Jacqueline Kennedy’s bloody suit

MSNBC ^ | 22-November-2003 | Pedantic_Lady

[workerbee]

The Kennedys were very controversial and stirred up as much dislike as they did popularity.

Was this based on political disagreement or his religious affiliation?

There was a huge wave of revulsion against the US as a whole by the press at the time, blaming the country for JFK's death.

I'm not sure I understand this. The press "blamed the country"? How?

[Poohbah]

She was trying to recover pieces of his skull and brain.

[dubyagee]

Any ideas?

She was trying to retrieve a part of his head, not to be grotesque, but I have seen that reported in many books. There is indeed a part lying on the trunk. It may sound crazy, but you just don't know what you'll do in a situation like that. I'm sure people don't always act rationally.

[Burn24]

Yikes! Thanks for clearing that up.

[strictlyaminorleaguer]

Not to gross anyone out here, but I remember reading that Jackie climbed onto the trunk to retrieve a portion of her husband's skull. If I'm recalling correctly, she said she was acting on autopilot and not thinking of her safety, but only trying to help her husband. I can't even imagine the trauma she suffered that day. I don't remember JFK's assassination (only 3 at the time), but I do remember how devastated my mother was at Bobby's in 1968. It was a different era.

[Grammy]

"You know what I've never understood? What was that business with her crawling over the trunk of the limo? Seems to me your first instinct in a situation like that would be to hold your loved one close to your heart, try to protect him, as Mrs. Connoly did."

She was trying to get the secret service man from the back of the car up to the President.

[mikegi]

She was trying to get the secret service man from the back of the car up to the President.

After reading this I searched the web for jfk assassination video to see if I agreed with you. The part about Jackie climbing out to pick up bone/brain off the trunk just never made sense to me (even considering the circumstances). Anyway, I found some excellent vidcaps from the Zapruder film. The website was made an anti-Bush wacko but the caps are good so I'll just link to the videos themselves (they use the divx codec):

1. Full frame version

2. Close up Kennedy and Connally

The close up is very graphic (sickening, actually) but shows some interesting things. JFK was shot in the throat just as he emerged from behind the street sign. His arms come up to his throat in an automatic reaction. Connally must have been hit by the same shot because he jumps and turns to look back. You can see that he says "Ouch".

Jackie grabs on to JFK's left arm and appears to say something to Connally. She then realizes that JFK is hurt, too, and curves around in front of him to see what's wrong. That's when the horrible head shot impacts. Jackie's face was only a few inches away at the time. Startled, her right hand flies up to the back of JFK's neck as he slumps over. She then, without turning to look at the trunk, starts to climb over the seat, even pushing off of JFK's head with her left hand. When she's halfway over the seat the Secret Service agent runs up, stops her, and tells her to get back into the car as they speed off.

You know what I think? Do you care? Anyway, it looks to me like Jackie was, understandably, panicked from having her husband shot right in front of her. I think she was tring to climb out of the car to get away. She never looked back at the trunk until she was already climbing out. If she was going to retrieve a bone fragment, wouldn't she have had to see it first?

[MinuteGal]

"Who is 'they'? "

We'll never know who Jackie was referring to when she said "they".

However, in the context of today's liberal thought processes, "they" means the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

Leni

[Frank_2001]

I agree.

[PLMerite]

Yeah, that's a real interesting movie. I have a thing for Parker Posey, mostly because I once dated a girl who looked a lot like her. At least to me.

[SuziQ]

But I doubt she married Ari for his looks.

I always believed that she married him because he was so rich and she thought he could protect her and her kids. By marrying him, she got the kids out of the country and away from all the other Kennedy kids.

[PRND21]

Don't compare 9-11 with Princess Di, Ponce.

[FreedomCalls]

I think she was tring to climb out of the car to get away.

you are the first one I have ever heard to propose that theory. And you know what? I think I agree with you. Your explanation makes sense. I can see no "bone fragment" she is supposedly chasing and she doesn't appear to be helping the Secret Serviceman.

I think you're onto something!

[geopyg]

I've heard that idea before of Jackie trying to escape - and does sound reasonable, and normal under the conditions. Of course it's much better (aka Jessica Lynch)to say she was helping the secret service guy (I hadn't heard the brain retrival story!?).

And when she said "..to see what they have done.."; I thought I heard on one of the recent TV shows that she said it about the people from Dallas. It was fairly hostile down there, a bunch of business men put up a one-page add in the papers saying all that was wrong with Kennedy. (Din't some guy in England just do that for Bush?!)

[Howlin]

I always believed that she married him because he was so rich and she thought he could protect her and her kids.

I remember reading that on the night Bobby was shot, in the waiting room, she was screaming "They're killing Kennedys and my children may be next."

I have no doubt she married him to get out of this country.

[nicksaunt]

Thank you for posting the article regarding the pink suit. I had no idea that it had been donated to the National Archives, for some reason I thought it had been given to Jackie's mother.

Has it really been forty years? The Kennedy assasination is the watershed moment for all us baby boomers such as 9/11 is for the young people of today. I still remember Jackie getting off the plane with that blood on her skirt and nylons. Bobby Kennedy was holding her hand and we wondered how he got on the plane. Tears were rolling down my dad's cheeks, it was the first time I had ever seen him cry.

Jackie Kennedy was the epitome of grace and dignity under pressure and extreme sorrow that weekend. Everyone was glued to their black and white televisions and it was the first time the networks had non-stop, 24-hour coverage. In a lot of ways that weekend, the world seem like it was going in slow motion, almost surreal. I can't believe it's been forty years. Today we live in a very different world.

[halfdome]

This happened before I was born, but I've always thought she was trying to get away. I had never heard the retrieving the skull theory before, and always just thought she was trying to get away, which seemed reasonable to me if someone was shooting at her.

[Conservababe]

It is reasonable and instinctive to duck down into the seat if someone were shooting at you. I remember watching that film shown over and over the same day Kennedy was killed. I remember seeing one Secret Service waving her out of the car over the trunk, and as she scrambled out, another reaching for her and pushing her back into the car. Yes, security was not as streamlined as it is today. You can tell that by watching the chaotic scene of Ruby killing Oswald, which I saw live and was the first murder ever broadcast live on national television.

[mikegi]

you are the first one I have ever heard to propose that theory. And you know what? I think I agree with you. Your explanation makes sense. I can see no "bone fragment" she is supposedly chasing and she doesn't appear to be helping the Secret Serviceman. I think you're onto something!

I'm not one of those people who is fascinated by the JFK assassination (and all the associated conspiracy theories), so I hadn't watched the Zapruder film in any detail until tonight. When I found that vidcap I watched it several times to get an idea of what happened. It's horrific footage, especially on the first viewing. After several times you can concentrate more on the details. It sure looks to me like Jackie, having just watched JFK getting shot for a second time, tried to get out of the car.

I want to say that I'm not trying to debunk any myths or say anything bad about Jackie. The footage is shocking enough sitting here 40 years later. Can you imagine how confusing and bewildering it must have been sitting just a few inches away?

One other thing, I don't know how anyone can say that JFK and Connally were not hit by the same bullet. Both of them react automatically at the same instant. JFK's elbows and Connally's left arm flap up simultaneously. These weren't conscious actions. I can't see anything in the footage that suggests multiple shooters. However, I can only see two shots when supposedly three were fired. Do you know when the third shot was supposedly fired? Was it before or after the two clear shots (or in between)?

[ladyinred]

I guess I sort of understand her wanting privacy, but it would be better if all of this stuff was released while those of us who remember and care are still alive. I hope someday soon Caroline reconsiders and allows some of this to come out now. I understand Jackie has recordings she taped about all of this there to be released 50 years after her death.