Whitmeyer

[Steve Thomas]

On 1/22/2017 at 3:01 AM, Paul Brancato said:

Steve - in the thread on Whitmeyer which I'm sure you've read, there is a short bio. Importantly in my opinion, Whitmeyer served in Germany until 1961.

 

Paul,

 

OBITUARY of Frances Whitmeyer:

Whitmeyer, Frances Raby was born February 21, 1922 and passed away April 4, 2009. Frances was born in Athens, Alabama to S.W. and Donna Raby. She graduated from Alabama Women's College in Athens. She moved to New Orleans and worked for the Lykes Steamship Co. and also for the City of New Orleans helping to translate French law into English. She later married George Whitmeyer and they moved to Germany where he was stationed after the war. They moved to Fort Worth in 1961 and then to Dallas in 1963.

Monroe News-Star Friday May 30, 1958 page 13 (living in Baumholder, Germany)

 

 

 

Monroe News-Star Monday May 16, 1960 page 13 (now living in Mannheim, Germany)

 

 

Steve Thomas

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Steve Thomas

[Steve Thomas]

Several years ago, I was struggling to determine what Lt. Colonel, George Whitmeyer's official title was.

I thought it was important to know for two reasons that I will explain later.

Various people have identified him as:

http://spartacus-educational.com/MDcrichton.htm

• Lieutenant Colonel George Whitmeyer, who was in overall command of all Army Reserve units in East Texas.

Dallas Morning News 11-16-1965

• Lt. Col. George L. Whitmeyer, deputy East Texas sector commander

"Russ Baker's new book, Family of Secrets,

• Lieutenant Colonel George Whitmeyer, who was in overall command of all Army Reserve units in East Texas."

 

JFKcountercoup

http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2011/01/pilot-car.html

 

• Col. Whitmeyer was the Commanding Officer of the Northern District of Texas and gave the military "stand down" order.

 

• Whitmeyer is referred to in combined Batchelor, Lumpkin, and Stevenson, report to Curry as, “ Lt. Colonel George Whitmeyer, U.S. Army, Dallas Sub-section Commander.”

DPD Archives Box 14, Folder# 14, Item# 10 p. 20.
http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box14.htm

• On April 22, 1964 Police Chief, Jesse Curry told the Warren Commission, “I had Deputy Chief Lumpkin, and he had two Secret Service men with him, I believe, out of Washington, and a Colonel Wiedemeyer who is the East Texas Section Commander of the Army Reserve in the area, he was with him.

Testimony of Jesse Curry. Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, volume IV, p. 170, as cited in the History Matters Archive, http://history-matte..._Vol4_0089b.htm

In an article in the Abilene Reporter News, November 17, 1965

https://newspaperarchive.com/abilene-reporter-news-nov-17-1965-p-61/

it reads:

“Accompanying Colonel Offer to Abilene were Colonel John F. Marshall, East Texas Sector Commander for VIII Corps and Lt. Col. Al Hagler, both of Dallas.”

“Col. Offer and Col Marshall are Regular Army Officers, while Col. Hagler is a Reservist.”

Reading that article, it appears that Col. Marshall would have been Whitmeyer’s boss.

Dallas Morning News 11-16-1965

• Lt. Col. George L. Whitmeyer, deputy East Texas sector commander

(both newspaper articles are from the same week in November, 1965. One refers to Marshall as the Commander, and the other refers to Whitmeyer as the Deputy Commander of the VIII Corps East Texas Sector).

 

On further research, I have learned the following:

Thus, the VIII Corps was not part of the Active or Regular Army, but was part of the Reserves.

 

Texas Almanac 1961-1962 Page 356-357

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117140/m1/359/

 

 

I believe that the two newspaper articles cited above, and the combined Batchelor, Lumpkin report to Chief Curry identify Lt. Colonel, Whitmeyer correctly.

Colonel John F. Marshall, was the, East Texas Sector Commander for VIII Corps and,

Lt. Colonel, George L. Whitmeyer,was the Deputy East Texas sector commander.

I have felt that it is important to identify Whitmeyer's official title for two reasons:

1) If people get a person's position or title wrong, that probably means they don't really understand the person they are talking about, and more than likely, have other aspects about the person's life wrong as well.

2) Knowing a person's official position helps to understand lines of communication and networks of information and how information is flowing. Who is reporting to who? and Where might be records found?

Hence, George L. Whitmeyer was not  in "overall command" of all Reserve units in East Texas, and also did not report to Jack Crichton.

In addition, the 4150th Army Reserve Training Center, of which George Lumpkin was the Commandant, was probably one of the training centers established as outlined in the Texas Almanac article cited above.

 

Steve Thomas

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Steve Thomas