Bonar Menninger Oral History
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Bonar Menninger Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Bonar Menninger. A former business reporter in Washington, D.C., Menninger is the author of "Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK" (1992), based on the work of assassination researcher Howard Donahue. Menninger later contributed to the documentary, "JFK: The Smoking Gun" (2013). Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on November 9, 2018 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and twenty-one minutes long.
Bonar Menninger Oral History
11/09/2018
Born digital (.m2ts file)
Duration: 81 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2018.001.0130
The Museum's Library Collection includes copies of the first (1992) and second (2013) editions of Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK by Bonar Menninger: Bibliovation | Catalog Search Results. The Library also includes a DVD of the 2013 documentary, JFK: The Smoking Gun: Bibliovation | Details for JFK. In October 2017, Bonar Menninger's article, "Hidden in Plain Sight" was published on the website, Medium. Five months after this oral history was recorded, Menninger published a follow-up story on Medium entitled: "What if Hickey Didn't Pull the Trigger?" As of spring 2024, both articles are still accessible (with subscription access) on the Medium website: Bonar Menninger – Medium. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Bonar Menninger's book, Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK (1992), was based on the work of ballistics expert Howard Charles Hinman Donahue. A World War II veteran who flew thirty-five combat missions in the Army Air Forces without injury, Donahue became interested in the Kennedy assassination during a 1967 CBS News investigation when he was invited, along with other gun experts, to fire the same make and model Mannlicher-Carcano as the one found in the Texas School Book Depository. Among the experts, Donahue was the only one able to recreate firing three shots in six and a half seconds, though he came to believe that, during an assassination attempt by Lee Harvey Oswald, a Secret Service agent in the follow-up vehicle accidentally fired the shot that fatally struck President Kennedy in the head. Donahue shared his theory with the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1977, although it did not garner much public or researcher attention until the publication of Bonar Menninger's book in 1992 and particularly following the release of the 2013 documentary, JFK: The Smoking Gun. Alongside the documentary, former Australian police detective Colin McLaren published his own book, also titled JFK: The Smoking Gun, that examined and supported Donahue's theory about the assassination. Howard Donahue passed away at the age of 77 in December 1999. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Bonar Menninger Oral History
Videotaped oral history interview with Bonar Menninger. A former business reporter in Washington, D.C., Menninger is the author of "Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK" (1992), based on the work of assassination researcher Howard Donahue. Menninger later contributed to the documentary, "JFK: The Smoking Gun" (2013). Interview conducted at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on November 9, 2018 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and twenty-one minutes long.
Bonar Menninger Oral History
11/09/2018
Dallas
Oral histories
Author
Documentary
Researchers
Conspiracy theories
Donahue, Howard
Hickey, George
Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
Authors, Filmmakers, and Researchers (OHC)
News Media (OHC)
Born digital (.m2ts file)
Duration: 81 Minutes
Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2018.001.0130
The Museum's Library Collection includes copies of the first (1992) and second (2013) editions of Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK by Bonar Menninger: Bibliovation | Catalog Search Results. The Library also includes a DVD of the 2013 documentary, JFK: The Smoking Gun: Bibliovation | Details for JFK. In October 2017, Bonar Menninger's article, "Hidden in Plain Sight" was published on the website, Medium. Five months after this oral history was recorded, Menninger published a follow-up story on Medium entitled: "What if Hickey Didn't Pull the Trigger?" As of spring 2024, both articles are still accessible (with subscription access) on the Medium website: Bonar Menninger – Medium. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Bonar Menninger's book, Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK (1992), was based on the work of ballistics expert Howard Charles Hinman Donahue. A World War II veteran who flew thirty-five combat missions in the Army Air Forces without injury, Donahue became interested in the Kennedy assassination during a 1967 CBS News investigation when he was invited, along with other gun experts, to fire the same make and model Mannlicher-Carcano as the one found in the Texas School Book Depository. Among the experts, Donahue was the only one able to recreate firing three shots in six and a half seconds, though he came to believe that, during an assassination attempt by Lee Harvey Oswald, a Secret Service agent in the follow-up vehicle accidentally fired the shot that fatally struck President Kennedy in the head. Donahue shared his theory with the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1977, although it did not garner much public or researcher attention until the publication of Bonar Menninger's book in 1992 and particularly following the release of the 2013 documentary, JFK: The Smoking Gun. Alongside the documentary, former Australian police detective Colin McLaren published his own book, also titled JFK: The Smoking Gun, that examined and supported Donahue's theory about the assassination. Howard Donahue passed away at the age of 77 in December 1999. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
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