Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Examination of President Kennedy’s Clothing

Examination of President Kennedy’s clothing from November 22, 1963 found holes and tears consistent with a missile entering the back of his clothing near his lower neck and exiting the front of his shirt behind his tie, which was nicked on the left side of the knot by the horizontally moving projectile. All defects could have been caused by a 6.5mm bullet. The President’s suit jacket had a roughly circular 1/4-inch entry hole on the upper rear, 5 3/8 inches below the collar top and 1 3/4 inches right of the center back seam, with inward-pressed fibers and copper traces in the hole margins, consistent with a 6.5mm bullet. The back of his shirt had a matching 1/4-inch circular entry hole 5 3/4 inches below the collar top and 1 1/8 inches right of the shirt’s back center, with inward-pressed fibers, confirmed as an entry hole from the same missile that struck the jacket. The front of the shirt had two aligned vertical ragged slits 7/8 inch below the collar button and corresponding buttonhole, with outward-protruding fibers indicating an exit; while the irregular shape precluded a conclusive determination that the slits were bullet holes, they could have been caused by a round bullet. The tie’s horizontal nick indicated it was torn by a horizontally moving object, but fiber analysis could not determine the missile’s direction or nature.

The Governor’s Wounds

While riding in the right jump seat of the presidential limousine on November 22, 1963, Governor John Connally sustained wounds to his back, chest, right wrist, and left thigh. Dr. Robert Shaw concluded the small, clean-edged wound on Connally’s back was an entry wound; the bullet traveled downward through his chest, shattered his fifth rib, and exited below his right nipple via a 2-inch ragged opening confirmed as the exit point. During Connally’s April 21, 1964 Commission testimony, Dr. Shaw measured a 25° declination angle between the back entry and front chest exit wounds. At the time of the shooting, Connally was unaware of any injuries beyond his chest wounds. Dr. Charles F. Gregory observed a linear perforating wound on the back of Connally’s right wrist, ~2 inches above the wrist joint on the thumb side, ~1/5 inch wide and 1 inch long; thread and cloth were carried into the wound, and X-rays revealed small metal fragments, leading Gregory to conclude it was an entry wound, with a matching ~1/5 inch long exit wound on the palm side of the wrist ~3/4 inch above the wrist crease. Dr. Shaw initially believed the wrist wound was palm entry and back exit, but deferred to Gregory’s more detailed surgical examination of the injury. Connally also had a ~2/5 inch diameter puncture wound on his left thigh, ~5–6 inches above his knee, with minimal soft tissue damage indicating a tangential or low-velocity impact from a larger missile; X-rays found a tiny metallic fragment embedded in the thigh, and surgeons concluded the thigh wound was not caused by this small fragment but by a larger missile.