Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

Dr. George Burkley was the only physician present both at Parkland Hospital and at Bethesda for the autopsy. Therefore, he had to see the condition of JFK's body and the state of his wounds in both places. 

So, what did Dr. Burkley say about JFK's head wounds? Did he ever do that gesture with his fist to show the size of the blow-out wound in back like the Parkland doctors?

No, he didn't. But, he didn't refute them either. He never said: "Those guys are full of shit. Kennedy had no such wound." 

Amazingly, the Warren Commission chose not to interview Burkley.

And this is what happened during the HSCA, according to the Mary Ferrell website:

"In 1976, Burkley's lawyer William Illig contacted Richard Sprague of the HSCA, saying that his client had information that "others besides Oswald must have participated." Sprague was ousted days later, and the reconstituted HSCA and its medical panel never took Burkley's testimony. Instead, a short phone contact the following year was followed up yet months later, when the HSCA was done with all its public medical presentations, with an strange affidavit signed by Burkley. The affidavit, in which Burkley attested to his constant presence with Kennedy's body from Parkland Hospital on, seemed almost solely devoted to refuting David Lifton's as yet-unpublished Best Evidence."

The affadavit included the following statement:

"I saw President Kennedy's wounds at Parkland Hospital and during the autopsy at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. There was no difference in the nature of the wounds I saw at Parkland Hospital and those I observed at the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital."

That was signed on November 28, 1978. 

But, here is Richard Sprague's memo concerning the contact he had from Burkley's lawyer:

AGENCY: HSCA
ORIGINATOR: HSCA
FROM: RICHARD SPRAGUE
TO: FILE
MEMORANDUM
March 18, 1977
TO : FILE
FROM : RICHARD A. SPRAGUE

William F. Illig, an attorney from Erie, Pa., contacted me in Philadelphia this date, advising me that he represents Dr. George G. Burkley, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy retired, who had been the personal physician for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Mr. Illig stated that he had a luncheon meeting with his client, Dr. Burkley, this date to take up some tax matters. Dr. Burkley advised him that although he, Burkley, had signed the death certificate of President Kennedy in Dallas, he had never been interviewed and that he has information in the Kennedy assassination indicating that others besides Oswald must have participated.

Illig advised me that his client is a very quiet, unassuming person, not wanting any publicity whatsoever, but he, Illig, was calling me with his client's consent and that his client would talk to me in Washington.

The final chapter was that during the ARRB, an effort was made to obtain Attorney Illig's files concerning what Burkley told him. Burkley was deceased by then, and at first his daughter gave permission for the files to be released. But then, she changed her mind. So, it never happened. 

What do you make of this? What I make of it is that they got to Burkley, and he must have wrestled with it his whole life. When he saw the restored head at the autopsy, he knew what it meant. But, he wasn't going to take on the whole US government. Then, he got hit with a wave of courage during the HSCA, but they must have gotten to him and put the fear of God in him. When he saw how fast HSCA Attorney Richard Sprague got fired over it, he had to realize how unwelcome the truth was. He must have realized right then and there that the HSCA was no different than the Warren Commission- it was just another government whitewash. And who knows what they directly threatened him with? 

This is how Tim Fleming summed up the case of Dr. George Burkley on Left of the Looking Glass. It turns out that Burkley was just another coward in a long list of cowards. Oh, the power of the state... to intimidate. 

"Interesting that Dr. Burkley, possibly the only medical person who saw the body in both places (Parkland and Bethesda), signs an affidavit which states that the wounds he saw were unchanged from Parkland to Bethesda. All other medical personnel testimony contradicts his affidavit--the Dallas doctors saw one set of wounds, the Bethesda doctors saw another set of wounds. Therefore, Burkley's statement is at odds with all other known medical testimony concerning JFK's wounds. One then must choose to believe Burkley or all the other doctors (and there were dozens). I tend to discredit Burkley's affidavit, because it is refuted by all other medical descriptions of the two wound patterns. Also, Burkley has no explanation for FBI agents' Sibert and O'Neill testimony that one of the autopsy doctors stated "surgery of the head area had been performed." No such surgery took place in Dallas, so when and where had this surgery been performed? Burkley gives us no clue."