A few pages ago, Chuck Kramer requested I post the e-mail that David Lifton (JFK researcher and author) wrote to Steve Davis of Barrett-Jackson. With David's permission, it is posted below.
NOTE: The opinions expressed are specifically those of Mr. Lifton, this is not the opinion of the Professional Car Society, or of me. It's been my goal to post the information we have received in research and point out the errors in the documentation that has accompanied the ambulance to B-J. Neither I nor the PCS stand ready to accuse anyone of anything illegal, as we don't know who is responsible and no one in PCS is a legal expert on these matters. Again, these are Mr. Lifton's opinions.
Also, the font is small as the letter is long, that's my choice.
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From: David S. Lifton [mailto:dlifton@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 6:32 AM
To: Steve Davis
Subject: "Kennedy ambulance" scheduled for auction in Scottsdale
Dear Steve Davis,
I'm not much of a car buff, but your Scottsdale auction has been brought to my attention, and, in particular, the naval ambulance that supposedly met Air Force One when it returned from Dallas on November 22, 1963.
As the author of BEST EVIDENCE--an important book on the Kennedy assassination, which was a Book of the Month Club selection, a NY Times best seller, and a book which stayed in print (through four separate publishers) for 17 years, I have a keen interest in these events (and in that ambulance).
Chapter 16 of Best Evidence --devoted to events pertaining to that ambulance--describes what happened when that ambulance (carrying Jacqueline Kennedy, and Atty General Robert Kennedy, and the flag draped coffin) arrived at the front entrance of Bethesda Naval Hospital at 6:55 PM on the night of November 22, 1963.
I don't want to bore you with the details-they are really not important to this letter--except to say that immediately after the ambulance dropped off Jacqueline Kennedy and RFK, there was considerable confusion during the next hour, in connection with the delivery of the coffin to the rear entrance, where the morgue was located. In fact, the Navy used two ambulances during the next hour--one being "the decoy"--and that entire story (why a "decoy" was used, and what happened in the hour before the coffin was delivered and the autopsy began)--is what my chapter 16 is all about.
Anyway, when I heard about your auction, and learned that the documentation offered in support of the authenticity of this vehicle was a letter from one Admiral Hogan, who was NOT the Surgeon General at the time, I immediately became suspicious that this ambulance being auctioned was not in fact the genuine article, but rather some "twin" that was restored, and that someone was now seeking to make money by foisting this vehicle on the public as "the real deal."
No doubt if it was the genuine vehicle, it might command a price in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; but if it is inauthentic, then what we have here is not just a "restored" vehicle, but a crime.
I pointed out to others pursuing this matter that if this vehicle proved to be inauthentic, then it wasn't just a matter of someone having fabricated a letter from "Admiral Hogan". But that, in addition, the forgery went deeper: that whoever did this had to fabricate a false naval identification plate and affix it to the vehicle.
So, if the vehicle was a "twin" and not the genuine article, this would not longer be some kind of prank, but serious fraud, involving the falsification of a "naval ID" for a military vehicle. I don't know exactly what laws would be violated, but surely a most elementary analysis would indicate that, if the mails were used, we are immediately talking about conspiracy, mail fraud, etc.
Of course, this was all somewhat hypothetical until the events of the last 24-48 hours.
Attached is a scan of a color photograph --obtained by Steve Lichtman (of the Professional Car Society) from official files at the Kennedy library--showing that this specific naval vehicle was destroyed by crushing on June 26, 1986, at a Boston junkyard, after approval was sought to do so from the Archivist of the United States.
Also attached is a JFK Library chronology of the key events pertaining to the destruction of this vehicle.
The person who assisted the government archivists in pursuing this matter is the aforementioned Steve Lichtman of the Professional Car Society; and these documents were just sent to him in the last 48 hours. ( You can reach Steve Lichtman—who is on the Board of Directors of the Professional Car Society, at 240-876-0529.)
Now that it is--for all practical purposes--proven that the original ambulance was destroyed on June 26, 1986, it appears evident that the one being auctioned cannot be authentic.
But more than that--it seems to me at least, and based on the evidence offered in support of its authenticity, that it is all fabricated.
This means that the Hogan letter is a forgery.
It also means that the naval ID plate affixed to this vehicle is a forgery.
Specifically, that means that someone went to the trouble of counterfeiting this naval ID plate, and then affixing it to this vehicle.
While I wouldn't want to say that fabricating a naval ID plate was in the same league as counterfeiting United States currency, it is certainly not a proper thing to do, and is very possible illegal.
Since I am not a lawyer, and have never worked in a prosecutor's office, I do not know how many individual crimes were committed in connection with the fabrication of this vehicle, and its fraudulent presentation as being genuine. Certainly, there is conspiracy, and intent to defraud, and perhaps there are other laws that were violated since someone went to the trouble of falsifying the naval ID plate, which is (or was) after all, government property.
Perhaps, if you would call the FBI, or the Department of Justice, they might have people who could advise you on this matter--i.e., on the subject of just how many illegalities were committed here, that resulted in this bogus vehicle sporting all this bogus "authentication."
Of course, if —despite all the evidence of inauthenticity (not to mention deliberate fraud)—the auction of this vehicle still goes forward, I would think that the seller would have serious legal exposure.
What I do know is that anyone who went to the trouble of fabricating all this evidence, has little respect for history; and, specifically, the iconology connected with a major event in this country's history: the assassination of President Kennedy.
Anyone who had respect for history, or for the seriousness of this event, would never set out to create a counterfeit vehicle, plus the bogus documents and naval ID plate that attest (falsely) to its authenticity.
I do hope this item will not be auctioned--and that perhaps you will consider reporting the details to the authorities who might conduct an investigation to identify the perpetrators of this fraud.
Sincerely,
David S. Lifton
Author, BEST EVIDENCE
