The Crash of the U-2 on November 20, 1963

[William Kelly]

I think it is interesting that Hyde's U2 was based at Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, La., where SAIC NO SS John W. Rice was at the time of the assassination.

I also think it interesting that the NPIC mission crew - photo analysists were waiting for Hyde's photos, but they never came, and a few days later they get the Z-film instead.

BK

[William Kelly]

Evan posted this earlier and it notes that the approval for U2 overflights of Cuba must come from high in the chain of command - the President or Commanders of Naval Bases, Key West or Guantanamo.

If the Commanders of these bases are operating in conjunction with JM/WAVE, then they could be sending the U2s up on missions related to tactical maritime commando raids against Cuba, and not necessarily looking for strategic offensive missles.

This memo also mentions primary playes McGeorge Bundy, Roswell Gilpatric and Joe Califano, whose names are on the lists of those in attendance at the CCC meetings that recommended and approved the maritime covert commando raids run out of JM/WAVE.

At the September 24, 63 meeting of the Joint Chiefs, chaired by LeMay, Des FitzGerald outlined the opeations being planned against Castro and Cuba, including the VALKYRIE plot, and Gen. Krulak was assigned responsiblity for military support of the raider's mother ships (REX), if jet fighter or naval support was necessary if they came under attack (that is counter-attack) by the Cuban.

This was a particular sore point during the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis when LeMay wanted to immediately retaliate and wipe out any anti-aircraft batteries that fired on US surveillance planes, while Kennedy wanted to maintain his ability to order such attacks. Thus this very specific rules of engagement policy.

358. Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Gilpatric) to President Kennedy

Washington, undated.

http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/histo...XI/351_375.html

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 330-77-131, OSD Misc.--1963. Top Secret; Sensitive. This memorandum was undated and unsigned, but it was attached to an August 20 memorandum from Califano to Gilpatric recommending that the Deputy Secretary send it to the President. On August 26 Bundy sent Gilpatric a memorandum indicating that the President had signed this memorandum on August 22. The President asked Gilpatric to undertake the Top Secret and Sensitive distribution of this addition to rules of engagement.

SUBJECT

U.S. Action in the Event of Cuban Attack on U.S. Aircraft/Ships (U)

At your direction on 28 February 1963, Rules of Engagement were promulgated with respect to action by U.S. forces in event of a Cuban attack on U.S. aircraft or ships operating outside Cuban territory./1/ These rules prohibit U.S. forces from penetrating Cuban territory in pursuit of Cuban forces involved.

/1/See Document 290.

Under these rules, overflight of Cuban territory while en route to the scene of attack is not included in the authorized military options for responses to an attack by Cuba on U.S. aircraft or ships operating outside Cuban territory.

Incidents of Cuban attack on U.S. forces operating outside Cuban territory, which are considered most likely, would involve aircraft engaged in reconnaissance efforts, but also could involve U.S. shipping and cases where lives of U.S. nationals or national interests are in jeopardy. Should attacks occur, for example, south of western Cuba and north of eastern Cuba, the en route time for U.S. fighter support can be reduced by 10 to 30 minutes, with a comparable increase in time for action at the scene, by routing over Cuban territory. This quicker en route reaction time could be the difference between providing an effective defense for U.S. interests and arriving too late for action.

In light of the fact that occasions may arise where the presence of U.S. forces on the scene with least possible delay would be in the best national interests, a draft statement of policy which would authorize overflight of Cuban territory in certain instances, and under certain conditions, has been prepared and is attached. The draft policy has been approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, coordinated with the Department of State and, based on the recommendation of that Department, delineates the individuals in the military chain of command authorized to approve overflights of Cuban territory.

I recommend its approval.

Attachment

STATEMENT OF POLICY ON US ACTION IN EVENT OF CUBAN ATTACK ON US AIRCRAFT/SHIPS (U)

The following policy is issued pertaining to US action in the event of Cuban attack in the area surrounding Cuba against US aircraft/ships:

a. In specific instances in which adherence to international airspace would delay significantly the arrival of US fighter aircraft at the scene of a Cuban attack against US aircraft/ships operating outside of Cuban territory, overflight of Cuba by fighter aircraft is authorized subject to the following:

(1) It must be established that the US aircraft/ship is being attacked, or the US aircraft/ship has been attacked and lives of US personnel are endangered.

(2) Overflight times are minimized with due regard to risk to aircraft. While en route every effort will be taken to avoid provocative acts. Engagement will not be undertaken during the overflight except for self-defense against aircraft attack.

(3) From the time of arrival at the scene current rules of engagement will pertain, with return to home or diversion airfield via air space over international waters, if practicable.

(4) The most expeditious means possible will be used to inform highest national authorities that overflight of Cuba has been directed, and details on the action shall be furnished in the same manner.

b. Decision to overfly Cuban territory may be delegated to but not below the level of Commander Naval Base, Key West and Commander Naval Base, Guantanamo.

Edited April 5, 2010 by William Kelly

[Evan Burton]

If the Commanders of these bases are operating in conjunction with JM/WAVE, then they could be sending the U2s up on missions related to tactical maritime commando raids against Cuba, and not necessarily looking for strategic offensive missles.

Yep - that is entirely possible.

[Len Colby]

Evan posted this earlier and it notes that the approval for U2 overflights of Cuba must come from high in the chain of command - the President or Commanders of Naval Bases, Key West or Guantanamo.

If the Commanders of these bases are operating in conjunction with JM/WAVE, then they could be sending the U2s up on missions related to tactical maritime commando raids against Cuba, and not necessarily looking for strategic offensive missles.

This memo also mentions primary playes McGeorge Bundy, Roswell Gilpatric and Joe Califano, whose names are on the lists of those in attendance at the CCC meetings that recommended and approved the maritime covert commando raids run out of JM/WAVE.

At the September 24, 63 meeting of the Joint Chiefs, chaired by LeMay, Des FitzGerald outlined the opeations being planned against Castro and Cuba, including the VALKYRIE plot, and Gen. Krulak was assigned responsiblity for military support of the raider's mother ships (REX), if jet fighter or naval support was necessary if they came under attack (that is counter-attack) by the Cuban.

This was a particular sore point during the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis when LeMay wanted to immediately retaliate and wipe out any anti-aircraft batteries that fired on US surveillance planes, while Kennedy wanted to maintain his ability to order such attacks. Thus this very specific rules of engagement policy.

358. Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Gilpatric) to President Kennedy

Washington, undated.

http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/histo...XI/351_375.html

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 330-77-131, OSD Misc.--1963. Top Secret; Sensitive. This memorandum was undated and unsigned, but it was attached to an August 20 memorandum from Califano to Gilpatric recommending that the Deputy Secretary send it to the President. On August 26 Bundy sent Gilpatric a memorandum indicating that the President had signed this memorandum on August 22. The President asked Gilpatric to undertake the Top Secret and Sensitive distribution of this addition to rules of engagement.

SUBJECT

U.S. Action in the Event of Cuban Attack on U.S. Aircraft/Ships (U)

At your direction on 28 February 1963, Rules of Engagement were promulgated with respect to action by U.S. forces in event of a Cuban attack on U.S. aircraft or ships operating outside Cuban territory./1/ These rules prohibit U.S. forces from penetrating Cuban territory in pursuit of Cuban forces involved.

/1/See Document 290.

Under these rules, overflight of Cuban territory while en route to the scene of attack is not included in the authorized military options for responses to an attack by Cuba on U.S. aircraft or ships operating outside Cuban territory.

Incidents of Cuban attack on U.S. forces operating outside Cuban territory, which are considered most likely, would involve aircraft engaged in reconnaissance efforts, but also could involve U.S. shipping and cases where lives of U.S. nationals or national interests are in jeopardy. Should attacks occur, for example, south of western Cuba and north of eastern Cuba, the en route time for U.S. fighter support can be reduced by 10 to 30 minutes, with a comparable increase in time for action at the scene, by routing over Cuban territory. This quicker en route reaction time could be the difference between providing an effective defense for U.S. interests and arriving too late for action.

In light of the fact that occasions may arise where the presence of U.S. forces on the scene with least possible delay would be in the best national interests, a draft statement of policy which would authorize overflight of Cuban territory in certain instances, and under certain conditions, has been prepared and is attached. The draft policy has been approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, coordinated with the Department of State and, based on the recommendation of that Department, delineates the individuals in the military chain of command authorized to approve overflights of Cuban territory.

I recommend its approval.

Attachment

STATEMENT OF POLICY ON US ACTION IN EVENT OF CUBAN ATTACK ON US AIRCRAFT/SHIPS (U)

The following policy is issued pertaining to US action in the event of Cuban attack in the area surrounding Cuba against US aircraft/ships:

a. In specific instances in which adherence to international airspace would delay significantly the arrival of US fighter aircraft at the scene of a Cuban attack against US aircraft/ships operating outside of Cuban territory, overflight of Cuba by fighter aircraft is authorized subject to the following:

(1) It must be established that the US aircraft/ship is being attacked, or the US aircraft/ship has been attacked and lives of US personnel are endangered.

(2) Overflight times are minimized with due regard to risk to aircraft. While en route every effort will be taken to avoid provocative acts. Engagement will not be undertaken during the overflight except for self-defense against aircraft attack.

(3) From the time of arrival at the scene current rules of engagement will pertain, with return to home or diversion airfield via air space over international waters, if practicable.

(4) The most expeditious means possible will be used to inform highest national authorities that overflight of Cuba has been directed, and details on the action shall be furnished in the same manner.

b. Decision to overfly Cuban territory may be delegated to but not below the level of Commander Naval Base, Key West and Commander Naval Base, Guantanamo.

I have no idea why you think who could authorize overflights relevant.Even so your post in no way contradicted Evan as there is no reason to assume the procedure for authorizing over flights of fighters rushing to defend American ship or planes under attack would be the same for U2's on reconnaissance missions.

[Len Colby]

Colby: A U2 crashing a few days before the assassination is not a very extraordinary one. Here's a better one, JFK switched the landing site from Trinidad beach (the Trinidad Plan) to the Zapata Peninsula (Operation Zapapta), GHWB had a company named Zapata Offshore.

Kelly: Please site your source for the fact that JFK himself switched the landing site from Trinidad beach to the Zapata Peninsula. That is certainly not a coincidence.

Isn’t it self evident? The plan was changed shortly after he took office from the CIA’s preferred landing site. That’s sort of like asking for a citation he chose White and Goldberg for the Supreme Court. But since you insist on documentation:

National Security Archive

BAY OF PIGS, 40 YEARS AFTER

THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION/PLAYA GIRÓN

A CHRONOLOGY of EVENTS

[…]

MAR 11, 1961: At a White House meeting between 10:05 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., Richard Bissell presents the CIA's Proposed Operation Against Cuba to President Kennedy…

The President rejects the Trinidad Plan

as too spectacular, too much like a World War II invasion. He prefers a quiet landing, preferably at night, with no basis for American military intervention. No decision comes from the March 11 meeting and the President states his view that "the best possible plan... has not yet been presented, and new proposals are to be concerted promptly."

(CIA, Proposed Operation Against Cuba, 11 March 1961, pp.1-12; Wyden, pp.99-101; and Gleijeses, p.34)

[…]

MAR 16, 1961: At 4:15 p.m., Dulles and Bissell present President Kennedy with three alternative plans for the Cuban operation. His national security adviser reports that the CIA “has done a remarkable job of reframing the landing plan so as to make it unspectacular and quiet, and plausibly Cuban in its essentials,” and has briefed Kennedy in advance on the proposals.

The first option is a modification of the Trinidad Plan, the second targets an area on the northeast coast of Cuba, and the third, the so called Zapata Plan, is an invasion at the Bay of Pigs.

The President orders modifications of the Zapata Plan

to make it appear more of an inside guerrilla-type operation. (Notes of General Gray; Gleijeses p.36)

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/chron.html

Bay of Pigs

The 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was doomed from the outset by forces out of the Cuban exiles' control; after the failed attempt to overthrow Castro, his grip on the island became tighter than ever

BY MARTIN MERZER

[…]

A month before the landing, the site was changed when President Kennedy decided the Trinidad area was too "noisy," making U.S. involvement less deniable. The landing was switched to the remote Bay of Pigs 80 miles farther west on Cuba's south coast.

http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news...l#ixzz0kAjIZJW4

The Miami Herald - January 5, 1997

Site change called fatal to invasion

Bay of Pigs bad choice, planner says

"Landing at the Bay of Pigs could not possibly succeed and was going to end in disaster. That's the word I used."

JACK HAWKINS, invasion planning chief

When

Kennedy vetoed the original landing site

, invaders `had no chance,' an ex-CIA officer says.

Did switch doom Bay of Pigs?

By DON BOHNING

Herald Staff Writer

Breaking a 35-year silence, the chief of the CIA's planning staff for military aspects of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion says the effort was doomed from the day, a month before the operation, when President

Kennedy ordered the landing site changed

to one that would attract less attention.

Jack Hawkins, a retired Marine Corps colonel, said in an interview that after he and his staff drafted the new plan, shifting the landing from the city of Trinidad, on Cuba's south coast, about 80 miles westward to the Bay of Pigs, he had "decided this plan has no chance. It is going to fail.'' He said efforts to convince superiors of that were of no avail.

[…]

"We were very surprised when we got word that

the president had vetoed the Trinidad plan

, which we thought was the best and probably only place in Cuba where we had a chance to pull this thing off,'' Hawkins said. "It was a good plan, I thought, and we had no idea that it was going to be rejected because it had been discussed right on up to that time.''

Bissell, he said, advised him as they were standing in the corridor that the president had given four days to come up with a "quieter operation. He said this one is too noisy, too much like an invasion. Of course, it was an invasion.''

Working around the clock, Hawkins and the paramilitary staff pored over maps and intelligence reports, determining that the Bay of Pigs was the only alternate place an airfield could be seized that would support B-26s, a requirement.

[…]

A sketch of the new plan was drafted, presented to Kennedy and approved March 15, a month before the landing took place.

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bay-of-pigs/site.htm

Review of the documentary The Bay of Pigs in the Journal of American History

Now the CIA was training a brigade in Guatemala for an amphibious assault that would land at the coastal town of Trinidad. Because Kennedy found that "far too noisy," he ordered a change to a covert, nighttime landing. Richard Bissell, CIA deputy director of planning, chose an unsuitable location for the assault, the Bay of Pigs.

http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/...86.3/mr_25.html

See also:

http://books.google.com/books?id=CMZgD1Pa_YkC&pg=PA95

http://books.google.com/books?id=PVMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62

[Len Colby]

you've failed to do your duty as a forum moderator so why should anybody trust you along side them in a serious combat situation?

Just what are you ranting about Bill?

Burton knows what I'm ranting about and that's all that matters.

BK

Wrong on both accounts 1) Evan told me he had no idea what your were going on about and 2) since you made your comments publicly you should man up and tell us what you were all "hot and bothered" about.

[William Kelly]

you've failed to do your duty as a forum moderator so why should anybody trust you along side them in a serious combat situation?

Just what are you ranting about Bill?

Burton knows what I'm ranting about and that's all that matters.

BK

Wrong on both accounts 1) Evan told me he had no idea what your were going on about and 2) since you made your comments publicly you should man up and tell us what you were all "hot and bothered" about.

I'm allowed to rant too, or is Costella the only one?

If that's the case, well then Evan has a short memory, and let me remind him of the times I was not only verbally attacked, but reported to NJ Casino Control Commission authorities for imagined insults with the intention of having me fired from a non-existent job as an Atlantic City casino dealer? Where were you when he came after me and tried to have me fired? Certified nut case trying to get me arrested and fired? Has anybody ever tried to get you fired, or do you think that's a proper step for anyone on an intenet forum? I think these posts are still up there if you look for them, and the perpetrator is not only on moderation but banned for other forums for similar infractions. And all the time, over two weeks of marauding insults and threats continued unabated under Evan Burton's "moderation" while his superiors were reportedly on vacation. So having failed to do his duty when he should have, whenever he exerts his authority to warn anyone of perceived infractions like makeing judgements of research ability, I will remind him that I no longer have any respect for his authority, and neither does anyone who read those insulting and personally threating posts.

Now I kind of miss him because he would be the first one to be saying that John Armstrong is right and that the Oswald's family was the subject of long term personallity studies, except he would have to include his favorite whipping boys as the only suspects, and he would also be quick to call Doug Horne COPA's ARRB "infiltrator" as he really believes COPA is behind a lot more than it is.

Now to bring this thread back to subject, I'd like to focus on the direct connection we can positively make between the downing of Hyde's U2 on November 20, 1963 and the assassination of President Kennedy.

And that is the photo-interpreters at NPIC who were assigned to analysize the photos Hyde took over Cuba, and their disapointment when the photos not only didn't show up, but the pilot was missing and presumed killed on the mission. Those photo analysists, or their counter-parts three day later, received the Zapruder film for analysis.

So Isn't that a direct connection?

BK

Edited April 8, 2010 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

Now to bring this thread back to subject, I'd like to focus on the direct connection we can positively make between the downing of Hyde's U2 on November 20, 1963 and the assassination of President Kennedy.

And that is the photo-interpreters at NPIC who were assigned to analysize the photos Hyde took over Cuba, and their disapointment when the photos not only didn't show up, but the pilot was missing and presumed killed on the mission. Those photo analysists, or their counter-parts three day later, received the Zapruder film for analysis.

So Isn't that a direct connection?

[William Kelly]

Now to bring this thread back to subject, I'd like to focus on the direct connection we can positively make between the downing of Hyde's U2 on November 20, 1963 and the assassination of President Kennedy.

And that is the photo-interpreters at NPIC who were assigned to analysize the photos Hyde took over Cuba, and their disapointment when the photos not only didn't show up, but the pilot was missing and presumed killed on the mission. Those photo analysists, or their counter-parts three day later, received the Zapruder film for analysis.

So Isn't that a direct connection?

Here's another. Was Oswald at Barksdale?

Dan Hopsicker writes that Oswald attended a week long CAP summer camp at Barksdale in July 1955.

http://www.madcowprod.com/09082009.html

Byrd's Chance-Vought Aircraft, later re-named LTV, would become—almost immediately after the JFK assassination—a principal beneficiary of the massive military spending accompanying the growth of American military involvement in the Vietnam War. General Byrd, of course, was the owner of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, where the Warren Commission alleged Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots which killed President John F. Kennedy.

Byrd also ran the Texas and Louisiana Civil Air Patrol, at the same time cadets Barry Seal and Lee Harvey Oswald were meeting Kennedy assassination conspirator Capt. David Ferrie at a two-week summer camp of the Louisiana Civil Air Patrol at Barksdale Air Force Base in July of 1955.

Does anyone have any other information on the CAP at Barksdale and Oswald, Seal and Ferrie being there?

BK

Edited April 17, 2010 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

In the course of looking for a source for my recollection of Eisenhower's approval of U2 flights over the Soviet Union, I came upon these documents.

They are really incomplete however, as there is a big 2 year gap in their chronology, and don't mention the June, 1956 decision that led to the first flights over USSR.

I had read somewhere that the CIA convinced Ike by showing him a U2 photo of him playing golf at the Congressional Country Club, where the 2011 US Open is being held.

I'd like to come up for a source for this, but I forget where I read it.

These docs however, are interesting, and reflect Ike's reservations about the whole operation, and his dissatisfaction with the CIA's analysis of Soviet and public response.

Among the key players are Richard Bissell, and Col., later Gen. Goodpasture.

There's also some records of how the CORONA program sort of took over for the U2 in later years, but not before Gary Powers was shot down.

www.paperlessarchives.com/FreeTitles/EisenhowerAerialIntelligence.pdf

[Guest Tom Scully]

.....Here's another. Was Oswald at Barksdale?

Dan Hopsicker writes that Oswald attended a week long CAP summer camp at Barksdale in July 1955.

http://www.madcowprod.com/09082009.html

Byrd's Chance-Vought Aircraft, later re-named LTV, would become—almost immediately after the JFK assassination—a principal beneficiary of the massive military spending accompanying the growth of American military involvement in the Vietnam War. General Byrd, of course, was the owner of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, where the Warren Commission alleged Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots which killed President John F. Kennedy.

Byrd also ran the Texas and Louisiana Civil Air Patrol, at the same time cadets Barry Seal and Lee Harvey Oswald were meeting Kennedy assassination conspirator Capt. David Ferrie at a two-week summer camp of the Louisiana Civil Air Patrol at Barksdale Air Force Base in July of 1955.

Does anyone have any other information on the CAP at Barksdale and Oswald, Seal and Ferrie being there?

BK

Stephen, have you read the spectacular book Barry and the Boys about Barry Seal. He was in the Civil Air Patrol as was Oswald. I think this is one of the most important US politics books written in the past years because it ties together so many stories and political players:

http://www.amazon.com/Barry-Boys-Americas-Secret-History/dp/0970659105

An extension of my earlier comments to you, offered in respect:

Jim Marrs opened his classic "Crossfire" with "Don't trust this book," admonishing readers to always seek corroboration in primary sources. Sage advice.

My first reaction in reading Barry and the Boys was that there were a number of errors dealing with Ferrie, but mostly minor. Then I dug a little deeper. One of his central claims is that Barry Seal attended a CAP bivouac at Barksdale in 1955 with Ferrie and Oswald. However...

1) Ferrie was not officially in the CAP on July 23, 1955. Having been essentially kicked out of the larger CAP squadron at Lakefront Airport at the beginning of the year, he was a volunteer lecturer at the smaller squadron at Moisant Airport during the summer of 1955. There is no record of Ferrie attending/not attending Barksdale, but not being a staff member suggests that he might not have attended. On the other hand, Ferrie might have met Seal (who was in the Baton Rouge squadron) at some other CAP event. (Info on Ferrie's CAP status: FBI interviews with Moisant Commander Joe Lisman, and cadet leader Gladys Durr)

2) Oswald didn't even join the Moisant group until July 27, 1955, a few days too late. Could he have attended anyway? Colin Hamer (mentioned in the HSCA report, later the NO librarian) was the cadet coordinator for the event, and he retained the listings of cadets who attended. Oswald's name does not appear on the list. So we have no way of knowing if Ferrie attended, and we can be pretty sure Oswald did not.

3) Both before and after Barry and the Boys, I interviewed some of the same people as Hopsicker did, and several of them were pretty mad at how he misquoted them. Specifically, among others, FBI agent Del Hahn, Colin Hamer and Gordon Novel.

So at the least, I regard Hopsicker's book with a strong dose of caution. There are a few interesting nuggets in there, but I try to confirm them with the source. This is what I mean about going beyond assertions in books.

[William Kelly]

In the course of looking for a source for my recollection of Eisenhower's approval of U2 flights over the Soviet Union, I came upon these documents.

They are really incomplete however, as there is a big 2 year gap in their chronology, and don't mention the June, 1956 decision that led to the first flights over USSR.

I had read somewhere that the CIA convinced Ike by showing him a U2 photo of him playing golf at the Congressional Country Club, where the 2011 US Open is being held.

I'd like to come up for a source for this, but I forget where I read it.

These docs however, are interesting, and reflect Ike's reservations about the whole operation, and his dissatisfaction with the CIA's analysis of Soviet and public response.

Among the key players are Richard Bissell, and Col., later Gen. Goodpasture.

There's also some records of how the CORONA program sort of took over for the U2 in later years, but not before Gary Powers was shot down.

www.paperlessarchives.com/FreeTitles/EisenhowerAerialIntelligence.pdf

[Tom Hume]

“I had read somewhere that the CIA convinced Ike by showing him a U2 photo of him playing golf at the Congressional Country Club, where the 2011 US Open is being held.”

This might not be what you’re looking for Bill, but retired CIA analyst Dino Brugioni, author of “Eyeball to Eyeball” and “Eisenhower, The CIA, and Cold War Aerial Espionage”, showed Eisenhower a U2 photograph of his Gettysburg farm and Ike was able to pick out his putting green (Dino mentions this about 27 minutes into this video).

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294568-1

[William Kelly]

"I had read somewhere that the CIA convinced Ike by showing him a U2 photo of him playing golf at the Congressional Country Club, where the 2011 US Open is being held."

This might not be what you're looking for Bill, but retired CIA analyst Dino Brugioni, author of "Eyeball to Eyeball" and "Eisenhower, The CIA, and Cold War Aerial Espionage", showed Eisenhower a U2 photograph of his Gettysburg farm and Ike was able to pick out his putting green (Dino mentions this about 27 minutes into this video).

http://www.c-spanvid...rogram/294568-1

Thanks Tom,

Dino is certainly an important source, not only for the Cuban Missile Crisis, and photo-fakery, but for the Z-film at NPIC.

BK

JFKCountercoup.blogspost.com

[Robert Howard]

"I had read somewhere that the CIA convinced Ike by showing him a U2 photo of him playing golf at the Congressional Country Club, where the 2011 US Open is being held."

This might not be what you're looking for Bill, but retired CIA analyst Dino Brugioni, author of "Eyeball to Eyeball" and "Eisenhower, The CIA, and Cold War Aerial Espionage", showed Eisenhower a U2 photograph of his Gettysburg farm and Ike was able to pick out his putting green (Dino mentions this about 27 minutes into this video).

http://www.c-spanvid...rogram/294568-1

Thanks Tom,

Dino is certainly an important source, not only for the Cuban Missile Crisis, and photo-fakery, but for the Z-film at NPIC.

BK

JFKCountercoup.blogspost.com

It isn't very often that I describe a military biography as fascinating, but if you are knowledgeable about the history

of some of the prime players in the JFK saga, Messr McConnell is more than kind of interesting.....

I'm sure the connections wont be lost on Bill, at least.

John Paul McConnell 1908-1986

air force officer. Born in Booneville, Arkansas, McConnell graduated from

Henderson Brown College (now Henderson State) in 1927 and the next year entered

West Point, from which he graduated in 1932. In 1933 he completed courses in aviation

at Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas, and for four years he was assigned to the 79th Pursuit

Squadron at Barksdale field, Louisiana, recieving promotion to first lieutenant in April 1935.

During 1937-1939 he was stationed at Hickam Field, Hawaii and from June 1939 to January 1942

he was assigned to staff and training duty at Maxwell Field, Alabama and elsewhere, advancing

to captain in September 1940 and to major in July 1941. Promoted to lieutenant colonel

in January 1942, he was attached to the office of the chief of the Army Air Forces (AAF)

for four months and then assigned to the AAF technical training center at Knollwood Field

North Carolina where he was deputy chief of staff, and later chief of staff, receiving

promotion to colonel in December 1942. After a brief period as deputy chief of staff of the

AAF Training Command at Fort Worth, Texas, McConnell was ordered in November 1943

to the Southeast Asian theater of operations, where he served as chief of staff of the China-

Burma-India air force training command until February 1944, as senior staff officer and deputy

commander of the 3rd Tactical Air Force based at Comilla, India until September 1944,

and, having been promoted to brigadier general in August, as senior staff officer of the

Southeast Asia Air Command, Kandy, Ceylon, until June 1945. In April 1946, after a

period as acting deputy chief of staff for intelligence of the Eastern Air Command in

Chunking, China, he was named Commander of the Air Division, Nanking Headquarters

Command, and senior air adviser to the Chinese Nationalist government.

In June 1947 he returned to duty staff in Washington D.C. McConnell was appointed

deputy commander and chief of staff of the Third Air Force in England in July 1950 and in

December was promoted to temporary major general. In May 1951 he took command

of the 7th Air Division in England, holding that post until March 1953 and during February-May

1952 also commanding the Third Air Force. From April 1953 to November 1957, he was deputy

director and later director of plans of the Strategic Air Command, (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base,

Nebraska. He commanded the Second Air Force Base at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

until August 1961, advancing to temporary lieutenant general in June 1959 and then returned

to SAC as vice commander. McConnell was named deputy commander of the U.S. European

Command in France in September 1962 and promoted to temporary general a month later.

In August 1964 he bacame vice chief of staff of the air force, and in February 1965 he succeeded

Gen. Curtis E. Lemay as chief of staff. He held that post until his retirement in July 1969, when he

was succeeded as chief of staff by Gen. John D. Ryan. Among his later activities was his service from

August 1970 as executive consultant to the Civil Air Patrol

from page 259 Webster's American Military Biographies - G. & C. Merriam Company - 1978

also

http://www.boonevill...C-McConnell.htm

namebase listing

* Fitzgerald,A.E. The Pentagonists. 1989 (112, 116)

* Hersh,S. Chemical and Biological Warfare. 1969 (125)

* Mollenhoff,C. The Pentagon. 1967 (390)

* Perry,M. Four Stars. 1989 (153, 166, 346)

* Prados,J. Keepers of the Keys. 1991 (190)

* Shawcross,W. Sideshow. 1979 (20)

http://www.namebase.org/cgi-bin/nb01?_MCCONNELL_JOHN_P%20%28GEN%29

At the very least he was a contemporary of General Curtis Lemay and connects to Barksdale AFB, and the social diagram

on his namebase entry is intriguing.....

Edited June 18, 2011 by Robert Howard