The CHAIRMAN. Commander Boswell, will you raise your right hand and be
sworn, please?
Do you solemnly swear the testimony you give before this Commission
will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help
you God?
Commander BOSWELL. I do, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Be seated, please.
Mr. SPECTER. Will you state your full name for the record, please?
Commander BOSWELL. J. Thornton Boswell, Commander, Medical Corps, U.S.
Navy.
Mr. SPECTER. What is your profession?
Commander BOSWELL. Physician.
Mr. SPECTER. And where did you obtain your medical degree, please?
Commander BOSWELL. At the College of Medicine, Ohio State University.
Mr. SPECTER. And what experience have you had in your professional line
subsequent to obtaining that degree?
Commander BOSWELL. I interned in the Navy and took my pathology
training at St. Albans Naval Hospital in New York. I was certified
by the American Board of Pathology in both clinical and pathological
anatomy in 1957 and 1958.
Mr. SPECTER. And what is your duty assignment at the present time?
Commander BOSWELL. I am the Chief of Pathology at the National Naval
Medical School.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have occasion to participate in the autopsy of the
late President Kennedy?
Commander BOSWELL. I did.
Mr. SPECTER. And did you assist Doctor Humes at that time?
Commander BOSWELL. Yes, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. Have you been present here today during the entire course
of Doctor Humes' testimony?
Commander BOSWELL. I have, sir; yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have anything that you would like to add by way of
elaboration or modification to that which Doctor Humes has testified?
Commander BOSWELL. None, I believe. Doctor Humes has stated essentially
what is the culmination of our examination and our subsequent
conference, and everything is exactly as we had determined our
conclusions.
Mr. SPECTER. And are you one of the three coauthors of the autopsy
report which has been previously identified as a Commission Exhibit?
Commander BOSWELL. Yes; I am.
Mr. SPECTER. All the facts set forth therein are correct in accordance
with your analysis and evaluation of the situation?
Commander BOSWELL. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And specifically, as to the points of entry and points of
exit which have been testified to by Doctor Humes, do his views express
yours as well?
Commander BOSWELL. They do, yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Doctor Boswell, would you state for the record what your
conclusion was as to the cause of death of President Kennedy?
Commander BOSWELL. The brain injury was the cause of death.
Mr. SPECTER. And in the absence of brain injury, what, in your view,
would have been the future status of President Kennedy's mortality, if
he had only sustained the wound inflicted in 385?
Commander BOSWELL. I believe it would have been essentially an
uneventful recovery. It could have been easily repaired, and I think it
would have been of little consequence.
Mr. SPECTER. Those are my only questions, Mr. Chief Justice.
The CHAIRMAN. Does anyone have any questions of the Commander? If not,
Commander, thank you very much, indeed. You have been very helpful to
us.
Mr. SPECTER. Colonel Finck.