Is it true that when JFK was shot in Dalles that his back brace brought him back up to a sitting position when he was hit with a second bullet? I am really curious about this because I shook hands with him two months before he was shot. I was a junior in High School.
I’m going on very scant research. A cursory analysis shows that JFK:
- indeed wore a back brace, and
- was wearing his back brace when he was assasinated.
With all the misinformation and conspiracy theories, it’s probably safe to say that you won’t get a conclusive answer to any question involving the physics of the bullet impact(s). Type JFK and “back brace” into a search engine and see what pops up.
If you watch the Zapruder film you’ll see that Connally slumps over right away into Nellie Conally’s lap before the second (third?) shot is fired, but JFK remains sitting up. That might be due to two factors: (1) his back brace, and (2) a neurological reaction to his spine being nicked by the first (second?) shot. In the book Case Closed, the author contends that JFK’s arms are in the Funky Chicken position at the beginning of the film because of this reaction, the name of which I can’t recall at the moment.
I believe it’s called the “Thorburn Position”.