Thomas Alexander Hutson

[Steve Thomas]

T.A. Hutson is most notably known because of his participation in the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald. But there may be more to Hutson than meets the eye.

Maybe.

There were just a couple of things in his background that made me go, "hmmmm."

Mr. BELIN. How long did you serve in the Army?

 

Mr. HUTSON. Four years.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do there?
Mr. HUTSON. I went to Fort Ord, Calif., for basic training,

and from there I went to Germany and joined the 1st Infantry Division, and I joined them in October of 1948.
I landed in Germany and I stayed with them in Germany until May of 1951,

I returned to the United States and was stationed at Fort Sam Houston.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do, basically, in Germany?
Mr. HUTSON. I started out in the Infantry, and when I left Germany I was in a more or less administrative part of my Infantry company, doing mail and administrative work in the sergeant's office

Mr. HUTSON. In May of 1951, and I went to Fort Sam Houston, Tex., where I was promoted to Infantry sergeant, platoon sergeant, and there I gave instructions in Infantry tactics.
Mr. HUTSON. I went to Camp Pickett, Va.

we were there this was during the Korean war when I started to train men in Camp Pickett, Va., and I got an extended year from a 3-year enlistment, and I was discharged in July of 1952.

I returned to Dallas and went back to work for Texas & Pacific Railway as an interchange clerk in the accounting office.
I stayed with Texas & Pacific for approximately a year,

at this time I resigned and a lifelong friend and I went into the service station business at Harwood and Grand here in Dallas. We stayed in the service station business 18 months.

I sold my interest to him around February the 5th, and I went to work for the Dallas Police Department.
in 1955
Mr. BELIN. What were your duties in the Dallas Police Department in the fall of 1963?
Mr. HUTSON. I was a 3-wheel motorcycle officer.

 

1. What kind of Sergeant gives training in Infantry tactics at both Fort Sam Houston and Camp Pickett?

2. Is his posting to Fort Sam Houston significant?

 

Lots and lots of soldiers were posted to Fort Sam Houston, but that is also where a lot of the Fourth U.S. Army's intelligence efforts were based. For example, see Robert Jones testimony before the HSCA,

https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/unpub_testimony/Jones_4-20-78/html/jones_0007a.htm

The 112th INTC was based there, 
and the Stringfellow cable was based on a phone call and follow up memo to McDill Strike Force in Florida coming out of Fort Sam Houston

.https://archive.org/stream/nsia-ArmyIntelligenceJFK/nsia-ArmyIntelligenceJFK/AI JFK 01#page/n0/mode/2up

3) Fort Pickett was initially called Camp Pickett. Its mission is “to make Fort Pickett the “Training Center of Excellence” for the East Coast. To do this, we must provide the best Ranges, Facilities and training lands for all units training here at Fort Pickett.
Our capabilities is to develop a Regional Collective Training Center for the East Coast, Intermediate Staging for up to 5,000 soldiers, expanded Counter IET/CBRN training and exportable Combat Training Center.”
http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/fortpickett/mtc/garrison/aboutus/aboutus.htm

4) He co-owned a gas service station business for 18 months.
5) On April 3, 1964 Hutson told the Warren Commission that in the midst of a manhunt for the suspect in a police officer shooting, his fellow officers, Ray Hawkins and Elmer Baggett stopped at a Mobil Gas Station to make a telephone call (both policemen went into the gas station) because “I believe they gave us a call for us to call. I mean their number to call in.” 
This request from Dispatch or Headquarters to call in doesn't show up in the DPD dispatch tapes, nor do they show Hawkins reporting that he is “out of service”.
6) Why does Hutson testify to this Mobil Gas Station stop in April, 1964, when none of his, Hawkins, or Baggett's after-action reports done up in December, 1963 report it?
7) Hutson testified at 9:00 AM. Hawkins testified at 9:50 AM. Why wasn't Hawkins asked about this Mobil Gas Station stop? They were both interviewed at 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex. 

Hutson was questioned by David W. Belin.
Hawkins was questioned by Joseph Ball.

Were either of the two lawyers present at both times?

 

Steve Thomas