Oystein
Senior Member
Bobby McIlvaine ("Bobby") was a 26 year old employee of Merrill-Lynch who died at the WTC on 9/11/2001. His father, Bob McIlvaine sr. ("Bob sr."), believes that Bobby died from glass and debris shot at his body by bombs going off in the lobby as he was walking into the WTC North Tower at or around the time the first plane, AA11, hit that tower, at 8:46 a.m. Bob sr. apparently formed this belief in about 2006, when he first got hold of the autopsy report and the medical examiner, who had originally written that report, explained it to him.
A 2016 blog post by Craig McKee, who had interviewed Bob McIlvaine Sr. for that article (published with minor differences at AE911Truth), tells Bob sr.'s story thus (text coloring mine):
The key word I will focus on is "lacerations". It is a peculiar word to describe "open wounds" that Bob sr. seems to use consistently. For example in this 2011 talk between 3:04 and 3:21 minutes:
It is apparent, that he got the term from the autopsy report. Here are relevant excerpts from the new article by Jennifer Senior for the September 2021 issue of the The Atlantic:
So: What does the word "lacerations" mean?
In a medical examination, the word is descriptive of a kind of wound, to distinguish it from other types of wounds, to allow for hypotheses about the cause of it.
Starting point: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound#Open
Here is a page that is specifically concerned with the pathology of blunt forces: https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/forensicsbluntforce.html
It describes the "hallmark" of lacerations:
I think this will do at this time: "Lacerations" are wounds from blunt traumata that generally do not penetrate deeply into the tissue but rather cause the skin to tear.
Shrapnel from bombs, particularly sharp and hard shrapnel like glass shards, would cut, puncture, penetrate the skin and underlying tissue, and cause various kinds of wounds in addition to lacerations, as this paper on a surgeon's perspective on urban bomb trauma explains:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/145749690509400407
In addition, the non-mention of primary blast trauma - particularly blast lung - speaks against the belief that explosive demolition devices (which have to be high explosives, to create shockwaves in steel) are to blame. From the CDC:
In summary: The injuries of Bobby McIlvaine, as we know them from second hand versions of his autopsy report, are dominated by two types of injuries:
a) The loss of an arm and much of the head
b) Lacerations (open, shallow blunt-trauma skin wounds)
in conjuntion with the apparent absence of other injuries diagnostic of explosive devices such as
c) no barotrauma to the lung described
d) no wounds of penetration, puncture, incision described
are commensurate with the "blunt trauma only" scenario of him getting hit with heavy and light debris having the kinetic energy of a 1,000 ft fall, but not with explosive devices: The mere mass of, e.g., a falling wall panel can explain the loss of whole body parts; the impact of smaller rubble explains lacerations.
A 2016 blog post by Craig McKee, who had interviewed Bob McIlvaine Sr. for that article (published with minor differences at AE911Truth), tells Bob sr.'s story thus (text coloring mine):
(Source: https://truthandshadows.com/2016/09/10/mcilvaine-controlled-demolition/ )In a recent interview, McIlvaine said his son's body was one of the first to be recovered and taken to the New York City morgue on that day. He explained that he has been able to reach more definitive conclusions about the details of his son's death only since conferring with the doctor who had examined his body at the morgue.
The meeting, which McIlvaine recalls happening in 2006 or 2007, provided evidence that a huge explosion — and not the North Tower's eventual demise — was responsible for killing his son. According to McIlvaine, the wounds described by the doctor indicated that his son had been hit by flying glass from some kind of massive blast. Bobby's face was damaged beyond recognition, he had lacerations all over his chest from flying glass, and he had post-mortem burns. In fact, the blast was strong enough to literally blow Bobby out of his laced shoes (they were not on the body when it was brought to the morgue).
"My final summation is that he was walking into the building, and before he got into the building there was a huge explosion, and of course the force of it just threw him back into the open area," McIlvaine says. [...]
It is the nature of Bobby's injuries that convinces the elder McIlvaine that the explosion had nothing to do with the airplane hitting the tower.
The key word I will focus on is "lacerations". It is a peculiar word to describe "open wounds" that Bob sr. seems to use consistently. For example in this 2011 talk between 3:04 and 3:21 minutes:
His wounds, or his death, I think it was immediately, spontaneous, I don't think he ever knew what hit him, because all his injuries were in the chest, lacerations the chest, his whole face was blown apart.
It is apparent, that he got the term from the autopsy report. Here are relevant excerpts from the new article by Jennifer Senior for the September 2021 issue of the The Atlantic:
It is apparent that Mrs. Senior had the medical examiner's report before her to read ("It is very upsetting to read" - and she quotes a bit from it). The word "lacerations" comes from there.Bobby's was one of fewer than 100 civilian corpses recovered from the wreckage. But it haunted Bob Sr. that he never saw the body. At the morgue on September 13, the pathologist strongly advised him against viewing it. Only years later—four? five? he can no longer remember—did he finally screw up the courage to go to the medical examiner's office in New York City and get the official report.
That's when everything changed. "My whole thesis—everything I jump into now—is based upon his injuries," he tells me. "Looking at the body, I came to the conclusion that he was walking in and bombs went off."
[...]
...only a lobby embroidered with explosives could explain the injuries to Bobby's body. He has the full medical examiner's report.
It is very upsetting to read. Most of Bobby's head—that beautiful face—was missing, as was most of his right arm. The details are rendered in generic diagrams and the dispassionate language of pathology ("Absent: R upper extremity, most of head"), as well as a chilling pair of responses on a standard checklist.
Hair color: None.
Eye color: None.
But a subtle thing made Bob Sr. think something was amiss. The report describes many lacerations and fractures, but they appear almost entirely on the front of Bobby's body. The back of his corpse is basically described as pristine, besides multiple fractures to what remained of his head.
So: What does the word "lacerations" mean?
In a medical examination, the word is descriptive of a kind of wound, to distinguish it from other types of wounds, to allow for hypotheses about the cause of it.
Starting point: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound#Open
So we already see there is a differentiation between "lacerations" and, e.g., "incisions", "punctures" or "penetration wounds": Lacerations form from blunt trauma.Open[edit]
Open wounds can be classified according to the object that caused the wound:
- Incisions or incised wounds – caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, razor, or glass splinter.
- Lacerations – irregular tear-like wounds caused by some blunt trauma. Lacerations and incisions may appear linear (regular) or stellate (irregular). The term laceration is commonly misused in reference to incisions.[1]
- Abrasions (grazes) – superficial wounds in which the topmost layer of the skin (the epidermis) is scraped off. Abrasions are often caused by a sliding fall onto a rough surface such as asphalt, tree bark or concrete.
- Avulsions – injuries in which a body structure is forcibly detached from its normal point of insertion. A type of amputation where the extremity is pulled off rather than cut off. When used in reference to skin avulsions, the term 'degloving' is also sometimes used as a synonym.
- Puncture wounds – caused by an object puncturing the skin, such as a splinter, nail or needle.
- Penetration wounds – caused by an object such as a knife entering and coming out from the skin.
- Gunshot wounds – caused by a bullet or similar projectile driving into or through the body. There may be two wounds, one at the site of entry and one at the site of exit, generally referred to as a "through-and-through."
- Critical wounds- Including large burns that have been split. These wounds can cause serious hydroelectrolytic and metabolic alterations including fluid loss, electrolyte imbalances, and increased catabolism[2][3][4]
Here is a page that is specifically concerned with the pathology of blunt forces: https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/forensicsbluntforce.html
It describes the "hallmark" of lacerations:
Lacerations
- Laceration occurs when a blunt force causes skin compression, crushing and splitting; lacerations frequently occur on the skin overlying bony prominences but can also affect the internal organs, leaving the skin intact
- Hallmark: presence of tissue bridges in the depth of the wound is the pathognomonic feature for lacerations; also helps to distinguish them from an incised wound (sharp force injury)
I think this will do at this time: "Lacerations" are wounds from blunt traumata that generally do not penetrate deeply into the tissue but rather cause the skin to tear.
Shrapnel from bombs, particularly sharp and hard shrapnel like glass shards, would cut, puncture, penetrate the skin and underlying tissue, and cause various kinds of wounds in addition to lacerations, as this paper on a surgeon's perspective on urban bomb trauma explains:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/145749690509400407
So it is not so much the presence of lacerations, but the apparent absence of any mention of penetrating wounds that differentiates Bobby's injuries from bomb trauma: Surely a bomb powerful (or close) enough to rip off a limb and much of the head would pepper the torso not merely with blunt, non-penetrating shrapnel.Secondary blast injury is due to penetration of bomb fragments and other projectiles (28). To increase the likelihood of such injuries, metal or plastic particles (such as steel pellets, nails, screws and nuts) have been added to the explosive charge carried by the suicide bomber. Depending on their velocity and shape, these low velocity projectiles penetrate the body and cause a spectrum of injuries from trivial lacerations to deep, life-threatening wounds of the heart, liver or brain.
In addition, the non-mention of primary blast trauma - particularly blast lung - speaks against the belief that explosive demolition devices (which have to be high explosives, to create shockwaves in steel) are to blame. From the CDC:
Explosions and Blast Injuries
A Primer for Clinicians
Key Concepts
• Bombs and explosions can cause unique patterns of injury seldom seen outside combat.
• The predominant post explosion injuries among survivors involve standard penetrating and blunt trauma. Blast lung is the most common fatal injury among initial survivors.
...
Classification of Explosives
Explosives are categorized as high-order explosives (HE) or low-order explosives (LE). HE produce a defining supersonic over-pressurization shock wave. Examples of HE
include TNT, C-4, Semtex, nitroglycerin, dynamite, and ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO). LE create a subsonic explosion and lack HE's over-pressurization wave.
Examples of LE include pipe bombs, gunpowder, and most pure petroleum-based bombs such as Molotov cocktails or aircraft improvised as guided missiles. HE and LE cause
different injury patterns.
In summary: The injuries of Bobby McIlvaine, as we know them from second hand versions of his autopsy report, are dominated by two types of injuries:
a) The loss of an arm and much of the head
b) Lacerations (open, shallow blunt-trauma skin wounds)
in conjuntion with the apparent absence of other injuries diagnostic of explosive devices such as
c) no barotrauma to the lung described
d) no wounds of penetration, puncture, incision described
are commensurate with the "blunt trauma only" scenario of him getting hit with heavy and light debris having the kinetic energy of a 1,000 ft fall, but not with explosive devices: The mere mass of, e.g., a falling wall panel can explain the loss of whole body parts; the impact of smaller rubble explains lacerations.