We Were There
Revelations from the Dallas Doctors Who Attended to JFK on November 22, 1963
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
There are few days in American history so immortalized in public memory as November 22, 1963, the date of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Adding to the wealth of information about this tragic day is We Were There, a truly unique collection of firsthand accounts from the doctors and staff on scene at the hospital where JFK was immediately taken after he was shot.With the help of his former fellow staff members at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dr. Allen Childs recreates the horrific day, from the president’s arrival in Dallas to the public announcement of his death. Childs presents a multifaceted and sentimental reflection on the day and its aftermath.
In addition to detailing the sequence of events that transpired around JFK’s death, We Were There offers memories of the First Lady, insights on conspiracy theories revolving around the president’s assassination, and recollections of the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, who succumbed two days later in the same hospital where his own victim was pronounced dead.
A compelling, emotional read, We Were There pays tribute to a critical event in American modern history—and to a man whose death was mourned like no other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While most of the reminiscences from doctors and medical students present at Parkland Hospital on that fateful day in Dallas aren't really revelations, Childs does offer up two that lend weight to conspiracy theories. Dr. Ron Jones was the surgeon who inserted an IV line and a chest tube in the president as soon as he was brought into the trauma room. In March 1964, he was asked by Warren Commission counsel Arlen Specter not to mention anything about the possibility of a gunman in front of the motorcade; the commission was aware of witnesses who would testify to such a second shooter, but didn't want to interview them. More significantly, doctors who saw the president's neck wound before it was obscured by a tracheotomy were convinced at the time that it was an entry wound, a detail incompatible with reports claiming Oswald was the lone assassin. Nonconspiracy theorists will be interested in recollections of Jacqueline Kennedy's grace during the worst moments of her life. Though some anecdotes feel superfluous, this is still a unique addition to the oral history of the tragedy. 24 b&w photos.
