Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

This is an exchange between me and Professor James Norwood concerning Robert Gorden's claim that Oswald was getting change from Mrs. Reid at the time of the shots. 

Ralph,

An important point about Mrs. Reid is that in her entire Warren Commission testimony, her first name is never mentioned.  She is only identified as "Mrs. Robert Reid."  The result (intended or otherwise) was that it was nearly impossible for researchers to locate this important eyewitness.

Researcher Robert Groden claims that he found and interviewed the real "Geraldine Reid."  Groden alleges that her story was so volatile that it was repressed by the Warren Commission.  According to Groden, Geraldine Reid told him that she was in her office making change for Oswald for the purchase of a coke from the 2nd floor lunchroom vending machine at the precise moment that gunfire was occurring outdoors and that both she and Oswald instinctively responded to the shots.

This story is not plausible to me because the loud noise from the motorcycles almost certainly would have masked the sounds of the gunfire for people inside of the adjacent buildings.  Larry Rivera and I recently interviewed Toni Glover, who was an 11-year-old girl standing at the corner of Houston and Elm on 11/22/63.  Toni informed us that the noise of the motorcycle escorts was deafening.  This is one of the most important reasons why there is such a wide range of impressions from eyewitnesses about the number of shots heard in Dealey Plaza.  Often the "echo effect" is mentioned as the source of confusion.  But the more important reason was the loud noise from the motorcycles.

Groden's story is published in his most recent book, JFK Absolute Proof (Conspiracy Publications, LLC, 2013), and the coverage of Geraldine Reid appears on pp. 20-22.  That story figures as one of Groden's "smoking guns" which he claims to be "absolute proof" in understanding the assassination of JFK.  Unfortunately, Groden is not a careful researcher like John Armstrong.  Groden never recorded the interview with Geraldine Reid; nor has anyone ever corroborated this story.

James

Thank you, James. The "Mrs. Robert Reid" thing is very weird. She actually said when asked her name, "Mrs. Robert A. Reid". That is so over the top, I am dumbfounded.  

I have no respect for Robert Groden.  His conduct during the HSCA- the way he capitulated on the Doorman issue, never even including an image of Oswald in the comparison- was unforgivable. He sold out. Either he's terribly bad or terribly stupid.

His claim about what Mrs. Reid said flies in the face of what she told the WC.

Mr. BELIN. You went into your office?
Mrs. REID. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. And then what did you do?
Mrs. REID. Well, I kept walking and I looked up and Oswald was coming in the back door of the office. I met him by the time I passed my desk several feet and I told him, I said, "Oh, the President has been shot, but maybe they didn't hit him." He mumbled something to me, I kept walking, he did, too. I didn't pay any attention to what he said because I had no thoughts of anything of him having any connection with it at all because he was very calm. He had gotten a coke and was holding it in his hands and I guess the reason it impressed me seeing him in there I thought it was a little strange that one of -the warehouse boys would be up in the office at the time, not that he had done anything wrong. The only time I had seen him in the office was to come and get change, but he already had his coke in his hand. So he didn't come for change and I dismissed him.

She said she was outside with her boss Mr. Campbell at the time of the shots, so how could she be making change for Oswald? She also said that she looked up and saw Junior Jarman in the 5th floor window below the Sniper's Nest, which is where he was. How could she know that unless she saw him there? It's unlikely she knew anything about the photo of him. And the idea that the WC concocted it is preposterous.

Also, Roy Truly confirmed that she was outside with her boss, O.V. Campbell during the motorcade.

Mr. BELIN. Did you notice any other company employees with you other than Mr. Campbell at that time?
Mr. TRULY. Well, I did. I noticed several. Mrs. Reid was standing there close.

The idea that they concocted all this is insane. Mrs. Reid was outside during the shooting, and Robert Groden is completely full of it. Thanks for writing. Ralph