Description: Kennedy John

JFK Parkland Memorial Hospital ER archive

Archive comprised of 10+ documents, letters, and photographs signed and inscribed by 3 of the 17 emergency room physicians who treated 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) in the emergency room of the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. The archive shows how different trauma doctors interpreted and remembered pivotal details about Kennedy's injuries, leading to divergent expert opinions about his assassination. Other interesting rhetorical exercises are also explored, such as: would today's doctors been able to save JFK?

1) 1p partially typed and partially handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Kenneth Everett Salyer (born 1936), a first year neurosurgical resident on call at Parkland Memorial Hospital on November 22, 1963. Trimmed at bottom, else near fine, the paper measuring 8.5" x 9."

(typed): "Based on what you observed & witnessed; Do the wounds, as they appeared in Dallas, support the belief of a lone-assassin firing from an elevated position behind the President?"

(hand inscribed): "Yes"

(signed): "Kenneth Salyer MD"

(typed): "Dr. Kenneth Salyer."

Dr. Salyer testified to the Warren Commission in late March 1964 that there was a gaping wound at the back of the president's head, as well as a lesser wound to the neck. In his medical opinion, these injuries were consistent with gunshots delivered by a single gunman.

2) 1p handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Kenneth Everett Salyer as "Kenneth Salyer, MD" at center. Yellow, blue-lined paper sheet in near fine condition, the paper measuring 8.5" x 10.75."

A student asked Dr. Salyer: "What was your role during the treatment of Pres. Kennedy?"

Salyer itemized his duties, using medical shorthand in his responses:

"Start IV.

help c [cum, Latin for "with" tracheostomy

Undress

Take off large back brace.

Give External Cardiac Massage alternately --

10-15 min c [cum Jim Carrico."

Dr. Salyer was one of the doctors crowded inside the pink-tiled operating room called Trauma Room 1. While Dr. Salyer helped undress, intubate, hydrate, and stimulate heart beating in the dying president, other medical staff inserted chest drains, administered hydrocortisone, and monitored the president's failing and unresponsive body systems.

The team of doctors extricated JFK from his blood-drenched pin-striped dress shirt, blue patterned Christian Dior necktie, and gray wool suit. Kennedy's back brace, which was "a firmly bound corset, around his hips and lower back and higher up…above [the nipples," was tightly cinched and further reinforced by a figure-8 fashioned Ace bandage. The back brace effectively immobilized Kennedy, making him a perfect target for the head shot.

To offset the president's massive blood loss, doctors tried frantically to administer fluids, taking the drastic step of opening up veins in his limbs to dispense them more quickly. Another priority was securing the president's airway, which was partially obstructed by a bleeding neck wound. Last, Dr. Salyer and others tried to resuscitate the president's heart through cardiac massage.

Dr. James Carrico (1935-2002), a 28-year-old first year surgery resident at Parkland Memorial Hospital, was the first doctor to see Kennedy, and stayed with him for all 25 minutes. Dr. Carrico spearheaded the earliest injections, inserted the breathing tube, and also secured intravenous injections in the president's right leg. Despite the efforts of doctors, Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 pm.

Dr. Kenneth Salyer has performed more than 8,000 surgeries during his 50-year-long career, including the 36-hour-long procedure which separated two Egyptian twins attached by the top of the head in 2003. A leading plastic surgeon, he founded the World Craniofacial Foundation in 1989.

3) 1p partially typed and partially handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Robert McClelland (born 1929), then an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School who reported to Parkland Memorial Hospital soon after the shooting. Near fine, the sheet measuring 8.5" x 10.75."

(typed): "Since the President was murdered in Texas; by law the autopsy should have also been conducted in Texas. However, the Secret Service took his body anyway. Based on what you witnessed at Parkland Hospital…

Was there any discussion as to what to do?"

(hand inscribed): "NO"

(typed): "Who wanted the autopsy done at Bethesda Naval?"

(hand inscribed): "SECRET SERVICE"

(typed): "Who wanted the autopsy done in Dallas?"

(hand inscribed): "DALLAS PATHOLOGIST Dr. ROSE"

(typed): "Was the decision to have the autopsy performed at Bethesda a mutual agreement between both parties?"

(hand inscribed): "NO - The Secret Service men made the decision"

(signed): "Dr. Robert McClelland"

(typed): "Dr. Robert McClelland."

Dr. Robert McClelland described what he saw to the Warren Commission in two sessions, on March 21st and March 25, 1964.

The immediate aftermath of the president's death was chaotic because state officials disagreed with federal officials about what to do with Kennedy's body. In direct violation of Texas state law, the Secret Service insisted (and this was later revealed to be at the request of Jacqueline Kennedy) that the president's body be transported to Bethesda Naval Hospital for the autopsy. When Dallas County medical examiner Earl Rose (1926-2012) protested, he was physically brushed aside in a hospital hallway. Kennedy's body was autopsied approximately 7 hours after his assassination in Bethesda, Maryland.

In the emergency room, Dr. McClelland had assisted inserting a breathing tube into the president's neck wound. He had an opportunity to carefully study the degree and extent of the president's wounds. Based on his assessment of Kennedy's injuries and his working knowledge of gunshot wounds, Dr. McClelland later became one of the most credible proponents of the multiple-assassin conspiracy theory. Dr. McClelland theorized that Kennedy was shot by two assailants, one positioned in front of Kennedy on the notorious "grassy knoll," and the other position above and behind the motorcade. This is in contrast to Dr. Salyer, who believed the injuries were inflicted by a single gunman.

4) 1p partially typed and partially handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Robert McClelland. In very good condition, with diagonal score mark separating half sheet into two parts. Both pieces laid down on a recycled matte photo paper sheet measuring 8.5" x 11."

(typed): "Do you accept the conclusion reached in the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin?"

(hand inscribed): "NO - I think there were at least two assassins firing from in front of President Kennedy, Robert N. McClelland, M.D."

5) 1p handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Robert McClelland as "Robert N. McClelland, M.D." at center. 8.5" x 11" yellow blue-lined paper in near fine condition, with typed caption adhered to bottom.

Dr. Robert McClelland has responded to a thought-provoking prompt: "Based on what you witnessed; If Pres. Kennedy + Oswald were shot today, would they have lived?"

Dr. McClelland carefully handwrote and numbered his measured response: "1. President Kennedy could not have survived, due to his massive brain injury" and "2. Oswald might have survived, but died from irreversible shock due to massive blood loss from his aorta and vena cava."

In front of the Warren Commission, McClelland stated that the president died of "massive head injuries with loss of large amounts of cerebral and cerebellar tissues and massive blood loss." Even today's advanced medical technology could not repair such catastrophic damage.

Dr. McClelland also operated on President Kennedy's suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) less than 2 days after the assassination. The ex-Marine had been shot at point-blank range by night club owner Jack Ruby (1911-1967) in the Dallas Police Headquarters' basement; Oswald died less than 90 minutes later. Dallas County coroner Earl Rose determined that at least 5 internal organs had been damaged by the gunshot wound. Dr. McClelland nevertheless believed that new surgical techniques in place today may have saved Oswald.

6) 1p partly typed and partly handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Robert McClelland as "Robert N. McClelland, M.D" at bottom center. 8.5" x 11" white paper in near fine condition, with typed caption adhered to bottom.

When remembering November 22, 1963, Dr. Robert McClelland recalled: "Certainly, an atmosphere of profound sorrow and shock in the Parkland Hospital Emergency Room, but also a need for careful and rapid treatment, which was given, but to no avail."

McClelland identified by name at least 8 other doctors in the emergency room when he was deposed by the Warren Commission in late March 1964; there were other physicians and nurses present at various times also. Witnesses also reported seeing Secret Service men hovering around a blood-stained Jacqueline Kennedy sitting expressionless in a corner. Dr. McClelland recalled that, despite the hectic atmosphere, everyone understood the tremendous stakes.

7) 1p partially typed and partially handwritten document inscribed and signed by Dr. Ronald C. Jones (born 1933), the 30-year-old chief surgery resident at Parkland Memorial Hospital. In near fine condition, measuring 8.5" x 11." With typed caption adhered to bottom.

(typed): "Looking back, what do you remember most vividly regarding the assassination of President Kennedy?"

(hand inscribed): "Getting the phone call and then going to ER and entering Trauma room I and seeing the President on the table. Ronald C. Jones, MD."

Dr. Ronald C. Jones made a complete deposition regarding Kennedy's medical treatment to the Warren Commission on March 24, 1964. Some 50 years later, he recalled his most visceral memories of November 22, 1963 in this one rambling and highly evocative sentence: "…seeing the President on the table…".

Dr. Jones recalled that he had been eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria when he heard the emergency page. After receiving a phone call reporting the shooting, Dr. Jones rushed to Trauma Room 1 where Kennedy, almost lifeless, already lie on the gurney. Dr. Jones immediately assessed that the president's condition was grim: brain matter, clotted blood, and skull fragments trickled out of an enormous bleeding head wound, his eyes were open and motionless, and he did not appear to be breathing. Dr. Jones recalled that Kennedy "appeared to be terminal, if not already expired" when he arrived. Nevertheless, Dr. Jones assisted inserting intravenous tubing into openings in the president's limbs and later inserted a chest tube to help keep Kennedy's lungs inflated.

Dr. Jones has refrained from speculating about the shooting, much more so than other attending emergency room physicians.

8) Double-sided display featuring a black and white photo signed by 3 of Kennedy's ER doctors, as well as a February 22, 2017 ALS by Dr. Kenneth Salyer recounting his experiences in the emergency room. In very good to near fine condition, all materials laid down on black stock paper display with typed captions measuring 8.5" x 11." The photograph has a few superficial marks and wrinkles, else near fine.

The 6" square black and white photograph depicting the presidential motorcade was originally taken by Darryl Heikes, a Dallas Times Herald newspaper photographer. Kennedy can be seen in the right back seat of the limousine turning right from Harwood Street onto Main Street in downtown Dallas. The photo is 3x signed by Robert McClelland as "Robert N. McClelland, M.D." in black pen; Ronald Jones as "Ronald C. Jones MD" in blue felt tip pen; and Kenneth Salyer as "Kenneth Salyer MD" in blue felt tip pen.

On the reverse of the display, Dr. Kenneth Salyer wrote a 1p ALS dated February 22, 2017 contained in a "WorldCF Healing Children's Faces" organizational envelope. "Dear Ben," Salyer wrote to an unknown correspondent. "It was a defining moment in my life. Read 'A Life That Matters.'" Salyer is referring to his 2013 book A Life That Matters: Transforming Faces, Renewing Lives, in which he describes his experiences in the Dallas emergency room. Salyer was deeply touched by witnessing Jackie Kennedy's final moments with her husband's body, including her removal of his wedding ring.

9) Copy of newspaper article "The President is Sworn In" signed by U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas Sarah T. Hughes (1896-1985) as "Sarah T. Hughes" at bottom; and three White House items relating to a May 22, 1968 event hosted by 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) and mounted on a black stock display.

1p copy of newspaper article "The President is Sworn In" by U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes signed by her at bottom. In very good condition, with some minor chipped edges and isolated foxing at bottom right. This moving article was originally published in the Texas Observer on November 29, 1963. In it, Hughes describes the swearing-in ceremony of LBJ on Air Force One just a little over 1 hour after JFK was declared dead at Dallas's Parkland Memorial Hospital.

"I got in my car and started toward the airport," Hughes wrote. " Now there was another job to be done -- a new President who had to carry on, and he must qualify for the office as quickly as possible. He had much to do, and I must think of him, and do the job that had been assigned to me. There was no time to find the oath administered to a president, but the essentials of every oath are the same…I was not afraid. I could do it without a formal oath."

Also included are an invitation, companion envelope, and door ticket to a White House reception on May 22, 1968 issued to General Roland M. Gleszer (1915-2000) and his wife Helen Slee Gleszer (1921-1999). The invitation is printed on a cream stock card and has an embossed gilt presidential seal at top; the envelope lists "The White House" as its return address. All items are laid down on a 8.25" x 11" black stock mount and in near fine condition. Major General Gleszer served in World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam War before retiring in 1973.

A phenomenal collection of primary source material relating to JFK's assassination and medical treatment!

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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