All, I received a phone call and, subsequently, an e-mail regarding this from a gentleman named Bob Hoch. I don't know him, and I'm not sure who he is or if he represents someone or an organization relating to this, other than his comment that he is a researcher. Nonetheless, he presents some interesting information that would question the authenticity of the letters presented to document the car.
He certainly wanted to share this with the PCS - he and others presumably are well aware of this website and our discussions here. His original e-mail is to the fellow from Barrett-Jackson
Here is what he sent me in it's entirety (by the way, I consider myself one of many people in PCS who know a great deal about ambulances, but I certainly haven't ever stated or believed that I am "the" expert on such things, that is his wording - I'm flattered but I sincerely learn a great deal from others who know more than I do every day):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Lichtman -
I found this e-mail address from 2005 a few minutes after I left a
message on your home phone.
As I mentioned, I have some information which I think will interest you
and other members of the PCS forum who have been discussing the JFK-autopsy
ambulance. I was not able to find an e-mail address to use, but I did find
your phone number (along with references to you as *the* expert on old
ambulances).
The information I referred to is appended.
I am cc'ing David Lifton, the JFK-assassination expert I mentioned.
Feel free to share this, but you might want to wait a day or two to
give Mr. Davis a chance to respond first. By all accounts his auction
company wants to do the right thing.
Regards,
Paul Hoch
510-525-1980
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Hoch [mailto
aulHoch@mindspring.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 3:23 PM
To: Steve Davis
Subject: JFK ambulance documents: evidence of inauthenticity
Mr. Davis -
Concerning the 1963 documentation published at
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/media/pressreleases/jfk-binder.pdf:
Adm. Bart Hogan (purportedly the sender of the first letter and the
recipient of the second one) did indeed serve as Surgeon General of the Navy
- but from 1955 to 1961.
He retired from the Navy in 1961.
At the time of the assassination, he was assistant director of the
American Psychiatric Association.
The first letter is on the letterhead of the Surgeon General of the
Navy. No street address is provided (just "Washington"), which suggests to
me that it was a letterhead for internal, not external, use.
The purported reply (which also lacks a full address) refers to Hogan
as the Surgeon General of the Navy.
At the time, that post was held by Adm. Edward C. Kenney.
So the authenticity of the pair of documents is, in my opinion, very
doubtful.
That is, I see no persuasive evidence that ties the VIN and the Naval
registration numbers together.
FYI, I am a JFK-assassination researcher with no interest in the
ambulance itself.
What interested me about the "Hogan" letter was the fact that he was
asking for evidence about the Bethesda ambulance "as part of the
investigation of the President's assassination."
There has been some controversy about the existence of investigations
of the assassination by various military units. There have been plausible
reports about such investigations but the expected documentation has not
surfaced. In the seventies, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
looked into these reports, with limited success.
The events surrounding the autopsy have been a subject of considerable
interest. David Lifton wrote about the apparent use of a "decoy ambulance"
at Bethesda (in his opinion, in the context of a conspiracy).
So it is quite plausible that the Surgeon General's office was looking
into the use of various ambulances on November 22.
Therefore, even after I realized that Adm. Hogan was no longer Surgeon
General, I did not completely dismiss the letters as inauthentic right away.
It is conceivable that in 1963 Adm. Hogan served as a consultant to his
former colleagues.
However, I can see no logical reason for him to write to the
manufacture for information "regarding this vehicle and its' [sic]
manufacture."
(Among other things, the ambulance was right there.)
I hope this information is of use to you.
I would like to share it with the Professional Car Society, where your
message (below) was posted.
I could not immediately find an e-mail address for Dwayne Brooks, so I
would appreciate it if you would forward this to him, perhaps after you have
had a chance to digest my analysis.
With best regards,
Paul Hoch
PaulHoch@Cal.Berkeley.edu
References:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/176/2/155.extract
Admiral Hogan Retired.- Rear Adm. Bartholomew W. Hogan retired after 35
years of service on Feb. 28. He served as surgeon general of the Navy and
chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for the past 5 years. He has
accepted an appointment as assistant director of the American Psychiatric
Association, Washington, D.C. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_W._Hogan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States_Navy
He certainly wanted to share this with the PCS - he and others presumably are well aware of this website and our discussions here. His original e-mail is to the fellow from Barrett-Jackson
Here is what he sent me in it's entirety (by the way, I consider myself one of many people in PCS who know a great deal about ambulances, but I certainly haven't ever stated or believed that I am "the" expert on such things, that is his wording - I'm flattered but I sincerely learn a great deal from others who know more than I do every day):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Lichtman -
I found this e-mail address from 2005 a few minutes after I left a
message on your home phone.
As I mentioned, I have some information which I think will interest you
and other members of the PCS forum who have been discussing the JFK-autopsy
ambulance. I was not able to find an e-mail address to use, but I did find
your phone number (along with references to you as *the* expert on old
ambulances).
The information I referred to is appended.
I am cc'ing David Lifton, the JFK-assassination expert I mentioned.
Feel free to share this, but you might want to wait a day or two to
give Mr. Davis a chance to respond first. By all accounts his auction
company wants to do the right thing.
Regards,
Paul Hoch
510-525-1980
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Hoch [mailto
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 3:23 PM
To: Steve Davis
Subject: JFK ambulance documents: evidence of inauthenticity
Mr. Davis -
Concerning the 1963 documentation published at
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/media/pressreleases/jfk-binder.pdf:
Adm. Bart Hogan (purportedly the sender of the first letter and the
recipient of the second one) did indeed serve as Surgeon General of the Navy
- but from 1955 to 1961.
He retired from the Navy in 1961.
At the time of the assassination, he was assistant director of the
American Psychiatric Association.
The first letter is on the letterhead of the Surgeon General of the
Navy. No street address is provided (just "Washington"), which suggests to
me that it was a letterhead for internal, not external, use.
The purported reply (which also lacks a full address) refers to Hogan
as the Surgeon General of the Navy.
At the time, that post was held by Adm. Edward C. Kenney.
So the authenticity of the pair of documents is, in my opinion, very
doubtful.
That is, I see no persuasive evidence that ties the VIN and the Naval
registration numbers together.
FYI, I am a JFK-assassination researcher with no interest in the
ambulance itself.
What interested me about the "Hogan" letter was the fact that he was
asking for evidence about the Bethesda ambulance "as part of the
investigation of the President's assassination."
There has been some controversy about the existence of investigations
of the assassination by various military units. There have been plausible
reports about such investigations but the expected documentation has not
surfaced. In the seventies, the House Select Committee on Assassinations
looked into these reports, with limited success.
The events surrounding the autopsy have been a subject of considerable
interest. David Lifton wrote about the apparent use of a "decoy ambulance"
at Bethesda (in his opinion, in the context of a conspiracy).
So it is quite plausible that the Surgeon General's office was looking
into the use of various ambulances on November 22.
Therefore, even after I realized that Adm. Hogan was no longer Surgeon
General, I did not completely dismiss the letters as inauthentic right away.
It is conceivable that in 1963 Adm. Hogan served as a consultant to his
former colleagues.
However, I can see no logical reason for him to write to the
manufacture for information "regarding this vehicle and its' [sic]
manufacture."
(Among other things, the ambulance was right there.)
I hope this information is of use to you.
I would like to share it with the Professional Car Society, where your
message (below) was posted.
I could not immediately find an e-mail address for Dwayne Brooks, so I
would appreciate it if you would forward this to him, perhaps after you have
had a chance to digest my analysis.
With best regards,
Paul Hoch
PaulHoch@Cal.Berkeley.edu
References:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/176/2/155.extract
Admiral Hogan Retired.- Rear Adm. Bartholomew W. Hogan retired after 35
years of service on Feb. 28. He served as surgeon general of the Navy and
chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for the past 5 years. He has
accepted an appointment as assistant director of the American Psychiatric
Association, Washington, D.C. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_W._Hogan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States_Navy