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Jim Root

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  1. Just found some new letters written by Whitney Shepardson that I find interesting. Anyone else still looking into this man? He did play a very important role in US Intelligence during his lifetime. My question becomes did it continue into the 1960's.....I believe it did. Jim Root
  2. Several years ago Gary Mack helped arrange an opportunity for me to view the Walker papers. I had not expected that and at the time only had a few hours of time available. I was first told that there was only one box of Walker material.....then found out that there was only one box that had been cataloged and was available at that time. Paul has assured me that he has had access to more material than I ever saw. For that I envy him! A couple of things that popped out at me in the brief time I had were the letters Walker wrote and received that were written at the time of the Overseas Weekly/Congressional controversy. I got the feeling that Walker was clearly confused about what was happening but seemed convinced that he was being set up in an intelligence operation for some reason and that he was blindsided it. Secondly were some notes, as I recall written by his secretary, that documented pages from the volumes of the Warren Commission documents. When I later followed up on that information I found that it almost all had to do with information about Silvia Odio and the investigation into that incident. I found that interesting. In reality I do hope to get to have an additional opportunity to pick my way further into the Walker papers at some time in the near future. Pretty sure my search would be productive in some way. To use a quote about a Nepoleonic era spy, Edwin Walker, "A Very Slippery Fellow" Jim Root
  3. When the Movie JFK came out I had many students asking me about the assassination. While I remembered that day vividly and had read/seen information about the assassination during my lifetime, I knew i was not particularly well read on the topic. I went to a used book store and bought a copy of the Warren Commission Report. Within just the first few pages I realized that Oswald was also accused of attempting the assassination of Major General Edwin Anderson Walker. I was hooked on searching for a reason why Oswald would want to assassinate Walker. Without getting into a debate about that assassination attempt let me just say that I have uncovered several historical facts which have led to a few thoughts and ideas that I share on this forum occasionally. In No particular order these are some things that peak my interest still to this day. General Walker was traveling by plane in Europe at the same time as Oswald was in the process of defecting to Europe. My research shows how they could have been on the same plane at the same time.....but no passenger lists were presented of that travel in the WC Report One day before Oswald arrived in Helsinki the US Ambassador provided information to the State Dept. describing how a US citizen could obtain a VISA into the Soviet Union....Oswald followed those direction exactly which begs the question.....how did Oswald know how to do that? That same Ambassador was directly involved with a unit that Walker was part of and ultimately commanded during WWII A connection between Walker and John Hurt of the NSA can first be made in the 1930's The two men who researched Oswald from the NSA for the Warren Commission were both associated with John Hurt, Frank Rowlett and Meridith Gardner. (I have a picture with Hurt and Frank Rowlett together). Walker can be associated with Operation Stella Polaris (as can Richard Helms, John Hurt, Frank Rowlett and Meridith Gardner). In the first note (as reported by in the Warren Commission Report) that Oswald writes to the State Dept. to begin his attempt to return to the USA from Russia, Oswald mentions another note that he had written long before the one reported in the WC Report. WC Rport plays this off because "they" found no other "first" note. If Oswald did write a first note as he said then that note was written prior to the Overseas Weekly investigation of General Walker began. That investigation framed Walker as a "Right Wing" nut job and led to his resignation from the military despite his very distinguished career prior to that time. Oswald referred to Walker as a man who did not want to see peace between the Soviet Union and the United States and and as a leader of a bad organization. Why that description? The Raleigh Call never made it into the WC Report. Why? The phone operator present makes it clear the the Secrete Service was listening in on all calls. Walker has a military career that is very interesting to say the least. It suggest both bold fighter but also a man who was regularly involved in intelligence operation. It suggests when and from where Gerry P. Hemming was recruited into intelligence work by Edwin Walker (While Hemming never admitted that to be true to me he did become very forth coming while providing me with answers to other assassination connected information after i first asked him to verify that information. Walker was involved in several WWII military operations of direct importance to Asst. Sec. of War John J. McCloy during WWII. I do have a copy of a letter written by McCloy to Walker several months before the assassination and have found copies of that letter in three different places that make it easily available. The timing of Walkers phone call from a German Newspaper (Walker received the call while at the Captain Shreve Hotel in Shreveport, LA at 7:00a.m.) the morning after the assassination is interesting to say the least. How did the reporter know where and when to locate Walker and then report the story of Oswald's assassination attempt on Walker before the FBI began investigating that link. Walker's close connection to General Maxwell Taylor that goes back to Walker's cadet days at West Point and continues throughout his career is remarkable in many ways. The beat goes on but my time today is limited......so much more. Jim Root
  4. If one goes back to the beginnings of the CIA mail opening operations in New York (1950's) two names that come up in this story as well as the assassination, Angelton and Helms. This is the same time that Oswald is writing letters to the Socialist Workers Party but as is pointed out in "Oswald and the CIA" no case file is opened on Oswald (that we are aware of). I suggest that it is possible that both Helms and Angelton became aware of Oswald at that time. If that were to be true....it is Helm's that seems to have continuously followed Oswald, especially after he returned from Russia before the assassination and I suggest that it is Angelton that wanted to know why. Nosenko is just one more key to unlocking the assassination story. Jim Root P.S. John J. McCloy missed a Warren Commission meeting to be at the Nuclear Arms meeting when Nosenko defected.
  5. On June 1, 1962 Lee and Marina Oswald receive a repat loan to return to the United States. That same month Nosenko first makes contact with the CIA. Coincidence ? Shortly after the assassination of JFK Nosenko defects. Another coincidence? Jim Root
  6. Hi Michael I do not get over here as much as I used to but am still committed to research on the subject. My interest in Abt is twofold, one obvious and the second much more obscure. First is Oswald's sophistication in knowing who Abt was. I find this interesting on many levels but in my post above my interest in Abt is only to present Oswald obsession with getting in touch with the man as opposed to his lack of determination to get a hold of John Hurt. (Paul, on one of my visits to the 6th floor museum, Gary Mack queued up a news reporter relaying a story on Oswald's attempt at making a phone call Saturday night. This led both Mack and myself to believe that the "Raleigh Call" was an outgoing call.) Secondly ( and more importantly for my point on this thread ) is the number of people Oswald tried to help him get him touch with Jonathan Abt vs his one and only attempt to call John Hurt. I speculate that the operators felt that after the failed attempt to contact Hurt, Oswald would want them to make additional efforts to find John Hurt just as he had done with Abt....that did not happen. More importantly the information about that call never made it into the Warren Commission Report! WHY? Michael, if you research my past posts you will find a great deal about a real John Hurt who was very much involved in NSA spy craft. You will also find that Frank Rowlette and Meredith Gardner (Venona Project fame) both knew and worked with John Hurt while in the NSA. They would also be tasked with writing a report on Oswald at the request of the CIA. I speculate that the Hurt call was to a "cut-out" and that Oswald knew the name was all he needed to pass on. Jim Root
  7. Hi Paul Was aware that Oswald repeatedly tried to get in touch with Johnathon Abt and had several others attempt to contact him. Two of my questions have always been connected to the attempts to contact ABT. 1). "Why and how was Oswald aware of Abt?" 2). "With the many attempts by Oswald to contact Abt, why was there only one attempt to contact John Hurt (which was left completely out of the Warren Commission Report)?" Jim Root
  8. In reading John"s excellent post I found it interesting to see the name John Abt. Anyone else find this interesting? Jim Root
  9. Ron Not sure why MacNamara or Taylor's son would write something that was not true. But from both I do believe that MacNamara was in a Budget meeting and that there was a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff. Two points which they both agree upon. Of course I like the Taylor account because it fits with Max's protocol approach to things.....George Marshall was alone when the Japanese attacked (which he had pre-Knowledge of) and I find it interesting that Taylor would find a way to be sequestered alone when the assassination occurred ( if he had pre-knowledge of the potential for an assassination attempt). Jim Root
  10. According to a November 22, 2013 article, Bryan Bender and Neil Swindey, Globe staff writers seems to contradict McNamara's memory. First it seems that Bobby Kennedy only called McNamara long after McNamara should have already been aware of Kennedy's death and second that Bobby Kennedy called McNamara to arrange transportation to Dallas not to inform him of the Presidents death. "...(Bobby) Kennedy glanced at his watch. It was 1:45 p.m. “We’d better hurry and get back to that meeting,” he told his guests. Just then his wife, Ethel, called over to him, holding the patio phone extension. “It’s J. Edgar Hoover,” she said, a look of worry playing over her face. They both knew the FBI director never called Bobby at home....(Robert) Morgenthau, in a recent interview, recalled watching Kennedy drop his sandwich, race over to the phone, and then quickly cup his hand over his mouth as he heard the devastating news. “Jack’s been shot in Dallas,” Bobby said with a gasp. “It may be fatal.”..... Walking the grounds of Hickory Hill just an hour after receiving confirmation of his brother’s death, Bobby confided in an aide something truly unsettling. That aide, Edwin Guthman, would later recount it in his book “We Band of Brothers.” “I thought they would get one of us,” Bobby said, adding, “I thought it would be me.” In his second-floor library, Bobby tried to displace his grief with action, changing his clothes and then working the phones, according to previously published interviews with some of the people he interacted with in those initial hours. Reaching a Secret Service agent at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Bobby told him to make sure there was a priest at his brother’s side. The actions the attorney general took in these first crucial hours underscored the various, critical roles he played as the nation’s top law enforcement official, as his brother’s chief protector, and as the Kennedy clan’s chief executive after his father suffered a debilitating stroke less than a year into JFK’s presidency. Bobby called Defense Secretary Robert McNamara to arrange transport for him to Dallas, figuring he would head there. He took a call from John McCone, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and asked him, “Jack, can you come over?” He called family members, handing out assignments based on their individual strengths. His sister Jean, who was closest to the first lady, would fly to Washington to be with Jackie when she returned, while sister Eunice, who was closest to their mother, would fly to the family compound in Hyannis Port to be with Rose, according to William Manchester’s book “Death of a President.” Meanwhile, he decided his younger brother Teddy would also fly to Hyannis Port, giving him the toughest task: breaking the news to their father. That, Joseph Kennedy’s personal nurse, Rita Dallas, said in an interview, would require some elaborate choreography. While awaiting Teddy’s arrival, the household staff had to pretend that the patriarch’s TV set was broken, a ruse to prevent him from learning the devastating news about his son from newsman Walter Cronkite. Bobby called National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, and, according to Manchester, instructed him to have the locks changed on his brother’s files, knowing that a new president, a man he did not trust, would soon be in charge. As for that new president in waiting, Bobby took a call from Lyndon Johnson as he sat aboard Air Force One, phoning to get from the attorney general the precise wording for the oath of office he would soon take. The conversation between RFK and LBJ, like their relationship itself, was strained, with their mutual disrespect barely concealed. Even in his grief, Bobby had to recognize this: He may have been the second most powerful man in government, but the assassin’s bullet that killed the president had also gravely weakened his brother. It would usher into the Oval Office the man he had aggressively tried to keep off the ticket in 1960, and then had belittled and ostracized for the three years that followed. There would be payback. When McCone arrived from CIA headquarters, Bobby paced the lawn of his estate with him. As Bobby later told historian and aide Arthur Schlesinger, he asked McCone point blank if the CIA “had killed my brother, and I asked him in a way that he couldn’t lie to me, and they hadn’t.” McCone was a devout Catholic, leading many to believe that their shared faith was behind Bobby’s confidence in the CIA director’s candor." It was a confusing time, I am sure, but whose account carries the most weight, Taylor's son or McNamara's which seems to be contradicted in some ways by those with Kennedy at the time? I don't have that answer but appreciate how you are looking deeper into Maxwell Taylor's potential involvement in the assassination story Ron.....something I have been looking at for years. Jim Root
  11. Ron Interesting. Am I correct about the military not being put on high alert? Jim Root
  12. Ron I will try to find the exact cite but the information, if I remember correctly, comes from, "An American Soldier: the Wars of General Maxwell Taylor" John M. Taylor, Presidio Press, 1989 (john Taylor being Maxwell's son). Taylor himself had been in a heated argument with Kennedy over the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 which, Taylor felt, put the US at a disadvantage with the Soviet Union in the development of small scale nuclear weapons. John J. McCloy agreed with Taylor on that point and actually refused Kennedy's request to negotiate the Limited Test Ban Treaty with the Soviets. Need to note that McCloy did not want the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1960 as well and the U-2 Incident led to the failure of the Paris Summit where the 1960 Treaty was to be signed. After Kennedy's assassination McCloy was brought back as Johnson's Chief Arms negotiator. An interesting read is Maxwell Taylors speech to the graduating class at West Point in 1963 where he refers to the president as the "temporary custodian" of the Constitution. In the same group of activities leading up to that graduation John J. McCloy receives the Sylvanus Thayer Award and Edwin Walker resigns as a member of the West Point Alumni Association. Some cotemporary input from others that knew Taylor: "Military Analyst S.L.A. (Slam) Marshall of the Detroit News, a retired brigadier general and one of the nation's leading military historians (The River and the Gauntlet), has serious reservations about the man he followed through Normandy, Holland, Belgium and Korea. "I think I know Max Taylor as well as any man in America. He was an extraordinary battle commander-the most tightly self disciplined officer I ever knew. But Taylor is the wrong man for this job. Taylor is not a conciliator. He's actively interested in the exercise of power for his own sake." Add this prophetic statement about Taylor in the same article that preceeded the assassiantion of John F. Kennedy by two years: "He'd never mix with the fellows when we went on a trips, drink a beer or join in chitchat. He'd go over in a corner of the plane and read a book." Says one Hill leader, "I see nothing but trouble ahead." Lawerence D. Freedman stated in a Foreighn Affairs article (September/October 2002): "During the Cuban missile crisis, for example, the first offerings from the Joint Chiefs of Staff set as the U.S. objective the liberation of Cuba, even as the president set down the more restricted goal of removing offensive weapons from the island. When asked what the Soviet reaction might be to their preferred option of massive air strikes against the island, the brass answered, "Soviet reaction unknown." And they were still pressing for offensive action when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceded.' "Kennedy later remarked that the first advice he would give to his successor was "to watch the generals" and not think that "just because they were military men their opinions on military matters were worth a damn." Some thoughts... Taylor was a special opps kind of guy. He did his famous mission to Rome in 1944 and if my information is correct other covert trips into Rome during WWII. His association with the Japanese language program in Tokyo prior to WWII (that became associated with Friedmans code work and the creation of the NSA), his pre Pearl Harbor South American tour, his creation of the "Green Berets", his battles with the other service Chiefs of Staff during the Eisenhower administration, his battles with Eisenhower on how the Army should be used, his conflict with the Air Force in matters of budget allocation and how the next war would be fought, etc., etc. show that Taylor could be discribed as an "independent thinker and lone wolf." Taylor, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff held authority over NSA's General Blake, a former student of Taylors, he had a certain amount of control over the movements of the President via Chester Clifton and influence in the CIA through Marshall Carter, Deputy Director of the CIA. Both Carter and Blake were classmates of Edwin Walker at West Point and I have, in previous threads, addressed the associations between Taylor and Walker. I have read that by the early 1960's NSA was controlling a majority of the US intelligence budget (Puzzle Palace). While in the mind of the public the CIA was the leading intelligence agency we have now learned that this was just not true. And the reality is that the NSA was associated with the Army from the begining. Taylor, with a great amount of influence in the Kennedy Administration and with the internal and international power associated with control of the NSA was in a position to impose his will upon the American public. But perhaps not without the approval of his old tennis buddy John J. McCloy. Jim Root
  13. Maxwell Taylor, at the time of the Assassination, was alone in his pentagon office. He had just taken a break from meeting with a group of NATO Brass and asked that he not be disturbed while in his office. After the assassination Taylor, who had been distrurbed with the information, returned to his meeting and as I understand it did not put the US Military on highest alert (please correct me if I am wrong about the alert part). Taylor's actions remind me of the actions of George Marshall. Dispite the fact that the US Government/military knew we were about to be attacked somewhere on Dec. 7, 1941 and we had a pretty good idea of exactly when the attack would occur (from Japanese intercepts translated by John Hurt) George Marshall chose to be alone and away from his desk (horseback riding alone) as we entered the "fog of war." Max Taylor was George Marshall's secretary at that time (one of I believe six secretaries). Jim Root
  14. Craig Let me know what you dig up on Belasco.......I had to go deep but the few degrees of separation creates some interesting potential connections....maybe nothing except that Virginia comes on the Ruby scene just prior to the assassination. Jim Root
  15. Gene I think you ask a great question, "Was there something going on around April of 1963 in Walker's life ... something that may have been supported or enhanced by someone taking a potshot at him? " But I would change the Question to "Was there something going on around April of 1963 in Oswald's life ... something that may have been supported or enhanced by someone taking a potshot at him (Walker)? You bring up the potential of three Oswald targets that seem unconnected, but are they? According to Oswald, Walker was the leader of a bad organization that did not want to see peace between the Soviet Union and the United States. Where does Oswald come up with that in the then current political atmosphere that Walker was living within? Richard Nixon was a former Vice President and the man who lost to Kennedy in the 1960 election. And Kennedy was the current President of the United States. What connects them? Shortly after the April 10th attempt on Walker's life, (involved or not) Oswald left Dallas and went to New Orleans. While there he delivered a speech at spring hill college. From a series of posts I did in 2005: Summary of a Speech by Lee Harvey Oswald Jesuit House of Studies, Spring Hill College Mobile, Alabama-July 27, 1963 Source: CE 2649 WC Volume XXV Robert J. Fitzpatrick who spoke to several students who attended the speech prepared the following summary. The summary was prepared after Fitzpatrick learned of Oswald's arrest in connection with the assassination of JFK. On Saturday, July 27, 1963, a relative of Lee Oswald, a member of the community at the Jesuit House of Studies, asked Mr. Oswald if he would address the scholastics on his experiences in Russia. The request was not unusual, for the scholastics try from time to time to have either prominent persons or others who have something interesting to relate speak to the scholastics on their experiences. Because Mr. Oswald was an American who had gone to live in Russia and who had returned, obviously for a reason, it was thought that he might be able to communicate the nature of the Russian people themselves better than any official reports might. Those who went to listen to him expected to hear a man who had been disillusioned with Soviet communism and had chosen America to it. What they heard was only partially this. The major points of Mr. Oswald's address and details from it are given below, probably never in verbatim form, but always true to his intent, at least as he was heard by a number of people. He worked in a factory in Minsk. When he applied for permission to live in the Soviet Union, the Russian authorities had assigned him to a fairly well advanced area, the Minsk area. He said that this was a common practice: showing foreigners those places of which Russians can be proudest. The factory life impressed him with the care it provided for the workers. Dances, social gatherings, sports were all benefits for the factory workers. Mr. Oswald belonged to a factory-sponsored hunting club. He and a group of workers would go into the farm regions around Minsk for hunting trips. They would spend the night in the outlying villages, and thus came to know Russian peasant life too. In general, the peasants were very poor, often close to starvation. When the hunting party was returning to Minsk, it would often leave what it had shot with the village people because of their lack of food. He spoke of having even left the food he had brought with him from town. In connection with the hunting party, he mentioned that they had only shotguns, for pistols and rifles are prohibited by Russian law. Some details of village life: In each hut there was a radio speaker, even in huts where there was no running water or electricity. The speaker was attached to a cord that ran back to a common receiver. Thus the inhabitants of the hut could never change stations or turn off the radio. They had to listen to everything that came through it, day or night. In connection with radios, he said that there was a very large radio-jamming tower that was larger than anything else in Minsk. More about factories: factory meetings were held which all had to attend. Everyone attended willingly and in a good frame of mind. Things came up for discussion and voting, but no one ever voted no. The meetings were, in a sense, formalities. If anyone did not attend, he would lose his job. Mr. Oswald said that he had met his wife at a factory social. The workers, he said, were not against him because he was an American. When the U-2 incident was announced over the factory radio system, the workers were very angry with the United States, but not with him, even though he was an American. He made the point that he disliked capitalism because it's foundation was the exploitation of the poor. He implied, but did not state directly, that he was disappointed in Russia because the full principals of Marxism were not lived up to and the gap between Marxist theory and the Russian practice disillusioned him with Russian communism. He said, "Capitalism doesn't work, communism doesn't work. In the middle is socialism and that doesn't work either". After his talk, a question and answer period followed. Some questions and his answers: Q: How did you come to be interested in Marxism? To go to Russia? A: He had studied Marxism, became convinced of it and wanted to see if it had worked for the Russian people. Q: What does atheism do to morality? How can have morality without God? A: No matter whether people believe in God or not, they will do what they want to. The Russian people don't need God for morality; they are naturally very moral, honest, faithful in marriage. Q: What is the sexual morality in comparison with the United States? A: It is better in Russia than in the United States. Its foundation there is the good of the state. Q: What impressed you most about Russia? What did you like most? A: The care that the state provides for everyone. If a man gets sick, no matter what his status is, how poor he is, the state will take care of him. Q: What impresses you most about the United States? A: The material prosperity. In Russia it is very hard to buy even a suit or a pair of shoes, and even when you can get them, they are very expensive. Q: What do the Russia people think of Khrushchev? Do they like him better than Stalin? A: They like Khrushchev much better. He is a working man, a peasant. An exampleOf the kind of things he does: Once at a party broadcast over the radio, he had a Little too much to drink and he began to swear over the radio. That's the kind of thing he does. Q: What about religion among the young people in Russia? A: Religion is dead among the youth of Russia. Q: Why did you return to the United States? (The question was not asked in exactly this way, but this is its content). A: When he saw that Russia was lacking, he wanted to come back to the United States, which is so much better off materially. (He still held the ideals of the Soviets, was still a Marxist, but did not like the widespread lack of material goods that the Russians had to endure). More points that were contained in the main part of his talk: He lived in Russia from 1959 to 1962. He only implied that the practice in Russia differed from the theory, he never stated it directly. The policy of Russia was important: After death of Stalin, a peace reaction. Then an anti-Stalin reaction. A peace movement leading up to the Paris conference. The U-2 incident and its aftermath. At the factory he had trouble at first meeting the men. They did not accept him at first. He joined a hunting club. He belonged to two or three discussion groups. He praised the Soviets for rebuilding so much and for concentrating on heavy industry. He said at one point that if the Negroes in the United States knew that it was so good in Russia, they'd want to go there. Another question: Q: Why don't the Russians see that they are being indoctrinated and that they are being denied the truth by these jamming stations? A: They are convinced that such contact would harm them and would be dangerous. They are convinced that the state is doing them a favor by denying them access to Western radio broadcasts. I think it is interesting to note that the U-2 incident and the Paris Peace Summit "were contained in the main part of his talk". Were they important to him for a reason? I still believe that the U-2 Incident and the failure of the Paris Peace Summit and the part that Oswald may have played in it did play heavily on Oswald's mind. From my post in 2005: Appendix 15: Transactions Between Lee Harvey Oswald and Marina Oswald, and the U.S. Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice "...on October 31, 1959, a Saturday, Oswald presented himself at the American Embassy in Moscow....Oswald stated to Snyder that he had voluntarily told Soviet officials that he would make known to them all information concerning the Marine Corps and his specialty therein, radar operation, as he possessed." "... the Embassy received an undated letter from Oswald postmarked Minsk, February 5. The letter stated: Since I have not received a reply to my letter of December 1960, I am writing again asking that you consider my request for the return of my American passport. I desire to return to the United States, that is if we could come to some agreement concerning the dropping of any legal proceedings against me. If so, than I would be free to ask the Russian authorities to allow me to leave. If I could show them my American passport, I am of the opinion they would give me an exit " "On May 26, 1961, the Embassy sent a despatch to the Department 94 advising that on May 25, 1961, it had received a letter from Oswald Page 754 postmarked Moscow, May 16, 1961.95 In his latest letter Oswald said he wanted "to make it clear"" that he was asking for full guarantees that he would not be prosecuted "under any circumstances" should he return to the United States. Oswald went on to say that if the Embassy could not give him these assurances, he would "endeavor to use my relatives in the United States, to see about getting something done in Washington" However, on Saturday, July 8, 1961, before the Embassy had received the response from Washington, Oswald appeared without warning at the Embassy in Moscow. "...He denied that he had made any derogatory statements concerning the United States to radio, press, or TV in the Soviet Union, and he denied that he had turned over any information to the Russians as he had threatened to do in the 1959 interview with Snyder." He, Oswald seemed worried that the US Govt. might have reason to prosecute him for?????? Oswald while in custody after the assassination of JFK said "The reason I am being arrested is because I went to the Soviet Union, I'm a patsy." Trying to tie so many loose ends together is difficult but let me try: Nixon was Vice President when the U-2 was shot down and the Paris Summit failed (I suggest that if the Paris Summit happens Nixon wins the Presidency but John J. McCloy did not want that summit to happen). I have shown that it is possible for Walker to have been on a plane with Oswald as he left London and journeyed to Helsinki (why passenger lists were never presented as evidence in the Warren Commission Report) which connects Walker to the group that did not want the Paris Summit to happen. And Kennedy? As President of the United States an assassins trial would be the biggest news ever and Oswald could show (with his Left leaning attorney Jonathan Abt) the subterfuge that he (Oswald) had gotten caught up in.....the PATSY. Jim Root
  16. Gene In 1962 Edwin Walker ran for Governor of Texas in the Democratic Primary. Walker, I believe came in last place. Any thought of a political career had been embarrassingly erased by April 1963 when the failed assassination attempt occurred. Jim Root
  17. Craig Might also point out that name "Virginia Belasco" who popped on the scene again just prior to the assassination.......interesting family connections!
  18. Craig A few quotes from the Warren Commission about Ruby and his feelings and actions as a person of Jewish descent: "Jack Ruby's mother, Fannie Rubenstein, was probably born in 1875 near Warsaw, Poland. She followed her husband to the United States in 1904 or 1905, accompanied by her children Hyman and Ann. An illiterate woman, she went to night school in about 1920 to learn how to sign her name. She apparently failed in this endeavor, however, for an alien registration form, filed after about 35 years in the United States, was signed by an "X". Although she apparently learned some English, her speech was predominantly Yiddish, the primary language of the Rubenstein household." "In 1911, when Jack Ruby was born, his family resided near 14th and Newberry Streets in Chicago, the first in a series of Jewish neighborhoods in which the Rubensteins lived during his childhood." "Young Jack soon showed the effects of parental discord. On June 6, 1922, at the age of 11, he was referred to the Institute for Juvenile Research by the Jewish Social Service Bureau." "On July 10, 1923, a dependency hearing involving Jack, his younger brothers Sam and Earl, and his sister Eileen, was held in Chicago's juvenile court. The petition alleged that the children were not receiving proper parental care. They had, until then, been in their mother's custody, living on Roosevelt Road, the border between Jewish and Italian districts. The juvenile court made a finding of dependency. It appointed the Jewish Home Finding Society guardian with the right to place the children in foster homes, and it ordered Joseph Rubenstein to pay the court clerk $4 per week for the support of each child." "Records of the Institute for Juvenile Research revealed that, as of June 1922, Ruby had no religious education outside the public school system. However, according to their children, Jack's parents made some effort to inculcate in them a desire to adhere to the tenets of Orthodox Judaism. Jewish dietary and festival laws were observed and several of the children accompanied Joseph Rubenstein to the synagogue. Earl Ruby stated that all the boys received some Hebrew school training until the breakup of the Rubenstein home in 1921. However, Hyman Rubenstein testified that the instability and economic necessities of the household and the children's relationships outside the home frustrated the religious efforts of Ruby's parents." "One friend reported that although Ruby always associated with Jewish people, he never exhibited great interest in religion. Ruby met Virginia Belasco, granddaughter of the prominent playwright and actor, David Belasco, in about 1936 at a dance at the Jewish community center in San Francisco. Miss Belasco stated that while a teenager she saw Ruby socially on several occasions between 1936 and 1941." "The evidence indicates that Ruby led a normal social life during these years. Virginia Belasco stated that while Ruby was selling punch boards in New York during November 1941, he entertained her each weekend. Other reports indicate that Ruby fancied himself a "ladies' man," enjoyed dancing, almost always had female accompaniment and was "very gentlemanly" with women. Ruby, with several friends, frequently attempted to disrupt rallies of the German-American Bund. One acquaintance reported that Ruby was responsible for "cracking a few heads" of Bund members. Apparently he joined in this activity for ethnic rather than political reasons. The young men in the group were not organized adherents of any particular political creed, but were pool hall and tavern companions from Ruby's Jewish neighborhood who gathered on the spur of the moment to present opposition when they learned that the pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic Bund movement was planning a meeting. Hyman Rubenstein testified that Ruby would fight with any person making derogatory comments about, his ethnic origins, and others have stated that Ruby would fight with anyone he suspected of pro-Nazi or anti-Semitic tendencies." (Bold and underlining mine) "Two persons who recalled Ruby while he was in the Army Air Forces asserted that he was extremely sensitive to insulting remarks about Jews. When, during an argument, a sergeant called Ruby a "Jew bastard," Ruby reportedly attacked him and beat him with his fists." "Following his return from the Army, Ruby was described as ready to fight with any person who insulted Jews or the military. Earl Ruby testified that on one occasion in 1946, Jack returned from downtown Chicago with his suit covered with blood. He explained at that time that he had fought with a person who had called him a "dirty Jew or something like that." "Reared in the Jewish faith, Jack Ruby was not especially devout. Rabbi Hillel Silverman, whose conservative temple Ruby favored, reported that when Ruby's father died in 1958, Ruby came to services twice daily for the prescribed period of 11 months to recite the traditional memorial prayer. Ruby normally attended services only on the Jewish high truly days and he was quite unfamiliar with the Hebrew language."(Bold and underlining mine) "Ruby was apparently somewhat sensitive to his identity as a Jew. He forbade his comedians to tell stories directed at Jews or Jewish practices and, on several occasions after 1947, he fought with persons making derogatory remarks about his ethnic origins. The evidence also indicates that he was deeply upset that an advertisement insulting President Kennedy appeared above a Jewish-sounding name." "In 1951, Ruby attacked a man who had called him a "kike Jew" and knocked out a tooth." And finally I will add this from my prior post: 'I saw Jack and two out-of-state reporters, whom I did not know, leave the elevator door and proceed toward those television cameras, to go around the corner where Captain Fritz's office was. Jack walked between them. these two out-of-state reporters had big press cards pinned on their coats, great big red ones, I think they said "President Kennedy's Visit to Dallas-Press", or something like that. And Jack didn't have one, but the man on either side of him did. and they walked pretty rapidly from the elevator area past the policeman, and Jack was bent over like this-writting on a piece of paper, and talking to one of the reporters, and pointing to something on the peice of paper, he was kind of hynched over." Newsman John Rutledge (WC Report Pg 340) "Detective Augustus M. Eberhardt, who also recalled that he first saw Ruby earlier in the evening, said Ruby carried a note pad and professed to be a translator for the Israeli press." (WC Report Pg. 342) Jim Root
  19. David GPH related that same story to me. What is most interesting is that Hemming knew both Oswald and Walker and that, it seems, Hemming met with Oswald just prior to Oswald's journey to the Soviet Union perhaps suggesting a connection of some sort between Walker and Oswald. I have written a great deal about the possibility of Walker and Oswald being on a flight out of London as Oswald was working his way toward Helsinki. If true it would be a wonderful reason why the Warren Commission failed to review and present the passenger lists (which were available) for the flights that Oswald used to get to Helsinki. Oswald is reported to have "stalked" Walker and to suggest that Walker was the leader of and organization that did not want to see piece between the Soviet Union and the United States. Strange that Oswald did not seem to look at Walker as the staunch "Right Wing" segregationist persona that Walker was portrayed as during that time in the press. Strange bedfellows.
  20. Back in 2004 I posted this about Ruby's movements: A few weeks ago I began a Topic about the two "reporters" with Jack Ruby at the DPD the night of the assassination. As of this time I have had no response but thought I would provide this additional information. What are your thoughts about these portions of the Warren Report. I heard a great deal of the newsreel tape was distroyed but I have never seen the two men with "badges," such as are discribed by John Rutledge. "At 9:00 p.m. he (Ruby) telphoned Ralph Paul but was unable to persuade Paul to join him at synagogue services." (WC Report, Pg 338) "From his apartment, Ruby drove to Temple Shearith Israel, arriving near the end of a 2-hour service which had begun at 8 p.m." (WC Report, Pg 339) "Ruby is known to have made his way, by about 11:30 p.m., to the third floor of the Dallas Police Department..." (WC Report, Pg 339) 'I saw Jack and two out-of-state reporters, whom I did not know, leave the elevator door and proceed toward those television cameras, to go around the corner where Captain Fritz's office was. Jack walked between them. these two out-of-state reporters had big press cards pinned on their coats, great big red ones, I think they said "President Kennedy's Visit to Dallas-Press", or something like that. And Jack didn't have one, but the man on either side of him did. and they walked pretty rapidly from the elevator area past the policeman, and Jack was bent over like this-writting on a piece of paper, and talking to one of the reporters, and pointing to something on the peice of paper, he was kind of hynched over." Newsman John Rutledge (WC Report Pg 340) "Detective Augustus M. Eberhardt, who also recalled that he first saw Ruby earlier in the evening, said Ruby carried a note pad and professed to be a translator for the Israeli press." (WC Report Pg. 342) He accompanied the newsmen to the basement to observe Oswald. His presence at the midnight news conference is established by television tapes and by at least 12 witnesses." (WC Report Pg. 342) When questioned about his (Ruby) lie detector test this information is gleaned from the administrator of the test: (Testimony of Bell P. Herndon) Mr. Specter. Will movement or speaking cause a variation in the tracings ordinarily, Mr. Herndon? Mr. Herndon. Yes. Body movements or speaking any phrase or sentence would certainly cause changes in the physiological patterns as displayed on the polygraph. <span style='color:red'>I made notation of that, however, and that explains the changes On question No. 2, Mr. Ruby did show a significant drop in the relative blood pressure. This question pertained to: "Did you go to the Dallas police station at any time on Friday November 22, 1963, before you went to the synagogue? I asked him about this question later when he responded "No," and I noticed a physiological change. He advised that there was some man by the name of John Rutledge, and he made an association with proceedings at the trial which I have reason to believe this gentleman, John Rutledge, differed with what Ruby stated as to when he went to the synagogue.</span><span style='color:blue'>Due to the nature of this change, however, it is possible that it was caused by a body motion that I failed to detect during the actual response.</span> I notice that the cardio pen dropped all the way down and hit what we call the limit screws. This frequently is caused by a sudden rapid shift in his body position, and this change could have been caused by a body movement. With regard to the other relevant questions in this series, question 4, question 6, and question 8, there was no significant deviation from his normal physiological patterns. (Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XIV - Page 594) It seems Jack Ruby may have been nervous about answering questions that delt with Rutledge's, who identified him with the "two out of state" newsmen, testimony and his trip to the synagogue. This particular question created a "a physiological change" or was it just body motion that Herndon, " failed to detect during the actual response"? Jim Root
  21. The Sixth Floor Museum has some great news footage from the morning following the assassination attempt on Walker. The layout of the room where Walker was sitting is much different from what I supposed it to be when I first read about the shooting. From the reading it seems that all an assassin had to do was support their rifle on a wood fence and fire at a sitting target directly in front of them. NOT the case. if you picture a room with a rectangular shape Walker was sitting against the far left wall. The window was somewhat centrally located on the exterior wall so the shooter had to position them self at distance to the far right of the room to be able to target Walker. The footage shows the broken wooden frame surrounding the window pane that the shot was fired through. Walker declares that the shot went through his hair (who knows) but if Walker was sitting at his desk (as he said he was) the bullet hole in the wall shows a very close call for the General. The broken wood frame may well have deflected the shot just enough to miss. Most researchers take a position on Oswald's proficiency as a shooter. If as the Warren Commission suggests Oswald did fire a single shot at Walker and three shots at Kennedy.....Oswald only hit on 50% of his shots......not very proficient. Jim Root
  22. W. Averell Harriman was tasked with negotiating the Limited Test Ban Treaty after John J. McCloy refused to participate. McCloy wanted a comprehensive treaty that was, McCloy felt at the time, available to the World after the Cuban Missile Crisis. I personally believe this may be the single biggest contributor to the ultimate death of Kennedy. I cannot seem to shake a feeling that there is a tie to the failure of the first Limited Test Ban Treaty that was to be signed at the Paris Summit, the U-2 incident that led to the failure of the Paris Summit, to Lee Harvey Oswald's defection to Soviet Union and the downing of the U-2. All may coincide with John J. McCloy's disdain for both treaties. Jim Root
  23. Thank you for the heads up Douglas. Next on my reading list. In particular Richard Helms work in Stockholm I find the most fascinating. Jim Root
  24. Paul I tend to believe, as you do, that Ruth Paine was an innocent (albeit close) bystander to the events of Nov. 22. I do not believe that Ruth Paine gave the FBI the note that Oswald had written on April 10th, at least not knowingly. I believe she gave them a book that contained the note without really knowing what was in that book. The Commission evaluated the following evidence in considering whether Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shot which almost killed General Walker: (1) A note which Oswald left for his wife on the evening of the shooting, photographs found among Oswald's possessions after the assassination of President Kennedy, (3) firearm identification of the bullet found in Walker's home, and (4) admissions and other statements made to Marina Oswald by Oswald concerning the shooting. Note left by Oswald.---On December 2, 1963, Mrs. Ruth Paine turned over to the police some of the Oswalds' belongings, including a Russian volume entitled "Book of Useful Advice." In this book was an undated note written in Russian. In translation, the note read as follows: 1. This is the key to the mailbox which is located in the main post office in the city on Ervay Street. This is the same street where the drugstore, in which you always waited is located. You will find the mailbox in the post office which is located 4 blocks from the drugstore on that street. I paid for the box last month so don't worry about it. 2. Send the information as to what has happened to me to the Embassy and include newspaper clippings (should there be anything about me in the newspapers). I believe that the Embassy will come quickly to your assistance on learning everything. 3. I paid the house rent on the 2d so don't worry about it. 4. Recently I also paid for water and gas. 5. The money from work will possibly be coming. The money will be sent to our post office box. Go to the bank and cash the check. 6. You can either throw out or give my clothing, etc. away. Do not keep these. However, I prefer that you hold on to my personal papers (military, civil, etc.). 7. Certain of my documents are in the small blue valise. 8. The address book can be found on my table in the study should need same. 9. We have friends here. The Red Cross also will help you [Red Cross in English]. 10. I left you as much money as I could, $60 on the second of the month. You and the baby [apparently] can live for another 2 months using $10 per week. 11. If I am alive and taken prisoner, the city jail is located at the end of the bridge through which we always passed on going to the city (right in the beginning of the city after crossing the bridge). James C. Cadigan, FBI handwriting expert, testified that this note was written by Lee Harvey Oswald. Jim root
  25. Paul I am confused about the dates......I was under the impression that it was the 14th that DeM went to the Oswald's residence???? "On April 14, 1963, George de Mohrenschildt and his wife, Jeanne, visited the Oswalds' apartment. As Oswald's wife, Marina was showing Jeanne around the apartment, they discovered Oswald's rifle leaning against the wall inside a closet. Jeanne told George that Oswald had a rifle, and George joked to Oswald, 'Were you the one who took a pot-shot at General Walker?'" Jim root
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