Last night my attention was drawn to a blog by Gayle Nix Jackson regarding several things but most importantly to me, she begin a rant with Why do we still have conferences? There are many good and valid reasons. I cant validate each and every conference or meeting held in our community but I do know what JFK Lancer has brought to the the table for 20 years. Take a quick look at the lists of our conference speakers, many whom have come out of the closet at NID. For instance, Rollie Zavada, Doug Horne, Dr. Ronald Jones, Dr. Robert McClelland, Dr. William Zedlitz, Kathleen (Kerry) McCarthy, Gerry Patrick Hemming, Ed Hoffman, James Tague, Leonard Jaz, Anne Dischler, James Jenkins, Paul OConnor, Dennis David, Aubrey Rike, Dr. Toni Glover, Abraham Bolden, Harold A. Skip Rydberg just to name a few. Also, beyond those well-known in our community weve hosted: Professor David Barrett of Villanova University, David Kaiser, Professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the Naval War College, Thomas L. Pearcy, Ph.D. Former Associate Professor, Slippery Rock University, former Director, Latin American Studies, Brigham Young University, Founder, The Rey L. Pratt Center: An Internet Site Dedicated to the Study of Latin America, Ben Rogers, who served in the Army Security Agency during the Vietnam War years from 1967-1971 as a Vietnamese translator of encrypted North Vietnamese communications. He has degrees in history, music, theology, and information science, and has worked as archivist for the Baylor Collections of Political Materials since 1991. One of our proudest moments was the presentation by Cliff Spiegleman on Neutron Activation Analysis and Bullet Fragments. From the program: This year researchers at Texas A&M University made world breaking news when they called into question critical evidence that has long supported the theory of a lone gunman in the 1963 assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy. One of the researchers that questioned the validity of the evidence was Cliff Spiegelman, professor of statistics at Texas A&M and an expert in bullet-lead analysis. His team conducted chemical and forensic analysis of bullets reportedly derived from the same batch as those used by suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Their findings show that evidence used to rule out a second assassin is fundamentally flawed. In addition, their findings show the matching fragments could have come from three or more separate bullets and, therefore, more than one shooter. Spiegelman and James - who worked with four fellow researchers, including A&M Statistics Department Head Simon Sheather - said their recent review showed the chemical properties of bullets arent as unique as previously thought. Stuart Wexler, a JFK Lancer contributor, was a member of Spiegelmans team. I mentioned Kerry McCarthy, President Kennedys cousin, previously but I cannot say anymore without thanking her again for coming out to share her familys heartache, the loss of their loved ones, the hopes and dreams with both President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. She also shared that most of the family reads our books, follows our work and does not believe in the Warren Report. She is one of the bravest people Ive ever met. This month was our last conference and it pains me to have it misrepresented by someone who has a large stake in our research community -- I understand Gayle needs all of us to help her find her Grandfathers film. It must be very frustrating to witness the infighting. Gayles presentation at the Lancer conference was compelling. Everyone there learned more about the importance of finding the original copy of the film for study. Lancer has also helped Gayle promote her excellent book on her search thus far. I can only apologize if her experience as a speaker and attendee wasnt satisfactory. Her questioning why we have conferences is a puzzlement. I was once asked about the two ceremonies on the knoll, Lancer and COPA and I responded by saying I wished there were ceremonies every three feet in Dealey Plaza. As long as we still care. As long as we can be a community that progresses the case. Thank you. Sincerely, Deb
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 02:12:20 +0000
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