Autopsy of John F. Kennedy

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The autopsy of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was performed at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The autopsy began at about 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 22, 1963—the day of Kennedy's assassination—and ended in the early morning of November 23, 1963. The choice of autopsy hospital in the Washington, D.C. area was made by his widow, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who chose the Bethesda inasmuch as President Kennedy had been a naval officer during World War II. The autopsy was conducted by two physicians, Commander James Humes and Commander J. Thornton Boswell. They were assisted by ballistics wound expert Pierre Finck of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Although Kennedy's personal physician, Rear Admiral George Burkley pushed for an expedited autopsy simply to find the bullet, the commanding officer of the medical center—Admiral Calvin Galloway—intervened to order a complete autopsy. The autopsy found that Kennedy was hit...

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