# Did Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate JFK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950 "2007-08-09T02:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950/381 "2007-08-24T22:36:50Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] [Hijack] **If** the last shot had not hit JFK in the head, thereby blowing his brains out, was the shot that went through his neck region a fatal shot? Could the Dr’s have saved him with just that wound? [/hijack] [/QUOTE] Possibly. But as it had damaged his larynx, he would have been unable to speak. (I don’t think those electronic voiceboxes used to speak by throat cancer survivors were available yet.) There would also have been possible brain damage – by the time they got him to Parkland Hospital, the bleeding may have deprived his brain of oxygen for long enough to have caused some damage. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950/382 "2007-08-25T00:29:59Z")
I’ve heard that the neck wound was quite survivable. So far as I can tell the bullet missed the carotid arteries and jugular veins, so bleeding would not have been a significant problem. Can’t speak to the larynx damage. You simply _must_ keep us updated on the DP project. And I applaud you in giving time to such a worthy endeavor. I’ve considered getting into that myself, but anymore my eyes aren’t much better than your average OCR (I went through some of DP’s tests and totally missed one mis-scan). [By the way: you have “Proect Gutenberg” sted “Project Gutenberg”. Sorry, but reading about DP has me in my copy editor mode.] Guess how many times I proofread _this_ post? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950/383 "2007-08-25T02:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Compared with those winners, Oswald barely qualifies as dysfunctional. A bit odder than average, but no Hinkley (good background but a delusional nutbar) or Pavlick (crazier than a shithouse rat and mean). How about Richard Lawrence? He tried to shoot Andrew Jackson because he thought he was the King of England and Jackson was preventing him from claiming his title. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950/384 "2007-08-25T08:17:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Miskatonic] In fairness, the Enfield is a straight pull, which is faster. [/quote] The Lee-Enfields are all conventional bolt action rifles, albeit with a cock-on-closing action. The Canadian Ross Rifle was a straight-pull, but the only thing the two rifles have in common is the calibre and the rifling in the barrel. But the Lee-Enfield does have the fastest operating bolt of any bolt action rifle, with the downside that you can’t really use the action for any cartridge more powerful than 7.62x51 NATO. > [@](#): > > But Mausers could do well, and the Carcano’s design was based off the Mauser. You’d have to be very finicky to tell the difference. Tim Mullin, who wrote ‘Testing the weapons of war’ put it in the top five best rifles.: [snip]It is he best rifle fielded by the Italians during the war and much better than any other bolt action rifle used in the two world wars by the combatants - except as noted earlier with the Pattern 14/m1917 Enfield" Mr. Mullin is entitled to his opinion, but I (and most other firearms experts) are inclined to disagree. The Lee-Enfield No 4 Mk I is generally regarded as the best Battle Rifle of WWII, with the Mauser K98 being the most accurate > [@](#): > > In rereading some of the WC testing accounts, it seems the scope did not interfere with the use of the iron sights, as the testers were able to switch between the two without removing it. Some of the WWII sniper rifles did allow the user to employ either the telescopic sights or the iron sights- some of the No 4 Mk I (T) rifles and SMLE Mk III\* (HT) rifles were so configured, along with the Carcano sniper rifles and some of the Arisaka rifles. My informed opinion, FWIW, is that Oswald fired the shots and acted alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lee-harvey-oswald-assassinate-jfk/414950.md?page=19)