile, it was moving in and out because of the softening of the chest, and that was the reason I didn't want the skin incision to be directly over that, because to get better healing it is better to have a firm pad of tissue rather than having the incision directly over the softened area.
Mr. Dulles.
Doctor, would the angle be the same if the Governor were seated now the way he was in the chair?
Dr. SHAW. That is a good question. Of course, we don't know exactly whether
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