Was Oswald a “reasonably good marksman?” Yes he was that. Not an expert, but reasonably good yes.
He was a one time a sharpshooter and a marksman for the Marine Corps. This doesn’t mean that he can shoot the ear off a squirrel at 400 yards, and doesn’t make him an expert, but it makes him pretty good.
I think the main issue in this equation is that the shot was much less difficult than most imagine. The car is moving at 12 miles per hour or less. (Try driving at 12 MPH for a moment or two. It’s agonizingly slow.) He had a “north/south” angle on the car as it was moving, which is easier to hit than a target moving right/left. And more importantly, he was in a comfortable sitting position with the rifle supported, which is very shooter friendly. And lastly, the car was less than 90 yards away.
I’m an expert shot per the Navy, but I’m not in the top 10% by any stretch. When I went to the book depository museum, I flabbergasted at how close the car was. Perhaps saying the shot is easy is going too far - but not by much.
That we keep answering (with authoritative references) the same circle of questions shows just how much impact CT thinking has had on the public.
“Yes, yes,” they say, even their intelligent, skeptical members, “but there’s so much smoke, Pooh. Are you quite sure there’s no fire in the hunny pot? Quite?”
And, it bears repeating, it took him 3 tries to complete the kill shot! The evidence reflects that he completely missed with the first shot, the second shot was too low, and it wasn’t until the 3rd shot that he blew Kennedy’s head off. We don’t know for certain where he was aiming, but I expect that he wasn’t planning on winging the President before he killed him.
So, not only was it not a difficult shot, but Oswald didn’t even perform that well. Given that he had military training on how to shoot a rifle, and that he had extensive practice “dry firing” this rifle (per his wife’s testimony), the assassination of JFK was well within his skill set.
According to Marine marksmanship experts, Major Anderson and Sergeant Zahm, Oswald could have easily hit his intended target.
*The various tests showed that the Mannlicher-Carcano was an accurate rifle and that the use of a four-power scope was a substantial aid to rapid, accurate firing. Oswald’s Marine training in marksmanship, his other rifle experience and his established familiarity with this particular weapon show that he possessed ample capability to commit the assassination. Based on the known facts of the assassination, the Marine marksmanship experts, Major Anderson and Sergeant Zahm, concurred in the opinion that Oswald had the capability to fire three shots, with two hits, within 4.8 and 5.6 seconds.816 Concerning the shots which struck the President in the back of the neck, Sergeant Zahm testified: “With the equipment he [Oswald] had and with his ability I consider it a very easy shot.” *
It is now almost 52 years since the event we speak of. As far as I see, no big revelations have emerged…and now most of the people immediately involved are dead. In the case of the Lincoln Assassination, did anything new come out 50-75 years later? As for the “sealed records”-when will they emerge?
If there is anything in the way of evidence (supporting a conspiracy), surely it should be out by 75 years. However, are the CIA files sealed forever? I recall reading that certain government info is never released-could any of the Kennedy stuff be this way?
LHO also ran quite a bit of ammo through the rifle - hundreds or even thousands of rounds. He didn’t grab it out of the PO box and run to the book depository, which is how many CT’ers try to make it sound.
Admittedly I’m what’s being referred to here as a CT’er. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I’m inclined to think that LHO was a total patsy. Just too much evidence out there that points to there being more than one assassin in Dealy Plaza that day. Oswald’s support of Cuba seems like smoke to me. A set up with photos etc. to draw attention away from the actual culprits. Hatred of Kennedy because of the Bay of Pigs issue where he failed to provide air support? What about the CIA supplied B-36 bombers that were used to soften up the Cubans prior to the landings by Cuban exiles. If this CIA backed operation needed air support and could provide several B-36 bombers surely they could provide all the air support that was needed. This is my first post! I’ll stop here.
Is there some reason you couldn’t bring any of your evidence to the table? As it stands, you’ve said nothing that hasn’t already been said…and already been refuted by facts over and over again.
If he wanted the stage why didn’t he admit it and further whatever cause he acted for? His use of the word “patsy” was perfect for the situation. I think there was a point at which he knew he was a patsy and panicked a bit. Probably about the time Officer Tippit rolled up on him. Oswald could have shot him to escape and/or defend himself against someone he thought was sent to kill him to shut him up. I have a feeling there were probably lot’s of phony cops in Dallas that day.
I am not sure I understand what you mean. The CIA was going to provide more air cover to the invaders, but Kennedy told them he wanted the air cover to be “minimal”. So they only bombed Cuba for a bit a couple of days earlier, and then only for about forty minutes the day of the invasion, and then left. So they could have provided more support, but they didn’t, because Kennedy suffered from the Jimmy Carter syndrome of only committing a little instead of committing enough to ensure the success of the mission.
And Oswald didn’t hate Kennedy for not providing enough air support to the Bay of Pigs fiasco - he hated Kennedy because the Bay of Pigs happened at all. Other people hated Kennedy for wussing out and using half-measures, but those people wanted Castro overthrown, not preserved the way Mr. “The Only Member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee” did.
If you have any real evidence that Oswald was a patsy for a conspiracy - you don’t - feel free to present it and have it blown sky-high, blown up again, strafed, run thru a blender, and reconstituted into ecologically-correct paving material.
Welcome to the SDMB. For now.
Regards,
Shodan
PS - here is a proactive cite. Trust me - anything you think you have has been torn into confetti already.
My “feeling” comes from the fact that it’s not a hard thing to impersonate a police officer in a big city like Dallas, especially for the kinds of people who were involved in a crime like this.
So you don’t think Tippett was a real police officer? On what do you base that?
Tippett’s wife certainly thought he was a policeman. The other officers who had worked with him for the previous eleven years thought so too. The people responsible for his two citations for bravery seemed to agree. What evidence do you have?
Thank you for the welcome. I realize of course that there are pro-conspiracy viewpoints and anti-conspiracy viewpoints. I respect your opinion. I want to learn as much as I can. I can see that a well developed opinion based on facts is what is expected here, this is not just some loose discussion. I’ll keep that in mind when posting in the future.
[QUOTE=Shodan]
So you don’t think Tippett was a real police officer? On what do you base that?
Tippett’s wife certainly thought he was a policeman. The other officers who had worked with him for the previous eleven years thought so too. The people responsible for his two citations for bravery seemed to agree.
[/QUOTE]
My feeling is they were in on it too.
I shouted out,
“Who killed the Kennedys?”
When after all
It was you and me
