Unresolved conspiracies

On November 22, 1963 President John F Kennedy was declared dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas. As per official sources, his death took place due to bullet injuries after being fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from the sixth floor of Dealy Plaza. Oswald was himself shot dead two days later by Jack Ruby. JFK’s death has been a subject of conspiracy theories all these years and the interest in finding explanations to the mysterious circumstances surrounding his assassination continues even today. Questions have been asked about the investigations carried out by various official agencies and about the conclusions drawn by the Warren Commission’s report and subsequently the other official reports probing the assassination. Much has been written but several questions still remain unanswered.

Sixth Floor, Dealy Plaza

During my visit to Dallas, I went to see the place where JFK was assassinated and the spot from where the shots were fired. The window from where Oswald fired the shots is located on the Sixth Floor, Dealy Plaza which is now converted into a museum. Located towards one end of downtown Dallas where three streets converge (Main, Elm and Commerce Streets) and go under a railroad bridge, the place sees hundreds of visitors curiously looking from one end to the other, trying to visualize the scene and ponder over the conspiracy theories. The JFK memorial is not located at the assassination site itself but a block away. The last remains, however, are buried at Arlington cemetery, Washington D.C.

JFK Memorial, Dallas

I was gripped by the conspiracy theories for several weeks after the visit to Dealy Plaza. I tried to read about it and even watched Oliver Stone’s controversial film ‘JFK’. But the most fascinating part of being bitten by the conspiracy bug was grabbing an opportunity to attend Dr. Robert McClelland’s lecture at the Dallas Public Library. Dr. McClelland was one of the six doctors present in the Trauma Room One where JFK was brought on the stretcher after the gun shots and perhaps the only person from among the six doctors who is still alive. Dr. McClelland stood at the head of the table while assisting the other doctors performing tracheotomy on JFK and was in a unique position to observe the head damage. During his lecture, he shared in detail what happened in Trauma Room One, what he had seen and heard, about his depositions before the Warren Commission and his statements during investigations. He also pointed out that the account of Ed Hoffman, a speech and hearing impaired eyewitness is the most crucial one in shedding light on the assassination.

As years go by, it is going to be more and more difficult to piece together the puzzle and find out the truth about JFK’s assassination. And that is indeed a perfect scenario for conspiracy theories to hatch and abound.