I was watching Yet Another Discovery Channel Special on the Kennedy assassination, and it covered (again) most of what they all cover and had no effect at all on my opinion (conspiracy theorists are bored nutjobs).
But one question came into my mind.
Watching the tape, the first shot hits JFK, and he reaches for his throat, which has recently been torn open by the bullet. Jackie turns to him in what I can only imagine is horror and confusion.
There is a brief pause, then the second shot misses.
0.1 seconds later, the third shot hits JFK in the skull. Jackie immediately turns around and leans over the rear of the car.
This is where my (rather morbid) question comes into play. Was Jackie’s movement a kneejerk reaction in horror to leap out of the way, a conscious movement to get out of the way, or a conscious effort to reach for the Secret Service agent who by that time was trying to leap into the car (far too late to do anything about it).
I can imagine that she answered this question more than once in her life… but what happened with her? Did she have full knowledge that her husband was dead, or just a gut reaction?
I know you asked what she said but, I saw an interview several years back of one of the agents that was there. He said that she was trying to grab the part of his skull that had been blown off. I don’t know if he’d actually discussed this with her, or if he was giving his opinion.
I was just watching the National Geographic program about the Secret Service and they interviewed the agent seen in the film crawling on the trunk of the car. He said she was going for a portion of the President’s brain.
It looks to me (and to many other people) like she was going after a bit of her husband’s skull. However, I’ve read that she has stated she has no recollection of even going onto the trunk.
Seriously, can you picture yourself remembering what happened and what your motivations were when someone next to you has their head blown open suddenly? Why she did what she did will forever be the subject of speculation. Even if she were alive, she wouldn’t be able to say.
As crazy as it sounds that’s probably what she was doing. You have to imagine the most unbelievably traumatic situation possible. She saw a ‘piece’ of him come off, and she just sort of instinctively thought ‘I have to grab that’. Sort of like when you cut yourself you instinctively grab the wound and hold it together.
Its been documented that she did in fact grab the piece of his skull. A nurse at the hospital eventually took it from her hand.