THE CITIZENS' VOICE

The following column appeared in THE CITIZENS' VOICE, a newspaper of 34,000 
circulaton daily and 30,500 on Sundays in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 


THE CITIZENS' VOICE
8 April 2001
Paul Golais


Over the last two to three years, researchers into the 1963 
assassination of President John F. Kennedy have made tremendous 
progress. Their findings have been dramatic and even frightening. A 
majority of Americans have long held that President Kennedy was killed 
in Dallas as part of a massive conspiracy; the new findings solidly 
support what many of us have long believed.

 Before going into some of the findings, understand that the researchers 
are not "conspiracy nuts.'' These are physicians, physicists, attorneys 
and academics. They do not rely on "evidence'' such as Oliver Stone's 
film "JFK.'' The research is deep and often tedious to read, but it is 
solid. The positive impact of Stone's movie was the attention it called 
to the assassination and creation of the Assassination Records Review 
Board, which has released thousands of pages of Kennedy assassination 
material. Within those pages are nuggets that help build the case for 
conspiracy.

 If you want to read some scary stuff, buy "Murder in Dealey Plaza,'' 
edited by Dr. James H. Fetzer, Distinguished McKnight Professor at the 
University of Minnesota, and published in 2000. He also edited 
"Assassination Science'' in 1998.

 "Murder in Dealey Plaza'' is a compilation of research papers and 
documents. Here are some of the newer findings:

 Attorney Douglas Weldon, a Michigan lawyer who has spent much time 
focusing on the Lincoln limousine in which Kennedy was slain, tracked 
down a Ford Motor Co. official who worked with others only days after 
the assassination to build a new windshield for the car. The Ford 
official said there was a bullet hole in the original windshield, a hole 
created from the front. He and his co-workers, under orders, destroyed 
the damaged windshield.

 A bullet from the front means conspiracy. The Warren Commission found 
that Lee Harvey Oswald, the "lone nut'' assassin, fired three shots from 
the rear. A bullet through the windshield shatters that myth; this one 
finding alone means there was a conspiracy.

Second, in depth forensics investigations based on available X-rays, 
autopsy data and witness statements support shots from the front, both 
from the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza and from one or two manholes.

 Third, as many as six to eight shots were fired. This finding has been 
supported only within the last two weeks by British researchers who 
reexamined the acoustical evidence on a Dallas Police Department 
dictabelt. A Dallas motorcycle cop left his microphone on while riding 
in the Nov. 22, 1963 motorcade. The British team examining that evidence 
 went deeper than the House Assassinations Committee did in the 1970s, 
and counsel to that committee supports the work done in Britain.

 Six or eight shots mean a conspiracy.

 Only hours after Kennedy was shot, CIA agent Gary Underhill left 
Washington, D.C., and drove to the home of friends on Long Island, N.Y. 
Underhill says he fears for his life and he must leave the country. 
"This country is too dangerous for me. I've got to get on a boat.Oswald 
is a patsy. They set him up. It's too much. The bastards have done 
something outrageous. They've killed the president! I've been listening 
and hearing things. I couldn't believe they'd get away with it, but they 
did.They've gone made! They're a bunch of drug runners and gun runners-a 
real violence group.I know who they are. That's the problem. They know I 
know. That's why I'm here.''

 The friends offered Underhill sanctuary but he left, never to return. 
Six months later, he was dead, a "suicide.'' The bullet was in his left 
temple. Underhill was right-handed.

Why do I write about the Kennedy assassination in what is basically a 
local column? It is one humble effort to keep alive this tragedy, which 
has continuing impact on our society. Vietnam, Watergate.the list is 
awesome when one considers the chain of events that followed Nov. 22, 
1963.

 Maybe one day Arlen Specter, the "magic bullet'' theorist, will summon 
the courage to give us the truth, as he knows it. A nation that has 
handled a civil war, a depression and world wars can handle the truth 
about Nov. 22, 1963.

 I also write this because the American news media have failed miserably 
in not leading the search for the facts. Where are the investigative 
editors and reporters? Shame on us.







 Paul Golias is Citizens' Voice managing editor. He can be reached at 
821-2064 or pgolias@citizensvoice.com