People regularly assure me that we already know the whole JFK story with the claim, “Somebody would have talked by now.”
“People did talk,” I like to reply. “People like Skip Rydberg. Ever heard of him?”
Most people don’t know his story but it is well worth telling. Harold “Skip” Rydberg had a minor but interesting role in the JFK story: he illustrated the medical evidence for the Warren Commission.
Rydberg, now retired from the military, has been in recent years an adjunct faculty member at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His official duties encompassed medical illustration/forensic illustration. He made these drawing of Kennedy’s wounds for the Warren Commission.
Based on conversations with the JFK autopsy doctors, Rydberg completed his drawings of the president’s wounds in early 1964 but sensed something was not quite right about what he was hearing.
Rydberg’s drawings would be criticized for their inaccuracy, as compared with the autopsy photos. Rydberg came to share the criticism and sought to set the record straight.
“Over the years, Harold Rydberg has made repeated attempts to gain access to the autopsy photographs of Kennedy with the object of creating more accurate medical illustrations.”
The Kennedy family would not give him permission.
In short, Skip Rydberg talked.
His story is told here: For the Sake of Historical Accuracy | Assassination of JFK
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Jefferson Morley’s new ebook, CIA and JFK: The Secret Assassination Files, available on Amazon, provides the fullest account yet of the JFK records that the CIA is still concealing in 2016 and why they should be made public in October 2017.
Rydberg was never shown the JFK wound photographs, nor did he see the body. His drawings were made strictly according to info he was given by Commander J.J. Humes and Dr. J Thorton Boswell.
Now, Commander Humes, being in charge of the JFK autopsy was absolutely, and with 100 percent certainty, aware of the Presidents wounds. Not only did Humes see the photo’s, he worked on the body. Knowing this, there is no way possible that Humes could claim ignorance of any misrepresentations of these wounds…and yet, that is exactly what he did (willfully misrepresented JFK’s wounds). Arlen Spector (of all people) tried to warn Humes away from this fabrication, and he was ignored.
Rydberg’s drawings are indeed off slightly, showing both, the head “entry” wound and the back “entry wound” in the wrong locations. Actually the alleged back wound in the Rydberg images is not even the actual “entry” wound. The Ida Dox drawings are even a far worse misrepresentation of JFK’s wounds…and this was a deliberate misrepresentation.
“When he later asked Humes why they were not using the photographs taken at the autopsy, Humes told him they were deemed too shocking, and out of deference to the Kennedy family they had been sealed by the FBI and the Secret Service and were not available for testimony”.
For The Sake of Historical Accuracy, Rydberg.
Yes people did talk like Skip Rydberg.
The Kennedy Autopsy Photographs “were not too shocking” for sketches to be drawn by Rydberg.
Supposedly, this was the Autopsy of the President of the United States not some bum on the street.
Yes, it is so perplexing to hear people say we already know the whole JFK story with the claim ……. (as) somebody would have talked by now.
That was over 50 years ago…………it was sad but we must move on.
It is far more shocking for those trying to follow the facts in the JFK case……… and what the preponderence of facts are pointing towards.
I ve seen the sketches but did not know the name Harold Skip Ryberg. Thank you!
Yes, people did talk, in particular, Jack Ruby talked. Jack Ruby told us there was a conspiracy. He spent the rest of his time in captivity trying to take back those words. He even begged for a lie detector test, which was inconclusive at best, and at worst, it showed he flat out lied when he said he did not help Lee Oswald with the assassination.
Here is Jack Ruby telling us there was a conspiracy.