Parkland Hospital, Inside Trauma Room One | Voices from the Oral History Collection
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 04. 2024
- This is a compilation of oral histories featuring individuals on staff at Parkland Memorial Hospital the weekend of the assassination in 1963. President Kennedy was rushed to the facility on November 22, where he was later pronounced dead. Oswald too, received emergency treatment for a gunshot wound he would die from. Incidentally, it was the same hospital where Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, a murder witnessed by many on live television, later died from cancer complications on January 3, 1967.
These are the memories and first-hand accounts from the men and women inside Trauma Room One, where they attempted life-saving treatment of President Kennedy. View these oral histories and recordings of other Parkland staff in their entirety in our collection at emuseum.jfk.org.
I'm glad this is an oral history without any controversey or divisive opinions.
The assassination of JFK takes me back to when I was a 7 year old boy living in NYC in the 3rd grade when we was interrupted by a teacher coming in our class room whispering in my teacher's ear telling her that JFK had been shot my teacher broke down and she cried in front of the class and told us that we have to go to the Auditorium so all classes went to the Auditorium and our principal told us that our President JFK had be shot and that the school is dismiss for the day, this was around 1pm EST on a Friday we were in shock, I ran home to tell my mother like she didn't know lol, a very sad day in America that I will never forget.
@RANDY4410 The Curator of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, located inside the Texas School Book Depository building at the site of the Kennedy assassination would like to speak with you about recording an oral history with the Museum He manages our institution’s ongoing Oral History Project on the 1960s, which has captured more than 2,500 interviews with people around the world, reflecting on the life, death and legacy of President Kennedy and the broader history and culture of that time period. You can access a full list of interviews, which includes links to around 700 oral histories currently available online, here on our website: www.jfk.org/wp-content/uploads/TSFM_Oral-History-Full-List-alph.pdf.
We would love the opportunity to speak with you about your experience. If you're interested, please contact him at oralhistory@jfk.org.
Your experience is almost exactly like mine, a fellow third grader in 1963. There are fewer of us who remember this as each year passes. One of the saddest days in my life. The world certainly changed that day.
Loved him so much and cried for years
I was spending the night with a friend and late at night I heard on the radio that Bobby Kennedy had been killed in Los Angeles. I told my friends parents at breakfast and they didn’t want to believe it.
I read that they recently tore Parkland Memorial Hospital down. Piece of history.
Spock ~
According to Parkland’s web site, in an article dated 7/1/22:
“The building is no longer suitable for contemporary healthcare use. The deterioration of its mechanical, plumbing, electrical and life safety systems, and the high cost of ongoing electrical power consumption even in its “mothballed” state, led Parkland leaders to make the fiscally sound decision to demolish the building.”
The article went on to mention that the demolition (the description made it sound more like a dismantling) would be complete sometime in 2024, so it’s probable that the old hospital is now entirely gone, or that only remnants of it remain and are soon to be entirely gone.
I do agree with you, that Parkland certainly is (or was) of great historical importance.
Unfortunately, the years take their toll on some of the locations where our nation’s historical events occurred, and no exception for the locations of where the four US Presidents who were assassinated ultimately died, particularly if they are/were older structures, and over time become unsafe.
With the recent dismantling of Parkland, only one location where a president died now remains (as far as I know, I’d welcome correction); The Peterson House in Washington D.C., where Lincoln was taken after being shot at Ford’s Theater, and where he ultimately died, has been preserved, and along with Ford’s Theater, is now a part of the National Parks System, and can still be visited.
I believe that the locations/buildings/houses of where the other three assassinated presidents actually died of their wounds are now all gone.
Although, a few of the locations of where presidents sustained their mortal wounds are still around…obviously, Dealey Plaza is, and along with the Book Depository Building (now the location of “The Sixth Floor Museum”) each attracts thousands of visitors each year.
Ford’s Theater in D.C. is still open, and also houses a museum, which is open to the public, and, while there isn’t anything left in the location of where William McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz while attending the World’s Fair in Buffalo in 1901, I believe that there is at least a plaque that marks the spot.
The location of where President Garfield was shot, The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in D.C., was demolished in 1907, and is now the site of The National Gallery of Art.
As a side note, The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where Bobby Kennedy was shot in June of ‘68, is now entirely gone, and a modern high school now stands where the hotel once did, though there is a plaque and a statue of Bobby that marks the spot where the pantry once was, where he was shot.
On the other hand, The Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Martin Luther King was shot in April of ‘68, is still there, and has been preserved to look exactly as it did in 1968.
I do understand that preserving some of these historical locations is a LOT easier (and less expensive) than preserving others, particularly when it involves massive buildings that can no longer serve any purpose. The places that do still exist, and that have been restored (or maintained) as historical sites over the years, are either far less difficult to maintain, or, are places that also serve additional modern purposes - The Book Depository houses government offices, and Ford’s Theatre remains an active, thriving theater, where stage productions still happen all the time…
I would imagine that preserving the old Parkland Hospital only as a historical site would have been a gargantuan task (and would have cost a gargantuan amount of money), but, that doesn’t take away from the disappointment and poignancy of losing a site of such historical importance.
FWIW
🙏
Most hospitals from the 1940s are torn down. And with good reason. Lots of people died there. Who cares?
@@donnythompson9233 Great info! Thanks for taking the time to post that. Are there plans to at least save the location of the Parkland ER?
@@mattditchey8673 the article didn’t say.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the land that Parkland was on at that location will probably be developed commercially at some point, as there are already two landmarks; Dealey Plaza has a memorial to JFK, and the TSBD is still there, with The Sixth Floor Assassination Museum on the 6th and 7th floors.
But, that’s just a guess.
I was there two weeks ago and watched as the old hospital building was being demolished.
I can understand that Parkland is now a major medical site, but it would have been nice to save the building for history.
It had been remodeled so many times it wasn’t recognizable to 1963. But i vaguely remember seeing a museum had taken trauma room 1 and put it on display as it was on Nov 22nd, but it might’ve been trauma room 2, 3, or 4, not sure.
No, it would not be nice to save the building for history. The history that took place there just isn't important enough. We have the 6th Floor Schoolbook Depository and that is all we need.
It’s been heavily remodeled. Plus who would foot the costs?
President Kennedy never made it to Parkland.A terrible day for this country.
The hospital (at least this infamous trauma room area and ambulance entrance) were still there when I visited on May 20, 2023.
Totally remodeled. The original room 1 is gone. The outside portico is also totally remodeled
Sad. Glad I saw Tx Book Depository and Parkland.
Dr Caracco was the very first Dr to receive John followed by Dr Perry
I was 13 on a Friday and we spent all weekend in trauma, trying to figure out if this was the start of a war with Russia. Because Kennedy had been in hot relationships with them, and Cuba. And then Jack Ruby killed Oswald and antennas shot up with another awful thought? You know what that was!!!
Your book isn't selling is it
The singer meatloaf is in these photo's, check out his story.
Meatloaf would been like 10-12 in 1963
As I told you once before, check out Meatloafs crazy story about that day and yes he is in many pics from that horrible day..
Along with other crazy things they picked up a Secret service agent commandeered there truck straight to parkland.
I know Meatloaf and Dennis Quaid were in the parking lot at Parkland that day. I was five and was at my aunts house and was watching TV in the basement when I heard the news, I went up and told my mom and aunt and they didn't believe me.
That they didn't believe you when you told them that 'Loaf and Quaid were in the parking lot is appalling.
I heard that Axl Rose was there too, and also Sponge Bob Squarepants
I had always read it was George Burkley who yelled, “give him some steroids!”. I bet Burkley said that to Carrico, and carrico ordered it, leading this doctor to believe it was carrico’s idea.
Carrico ordered that before Burkley arrived. Burkley was further back in the motorcade and didn't get there for several minutes. Jim Carrico made the call.
@@bradparker9664 he said he walked in and spoke with a few doctors then he said “I gave them some hydrocortisone to put in the intravenous which was being given, and gave them his blood type”. Then he goes on to say “and they made no questions at all, there is a statement in one them that one of them ought to do this, but that is not true, because I was the one who came in and gave it to them. The doctors in Dallas never even mentioned I was present.” Maybe they gave him some first, then Burkley came in and gave them some more, who knows.
static.jfklibrary.org/yy21v18852lle25n8c5686053g3134sc.pdf?odc=20231115182427-0500
Burkely was present at the Bethesda autopsy and didn't do anything he was as usfull at Parkland as at Bethesda
At this point in my life, I don’t believe anything these people have to say, because they are changing their stories from what they said the first day? 😅
Crenshaw and his book…lol, good grief. The one doctor who wasn’t in the room very long, and most doctors don’t even recall seeing him there, has the most to say. He was just a junior resident at the time. Dr. Jones said “I don’t remember Dr. Crenshaw in the room.” Dr. Jenkins said “I dont remember him in there at any time, but he may have been.” “Neither do I” said Dr. Baxter.
Dr. Perry said “I feel sorry for him, I thought about suing him, but when I saw him on tv promoting his book, my anger melted. He has to know that what he said is false. And he knows the rest of us know that. You have to pity him, what a way to end his career. His story is filled with half truths and insinuations. And those of us who know him know he is desperate. He is a pitiful sight.”
The only other doctor who still believes the head wound was on the rear of the head is Dr.Robert McClelland., Dr Perry said “I am astonished Bob would say that, I guess a last point is that Bob and Groden (conspiracy author) are such good friends I believe it has changed his attitude, I’m sure he thinks he saw that and has developed it in his mind, but his memory is just completely wrong and the autopsy photos and X-rays prove that”. Dr. Jenkins said, “Bob is an excellent surgeon, I hate to say Bob is mistaken but that is clearly not right”. Mcclelland was taken to the national archives in 1988 for the Walter Kronkite documentary “the men who killed Kennedy” to view the autopsy photos, and saw the head wound on the side, and agreed that is what he saw that day, and said “that shows how even a trained observer can make an error in a moment of urgency”. The reason for this discrepancy is obvious if you have seen the autopsy photos, jfk had a lot of hair, and since he was laying on his back, all the blood and brain matter drained down and dripped off the back of his head, it really does look like a rear wound from the photo, before all the blood and brain matter was cleaned up.
Was all this said after it was found that Perry had been harassed by Sec Ser Agt Elmer Moore to change his story about the neck wound?
Dr. Perry's testimony included the facts that the throat wound was "small and neat", typical of an entrance wound, and that the occipital region of the head (the back of the head) had a "huge flap", suggesting an exit wound. He was interviewed by the Saturday Evening Post the day after the assassination, and his interview was published in a December 1963 edition.
Dr. Malcolm Perry's first interview since November 1963 was published in The Orlando Sentinel, April 22, 1990: " 'I have no desire to relive the pain. ' ". . To help Kennedy breathe, Perry performed a tracheotomy. . . In preforming the tracheotomy, Perry cut through the bullet exit wound in the President's neck."
Please note the late Dr. Perry's change of "memory' from 1963 to 1990. This is not said with disrespect to Dr. Perry, but to provide factual detail of what Dr. Perry saw on November 22nd was his first memory and was probably more accurate.
@@drummer7006 again, please view the color autopsy photo, it will explain a lot. This discrepancy with the doctors at Bethesda and parkland has been exploited by conspiracy authors, but easily explained. Its the photo with the photographer standing at the head of the table looking down at jfks head while laying on his back before he was cleaned off, it looks like a rear wound because the hair, brain matter and blood and scalp flaps are flowing down to the back of his head. Also, notwithstanding the clear autopsy photos and X-rays showing the back of the head in tact, we have much clearer enhancements of the Zapruder film these days, showing the back of the head intact and that flap is clearly to the side, but don’t take my, or anybody’s word for it, see with your own two eyes. Also they were not examining wounds, they were hurriedly trying to save his life.
Dr. Jenkins said, “from what I read in later books, everyone looked at it in detail from the beginning but that is not true. We were trying to save the president and no one had time to examine the wounds. As for the head wound, they couldn’t look at it earlier because I was standing with my body against it, and they would’ve only looked at my pants.”
Dr. Perry said, “I don’t think any of us got a good look at the head wound, I didn’t examine it, or look at it that carefully.”
Dr. Carrico said “We never had the opportunity to review his wounds in order to describe them accurately, we were trying to save his life. “
Dr. Bill midget helped wheel the president in, said “ the president had quite thick hair, there was a lot of blood and tissue, all of us were so shocked, and to have Mrs. Kennedy there, none of us stared very closely to see the wound, but it was more parietal then occipital, that much I could see, there was no cerebellum in that car or on the people.”
Dr. Baxter said, “he had such a bushy head of hair, and blood and all in it, you couldn’t tell what was wound versus dry blood or dangling tissue. I have been misquoted enough on this, some saying I claimed the whole back of his head was blown away, that’s just wrong, I never even saw the back of his head, the wound was on the right side, not the back”.
Dr. Giesecke said “ I guess I have to say that I was wrong in my Warren commission testimony on the wound and in some of my pronouncements since then. I just never got that good of a look at it. But for instance, Lifton (conspiracy author) spent six hours with me trying to get me to say the wounds were like he wanted them. The truth is there was a massive head wound with brain tissue and blood and hair around it. With that type of wound you could not get accurate information unless you feel around inside the hole and look into in detail, and I certainly didn’t do that, nor did I see anyone else do that”
Dr. Carrico said “ we did say there was a parietal occipital wound, we did say we saw shattered brain, cerebellum in the cortex area and I think we were mistaken. The reason I say that is because the president was laying on his back, and you could see the hole with scalp and brain tissue hanging back down his head and it covered most of the occipital portion of his head. We saw a large hole on the right side of his head, I don’t believe we saw any occipital bone, it was not there, it was parietal bone, and if we said otherwise we were mistaken.”
Dr Peters said, “ I saw the photograph of the brain when I went to Washington for the nova program. And I saw the cerebellum was depressed but it was not lacerated or torn. It is definitely pressed down and that would be the damage I referred to in 1964. The only thing I would say is that over the last 28 years I now believe the head wound is more forward than I first placed it, more to the side than the rear. I tried to tell Lifton where the wound was but he did not want to hear.”
Dr. Perry said “I did not really look at it that closely. But like everyone else I saw it back there. It was in the occipital and parietal area. The occipital and parietal bone join each other so we’re only talking a centimeter or so in difference. You must remember the president had a lot of hair, and it was bloody and matted, and it was difficult to tell where that wound started and finished, I did not see any cerebellum.”
Dr. Jones said “it was a large side wound with blood and tissue that dangled towards the rear, from what you could tell from the mess that was there”.
About the neck wound, only a handful of doctors saw it in it’s original condition, Dr. Perry says, “as the press is want to do, they took my statement at the press conference out of context. I did say it looked like an entrance wound since it was small, but I qualified it by saying I did not know where the bullets came from. I wish now that I had not speculated, everyone ignores my qualification, it was a small wound slightly ragged at the edges, it could’ve been an entrance or an exit.”
Dr Jones said “the neck wound could’ve been either an entrance or an exit. I only called it an entrance wound because I did not know about the back wound”.
Dr. Jenkins had the most experience with gunshot wounds said, “even at that time I was convinced it was a wound of exit, because it was bigger than an entrance wound should be. Entrance wounds are small and round and may have a halo around it, black from the bullet, but it makes a clean wound. When a bullet goes through a body, tissue moves in front of it and bursts.” All these quotes were from extensive interviews with the doctors for the book Case Closed.