Robert D. Steel, ONI Special Agent who congratulated Paul Bentley for arresting Oswald

[Thomas Graves]

On 1/14/2016 at 3:43 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 1/14/2016 at 3:23 AM, Ian Lloyd said:

On 4/7/2015 at 5:03 PM, Thomas Graves said:

On 4/7/2015 at 5:02 PM, Thomas Graves said:

Vanessa,

 

Everyone can remember where they were and what they were doing except, of course, the retired ONI special agent, Robert David Steel, who told me he had "very probably" done the investigation of Oswald at El Toro when Oswald defected to Russia, who was a good friend of Oswald's arrester, Paul Bentley, and whom I interviewed on tape a few years ago (and which tape I am still waiting for Bill Kelly to return to me). Steele could remember how long his small WW II ship (USS Sea Scout) was, where he was when he heard that Pearl Harbor had been attacked (Brownwood, Texas), but for the life of him he couldn't seem to remember where he was when he heard JFK had been shot.

 

But I digress.

 

--Tommy

Vanessa Loney, on 06 Apr 2015 - 9:13 PM, said:

On 4/6/2015 at 9:13 PM, Vanessa Loney said:

Hi Tommy

Well, there's only two possible explanations for that. He was either 1) in Dealey Plaza doing the shooting; or 2) Prayer Man.

 

Vanessa,

 

Good one!

 

Btw, when I asked him where the ONI office was situated in Dallas in 1963, he said, "It was across the street (from the TSBD?), it was in the Postal building (the Terminal Annex Building had a post office in it !), it was in the building Kennedy was killed from ("killed from" meaning where the command center / observation center was located? -- maybe even Harry Holmes' upper floor office?) "

 

But I digress, again.

 

--Tommy

Tommy,

When he said "...it was the building Kennedy was killed from.", did you follow that up with anything like "Can you elaborate on that please?" or "I thought he was supposed to have been killed from the TSBD"??? If so (I presume you did, I certainly would have), what was his response?

Ian,

Thanks for asking.

"[The ONI office] was across the street. It was in the Postal Building. It was in the building Kennedy was killed from." -- Robert D. Steel

When he said that, my first thought was that he was confused on the location of the TSBD, or the location of the Main Post Office on North Ervay, or the route of the motorcade or something. But I didn't correct him or prompt him right away. I intuited that he'd said something very significant and I was simultaneously trying to formulate a good follow-up question and hoping that my silence while doing so would make him a little nervous and that he'd say some more interesting stuff on his own, and I didn't want to influence him on that. What I did say finally was, "The Postal Building (i.e., the Terminal Annex Building) was on the south side of Dealey Plaza."

At that point he just stared at me rather blankly and muttered / almost whispered the word, "Yes" with a slight note of resignation in his voice. I don't want to sound overly dramatic here, but I do remember thinking that he looked like the proverbial "deer caught in the headlights."

Perhaps I should have pressed him on what the heck he meant by, "[The ONI office] was in the building that Kennedy was killed from," but I didn't.

I thought I'd touched a nerve; that he realized that he'd nearly "let the cat out of the bag big-time," and my intuition as a first-time interviewer told me that he'd told me something very significant, but something I didn't quite understand yet, and that he might volunteer something later in the interview that would help me to understand.

I thought that if I asked him to explain what he'd just said, that he would clam up.

I did the best that I could.

[...]

--Tommy

Edited and bumped for intelligent comments / feedback

Edited March 18, 2018 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

On 1/14/2016 at 4:52 AM, Greg Parker said:

On 1/14/2016 at 4:40 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 1/14/2016 at 4:33 AM, Thomas Graves said:

On 1/14/2016 at 4:27 AM, Greg Parker said:

Quote

my intuition told me

You got the big Kahuna himself this time, Tommy. The Devil is the 15th card in the deck. It boils down to 6 numerologically speaking and 6 is one third of His number. So you were being a little bit devilish when you invoked my name. Not too much. Just a little bit. The Devil himself is half goat. Appropriate as He is everyone's favorite Scapegoat. Who are scpaegoating here, Tommy?

Don't make me draw another card to find out.

Dear Greg,

Go Find yourself.

--Tommy

Are experienced interviewers / interrogators of retired long-time ONI special agents who are suspected, by those interviewers / interrogators, of being complicit in the assassination of an American President expected to use their intuition in said interviews / interrogations?

Yes?

Well, what about inexperienced interviewers / interrogators, then?

Greg,

Do you use intuition when you write your beautiful but sad award-winning poetry?

Are you mad, bad, and dangerous to know?

Well, are you?

Do you feel threatened?

Should you?

--Tommy

Edited March 18, 2018 by Thomas Graves

[Ian Lloyd]

Vanessa,

Everyone can remember where they were and what they were doing except, of course, the retired ONI special agent, Robert David Steel, who told me he had "very probably" done the investigation of Oswald at El Toro when Oswald defected to Russia, who was a good friend of Oswald's arrester, Paul Bentley, and whom I interviewed on tape a few years ago (and which tape I am still waiting for Bill Kelly to return to me). Steele could remember how long his small WW II ship (USS Sea Scout) was, where he was when he heard that Pearl Harbor had been attacked (Brownwood, Texas), but for the life of him he couldn't seem to remember where he was when he heard JFK had been shot.

But I digress.

--Tommy

Vanessa Loney, on 06 Apr 2015 - 9:13 PM, said:

Hi Tommy

Well, there's only two possible explanations for that. He was either 1) in Dealey Plaza doing the shooting; or 2) Prayer Man.

Vanessa,

Good one!

Btw, when I asked him where the ONI office was situated in Dallas in 1963, he said, "It was across the street (from the TSBD?), it was in the Postal building (the Terminal Annex Building had a post office in it !), it was in the building Kennedy was killed from ("killed from" meaning where the command center / observation center was located? -- maybe even Harry Holmes' upper floor office?) "

But I digress, again.

--Tommy

Tommy,

When he said "...it was the building Kennedy was killed from.", did you follow that up with anything like "Can you elaborate on that please?" or "I thought he was supposed to have been killed from the TSBD"??? If so (I presume you did, I certainly would have), what was his response?

Ian,

Thanks for asking.

"[The ONI office] was across the street. It was in the Postal Building. It was in the building Kennedy was killed from." -- Robert D. Steel

When he said that, my first thought was that he was confused on the location of the TSBD, or the location of the Main Post Office on North Ervay, or the route of the motorcade or something. But I didn't correct him or prompt him right away. I intuited that he'd said something very significant and I was simultaneously trying to formulate a good follow-up question and hoping that my silence while doing so would make him a little nervous and that he'd say some more interesting stuff on his own, and I didn't want to influence him on that. What I did say finally was, "The Postal Building (i.e., the Terminal Annex Building) was on the south side of Dealey Plaza."

At that point he just stared at me rather blankly and muttered / almost whispered the word, "Yes" with a slight note of resignation in his voice. I don't want to sound overly dramatic here, but I do remember thinking that he looked like the proverbial "deer caught in the headlights."

Perhaps I should have pressed him on what the heck he meant by, "[The ONI office] was in the building that Kennedy was killed from," but I didn't.

I thought I'd touched a nerve; that he realized that he'd nearly "let the cat out of the bag big-time," and my intuition as a first-time interviewer told me that he'd told me something very significant, but something I didn't quite understand yet, and that he might volunteer something later in the interview that would help me to understand.

I think my intuition told me that if I asked him to explain what he'd just said, that he would clam up.

Maybe I was a lousy interviewer, but I feel I did the best that I could.

[...]

--Tommy

Tommy,

Thanks you for your considered response. I understand how it must have been when you heard that...Whilst I stated that I would have asked, in reality, i wonder if I would have since, as you say, I'd probably be considering whether he'd then just clam up if pushed, having realised that he'd just let something slip...

Edited January 14, 2016 by Ian Lloyd

[Thomas Graves]

Tommy,

 

Thanks you for your considered response. I understand how it must have been when you heard that...Whilst I stated that I would have asked, in reality, I wonder if I would have since, as you say, I'd probably be considering whether he'd then just clam up if pushed, having realised that he'd just let something slip... -- Ian Lloyd

 

 

Ian,

Thanks for the intelligent response and the "moral support."

It was starting to feel a little "hellish" around here.

--Tommy

Edited March 18, 2018 by Thomas Graves

[Ian Lloyd]

I don't like wasting time, energy and/or bandwidth!!!

[Greg Parker]

To answer your question, it's known as putting two plus two together and reading between the lines and using a little intuition.

Hmmm. May as well read the IChing or tea leaves.

I prefer Tarot. You drew the Two of Books.

This depicts the Two Faces of Tommy. The Geezer with the hammer is the Tommy of Today - apparently right down to dress sense. He thinks what someone said can be hammered into shape for his purposes.

The Old Tommy - who is really the Young Tommy, on the other hand, is far wiser. He knows that whilst money doesn't grow on trees, books do, but that they should not be consumed until they are ripe. Unfortunately for Old Tommy (recalling that he is really the Young Tommy) by the time they are ripe, they are beyond his reach.

Alas, both Tommys are in a bad place.

Greg,

Great post! Very witty! And artistic! And poetic in a free-verse-kind-of-way!

But why so much animosity?

Don't want the ONI to be involved in the assassination of JFK?

Or you do, but only on your terms?

Something that will fit in with your book, won't contradict it?

--Tommy

There is no animosity.

You are simply reading into someone's muddled statement what fits with your own apparent conceptualizations of reality.

The cards are never wrong.

[Greg Parker]

I don't like wasting time, energy and/or bandwidth!!!

But you apparently have right here in this thread, stating what you would have definitely done, but then deciding maybe you wouldn't have.

Fine to have such inner-ruminations, but they did not need to be shared.

Though it hardly matters that they were.

No damage was done to any living or eternal soul as a result of it.

Unfold your arms and relax a little, Ian.

[Greg Parker]

Greg,

Do you use intuition when you write your beautiful but sad award-winning poetry?

Are you mad, bad, and dangerous to know?

Well, are you?

Do you feel threatened?

Should you?

--Tommy

Tommy,

No. I use Bourbon. Sometimes Vodka.

It depends.

No, Bullet proof.

Maybe.

[Thomas Graves]

Greg,

Do you use intuition when you write your beautiful but sad award-winning poetry?

Are you mad, bad, and dangerous to know?

Well, are you?

Do you feel threatened?

Should you?

--Tommy

Tommy,

No. I use Bourbon. Sometimes Vodka.

It depends.

No, Bullet proof.

Maybe.

Dear Greg,

Too much, sometimes, or never ever seemingly enough?

--Tommy

Edited January 15, 2016 by Thomas Graves

[William Kelly]

I still have the original tape and as soon as I am able to make a copy of it will return it - I need a blank cassett and double tape machine to do it -

And if you point out any spelling errors in the transcript I will correct them.

BK

[William Kelly]

Oh and Greg - the letter is not among the official records but found among the effects of a Dallas police officer - probably Bentley.

BK

Edited January 15, 2016 by William Kelly

[Greg Parker]

Oh and Greg - the letter is not among the official records but found among the effects of a Dallas police officer - probably Bentley.

BK

Thanks Bill.

[Thomas Graves]

On 1/14/2016 at 5:01 PM, William Kelly said:

I still have the original tape and as soon as I am able to make a copy of it will return it - I need a blank cassett and double tape machine to do it -

And if you point out any spelling errors in the transcript I will correct them.

BK

Bill,

That's wonderful.

I called a company here in San Diego today and they said it would cost around $20 to make one copy.

Can you afford that?

(LOL)

So when will you do it? It's been, what, three years now?

Would you like for me to send you the money, or are you going to pay for it, or do you want to send me the original since, apparently, you aren't going to submit it to Baylor?

BTW, did you ever submit it to Baylor University? Evidently not because you still have the tape. Sorry, stupid question. Did Baylor make a copy and let you keep the original?

What happened to the version of the transcript that was viewable on your website a few years ago?

Did you decide to remove it?

Is it viewable anywhere on the Internet?

Thanks,

--Tommy

PS If you don't respond to my above questions by PM or on this thread within a few days, I'II call you.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Thomas Graves

[Thomas Graves]

I still have the original tape and as soon as I am able to make a copy of it will return it - I need a blank cassett and double tape machine to do it -

And if you point out any spelling errors in the transcript I will correct them.

BK

Bill,

That's wonderful!

I called a company here in San Diego today and they said it would cost around $20 to make one copy.

Can you afford that back there?

(LOL)

So when will you do it, Bill? It's been, what, three years now?

Would you like for me to send you the money, or are you going to pay for it yourself, or do you want to send me the original? I could make a copy here and send it to you.

BTW, did you ever submit it to Baylor University? Did Baylor make a copy and let you keep the original?

What happened to the version of the transcript that was viewable on your website a few years ago? Did you decide to remove it?

Is it viewable anywhere online?

Thanks, Bill,

--Tommy

PS If you don't respond to my above questions by PM or on this thread within a few days, I'II call you.

edited for BK, and bumped

Edited January 16, 2016 by Thomas Graves

[William Kelly]

I'll make a copy and will repost it.

I will also see about making a digital copy and posing it on line so everybody can hear it.

I also want to make note that you did the interview at my request - I supplied some of the questions and you did a good job, conducted it in a professional manner and I transcribed it and am using it to obtain more ONI records via FOIA requests and appeals.

Baylor stopped accepting JFK material so it will now go to Assassination Archives and Research Center in DC, Jim Lesars outfit.

BK