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Cover-Up

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According to an old maxim, good things come in small packages and such is the case with Stewart Galanor's 184-page volume Cover-up (Kestrel Books, 1998-ISBN 0-9662772-0-1). It is unfortunate that Galanor's book wasn't available at the time Oliver Stone produced his docudrama JFK. If Stone had optioned Cover-up as the basis for his script instead of Jim Marrs' Crossfire, he might have made a more accurate film. In Cover-up, you won't find reference to the Umbrella Man, Three Tramps, Storm Drain Shooters, Mystery Deaths List, or other canards employed by some theorists. Galanor's book can be thought of as the antithesis of Jim Moore's Conspiracy of One with brevity being their only similitude.

First Impressions

Galanor's book is a well-written volume that is easy to read and beautiful to look at. It features an excellent 13-page photo section at the front of the book that outlines the story of the assassination up to the publication of the Warren Report. At the end of the main text is an extended document section followed by the Zapruder frames and Galanor's analysis of where 216 Dealey Plaza witnesses thought the shots originated. The document section, which includes photographs taken by Galanor, is beautifully reproduced. I had never seen some of these items in such detail and clarity before.

Galanor, a multimedia consultant and technical writer based in New York, has studied the assassination since 1964. His book purports to show evidence that a conspiracy existed to assassinate the 35th President. It is essentially a compendium of criticism of the "official version" of the assassination as presented by the Warren Commission (WC), House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), and the major news media.

Grassy Knoll Witnesses

One of the major contributions Galanor obviously hopes to make with Cover-up is his analysis of those witnesses who reported shots originating from the grassy knoll. In 1978, the HSCA had Dr David Green, chairman of the Psychology department at Harvard, analyze accounts of witnesses from the 26 WC volumes and FBI reports. Dr. Green and the HSCA concluded that, out of 178 witnesses analyzed, 11% thought the shots came from the grassy knoll, 27% thought they came from the TSBD, 44% were unsure, and 17% named another source. According to Green, the size of the sample (178 out of approximately 600 people believed to have been there) "makes it difficult to believe that a sizeable selection bias was present". Galanor argues that a significant number of these witnesses were, "government agents who tend to identify with the government's case. Hence the Committee's selection process did not come close to producing a random sample". Galanor concludes, "Therefore, Dr. Green's claim that an accurate statistical analysis could be performed is false".

Additionally, Galanor offers a detailed look at four issues pertaining to the knoll witnesses that he maintains were not considered by Dr. Green and the HSCA.

1. Accommodating Witnesses Galanor maintains that, "One delicate issue to confront is the truthfulness of some of the witnesses". He then goes on to explain how Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry, JFK aide Kenneth O'Donnell, and AP Photographer James Altgens originally expressed the view that the shots came from the knoll but later changed their story to match the "official version".

2. Deficient Interrogations On this subject, Galanor writes, "A second issue to consider is: How diligent was the Warren Commission in obtaining the Witnesses' accounts?". He goes on to cite three witnesses who were never asked their opinion as to the direction of the shots and who fingered the grassy knoll area.

3. Erroneous Reports Most of the discussion in this section is reserved for the notes made by Secret Service agent Glen Bennett. In his notes reported to have been made around 5:30 p.m. (before the autopsy), Bennett said he saw one shot strike JFK "four inches down from the right shoulder" and subsequently saw the fatal head shot hit "the right rear high". The WC mentioned Bennett in their report, giving substantial weight to his observations. According to Galanor, "A more demanding Commission would have examined photographs of the assassination to see if Bennett was at least looking at the President when the shots were fired. Alas, photographs taken by witnesses show Bennett looking off to his right toward the knoll long after he claimed to have turned to look toward the President".

4. Witnesses Not Called Galanor maintains that the government never interviewed several reporters who witnessed the assassination and the HSCA analysis is therefore incomplete. Galanor's own analysis of the 216 grassy knoll witnesses shows the following:

32% were not asked where the shots came from. 37% thought the shots came from the grassy knoll. 32% thought the shots came from the TSBD. 24% could not tell where the shots came from. 4% thought the shots came from both the knoll and the TSBD. 3% named a location other than the knoll or TSBD.

Conclusion

With Cover-up, Galanor offers a concise treatment of the undeniable discrepancies that exist in the JFK case today. Lone assassin theorists will no doubt find many areas in the book to challenge and may point out that some of the anomalies in the evidence are probably benign in nature. The major contribution of Cover-up is likely to be Galanor's own analysis of the 216 grassy knoll witnesses. To his credit, Galanor has omitted many discredited theories and misrepresentations of fact that weaken similar volumes. He is also to be credited for presenting a substantive discussion of the medical evidence without using some of the more graphic autopsy materials. In this regard, Cover-up would be an excellent tool for even younger students wishing to familiarize themselves with the issues that may suggest conspiracy. On the down side, he asks many questions, only some of which he attempts to answer. Ultimately, it will be up to each reader to decide if the puzzles of the JFK assassination are the evidence of a conspiracy or the result of an inadequate autopsy, mistaken eyewitness observations, and various other innocuous slip-ups. On that score, Galanor leaves the reader with no doubt as to where he stands.

This is a unique book. Unlike the authors of the voluminous books we are accustomed to on the subject of the Kennedy assassination, Stewart Galanor does not get bogged down in minutiae. He does not even propound a particular theory. What Galanor does is straightforwardly roll out the ABCs of the assassination. In a mere 120 pages, plus an additional 50-some pages of valuable documents, diagrams, photos and a witness list, Galanor covers the evidence in a clear and concise manner. It is provocative, and it spells conspiracy.

Francis Lederer, Chief County Detective (retired) of Philadelphia, said, "Although not a novel, COVER-UP is easy to read and understand. It provides much documentation which proves the author's point. COVER-UP should be required reading for freshman criminal justice majors."

I would extend COVER-UP as a "must read" for anyone interested in the Kennedy assassination. Whether new to the assassination, or long mired in details and evidence of the event, COVER-UP is both informative and a stimulus to further study.

Galanor sets the tone simply and eloquently by introducing the tragedy in pages filled with memory jogging photos and few words. He goes on to present the major areas of evidence in an encapsulated form that should make even life long believers of the official government version of the assassination decidedly uncomfortable. Galanor summarizes the official stance in each area and contrasts it with the conflicts and contradictions that are obvious at every turn.

Noted researcher, Dr. Gary Aguilar, wrote, "His amazing short section on Dealey Plaza witnesses may well be the best summation of this evidence in print." COVER-UP includes a list of 216 Dealey Plaza witnesses and their opinions on the origin of the shots with citations. Additional supplemental pages offer crystal clear copies of some of the most talked about photos, documents and official drawings.

While one might differ with Galanor's personal take on some of the evidence in any particular area, he demonstrates pointedly that the official lone nut assassin line is demonstrably at odds with available documented evidence.

If you are new to the assassination and looking for a concise compilation of the basics and the problems inherent in the offical line, this book is for you. If you are well versed in assassination evidence and details, this book offers a fresh perspective, documents details probably unknown to you, and nails areas ripe for further detailed study.

Galanor's comparison of the official conclusions versus evidence denied, omitted, ignored and concealed leaves no doubt that President Kennedy died as the result of a conspiracy and that our historical record of that tragedy was then suffocated to death in a COVER-UP.

Barb Junkkarinen

Galanor has accomplished a feat that most students of this case have thought was next to impossible: a concise account of the most basic aspects of the assassination of JFK that enables new students to understand most of the crucial issues and old hands to fully appreciate their fundamental importance. In some ways, this stunning feat might have been expected from an author whose earlier work made calculus--perhaps the most difficult of undergraduate courses--accessible to students with no flare for mathematics.

In my own book on this case, MURDER IN DEALEY PLAZA (2000), I provide a set of 16 "smoking guns", beginning with two drawn from Galanor's book; and at the conclusion of my "Prologue", I advise my readers to begin with COVER-UP (1998) before they read mine. So don't be taken in by the book's easy-to-read style or by the abundant photographs, diagrams, and illustrations that make this case accessible to everyone who can read. It takes experts years to master this material. Galanor makes it accessible in hours.

I was looking for a book that revealed the truth about the Kennedy assasination. I found it! Galanor has heavily researched the assasination and pieced all the facts together, so that things finally make sense! Galanor is like a police detective, interviewing witnesses, reviewing public documents, studying photographs and sworn testimony. By careful study of physical evidence and eye-witness testimony, piece by piece he determines what could have possibly happened that day in Dealy Plaza and what could not have happened. He packages his findings in an easily accessible format. You don't have to be an expert in pathology or ballistics to understand his book. In a mere 183 pages Galanor has given us a treasure trove of evidence. Very few people in this country still believe Lee Harvey Oswald had anything to do with JFK's murder. This book proves he was innocent. This book also proves that the federal government (The Warren Commission, The Secret Service, The CIA etc) engaged in a very extensive and far reaching conspiracy to cover up the truth about who really killed Kennedy. Physical Evidence was tampered with, eye-witness testimony was ignored or suppressed, witnesses were intimidated into changing their testimony, government officials gave false testimony and even when evidence was found that indicated the assassin could not have been Oswald it was simply ignored. This book stops short of accusing the federal government of planning Kennedy's assassination, however the physical evidence does seem to implicate them. If there were a fair and impartial investigation of Kennedy's death (instead of the horrible travesty of justice that occured in November 1963), several government employees would have been taken in for questioning, and almost certainly numerous arrests would have been made. This book is a must for anyone who wants to know the truth!

There is an old saying "Never Judge a book by its cover." Cover-Up is no exception. Do not be fooled by the small number of pages, you'll find a wealth of information bound inside.

Galanor has the unique ability to separate fact from fiction and relay only the most important information in the written pages. Galanor is able to present his arguments in a clear and decisive manner without rambling.

This book is packed with photos and documents that allow the reader to be able to make a most informed decision about the crime of the century. I have read over 25 books on the subject and this one ranks among the best.

From the novice, to the weekend researcher to the full fledge investigator, everyone will be able to learn something from this book. Galanor has started to take the mystery out of the picture. A real winner and a great piece of work.

Stewart Galanor's book "Cover-Up" is one of top most powerful and informative reads you will find on the JFK assassination! It is loaded with many revelations not found in other books on the subject, and for those of us who have studied and researched the various books and articles on the subject for years, many examples of extremely close attention to details showing just how much evidence was tampered with or clearly altered in the course of the Warren Commission's investigation.

The pictures and documentation of the phyiscal evidence and the efforts to duplicate what is told to us as truth by the FBI and other investigative groups prove that without a doubt, we haven't been told the entire truth about what happened. Just the study and comparison of the wound analysis and ballistics PROVES that the whole premise that Lee Oswald did it alone is untenable.

Using the Scientific Method, one is able to prove or disprove predictions based on facts learned from trying to create and recreate results, and then using different variables to learn even more information. Galanor's "Document 24" is just one of many proofs that the evidence had to be altered because it could not be duplicated--the Sixth floor window is 60 feet from ground level, while the tower that was used to attempt to duplicate the shots from the "sixth floor elevation" at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds (Warren Commission Exhibit 579) is only 30 feet high. There are many other startly examples in the book.

This is without question one of the best books on the JFK assassination you could read. It helps to bring together a lot of the facts that have been missed by others, and it powerfully illustrates that much of what we have been told as fact is ridiculous. If your views are those that support the findings of the Warren Commission, this book will shatter them. If your views support the idea that Oswald acted alone, the evidence in this book will show you how that position is no longer valid, simply because that which is purported to have been done by "Oswald" could not be duplicated.

Mr. Galanor should be commended for his interest and study of the records on which his work is based--obviously very few have devoted as much time with the keen eye for detail he has shown in finding much within the Warren Commission materials disproving their own positions after all these years. Harold Weisberg and Mark Lane were two of the first, and Galanor adds much to this ever-increasing long list of inaccurate information sold to the American people as fact.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to settle the doubts in their minds about whether or not we have ever been told the whole truth about the investigations into the JFK assassination!

Although one can quibble with a few details, this book is the most up-to-date concise introduction to the issues in the assassination of President Kennedy currently available. Anyone seeking a brief, informative and well-illustrated alternative to the dismal "Oswald did it" propaganda of Gerald Posner should give Galanor a read. There have been some good previous concise summaries of the evidence for conspiracy, but all are somewhat dated at this point. Stewart Galanor has ably filled an obvious gap in the literature.

I read the book and looked at the pictures and find that anyone that is in the medical feild can see that the President was shot from the front. I feel that Oswald was a patsy and he didn't do anything that the Warren Commission says he did. I think the only thing that he may have done was to shoot officer Tippet. When the officers saw Oswald in the lunchroom he wasn't out of breath and had already purchased his coke. I feel that an injustice was done to the President and that the one who is guilty is the one that ordered the Warren Commission to investigate the shootings.

I heartily recommend this excellent book to the novice, the Doubting Thomas, and the jaded expert. Galanor does a masterful job of distilling a mountain of facts into a short, very readable (and enjoyable) volume: you won't be able to put it down and, when you do, you'll be picking it up again and again! It's greatest strength is its brevity: like B.B. King, he says so much with just a few phrases, more so than books 5 times the size. Big things come in small packages...and this one's huge. Buy it!

First and foremost, this little book is too brief to convince anybody of anything--I counted only 104 pages of true text.What was most disappointing for me was that the author was extremely selective about the "evidence" he presented that there was a cover-up. For example, even though the autopsists did not use approved methods when they noted that JFK's upper-back wound was "14 cm from the tip of the acromium process and 14 cm below the tip of the right mastoid process," this measurement at least fixed the location much more precisely than the "X" they marked on the autopsy face sheet. But, Galanor, of course, only mentions the "X." Also the autopsists stated the wound was "just above the upper border of the [right] scapula." Here again the author conveniently omitted their attempt to be more precise.Later, the author states that a paraffin test that showed no presence of nitrates on Oswald's right cheek was "consistent with the possibility that Oswald did not fire a rifle." This is true of course, but didn't Galanor think the readers might want to know that an FBI agent, who fired three shots in succession with the same rifle found on the sixth floor of the depository, also tested negative.I could go on but I don't want to beat a dead horse.So, if you're looking for the truth about the assassination of President Kennedy, I suggest you don't look for it here.