From 6489mcadamsj@vms.csd.mu.edu Sun Nov 22 18:27:23 1998 Newsgroups: alt.assassination.jfk Subject: John Connally Holding his Hat From: 6489mcadamsj@vms.csd.mu.edu (John McAdams) Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 00:27:23 GMT The following is from the TEXAS MONTHLY interview with Nellie Connally. The entire interview is at: http://web.archive.org/web/20001013092436/http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/1998/nov/extra/transcripts.3.html ----------------------------------------------------- Nellie: All right. What was happening, and not believing it really. TM: The horror. Is there a defining moment when all of a sudden things went wrong? Nellie: The first shot and then on. TM: You remember hearing it? Nellie: I remember hearing it. TM: And what was your immediate reaction? Nellie: I looked toward the sound which is where the president was. TM: Yes. Nellie: And I saw his hands fly up to his face, and I saw him sink down, shot number one. TM: And then? Nellie: John Connally was trying to see him. He looked to his right and he couldn't see the president. He knew it was a gun shot. I just heard a loud noise. And John was afraid they were shooting at the president and he turned to see if he could see him on this other side and he couldn't see him there and in the process of turning back John was shot. Second shot. TM: Second shot. You've never wavered from this, by the way? Nellie: I never will. I pulled him down in my lap because I didn't want him to hurt him anymore. I didn't want him to shoot at him anymore. And while I had him in my lap there was another shot. And my reaction to that was matter all over the car, blew up, we were in front of the Kennedys, it blew up all over us. Third shot. TM: And you're covering your husband at this time. Nellie: And he also, he has... he has... his hat in his hand. He always had that hat somewhere. He had the hat in his hand when I pulled him over and crouched him down and he was holding that hat up against him. He closed up that wound that would've killed him before we got to the hospital. TM: So it was by circumstance that he was in the right position. Nellie: It was not anything planned because I was just trying to get him down so they wouldn't hurt him. I didn't know we were saving his life. TM: And you remained in that position all the way to Parkland Hospital? Nellie: Yes, I never looked back after John was hit. ----------------------------------------------------- A close analysis of the Z-film indicates that Connally was holding onto his hat after the head shot. This has caused some theorists to believe that his wrist was not hit until after the head shot. Perhaps those folks will now theorize that he was hit by a shot at Parkland! Also, I've never been entirely sure that the blow-ups I've seen definitively show Connally *holding* the hat, as opposed to the hat laying there in view in the Z-film. But I'd say Nellie's testimony seals this. .John