Jump to content
The Education Forum

David Harold Byrd


John Simkin

Recommended Posts

I thought it might be worth starting a thread on David Harold Byrd.

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 Governor James Allred appointed him to the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission. In September 1941 he formed the Civil Air Patrol. During the Second World War Byrd commanded an antisubmarine base for the Civil Air Patrol at Beaumont.

Tony Atzenhoffer was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 at the Moisant Airport. He knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. He told me that DH Byrd was in charge of the Lousiana and Texas regions of the Civil Air Patrol. He came to Moissant Airport on special occasions such as orientation meetings for new recruits. Thus Byrd knew Ferrie and was part of that New Orleans Civil Air Patrol milieu.

I just noticed that Will Weston posted on this thread some time ago.

He is the most knowledgeable person on Oswald impersonators and it would be nice to get him back to discuss those incidents, as well as DH Byrd at the Moisant Aiport.

BK

Bill, If you haven't yet, see http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...c=14765&hl= for more info on Byrd and airports, CAP, et al.

Hello Peter,

While the information about Byrd in Florida is new to me, I was aware of Byrd's safari and safari partners, which were discussed in detail in another thread. I think the guys he was on the safari with were Nazis or otherwise connected to something worthwhile pursing, if you are hunting the truth.

That's a great photo of LBJ and Byrd in the stands at a sporting event. Was that a Dallas Cowgirl's football game?

Byrd's private national intelligence network - the Civil Air Patrol, and its New Orleans connections certainly tie these people together with Ferrie, Bannister, Shaw, et al., but I don't think those Yahoos were behind what happened at Dealey Plaza, while Byrd's personal relationships with Art Collins, General LeMay and the Joint Chiefs is hotter and closer to the strategic center of the 11/22/63 coup.

It wasn't the Yahoos - Ferrie, Banister and Shaw who put together Oswald and Dealey Plaza,

though Byrd was associated with them and their networks via CAP, it was Byrd's connections with Art Collins, LeMay and the JCS at JMWAVE that cuts to the heart of not only the assassination at Dealey Plaza, but the coup that took over the government.

When Admiral Byrd was exploring the artic, his radio communications were only picked up by the home made short wave radio of a young kid Art Colllins built his own radio in his garage, which began his association with the Navy and military, so when WWII came along, his small Cedar Rapids, Iowa radio company got military contracts that continued after the war.

Collins Radio had exclusive contracts to provide radios for all Strategic Air Command bombers, Air Force I and all executive aircraft, as well as NASA communications in outer space and the Moon.

With Byrd owning the building, Collins running the AF1 communicaitons and LeMay controlling the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they pretty much had things covered in the first few hours of the coup.

I just can't figure out what Oswald had to do with it? (Ha ha).

BK

Bill, I agree the 'Yahoos' were only used to sheep-dip Lee, and Ferrie may [may!] have had a role on the day of removing someone(s) from the theater of actions or putting-up some false trails. Interesting the Safari was with some Nazi's - makes me think of Mae Brussell's article! LeMay must have been in the mix, IMO. Collins almost surely provided special communications for the teams in the Plaza - and as you say could have controlled communications of the entire superstructure of the govt. in the first hours. Byrd took a trophy windowframe and had it mounted in his livingroom, or somewhere in his home. It was from the EAST end of the TSBD! Not the 'Oswald window'!.....hmmmmm..... Seems fairly obvious why he wanted to be out of town that day! :lol: Thanks Bernice for the info on the photo. Amazing what photos and information you have at your fingertips!!!!

your welcome peter ; always here is a photo and map of the \byrd \dry hole his first and largest\i believe.a1000 barrels a day...from one of the texas books....

Edited by Bernice Moore
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 67
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I thought it might be worth starting a thread on David Harold Byrd.

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 Governor James Allred appointed him to the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission. In September 1941 he formed the Civil Air Patrol. During the Second World War Byrd commanded an antisubmarine base for the Civil Air Patrol at Beaumont.

Tony Atzenhoffer was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 at the Moisant Airport. He knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. He told me that DH Byrd was in charge of the Lousiana and Texas regions of the Civil Air Patrol. He came to Moissant Airport on special occasions such as orientation meetings for new recruits. Thus Byrd knew Ferrie and was part of that New Orleans Civil Air Patrol milieu.

I just noticed that Will Weston posted on this thread some time ago.

He is the most knowledgeable person on Oswald impersonators and it would be nice to get him back to discuss those incidents, as well as DH Byrd at the Moisant Aiport.

BK

Bill, If you haven't yet, see http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...c=14765&hl= for more info on Byrd and airports, CAP, et al.

Hello Peter,

While the information about Byrd in Florida is new to me, I was aware of Byrd's safari and safari partners, which were discussed in detail in another thread. I think the guys he was on the safari with were Nazis or otherwise connected to something worthwhile pursing, if you are hunting the truth.

That's a great photo of LBJ and Byrd in the stands at a sporting event. Was that a Dallas Cowgirl's football game?

Byrd's private national intelligence network - the Civil Air Patrol, and its New Orleans connections certainly tie these people together with Ferrie, Bannister, Shaw, et al., but I don't think those Yahoos were behind what happened at Dealey Plaza, while Byrd's personal relationships with Art Collins, General LeMay and the Joint Chiefs is hotter and closer to the strategic center of the 11/22/63 coup.

It wasn't the Yahoos - Ferrie, Banister and Shaw who put together Oswald and Dealey Plaza,

though Byrd was associated with them and their networks via CAP, it was Byrd's connections with Art Collins, LeMay and the JCS at JMWAVE that cuts to the heart of not only the assassination at Dealey Plaza, but the coup that took over the government.

When Admiral Byrd was exploring the artic, his radio communications were only picked up by the home made short wave radio of a young kid Art Colllins built his own radio in his garage, which began his association with the Navy and military, so when WWII came along, his small Cedar Rapids, Iowa radio company got military contracts that continued after the war.

Collins Radio had exclusive contracts to provide radios for all Strategic Air Command bombers, Air Force I and all executive aircraft, as well as NASA communications in outer space and the Moon.

With Byrd owning the building, Collins running the AF1 communicaitons and LeMay controlling the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they pretty much had things covered in the first few hours of the coup.

I just can't figure out what Oswald had to do with it? (Ha ha).

BK

Bill, I agree the 'Yahoos' were only used to sheep-dip Lee, and Ferrie may [may!] have had a role on the day of removing someone(s) from the theater of actions or putting-up some false trails. Interesting the Safari was with some Nazi's - makes me think of Mae Brussell's article! LeMay must have been in the mix, IMO. Collins almost surely provided special communications for the teams in the Plaza - and as you say could have controlled communications of the entire superstructure of the govt. in the first hours. Byrd took a trophy windowframe and had it mounted in his livingroom, or somewhere in his home. It was from the EAST end of the TSBD! Not the 'Oswald window'!.....hmmmmm..... Seems fairly obvious why he wanted to be out of town that day! :lol: Thanks Bernice for the info on the photo. Amazing what photos and information you have at your fingertips!!!!

your welcome peter ; always here is a photo and map of the \byrd \dry hole his first and largest\i believe.or one of a1000 barrels a day...from one of the texas books....

peter here is info about the other window taken found through the m/f site....\FROM PAGE 2

''Six weeks after the assassination of President Kennedy, when Byrd wanted a souvenir of this historical building, he chose the South Westernmost window of the sixth floor, not the window from which Oswald purportedly fired with his creaky rifle with its loose telescopic sight, that was the Southeast. No, Byrd took the window from which a Dealey Plaza witness and his wife told the Warren Commission they saw a man with a gun. It seems D. H. Byrd knew exactly which window was the souvenir, and, by inference, that Oswald was no shooter. ''

="http://www.joanmellen.net/truth.html">Farewell to Justice

-bryd took another window..

THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND THE CURRENT POLITICAL MOMENT, Part 1</a>

Edited by Bernice Moore
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it might be worth starting a thread on David Harold Byrd.

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 Governor James Allred appointed him to the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission. In September 1941 he formed the Civil Air Patrol. During the Second World War Byrd commanded an antisubmarine base for the Civil Air Patrol at Beaumont.

Tony Atzenhoffer was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 at the Moisant Airport. He knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. He told me that DH Byrd was in charge of the Lousiana and Texas regions of the Civil Air Patrol. He came to Moissant Airport on special occasions such as orientation meetings for new recruits. Thus Byrd knew Ferrie and was part of that New Orleans Civil Air Patrol milieu.

I just noticed that Will Weston posted on this thread some time ago.

He is the most knowledgeable person on Oswald impersonators and it would be nice to get him back to discuss those incidents, as well as DH Byrd at the Moisant Aiport.

BK

Bill, If you haven't yet, see http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...c=14765&hl= for more info on Byrd and airports, CAP, et al.

Hello Peter,

While the information about Byrd in Florida is new to me, I was aware of Byrd's safari and safari partners, which were discussed in detail in another thread. I think the guys he was on the safari with were Nazis or otherwise connected to something worthwhile pursing, if you are hunting the truth.

That's a great photo of LBJ and Byrd in the stands at a sporting event. Was that a Dallas Cowgirl's football game?

Byrd's private national intelligence network - the Civil Air Patrol, and its New Orleans connections certainly tie these people together with Ferrie, Bannister, Shaw, et al., but I don't think those Yahoos were behind what happened at Dealey Plaza, while Byrd's personal relationships with Art Collins, General LeMay and the Joint Chiefs is hotter and closer to the strategic center of the 11/22/63 coup.

It wasn't the Yahoos - Ferrie, Banister and Shaw who put together Oswald and Dealey Plaza,

though Byrd was associated with them and their networks via CAP, it was Byrd's connections with Art Collins, LeMay and the JCS at JMWAVE that cuts to the heart of not only the assassination at Dealey Plaza, but the coup that took over the government.

When Admiral Byrd was exploring the artic, his radio communications were only picked up by the home made short wave radio of a young kid Art Colllins built his own radio in his garage, which began his association with the Navy and military, so when WWII came along, his small Cedar Rapids, Iowa radio company got military contracts that continued after the war.

Collins Radio had exclusive contracts to provide radios for all Strategic Air Command bombers, Air Force I and all executive aircraft, as well as NASA communications in outer space and the Moon.

With Byrd owning the building, Collins running the AF1 communicaitons and LeMay controlling the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they pretty much had things covered in the first few hours of the coup.

I just can't figure out what Oswald had to do with it? (Ha ha).

BK

Bill, I agree the 'Yahoos' were only used to sheep-dip Lee, and Ferrie may [may!] have had a role on the day of removing someone(s) from the theater of actions or putting-up some false trails. Interesting the Safari was with some Nazi's - makes me think of Mae Brussell's article! LeMay must have been in the mix, IMO. Collins almost surely provided special communications for the teams in the Plaza - and as you say could have controlled communications of the entire superstructure of the govt. in the first hours. Byrd took a trophy windowframe and had it mounted in his livingroom, or somewhere in his home. It was from the EAST end of the TSBD! Not the 'Oswald window'!.....hmmmmm..... Seems fairly obvious why he wanted to be out of town that day! :lol: Thanks Bernice for the info on the photo. Amazing what photos and information you have at your fingertips!!!!

your welcome peter ; always here is a photo and map of the \byrd \dry hole his first and largest\i believe.or one of a1000 barrels a day...from one of the texas books....

peter here is info about the other window taken found through the m/f site....\FROM PAGE 2

''Six weeks after the assassination of President Kennedy, when Byrd wanted a souvenir of this historical building, he chose the South Westernmost window of the sixth floor, not the window from which Oswald purportedly fired with his creaky rifle with its loose telescopic sight, that was the Southeast. No, Byrd took the window from which a Dealey Plaza witness and his wife told the Warren Commission they saw a man with a gun. It seems D. H. Byrd knew exactly which window was the souvenir, and, by inference, that Oswald was no shooter. ''

="http://www.joanmellen.net/truth.html">Farewell to Justice

-bryd took another window..sth west END window WHICH :help

THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND THE CURRENT POLITICAL MOMENT, Part 1</a>

south \west windows \tsbd

Edited by Bernice Moore
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it might be worth starting a thread on David Harold Byrd.

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 Governor James Allred appointed him to the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission. In September 1941 he formed the Civil Air Patrol. During the Second World War Byrd commanded an antisubmarine base for the Civil Air Patrol at Beaumont.

Tony Atzenhoffer was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 at the Moisant Airport. He knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. He told me that DH Byrd was in charge of the Lousiana and Texas regions of the Civil Air Patrol. He came to Moissant Airport on special occasions such as orientation meetings for new recruits. Thus Byrd knew Ferrie and was part of that New Orleans Civil Air Patrol milieu.

With Peter's interest in the Safari, I thought I'd reboot this post from RH that details some of those who were on the Safari with Bryd. - BK

Forum members might find the following post assassination news stories interesting, as they pertain to D.H. Byrd's safari.

From the Dallas Morning News January 9, 1964 Sec 3 Page 1

YOUNG HUNTRESS

Storybook Adventures Real

By Ann Donaldson

Society Editor of the News

Hollywood could not have picked the script: A German baron who attends safaris on a concession larger than the country of Belgium; his beautiful wife, a native African with the background of a famous old Portuguese family.

But Baron and Baroness W.V. Alvensleben of Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, are for real, and are in Dallas as guests of Col. D. Harold Byrd. Col. Byrd returned to Dallas three weeks ago from a hunt on the huge concession 1,000 kilometers north of the seaport

city of Lourenco Marques. THE CONCESSION, rented from the Portuguese government, can be reached by "bumpy roads that are agony to travel," or "charter plane---- there are two airstrips," says the olive-skinned baroness.

Clients are mostly American and have included Dr. Vander Davidson of Dallas and two Wichita Falls couples, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Vincent and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gose.

The baroness' father arrived in Mozambique in 1914 to practice law. He was married by proxy, and his wife came to Mozambique later. "My mother's parents had a fit says the former de Sousa Costa. Going to Africa was like going to the end of the world in those days."

Educated in Lourenco Marques and in Portugal, the baroness speaks perfect English she learned at a Portuguese convent and from tutors at her grandparents estate. She married Baron Alvensleben, former manager of a gold mine in Rhodesia, 18 years ago, often accompanies him on safaris.

THE FIRST ANIMAL she shot was the "sweet, harmless impala." and she has gotten to the stage where "I shoot, but feel sorry to kill. To satisfy a caprice of mine I'd, still like to shoot an elephant."

To hunt, the baroness wears khaki clothes, "so the animals won't see." Khaki hats, comfortable boots and sweaters for mornings and evenings during the cool months of June, July and August. Even though it's a sport, it's hard work, explains the tall, slender, brunette. "We rise at 4:00 A.M., because my husband likes it that way. It is a beauty to see the sun rise and the animals come out from under the trees. The fauna is the wealth of our nation"

Baron Alvensleben has also reached the stage where he prefers looking to shooting. The only animal they have mounted is the buffalo. You cant just put those heads anywhere. Anyway, when you are in contact with the animals you don't care about mounting them." The concession is closed during the hot rainy months, from Dec. 1 to April, and the Alvensleben's have been in the United States since the close of the season. Baroness Alvensleben, who speaks six languages (German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), has traveled all over the world but claims that "here in the United States is the largest quantity of beautiful girl's and women."

The baroness and baron accompanied Col and Mrs. Byrd to the ball Mr and Mrs N. J. DeSanders gave Saturday night for his debutante daughters Sue and Janet DeSanders.

"Above all, I am a woman," says the chic baroness. And I enjoyed seeing the elegant decorations, and the beautiful gowns.

From Dallas they will go to Wichita Falls. They were also in Las Vegas for the presentation of the Weatherby Trophy, to the best hunter of the year, presented December 7. "We are enchanted with our American friends and the kind hospitality they have shown us." says the baroness. "We have been to so many parties, that I have gained several pounds and lost much sleep."

When the baron and baroness return to Mozambique at the end of January, she will rest and "restore my energies."

From the January 19, 1964 Dallas Morning News

Baron Takes Look at Texas Hunters

By Kenneth Fores

Outdoor Editor of the News

He was tall enough to have been a basketball player, he had a scar on the left side of his face that ran from

his mouth to his ear and about which he volunteered nothing but he furnished a view of American hunters from the other side of the fence. From the white hunters side of the fence, that is, the men who take the American's hunting, who live with them for weeks, who often face death with then when they go up against mighty beasts.

He was Baron Werner Von Alvensleben, and although he used the broad A of the English, and last was lost and grass was gross, that von indicated Prussian descent and that long wicked scar could have come from a saber in a schoolboy fight. "Did that scar come from a African spear?" he was asked by this columnist. "No," he answered and began talking about American hunters, and the man was qualified for such, for Baron Von Alvensleben ("Just call me Werner," he said when Col. Harold D. Byrd introduced

him) arranged Byrd's recent African safari as director of Safarilandia had arranged many more and had watched many an American hunter. From a distant little or big corner, depending on how you look at it, of the world he came from Portuguese East Africa also curiously named Mozambique and from a beautiful and very modern city named Lourenco Marques Lo RAN soo Mer KASH in case your Portuguese aint grade A. Mozambique isn't a little corner of the world, being longer than Texas, 1,300 miles though only 400 miles wide, and in it there is an area, the Save Hunting Concession,leased to Mozambique Safari-

landia, Lda., of 34,000 square miles, or as big as Switzerland, said red-faced sandy-haired Baron Just-Call-Me-Werner. To spot Mozambique, it is that eastern coast of Africa just opposite Mozambique, which is

longer than Texas, too. In that Save Hunting Concession, where less than 10 per cent of the game is shot annually, being considerably under the natural increase and must be given the natives, Col Byrd and Dr. V.A. Davidson of Dallas shot 26 different species in a couple of weeks. Dr. Davidson got a 62-inch kudo, near the world record, and Byrd a 60-incher which is quite high,plus a 43-inch buffalo and a 41-inch sable which is in the record class.

Most of Mozambique Hunters Texan

But down to the interesting comments on how the tall Mozambique baron, who married a Portuguese lady of the first family, sees the men from this country who come wagging cannons. Firstly the Baron seemed quite qualified to speak of the Texas variety of American's, for he said "80 per cent of our hunters are Texans. Fifteen percent come from California and five per cent from the rest of the world." Then the baron added a slant. "One of my hunters George Gedek, speaks with a Texan drawl. He doesent knoaw anything else. He's only hunted with Texans you see." The he got onto the Texans. "Americans who come to our place are all sportsmen. All save one mon. There must be one bad egg everywhere, it seems but the great majority of Americans are good sportsmen. Then they are different from the hunters of other nations. They are much tougher. Most are used to rugged conditions. They have hunted Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alaska, where you have got to be able to take it. Such people find Africa comparatively easy." Then the man from Mozambique, where a three week safari costs $3,500 and a for week safari costs $ 4,100 in addition to transportation there, got onto guns. "American's believe in high powered rifles. Your American rifle, the Weatherby and the Winchester, are fine rifles. Europeans cawnt do as well, they dont have the rifles, or they dont have time, or the opportunity to practice. So Americans are much better shots. Your Herb Klein is a grond example."

And what do these American hunters want to shoot? "Texan's want a lion and leopard first," replied the Baron then a kudu, lostly the elephant. There is a tremendous argument as to the most dangerous onimal in Africa, No not the buff," he said to Byrd. "You can see him, the wounded lion or leopard is on you like lightning. The wounded leopard is the more dangerous of the two. Invariably it will attack. But I count the elephont as the most dangerous. An elephant is able to reason. My greatest friend and co-hunter Horst Rohe was killed by an elephant in 1952. Quite a few of my friends have been killed by them. Mechanized man is the only enemy the elephont has.

"Wally Johnson, Harold's white hunter, who has killed over 1,000 elephants, shot one six times last year, and it escaped into the bush. He was back there six months ago. That elephant attacked him. The wound scars proved it." It was but natural to ask a man who has lived in Mozambique for 17 years, or since the end of World War II, what his closest call has been.

"My narrowest escape," he replied was at Elm and St. Paul yesterday in front of the Athletic Club. This town is much more dangerous than the bush. Onimals dont do you any harm unless you or someone has wounded them. You cawnt say thot for Dallas drivers. Then he got back to American hunters

"American women are great sports and good shots. Mrs. Marty Gose of Wichita Falls killed everything with one shot. Mrs Jack O' Connor, wife of the Outdoor Life gun editor mostly, did the same. I have seen American women outshoot their husbands. "But there is one thing we do note. The only things Americans are afraid of are bugs. But by God they disinfect themselves with the amount of whiskey they drink. No mosquito would have a chance with them. They swerve off from them."

So, George deMohrenschildt wasn't the only Baron who shows up in the JFK saga. Whether there is any other interesting material from this 'peripheral to the assassination' aspect remains to be seen. A word of warning.....beware of assuming anything about the Baron, especially his political affiliations. In World War 2, the Baron apparently was imprisoned by the Nazi's, from what I understand....

But....... I do not have the book....But it is readily available.

See

http://www.booktrail.com/Hunting_Africa/baronin.asp

It is said in one of Capstick's safari related books, that Albensleben recieved the lengthy scar "fencing in Heidelberg,"

I wonder if the Alvensleben's were familiar with the Baron von Tscheppe-Weidenbach family, in the old country?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it might be worth starting a thread on David Harold Byrd. ...

During this period Byrd became very interested in aviation. In 1938 Governor James Allred appointed him to the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission. In September 1941 he formed the Civil Air Patrol. During the Second World War Byrd commanded an antisubmarine base for the Civil Air Patrol at Beaumont. ...

Richard Bartholomew suggested in Byrds, Planes, and an Automobile that Byrd knew David Ferrie via the Civil Air Patrol.

Tony Atzenhoffer was in the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 at the Moisant Airport. He knew David Ferrie and Lee Harvey Oswald. He told me that DH Byrd was in charge of the Lousiana and Texas regions of the Civil Air Patrol. He came to Moissant Airport on special occasions such as orientation meetings for new recruits. Thus Byrd knew Ferrie and was part of that New Orleans Civil Air Patrol milieu.
... Byrd's private national intelligence network - the Civil Air Patrol, and its New Orleans connections certainly tie these people together with Ferrie, Bannister, Shaw, et al., but I don't think those Yahoos were behind what happened at Dealey Plaza, while Byrd's personal relationships with Art Collins, General LeMay and the Joint Chiefs is hotter and closer to the strategic center of the 11/22/63 coup.

It wasn't the Yahoos - Ferrie, Banister and Shaw who put together Oswald and Dealey Plaza, though Byrd was associated with them and their networks via CAP, it was Byrd's connections with Art Collins, LeMay and the JCS at JMWAVE that cuts to the heart of not only the assassination at Dealey Plaza, but the coup that took over the government.

Some of these threads are tenuous at best, at least insofar as the CAP goes. Let me correct a few thoughts based on my own extensive experience with CAP, which will put some things into perspective.

I was associated with CAP from 1964 through 1976, closer to the time period we're discussing that it was to today. My father joined and started a cadet squadron, which he served as commander to while rising to the rank of major. He was thereafter promoted to the wing (state) staff, where he eventually became deputy wing commander. I joined his squadron (coincidentally, the Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Cadet Squadron) and, after he was gone, served as cadet commander and on the wing-level Cadet Advisory Council. Several friends of mine from that era are still active with CAP, and several of them have served as squadron, and three as wing commanders, in different locations. I also worked at HQ CAP while I was in the Air Force.

The actual founders of the CAP were former New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who was then serving as director of the Office of Civilian Defense, and USAAF General John F. Curry, who was its first national commander. The organization was formed over several months before being officially chartered on December 1, 1941, less than a week before Pearl Harbor, as a way to use America's civilian aviation resources to aid the war effort instead of grounding them, with an emphasis on coastal and border states, of which Texas is both. Ultimately, CAP pilots were credited with having sighted over 150 submarines, and having sunk two.

Clearly, more than just LaGuardia and Curry were involved in the formation of the CAP, and from well before its December 1 inauguration date. Byrd, in his capacity with the Texas Civil Aeronautics Commission, was among CAP's "founders," although they are not officially recognized as such; other men (and possibly women) in other states in similar capacities were instrumental in the organizations founding at the same time.

Byrd served as Texas Wing commander from December 1, 1941, to May 28, 1948, and remains the longest-serving wing commander in Texas' 68-year history with CAP, whose national headquarters was located at Ellington Air Force Base near San Antonio for many years. Thereafter, Byrd was the commander of the Southwest Region of CAP, which coordinated and supported the efforts of six states including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. He served on CAP's national board from 1954 to 1960, serving as its chairman from April 1959 to April 1960. He was later promoted to Brigadier General after his retirement.

To make a point of all this, to suggest, first, that the CAP is or was anyone's "private national intelligence network" is ludicrous, made up as it was an is of ordinary American citizens, many of whom happen to fly airplanes. That David Ferrie was a member does not paint even a quarter of CAP's members with the same brush.

Second, given my father's position and, to a lesser extent, my own in the CAP, when you consider that the deputy wing commander's son, himself a high-ranking cadet, never met a sitting region commander (I knew one before he was region commander) during his entire CAP career, nor to my knowledge did my father more than maybe once. I don't consider it likely, based on that experience, that Oswald or even Ferrie ever met Byrd either.

Third, "cadet orientations" are routine matters handled at the local (squadron) level. Many or most of those new cadets will not even be members in two years. It is not of such moment that even a wing commander would attend, much less a region commander. Indeed, when you consider that cadets who'd been members five years or longer who received the CAP's highest cadet honor, the Spaatz award, even the wing commander didn't always attend such functions (and in my experience, a region commander never did), it's again much less likely that a region commander went to a cadet orientation.

This perspective is underscored by the vast amount of territory making up Byrd's command, and the large number of squadrons holding monthly or bi-monthly orientations, there wouldn't have been time to attend very many or get to know very many people at the squadron level. That includes Ferrie, even if he was the squadron commander, and much less likely if he was anything lower in rank.

Lastly, as you might gather from much of the above, the region commander (Byrd would have had no reason other than occasional reciprocal official visits to have gone to Louisiana while Texas Wing commander) is in a fairly lofty position, and doesn't often mingle with the rank-and-file. This is true not only of CAP, but of other organizations as well: most Masons have never met their (statewide) Grand Master, Knights of Columbus their Supreme Knight, or Elks or Eagles their state presidents. When they travel, they typically mingle with those now or formerly in leadership positions. One simply does not have the HMFIC "drop in" unannounced at a meeting or function, and protocol demands that he be given special recognitions when there.

Long and short, there may be some connections between some of the people described in these threads, but it is highly unlikely, in my studied opinion, that there was a "CAP connection" between Byrd and anyone involved, directly or peripherally, with the assassination (other than that they belonged to the same organization).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When Duke says that NY Mayor LaGuardia was an original founder of CAP, I would venture that his associate Ernest Cuneo had something to do with it too.

I agree that there would not be too much fraternalization between the upper management and the CAP rank and file, I'm sure they kept records and files of members, who they were, where they came from, what they were doing and where they were going, and the upper management had access to these records.

Why then, is it ludacrist to consider the CAP a private intelligence network?

Call it what you want, they kept records on those who were involved in it, and it remains and active network today.

BK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Wikipedia (you can only trust about half of its entries), Cuneo worked for LaGuardia only during 1931-32, prior to being admitted to the New York bar. He wrote a book called Life with Fiorello (1955), so my bet would be that if he had anything to do with CAP's founding, it would be in there. He is not recognized as having anything to do with it. He worked with OSS during the war.

That you're "sure" that CAP kept and presumably keeps "records and files of members, who they were, where they came from, what they were doing and where they were going" does not make it so. Indeed, other than their original membership application, which is not very in-depth, awards, promotions, and official SAR exercises and missions, CAP doesn't keep records of much at all, and certainly not their comings and goings, or any other kind of on-going data (other than if they moved and joined another squadron somewhere else).

CAP is not what you seem to think it is by a long stretch. Call it what you want, it's really not much different from the Boy Scouts. Or were they a subversive part of the plot as well?

The word is "ludicrous," by the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Wikipedia (you can only trust about half of its entries), Cuneo worked for LaGuardia only during 1931-32, prior to being admitted to the New York bar. He wrote a book called Life with Fiorello (1955), so my bet would be that if he had anything to do with CAP's founding, it would be in there. He is not recognized as having anything to do with it. He worked with OSS during the war.

That you're "sure" that CAP kept and presumably keeps "records and files of members, who they were, where they came from, what they were doing and where they were going" does not make it so. Indeed, other than their original membership application, which is not very in-depth, awards, promotions, and official SAR exercises and missions, CAP doesn't keep records of much at all, and certainly not their comings and goings, or any other kind of on-going data (other than if they moved and joined another squadron somewhere else).

CAP is not what you seem to think it is by a long stretch. Call it what you want, it's really not much different from the Boy Scouts. Or were they a subversive part of the plot as well?

The word is "ludicrous," by the way.

Hey Duke,

Thanks for the details on Cuneo and LaGuardia.

While Cuneo did move on and upwards, into the Roosevelt government, and principle liason between Donovan at OSS and Roosevelt, I'm sure he kept tabs and stayed good buddies with his old pal LaGuardia.

I know, my spell check told me it was wrong, but I let it go because it is so.

Since I view the assassination as an event in a war among intelligence agencies and networks, I'll keep the CAP in that category, though I agree that they are at the same level as the rank and file Yahoos, while those who really ran things - like Byrd, Art Collins and LeMay were poker buddies.

And by the way, the Boy Scouts were founded in England by one of the early intelligence operatives and spies of that era, and are not to be discounted, as Gerald Ford was a Boy Scout.

BK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest Tom Scully

Something for everybody, in this one....

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MDbyrdDH.htm

David Harold Byrd...Byrd's cousin was Harry F. Byrd, who was described by Alden Hatch (The Byrds of Virginia: An American Dynasty) as "the leader of conservative opinion in the United States.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7LwuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C9cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6180,334255&dq=saltonstall+byrd&hl=en

Aug 1, 1948

Miss Emily Saltonstall, daughter of Sen. and Mrs. Leverett Saltonstall, was married today to Richard E. Byrd Jr., son of Adm. and Mrs. Richard E. Byrd...ushers were Leverett, Jr. and William L. Saltonstall, brothers of the bride, and Beverly and Harry Byrd, Jr. cousins of the bridegroom...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7PIZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QSMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5180,93894&dq=saltonstall+byrd&hl=en

The Times-News - Jan 1, 1966

...For years, (Leverett) Saltonstall and Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia have made a bipartisan patricians' bloc of two...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_F._Byrd,_Jr.

Harry F. Byrd, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. (born December 20, 1914) is a retired American politician. He represented Virginia in the United States Senate from 1965 to 1983. ..

http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0177

This collection consists of letters written to Massachusetts Senator Leverett Saltonstall throughout his political career and into retirement from politicians, politicians' wives, journalists, and television personalities, discussing political opinions, friendship, pending legislation, and campaign support.

Leverett Saltonstall Autograph Collection

1930-1996; bulk: 1930-1979

Guide to the Collection

...Acquisition Information

Most of the letters were removed from the Leverett Saltonstall papers in 1992; some were added by William Saltonstall, 1992-2001...

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19797920.html

William L. Saltonstall, at 81, former Massachusetts state senator ...

Jan 25, 2009 ... It was William Lawrence Saltonstall who introduced George Bush ... Republican presidential primary. Saltonstall, a former state senator ...

http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/topics.obits2/36466/mb.ashx?pnt=1

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Bill "Salty" Saltonstall, born in Newton, May 14, 1927, passed away quietly at home on Friday, Jan. 23, 2008. He was the fifth of the six children of Senator and Mrs. Leverett Saltonstall. He joined the Navy at the end of World War II. He graduated from Harvard in 1949 and from Harvard Business School in 1951. He served as State Senator for the third Essex district for 13 years. He championed coastal and environmental causes.... Published in The Gloucester Times on 1/28/2009

http://books.google.com/books?id=UlXxr05oIQUC&pg=PA273&lpg=PA273&dq=William+Saltonstall+george+bush&source=bl&ots=WSm6qB1vOe&sig=cOy35uM3l6h7egG5dHXMqTLB4bw&hl=en&ei=DbjsTOuQA4SdlgeWy-SQAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty - Google Books Result

Peter Schweizer, Rochelle Schweizer - 2005 - Biography & Autobiography - 624 pages -Page 273

When George arrived, Saltonstall went up to the mike. “Ladies and gentlemen, you've come to hear George Bush, and here he is. ...

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=nws:1%2Car%3A1&q=%22*Charles+Rlmmer+Jr.:+-2.+William+Saltonstall%3B+3.+George+Hewltt%3A+4.%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=4b6b349a02a4ee94

SWEEP IS SCORED BY HARVARD CREWS; All Three Finish First in...

- New York Times - May 8, 1949

JUNIOR VARSITY Harvard--Bow. Charles Rlmmer Jr.: -2. William Saltonstall; 3. George Hewltt: 4. Edwin Bohlen: 5. Robert Taggarl: 6. John Merrlck: 7. Aioert Carter Jr.: Stroke, Arthur Rouner; Coxswain. Alexander Aldrich. ...

It now seems that Devine was probably brought into "the fold" via his acquaintance with Alexander Aldrich, when they were classmates at M.I.T.

http://sigmachi.mit.edu/docs/beaver_sigs/1946_bsig_vol1946_no1.pdf

Page 4 of 1946 newspaper from Tom Devine's fraternity at M.I.T. Home address displayed matches 3550 Elmwood Ave. Rochester, NY address in image displayed in earlier post of Devine's father's obituary on this thread. Same lists also contains names, addresses, and military branch and rank of Devine's fraternity brothers.

Left column on page 1, also at the link above, lists the name Thomas Devine and the names of the other fraternity initiates Devine pledged with.

I have seen no other record related to Devine's university attendance. I find no information as to whether he graduated from M.I.T., or that he made later donations as an alumni. It seems as if he does not want his activities of the late 1940's or of his education to be public knowledge...

http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1&q=We+find+the+same+network+linking+CIA+proprietaries%2C+war+lobbies%2C+and+organized+crime%2C&btnG=Search+Books

Drugs, oil, and war: the United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, ... - Page 197

Peter Dale Scott - 2003 -

The war conspiracy: the secret road to the second Indochina war

Peter Dale Scott - 1972

"For it is a striking fact that the law firm of Tommy Corcoran, the Washington lawyer for CATCL and [China Lobbyist] T.V. Soong, had its own links to the interlocking worlds of the China Lobby and of organized crime. His partner W.S. Youngman joined the board of U.S. Life and other insurance companies, controlled by C.V. Starr (OSS China) with the help of Philippine and other Asian capital. Youngman's fellow-directors of Starr's companies have included John S. Woodbridge of Pan Am, Francis F. Randolph of J. and W. Seligman, W. Palmer Dixon of Loeb Rhoades, Charles Edison of the postwar China Lobby, and Alfred B. Jones of the Nationalist Chinese government's registered agency, the Universal Trading Corporation. The [senate] McClellan Committee heard that in 1950 U.S. Life [later part of AIG] (with Edison as a director) and a much smaller company (Union Casualty of New York) were allotted a major Teamsters insurance contract, after a lower bid from a larger and safer company had been rejected, [Jimmy] Hoffa was accused by a fellow trustee, testifying under oath before another committee, of intervening on behalf of US Life and Union Casualty, whose agents were Hoffa's close business associates Paul and Allen Dorfman

"We find the same network linking CIA proprietaries, war lobbies, and organized crime, when we turn our attention from CAT to the other identified supporter of opium activities, Sea Supply, Inc. Sea Supply, Inc. was organized in Miami, Florida, where its counsel, Paul E. Helliwell, doubled after 1951 as the counsel for C.V. Starr insurance interests, and also as the Thai consul in Miami..."

All of Beverly Pullman's and Albert Carter's ushers named below, except Thomas Devine, but including Alexander Aldrich, who had transferred from M.I.T., were members of the Harvard class of 1950, and most were members of the Crew team. Devine partner John Train was also Harvard, '50, as was the Rockefeller financed, former intelligence officer, Henry Kissinger, who studied under Arthur Norman Holcombe, who JFK also studied under. Arthur Holcombe and the CIA's Paul Linebarger were advisers to Chiang Kai-shek.

The obituaries of both Albert B. Carter, Jr. and of Andre Rheault state that they were CIA, and we know Thomas Devine was. Edwin Curtis "Buff" Bohlen was accused of being CIA and later worked for John Train's cousin, Russell. Another usher named below, Charles Hubbard, is Charles J. Hubbard, step-son of John McCloy's best man in 1930, Henry Brunie, Jack Crichton's boss at the Empire Trust. Newspaper misprint- Should be Beverly Pullman, not "Barbara":

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbs=nws%3A1%2Car%3A1&q=%22*Devine+of+Midland+Tex+Andre+Rhe+ault+and+Henry+Cabot+of+Bos+ton+and+Charles+Hubbard+Palmer+Dixon+of+New+York+City%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Diplomats' Kin Usher at Barbara Pullman's Wedding Today

- Chicago Tribune - Oct 1, 1955

... broth ers of the bride Thomas Devine of Midland Tex Andre Rheault and Henry Cabot of Bos ton and Charles Hubbard. Palmer Dixon of New York City will be best man.

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=rheault+charles+hubbard&btnG=Search&hl=en&ned=us&um=1&scoring=a

Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver - Oct 2, 1955

... Edwin Bohlen, whose uncle, Charles E. Bohlen, is am- bassador to Russia, ... Tex., Andre Rheault and Henry Cabot of Boston, and Charles Hubbard. ..

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/506701202.html?dids=506701202:506701202&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+02%2C+1955&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=MISS+PULLMAN+IS+MARRIED+TO+ALBERT+CARTER&pqatl=google

MISS PULLMAN IS MARRIED TO ALBERT CARTER Oct 2, 1955

The rosepointe lace veil Miss Beverly Pullman wore as part of her bridal ensemble for her marriage to Albert B. Carter Jr. at 5 p. m. yesterday has special sentiment since it has been worn by three generations of brides in her family.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&tbs=nws%3A1%2Car%3A1&q=munich+BeverlyPullman+of+Washington+a+son+Nicholas+of+Boston&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Albert B. Carter Jr., 63 Retired SBA administrator

‎Pay-Per-View - Boston Globe - Jan 26, 1992

Mr Carter leaves his wife BeverlyPullman of Washington a son

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&tbs=nws%3A1%2Car%3A1&q=the+Central+Intelligence+Agency+working+for+the+CIA+in+Munich+Germany+from+1950+BeverlyPullman&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Albert B. Carter Jr., 63 Retired SBA administrator

‎ - Boston Globe - Jan 26, 1992

Mr Carter was a former Soviet specialist for the Central Intelligence Agency working for the CIA in Munich Germany from 1950 to 1952 and in Washington from

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbs=nws%3A1%2Car%3A1&q=%22brother.+The+ushers+were+William+T.*%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

MISS SHARP WED TO PALMER DIXON; Church of St. Thomas More...

- New York Times - May 17, 1957

Peter Thorpe Dixon was best man for his brother. The ushers were William T. Wetmore, his stepbrother; Albert B. Carter Jr., John AS Cushman and EI Parker ..

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbs=nws%3A1%2Car%3A1&q=PALMER+DIXON+WILTON&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

MISS SHARP WED TO PALMER DIXON; Church of St. Thomas More...

- New York Times - May 17, 1957

... of Wilton, Conn., became the bride of Palmer Dixon. is the son of W. Palmer Dixon of New York and Mrs. Charles Winn of Southampton, L. L, and London. ...

Paid Notice: Deaths DIXON, PALMER

Published: September 7, 1999

DIXON-Palmer. Died suddenly of a heart attack on the morning of September 3rd at his home in Wilton, CT. He was born July 1, 1928 in New York City, the son of W. Palmer Dixon and Theodora Thorpe Dixon. He attended St. Mark's School, and graduated from Harvard College, Class of 1950. He served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, participating in the fighting as a forward observer for the artillery. After the Armistice, he returned to the United States in 1953, working at NBC before becoming a Partner at the Wall Street firm of Loeb, Rhoades & Co. He later worked as a Vice President at Moseley, Hallgarten & Estabrook, and then for a number of years at Standard & Poor's as Head of Programming. After retiring, he continued to work as a computer specialist and private consultant. He was a keen Court Tennis player, and was for many years an active member of the New York Racquet and Tennis club....

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archi...rames/read/9390

MAKE ROOM FOR MARVIN

by Blake, Rich

Content provided by Institutional Investor Magazine

Published on May 1, 2000

....In May 1981, degree in hand, Marvin Bush went to work as an entry-level trainee at a regional, Boston-based brokerage firm, Moseley, Hallgarten, Estabrook & Weeden. "It was a great way for me to get my feet wet and learn about the industry," he says. .....

This thread is developed from my post, yesterday, in the "Louis Mortimer Bloomfield" thread; http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...st&p=171209

In January 1982, NY Times reporter Raymond Bonner broke this story, simultaneous to it;s publication in the Washington Post:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/22/world/sa...re-in-1981.html

Salvador Skeletons Confirm Reports of Massacre in 1981

By TIM GOLDEN,

Published: Thursday, October 22, 1992

In a small rectangular plot among the overgrown ruins of a village here, a team of forensic archeologists has opened a window on El Salvador's nightmarish past.

Two feet below the ground, a few tiny skeletons grin up almost intact from what was once the tile floor of the parish house. Other bones are crushed in places and caked with dirt, but they can be identified well enough to determine that they belong to at least 38 bodies.

It is also evident, the forensics experts say, that almost all of the remains are those of children. Nearby are other burial sites still to be unearthed. A Call for Justice

Nearly 11 years after American-trained soldiers were said to have torn through El Mozote and surrounding hamlets on a rampage in which at least 794 people were killed, the bones have emerged as stark evidence that the claims of peasant survivors and the reports of a couple of American journalists were true....

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/23/opinion/...-is-buried.html

Abroad at Home; When Truth Is Buried

By ANTHONY LEWIS

Published: Monday, November 23, 1992

The civil war in El Salvador is over now, a political settlement taking hold. Americans hardly remember when the Reagan Administration called the leftist rebels a critical threat to our national security.

But the American role in El Salvador did damage to our institutions and our honor that remains unrepaired. So we are reminded by a recent turn in an appalling piece of history.

On Jan. 27, 1982, correspondents of The New York Times and The Washington Post reported from the remote Salvadoran village of El Mozote that hundreds of civilians had been massacred there. Most were women, children and old men.

Raymond Bonner of The Times wrote that he had seen the skulls and bones of dozens of people buried under burned-out peasant houses. Alma Guillermopietro wrote a similar account for The Post.

A reporter just arrived on the scene could not know who killed them, Mr. Bonner said. But villagers nearby said an elite battalion of government forces had carried out the massacre the previous month. The villagers had a list of 733 victims. The Salvadoran Human Rights Commission put the number of dead at 926.

One woman in El Mozote, Rufina Amaya, said she had survived by hiding in some trees when the soldiers came. They killed her husband, who was blind, and her four children, aged 9, 5, 3 and 8 months.

Those newspaper reports evoked angry denials and denunciations. A Salvadoran military spokesman said the account of a massacre had been fabricated by "subversives."

The Reagan Administration, already embarrassed by Salvadoran death squads, was just as bristling. A week later Thomas Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, told Congress:

"There is no evidence to confirm that [ Salvadoran ] Government forces systematically massacred civilians . . . or that the number of civilians killed even remotely approached the 733 or 926 victims cited in the press."

Mr. Enders supposedly based his statement on an investigation by two U.S. Embassy officials in El Salvador. But he did not make their report public, and he misrepresented what they said. They had never reached El Mozote, and they did not reject the report of a massacre.

The Reagan Administration did not rest with disingenuous denials. It did its best to smear the reporters.

Sad to say, this effort at smearing found a voice in the press itself. The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, ideologically committed to the Reagan Administration and its view of what to do in El Salvador, ran an editorial 36 inches long headed "The Media's War."

The correspondents who reported the El Mozote massacre had been "overly credulous," the editorial suggested, and were taken in by a rebel "propaganda exercise."

"Much of the American media [ in El Salvador ] , it would seem," The Journal said, "was dominated by a style of reporting that grew out of Vietnam -- in which Communist sources were given greater credence than either the U.S. Government or the government it was supporting."

The Journal editorial had a significant effect. Other newspapers worried about looking soft on Communism and toned down their reporting from El Salvador.

The new turn in this story came last month, when a team of forensic archeologists digging in the ruins of El Mozote found dozens of skeletons. Most of them were of children. The archeologists said shell casings and other evidence supported the charge of a massacre by government troops.

The archeologists had to overcome strenuous resistance from the Salvadoran Government to do their investigation. It was only insistence by a three-member Truth Commission set up under the peace agreement that opened the way.

The Truth Commission has also had an extremely hard time getting cooperation from the United States Government. Many U.S. documents on the El Mozote massacre are still being withheld from the commission -- and from us.

Surely the time has come for Americans, like Salvadorans, to know the truth of what was done in our name. Perhaps even Tom Enders and the other officials who covered up horrors could face the truth. And the press could learn again how essential it is to be skeptical of convenient official denials.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mozote_massacre

.....Backlash

Seeing the conflict as critical for a right-wing Central America, the Reagan administration was determined to give the Salvadoran government military assistance in defeating the FMLN. This was seriously complicated by the reports from El Mozote which appeared just as a new round of debate over the huge flow of money and arms being sent to El Salvador's armed forces was getting underway. Correspondingly, the reports drew immediate fire from Reagan administration officials and others on the US political right.

Salvadoran army and government leaders said no such massacre had taken place and officials of the Reagan's administration dismissed the reports as "gross exaggerations." The Associated Press reported that "the U.S. Embassy disputed the reports, saying its own investigation had found ... that no more than 300 people had lived in El Mozote."[5]

The conservative press-watch organization Accuracy in Media charged the newspapers and the reporters with conspiring to hold their stories until late January, just before President Reagan was required to certify that El Salvador's military forces were making progress in human rights in order to continue the subsidies. The reporters denied the charge.

Thomas Enders, then Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, attacked Bonner and Guillermoprieto before a congressional committee, saying that although there had been a firefight between the army and the guerrillas in the area, "no evidence could be found to confirm that government forces systematically massacred civilians."

On February 8, Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, told a Senate committee that the reports of hundreds of deaths at El Mozote "were not credible", and that "it appears to be an incident that is at least being significantly misused, at the very best, by the guerrillas". Abrams implied that reports of a massacre were simply FMLN propaganda.

In February, in a lengthy editorial titled "The Media's War", the Wall Street Journal critiqued US press coverage of El Salvador, singling out Bonner as being "overly credulous", and accusing the Times of closing ranks "behind a reporter out on a limb". The Journal warned that the debate in Congress was being distorted from reality by Bonner's and Guillermoprieto's "overly credulous" reports of the massacre. It cited Enders' denial and charged that because the two reporters had visited El Mozote under the protection of guerrilla guides, "this was a propaganda exercise".

In Time Magazine, William A. Henry III wrote a month later: "An even more crucial if common oversight is the fact that women and children, generally presumed to be civilians, can be active participants in guerrilla war. New York Times correspondent Raymond Bonner underplayed that possibility, for example, in a much-protested January 27 report of a massacre by the army in and around the village of Mozote."'

Although attacked less vigorously than Bonner, Alma Guillermoprieto was also a target of criticism. A Reagan official wrote a letter to the Post claiming that she had once worked for a communist newspaper in Mexico. Guillermoprieto denied ever having working for any newspaper in Mexico and told that to editor Ben Bradlee when he questioned her in the newsroom.[citation needed]

In June 1982, after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed cutting $100 million in military aid to El Salvador, US Ambassador Deane Hinton traveled to Washington to try to prevent the cutback. While he was there, he went out of his way to attack Bonner, particularly over the reporter's stories about the failure of El Salvador's land-reform program. Hinton denounced Bonner as an "advocate journalist".[6]

In late July, Accuracy in Media devoted an entire edition of its AIM Report to Bonner. Its editor Reed Irvine declared that "Mr. Bonner had been worth a division to the communists in Central America". Irvine made insinuations about Bonner's political sympathies, noting that he had once worked for Ralph Nader, omitting that he had been a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam, and all but calling him a communist agent.[7]

That August, Bonner was ordered to return to New York; he subsequently took a leave of office and left the newspaper shortly thereafter. The Post also recalled Guillermoprieto, promoting her to a staff position, and assigning her to cover suburban Washington. Guillermoprieto left the paper two years later.

In the course of the year, a number of Salvadoran human rights organizations denounced the massacre. The Salvadoran authorities continued to categorically deny that a massacre had taken place. No judicial investigation was launched and there was no word of any investigation by the government or the armed forces. Bonner later published a book on his experiences, Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador (1984), but in the intervening years the El Mozote story was slowly buried.

The Atlacatl Battalion went on to commit many more atrocities, including, nine years later, the murder of six Jesuits, their cook and her daughter in November 1989. Among the victims were the scholars Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró and Segundo Montes. Although the perpetrators tried to disguise the murders as the work of left-wing rebels, it soon became obvious that Atlacatl had been behind it, to universal condemnation. [8] After the El Mozote massacre, the Salvadoran army as a whole moved towards less brutal "hearts and minds" strategies in its attempts to undermine support for the FMLN.

[edit] Vindication

On 26 October 1990, a criminal complaint against the Atlacatl Battalion was filed by Pedro Chicas Romero of La Joya who had hidden in a cave above the hamlet as the soldiers killed his family and neighbors, and judicial proceedings were instituted. One of the first witnesses called to give testimony was Rufina Amaya, and the judge ordered remains to be exhumed.

In 1992, as part of the peace settlement established by the Chapultepec Peace Accords signed in Mexico City on January 16 of that year, a United Nations-sanctioned Commission on the Truth for El Salvador investigating human rights abuses committed during the war supervised the exhumations of the El Mozote remains by an Argentinian team of forensic specialists between November 17 and 17, 1992.....

The question I ask now is whether news reporter, Raymond Bonner, set the stage for more than vindication against the sabotage of his career by the extreme right, in it's temporarily successful efforts to sabotage his career and to silence him?

I'm asking because I took notice of the names described in this 1955 wedding party, and of the names in this recent book:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=Edw...n&scoring=a

Diplomats' Kin Usher at Barbara Pullman's Wedding Today

Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver - Oct 1, 1955

Others are Edwin Bohlln, whose uncle, Charles E. Bohlen, js- ambassador to ... broth- ers of the bride; Thomas Devine of Midland, Tex., Andre Rhe- ault and ...

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=Edw...n&scoring=a

Diplomats' Kin Usher at Barbara Pullman's Wedding Today

Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver - Oct 1, 1955

One of the young men is Alexander Aldrich, whose. father, Winthrop Aldrich, Is United States ambassador to Britain. Others are Edwin Bohlln, whose uncle, ...

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/02/books/co...an-century.html

Published: November 2, 1986

THE WISE MEN Six Friends and the World They Made: Acheson, Bohlen, Harriman, Kennan, Lovett,

. By Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas....

.....THERE are two things America is not supposed to have: an empire and a ruling class. ''The Wise Men'' takes the former for granted as a simple fact of international life, and explains through the lives of six privileged and powerful men how the latter works. The way these lives intertwined - through private schools, corporate board rooms and social clubs - and the way the United States became the inheritor of the postwar world provide the material of a fascinating, informative and ultimately disquieting study....

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/02/books/co...mp;pagewanted=5

.....''The one thing about this group that is important is that they were a group,'' observed Evan Thomas, interviewed by phone from Washington, where he is now Newsweek bureau chief. ''They were friends, they reacted against each other, they shared a common bond of service. The group was greater than the sum of its parts.''

''It's certainly not good to have an elite that is dictating what America's role in the world should be,'' Mr. Isaacson said. ,,,,,,

The groom in the 1955 wedding was Albert B. Carter Jr., employed by the CIA. We know that the ushers described above, Thomas Devine, and Andre Rheault were also CIA. Carter, Edwin Bohlen, and Rheault had all been Harvard classmates and fellow crew team members.

What I only suspected, but had no way of documenting, was this information about Edwin Upton Curtis "Buff" Bohlen, nephew of one of the "Six Wise Men," provided by Raymond Bonner in his 1993 book, "The Hand of Man", introduced for us in this description :

http://books.google.com/books?ei=BTmHSoHEA...nG=Search+Books

Cloak of green‎ - Page 336

by Elaine Dewar - Political Science - 1995 - 497 pages

From 1981 until 1990, for example, WWF US had on its staff one EU Curtis Bohlen.

Bonner said that many years earlier Bohlen had been listed as an employee ...

....and excerpted from Raymond Bonner's - 1993 book, "The Hand of Man":

http://dss.ucsd.edu/~ccgibson/docs/Africa%20Besieged.pdf

THE WHITE MAN'S GAME

AFRICA BESIEGED

(starting from page 115....)

...... At WWF-US, the con

servationists and scientists were still prevailing in their fights with the

fund-raisers and Bohlen, and this pleased the International, where the

sentiment was strongly against a ban. The African Wildlife Foundation's

position was still that people should voluntarily refrain from buying ivory,

but the organization was not calling for a total ban.

The denouement, the shifts of positions, came fast, amidst heavy lob

bying and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. In the West, the outcome

might be viewed as the result of democracy at work, with governments

responding to public pressure. Many of the Mricans involved had never

seen anything quite like the way in which the pro-ban advocates got their

news into the press and lobbied, and they felt powerless to counter it.

They did not have the money or the political experience to engage in

public relations campaigns. To them it also looked like colonialism, the

will of the West being imposed.....

(page 124)

....It is almost certain that AWF

didn't realize what it was admitting-that in the history of conservation,

Mricans had been ignored-and even now it wasn't really prepared to

listen to Africans. At the time AWF called for a ban, no African govern

ment had done so, and never would there be a "will of the continent,"

which remained split over the issue; moreover, when Olindo expressed

views at odds with AWF, the organization would ignore him as well.

Across town, WWF also wanted to convey the image that it wasn't

acting like some latter-day colonial power, but it was not easy to make

the image conform to the reality. "A lot of behind-the-scenes work went

into making sure that Mricans got out front," Curtis Bohlen, the vice

president ofWWF-US, told me. He was unwilling to be more specific.

A massive behind-the-scenes effort was necessary not only to make it

look as if the Africans were out front, however.

It was also needed in order to get WWF-US and then the International to endorse a ban. And

E. U. Curtis Bohlen, whom just about everybody calls "Buff," was behind

it all, playing a role for which he was well suited.

Bohlen was born to a family in which commitment to public service

was ingrained. His own career has been overshadowed by that of his

uncle Charles E. "Chip" Bohlen, one of the "Wise Men" of the American

foreign policy establishment, who was probably best known for his stint

as ambassador to the Soviet Union. After graduating from Harvard and

fulfilling his military obligation in the army during the Korean War,

"Buff" Bohlen also went to work for the State Department. At least his

official biography says he worked for the State Department, from 1955

to 1969. But in fact he was working for the CIA, with the State Depart

ment as his cover; from 1955 to 1958 he was in Kabul, and after a time

back in Washington, he was sent to Cairo in 1960, where he remained

until 1963, according to the Biographic Register, the State Department's

annual publication listing its employees. (The department ceased making

the Register public in the mid-seventies, after journalists and others

discovered how easy it was to use it in order to determine who was

working for CIA.) What Bohlen did for the Agency between 1963 and

1969 is an even deeper, more highly classified secret, for his name

disappears from the Register after 1963; nor does it appear in the State

Department directories for those years, even though his public resume

says he remained at the department until 1969. Bohlen's conservation

career began in 1969, when Russell Train, the AWF founder who had

become Nixon's Under Secretary of the Interior, asked Bohlen to join

him. (Whether or not he had left the Agency is not known.) While at

Interior, Bohlen assisted in drafting the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species.

Bohlen joined WWF-US in 1981, as the director ofgovernment affairs,

a newly created position, which reflected the organization's transition

from one that did research and public education to one that thought it

was also necessary to lobby the government for environmental causes.

Some of the WWF staffobjected to Bohlen's being hired, because of his

CIA background. Many in the Third World have long been convinced

that WWF, both the International and the U.S. chapter, has links to the

CIA and Britain's MI-6.

It would be reasonable for the intelligence

agencies to try to use the conservation organization-after all, their

people get out into remote rural areas-and at least one WWF staff

officer was approached by the agency in the 1980s to provide regular

briefings. He declined. (In the major books about the Agency, nothing

has surfaced linking it to WWF, nor in my own research did I find any

connections other than the overture just noted.)

Bohlen was hired at WWF by Russell Train, who was its preSident.

The men were friends and "class" mates, good Republicans who had their

vacation homes on Maryland's Eastern Shore (along with other wealthy

and powerful folks from Washington, D.C.). At WWF, Bohlen operated

as the consummate inside politician; his door was closed most ofthe time,

and colleagues say he did everything by phone, careful to put almost

nothing in writing. He was a somewhat mysterious figure around WWF,

where colleagues would jokingly ask, "Has anyone seen Buff?" or

"Where's Buff?" He was a diplomat of sorts, steeped in intrigue, but he

knew virtually nothing about animals and less about Africa. "He's like

most of our members, I suppose," a WWF-US conservation officer ob

served ruefully.

If Bohlen had not decided that a ban was an appropriate response to

the poaching, WWF-US would almost certainly not have endorsed it.

And if the U.S. chapter had not, then the International would not have.

As critical as his role was, why Bohlen came to support a ban is not clear.

He is a cordial and gracious man, easy to like, but he is not an individual

who by personality or training is going to reveal the true reasons for his

thinking, particularly if they are likely to be controversial. He says he

supported a ban because of the weight of the scientific evidence-that

is, that without a ban, poaching would continue until the elephants

disappeared. But that is hard to accept, given that the overwhelming

majority of scientists and professional conservationists, including those

in his own organization, didn't reach that conclusion. Bohlen wasn't an

animal rights zealot; in fact, he believed in hunting and in sustainable

utilization, and while at the Interior Department he had opposed a

moratorium on commercial whaling and supported sport hunting ofMon

tana's grizzly bears, for which he was denounced by animal rights mili

tants. Nor did he always side with the fund-raisers at WWF, as, for

example, when he supported the right of Eskimos to continue hunting

fur seals. Even Bohlen's colleagues at WWF say they could not fathom

what was behind his position on the ivory ban. "Did he want to destabilize

Africa?" one asks, then quickly rejects the idea as "farfetched." "Was it

a favor to Janet?" the same colleague goes on. Bohlen's wife, Janet, is

the former public relations director at WWF-US who referred to the

elephant poaching as "genocide." .....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tom Scully

Another member of the late '40's Harvard varsity crew was George Cabot Lodge, son of Henry, the 1952 and 1960 political race opponent of JFK. George ran unsuccessfully against Ted Kennedy in the 1962 Massachusetts campaign for U.S. Senate.

http://www.google.com/#q=harvard+taggart&hl=en&tbs=nws:1,cd_min:1940,cd_max:1949,cdr:1&source=lnt&psj=1&fp=4b6b349a02a4ee94

Harvard Crew Is Favored to Win Tenth in a Row From Yale...

‎ - New York Times - Jun 25, 1948

Gordon C. Aymar Jr. I VARSITY [ Harvard -- Stroke. John C. Hutchinson: 7. R0b-I err D. Taggart: 6. George C. Lodge: 5,..

In a routine homicide investigation, certainly not one run by J. Edgar Hoover, Earl Warren, Gerald Ford, Allen Dulles and John McCloy, high stakes rivals, who also happened to be losers to the Kennedy brothers, would routinely have been questioned in the wake of the murder of JFK and asked to produce alibis. The negelect of investigators to perform even these routine inquiries is even more alarming when one considers that the murder of Kennedy came fresh on the heels of George Cabot's father, Henry's proximity to the murders of the brothers Diem and Nhu in Saigon.

These patricians, and all others, were spared the indignity of any investigative inquiries whatsoever, due to the almost immediate availability of a lone nut, cop killing, movie going, scapegoat whose arrest resulted in the exclusion of all others potentially of interest to the investigation.

George Cabot Lodge's role in the CIA sponsored, early '60s African op referred to in the linked excerpts below is explained more clearly at the bottom of page 4 of this image of the June 7, 1969 issue of the Black Panther party newspaper.:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:DXOoTs09iCwJ:www.itsabouttimebpp.com/BPP_Newspapers/pdf/Vol_III_No7_1969.pdf+george+cabot+Tom+Mboya&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiHlOt8hWHvypsScNUEE04rFoy-OpDcZwo2DpkkWGVTcm8Y35WSRjsOz3a6R9rxHP8utfweQhAk9Vvamrlg4Ya5Zoh03IJ_G9jhJFLlbRU4zaHoyqjeT3YKjeXf7gKrH0aMM_2M&sig=AHIEtbSOiak_RT_I0kP8rV0MCKuimLJn8g

Vol. 3 No. 7, 1969 - It's About Time - Black Panther Party Legacy ...

this Fund, George Cabot Lodge (Henry's son), explained the ... Tom Mboya in my tries to avoid the strike." [v. PEACE wmi rnuooml. NDEIIWRITING MBOYA mo HIS ...

www.itsabouttimebpp.com/BPP_Newspapers/pdf/Vol_III_No7_1969.pdf

http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1&q=george+cabot+spearheads&btnG=Search+Books

The American labor heritage

William L. Abbott - 1967 - 114 pages - Snippet view

George Cabot Lodge said of ICFTU unions: They are frequently the spearhead in the drive for freedom, independence, social justice, reform, education and political liberty throughout the developing world... The obscure unionist of today ...

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=bks:1&q=%22*Relations+study+group+which+brought+labor+experts+together+with+Cord+Meyer+Jr.%2C%22&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&psj=1&fp=12222e274e2b1ccf

Dirty work 2: the CIA in Africa

Ellen Ray - 1979 - 523 pages - Snippet view

Relations study group which brought labor experts together with Cord Meyer Jr., the chief of the CIA's covert funding program. Speaking for the group, Lodge wrote: "The obscure trade unionist of today may well be the president or prime ...

Edited by Tom Scully
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

It seems there are some genealogy issues regarding Baron von Albensleben, so I am reposting an earlier post from this thread:

Forum members might find the following post assassination news stories interesting, as they pertain to D.H. Byrd's safari.

From the Dallas Morning News January 9, 1964 Sec 3 Page 1

YOUNG HUNTRESS

Storybook Adventures Real

By Ann Donaldson

Society Editor of the News

Hollywood could not have picked the script: A German baron who attends safaris on a concession larger than the country of Belgium; his beautiful wife, a native African with the background of a famous old Portuguese family.

But Baron and Baroness W.V. Alvensleben of Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, are for real, and are in Dallas as guests of Col. D. Harold Byrd. Col. Byrd returned to Dallas three weeks ago from a hunt on the huge concession 1,000 kilometers north of the seaport

city of Lourenco Marques. THE CONCESSION, rented from the Portuguese government, can be reached by "bumpy roads that are agony to travel," or "charter plane---- there are two airstrips," says the olive-skinned baroness.

Clients are mostly American and have included Dr. Vander Davidson of Dallas and two Wichita Falls couples, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Vincent and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gose.

The baroness' father arrived in Mozambique in 1914 to practice law. He was married by proxy, and his wife came to Mozambique later. "My mother's parents had a fit says the former de Sousa Costa. Going to Africa was like going to the end of the world in those days."

Educated in Lourenco Marques and in Portugal, the baroness speaks perfect English she learned at a Portuguese convent and from tutors at her grandparents estate. She married Baron Alvensleben, former manager of a gold mine in Rhodesia, 18 years ago, often accompanies him on safaris.

THE FIRST ANIMAL she shot was the "sweet, harmless impala." and she has gotten to the stage where "I shoot, but feel sorry to kill. To satisfy a caprice of mine I'd, still like to shoot an elephant."

To hunt, the baroness wears khaki clothes, "so the animals won't see." Khaki hats, comfortable boots and sweaters for mornings and evenings during the cool months of June, July and August. Even though it's a sport, it's hard work, explains the tall, slender, brunette. "We rise at 4:00 A.M., because my husband likes it that way. It is a beauty to see the sun rise and the animals come out from under the trees. The fauna is the wealth of our nation"

Baron Alvensleben has also reached the stage where he prefers looking to shooting. The only animal they have mounted is the buffalo. You cant just put those heads anywhere. Anyway, when you are in contact with the animals you don't care about mounting them." The concession is closed during the hot rainy months, from Dec. 1 to April, and the Alvensleben's have been in the United States since the close of the season. Baroness Alvensleben, who speaks six languages (German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), has traveled all over the world but claims that "here in the United States is the largest quantity of beautiful girl's and women."

The baroness and baron accompanied Col and Mrs. Byrd to the ball Mr and Mrs N. J. DeSanders gave Saturday night for his debutante daughters Sue and Janet DeSanders.

"Above all, I am a woman," says the chic baroness. And I enjoyed seeing the elegant decorations, and the beautiful gowns.

From Dallas they will go to Wichita Falls. They were also in Las Vegas for the presentation of the Weatherby Trophy, to the best hunter of the year, presented December 7. "We are enchanted with our American friends and the kind hospitality they have shown us." says the baroness. "We have been to so many parties, that I have gained several pounds and lost much sleep."

When the baron and baroness return to Mozambique at the end of January, she will rest and "restore my energies."

From the January 19, 1964 Dallas Morning News

Baron Takes Look at Texas Hunters

By Kenneth Fores

Outdoor Editor of the News

He was tall enough to have been a basketball player, he had a scar on the left side of his face that ran from

his mouth to his ear and about which he volunteered nothing but he furnished a view of American hunters from the other side of the fence. From the white hunters side of the fence, that is, the men who take the American's hunting, who live with them for weeks, who often face death with then when they go up against mighty beasts.

He was Baron Werner Von Alvensleben, and although he used the broad A of the English, and last was lost and grass was gross, that von indicated Prussian descent and that long wicked scar could have come from a saber in a schoolboy fight. "Did that scar come from a African spear?" he was asked by this columnist. "No," he answered and began talking about American hunters, and the man was qualified for such, for Baron Von Alvensleben ("Just call me Werner," he said when Col. Harold D. Byrd introduced

him) arranged Byrd's recent African safari as director of Safarilandia had arranged many more and had watched many an American hunter. From a distant little or big corner, depending on how you look at it, of the world he came from Portuguese East Africa also curiously named Mozambique and from a beautiful and very modern city named Lourenco Marques Lo RAN soo Mer KASH in case your Portuguese aint grade A. Mozambique isn't a little corner of the world, being longer than Texas, 1,300 miles though only 400 miles wide, and in it there is an area, the Save Hunting Concession,leased to Mozambique Safari-

landia, Lda., of 34,000 square miles, or as big as Switzerland, said red-faced sandy-haired Baron Just-Call-Me-Werner. To spot Mozambique, it is that eastern coast of Africa just opposite Mozambique, which is

longer than Texas, too. In that Save Hunting Concession, where less than 10 per cent of the game is shot annually, being considerably under the natural increase and must be given the natives, Col Byrd and Dr. V.A. Davidson of Dallas shot 26 different species in a couple of weeks. Dr. Davidson got a 62-inch kudo, near the world record, and Byrd a 60-incher which is quite high,plus a 43-inch buffalo and a 41-inch sable which is in the record class.

Most of Mozambique Hunters Texan

But down to the interesting comments on how the tall Mozambique baron, who married a Portuguese lady of the first family, sees the men from this country who come wagging cannons. Firstly the Baron seemed quite qualified to speak of the Texas variety of American's, for he said "80 per cent of our hunters are Texans. Fifteen percent come from California and five per cent from the rest of the world." Then the baron added a slant. "One of my hunters George Gedek, speaks with a Texan drawl. He doesent knoaw anything else. He's only hunted with Texans you see." The he got onto the Texans. "Americans who come to our place are all sportsmen. All save one mon. There must be one bad egg everywhere, it seems but the great majority of Americans are good sportsmen. Then they are different from the hunters of other nations. They are much tougher. Most are used to rugged conditions. They have hunted Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alaska, where you have got to be able to take it. Such people find Africa comparatively easy." Then the man from Mozambique, where a three week safari costs $3,500 and a for week safari costs $ 4,100 in addition to transportation there, got onto guns. "American's believe in high powered rifles. Your American rifle, the Weatherby and the Winchester, are fine rifles. Europeans cawnt do as well, they dont have the rifles, or they dont have time, or the opportunity to practice. So Americans are much better shots. Your Herb Klein is a grond example."

And what do these American hunters want to shoot? "Texan's want a lion and leopard first," replied the Baron then a kudu, lostly the elephant. There is a tremendous argument as to the most dangerous onimal in Africa, No not the buff," he said to Byrd. "You can see him, the wounded lion or leopard is on you like lightning. The wounded leopard is the more dangerous of the two. Invariably it will attack. But I count the elephont as the most dangerous. An elephant is able to reason. My greatest friend and co-hunter Horst Rohe was killed by an elephant in 1952. Quite a few of my friends have been killed by them. Mechanized man is the only enemy the elephont has.

"Wally Johnson, Harold's white hunter, who has killed over 1,000 elephants, shot one six times last year, and it escaped into the bush. He was back there six months ago. That elephant attacked him. The wound scars proved it." It was but natural to ask a man who has lived in Mozambique for 17 years, or since the end of World War II, what his closest call has been.

"My narrowest escape," he replied was at Elm and St. Paul yesterday in front of the Athletic Club. This town is much more dangerous than the bush. Onimals dont do you any harm unless you or someone has wounded them. You cawnt say thot for Dallas drivers. Then he got back to American hunters

"American women are great sports and good shots. Mrs. Marty Gose of Wichita Falls killed everything with one shot. Mrs Jack O' Connor, wife of the Outdoor Life gun editor mostly, did the same. I have seen American women outshoot their husbands. "But there is one thing we do note. The only things Americans are afraid of are bugs. But by God they disinfect themselves with the amount of whiskey they drink. No mosquito would have a chance with them. They swerve off from them."

So, George deMohrenschildt wasn't the only Baron who shows up in the JFK saga. Whether there is any other interesting material from this 'peripheral to the assassination' aspect remains to be seen. A word of warning.....beware of assuming anything about the Baron, especially his political affiliations. In World War 2, the Baron apparently was imprisoned by the Nazi's, from what I understand....

But....... I do not have the book....But it is readily available.

See

It is said in one of Capstick's safari related books, that Albensleben recieved the lengthy scar "fencing in Heidelberg,"

http://www.booktrail.com/Hunting_Africa/baronin.asp

I wonder if the Alvensleben's were familiar with the Baron von Tscheppe-Weidenbach family, in the old country?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems there are some genealogy issues regarding Baron von Albensleben, so I am reposting an earlier post from this thread:

Forum members might find the following post assassination news stories interesting, as they pertain to D.H. Byrd's safari.

From the Dallas Morning News January 9, 1964 Sec 3 Page 1

YOUNG HUNTRESS

Storybook Adventures Real

By Ann Donaldson

Society Editor of the News

Hollywood could not have picked the script: A German baron who attends safaris on a concession larger than the country of Belgium; his beautiful wife, a native African with the background of a famous old Portuguese family.

But Baron and Baroness W.V. Alvensleben of Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, are for real, and are in Dallas as guests of Col. D. Harold Byrd. Col. Byrd returned to Dallas three weeks ago from a hunt on the huge concession 1,000 kilometers north of the seaport

city of Lourenco Marques. THE CONCESSION, rented from the Portuguese government, can be reached by "bumpy roads that are agony to travel," or "charter plane---- there are two airstrips," says the olive-skinned baroness.

Clients are mostly American and have included Dr. Vander Davidson of Dallas and two Wichita Falls couples, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Vincent and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gose.

The baroness' father arrived in Mozambique in 1914 to practice law. He was married by proxy, and his wife came to Mozambique later. "My mother's parents had a fit says the former de Sousa Costa. Going to Africa was like going to the end of the world in those days."

Educated in Lourenco Marques and in Portugal, the baroness speaks perfect English she learned at a Portuguese convent and from tutors at her grandparents estate. She married Baron Alvensleben, former manager of a gold mine in Rhodesia, 18 years ago, often accompanies him on safaris.

THE FIRST ANIMAL she shot was the "sweet, harmless impala." and she has gotten to the stage where "I shoot, but feel sorry to kill. To satisfy a caprice of mine I'd, still like to shoot an elephant."

To hunt, the baroness wears khaki clothes, "so the animals won't see." Khaki hats, comfortable boots and sweaters for mornings and evenings during the cool months of June, July and August. Even though it's a sport, it's hard work, explains the tall, slender, brunette. "We rise at 4:00 A.M., because my husband likes it that way. It is a beauty to see the sun rise and the animals come out from under the trees. The fauna is the wealth of our nation"

Baron Alvensleben has also reached the stage where he prefers looking to shooting. The only animal they have mounted is the buffalo. You cant just put those heads anywhere. Anyway, when you are in contact with the animals you don't care about mounting them." The concession is closed during the hot rainy months, from Dec. 1 to April, and the Alvensleben's have been in the United States since the close of the season. Baroness Alvensleben, who speaks six languages (German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), has traveled all over the world but claims that "here in the United States is the largest quantity of beautiful girl's and women."

The baroness and baron accompanied Col and Mrs. Byrd to the ball Mr and Mrs N. J. DeSanders gave Saturday night for his debutante daughters Sue and Janet DeSanders.

"Above all, I am a woman," says the chic baroness. And I enjoyed seeing the elegant decorations, and the beautiful gowns.

From Dallas they will go to Wichita Falls. They were also in Las Vegas for the presentation of the Weatherby Trophy, to the best hunter of the year, presented December 7. "We are enchanted with our American friends and the kind hospitality they have shown us." says the baroness. "We have been to so many parties, that I have gained several pounds and lost much sleep."

When the baron and baroness return to Mozambique at the end of January, she will rest and "restore my energies."

From the January 19, 1964 Dallas Morning News

Baron Takes Look at Texas Hunters

By Kenneth Fores

Outdoor Editor of the News

He was tall enough to have been a basketball player, he had a scar on the left side of his face that ran from

his mouth to his ear and about which he volunteered nothing but he furnished a view of American hunters from the other side of the fence. From the white hunters side of the fence, that is, the men who take the American's hunting, who live with them for weeks, who often face death with then when they go up against mighty beasts.

He was Baron Werner Von Alvensleben, and although he used the broad A of the English, and last was lost and grass was gross, that von indicated Prussian descent and that long wicked scar could have come from a saber in a schoolboy fight. "Did that scar come from a African spear?" he was asked by this columnist. "No," he answered and began talking about American hunters, and the man was qualified for such, for Baron Von Alvensleben ("Just call me Werner," he said when Col. Harold D. Byrd introduced

him) arranged Byrd's recent African safari as director of Safarilandia had arranged many more and had watched many an American hunter. From a distant little or big corner, depending on how you look at it, of the world he came from Portuguese East Africa also curiously named Mozambique and from a beautiful and very modern city named Lourenco Marques Lo RAN soo Mer KASH in case your Portuguese aint grade A. Mozambique isn't a little corner of the world, being longer than Texas, 1,300 miles though only 400 miles wide, and in it there is an area, the Save Hunting Concession,leased to Mozambique Safari-

landia, Lda., of 34,000 square miles, or as big as Switzerland, said red-faced sandy-haired Baron Just-Call-Me-Werner. To spot Mozambique, it is that eastern coast of Africa just opposite Mozambique, which is

longer than Texas, too. In that Save Hunting Concession, where less than 10 per cent of the game is shot annually, being considerably under the natural increase and must be given the natives, Col Byrd and Dr. V.A. Davidson of Dallas shot 26 different species in a couple of weeks. Dr. Davidson got a 62-inch kudo, near the world record, and Byrd a 60-incher which is quite high,plus a 43-inch buffalo and a 41-inch sable which is in the record class.

Most of Mozambique Hunters Texan

But down to the interesting comments on how the tall Mozambique baron, who married a Portuguese lady of the first family, sees the men from this country who come wagging cannons. Firstly the Baron seemed quite qualified to speak of the Texas variety of American's, for he said "80 per cent of our hunters are Texans. Fifteen percent come from California and five per cent from the rest of the world." Then the baron added a slant. "One of my hunters George Gedek, speaks with a Texan drawl. He doesent knoaw anything else. He's only hunted with Texans you see." The he got onto the Texans. "Americans who come to our place are all sportsmen. All save one mon. There must be one bad egg everywhere, it seems but the great majority of Americans are good sportsmen. Then they are different from the hunters of other nations. They are much tougher. Most are used to rugged conditions. They have hunted Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alaska, where you have got to be able to take it. Such people find Africa comparatively easy." Then the man from Mozambique, where a three week safari costs $3,500 and a for week safari costs $ 4,100 in addition to transportation there, got onto guns. "American's believe in high powered rifles. Your American rifle, the Weatherby and the Winchester, are fine rifles. Europeans cawnt do as well, they dont have the rifles, or they dont have time, or the opportunity to practice. So Americans are much better shots. Your Herb Klein is a grond example."

And what do these American hunters want to shoot? "Texan's want a lion and leopard first," replied the Baron then a kudu, lostly the elephant. There is a tremendous argument as to the most dangerous onimal in Africa, No not the buff," he said to Byrd. "You can see him, the wounded lion or leopard is on you like lightning. The wounded leopard is the more dangerous of the two. Invariably it will attack. But I count the elephont as the most dangerous. An elephant is able to reason. My greatest friend and co-hunter Horst Rohe was killed by an elephant in 1952. Quite a few of my friends have been killed by them. Mechanized man is the only enemy the elephont has.

"Wally Johnson, Harold's white hunter, who has killed over 1,000 elephants, shot one six times last year, and it escaped into the bush. He was back there six months ago. That elephant attacked him. The wound scars proved it." It was but natural to ask a man who has lived in Mozambique for 17 years, or since the end of World War II, what his closest call has been.

"My narrowest escape," he replied was at Elm and St. Paul yesterday in front of the Athletic Club. This town is much more dangerous than the bush. Onimals dont do you any harm unless you or someone has wounded them. You cawnt say thot for Dallas drivers. Then he got back to American hunters

"American women are great sports and good shots. Mrs. Marty Gose of Wichita Falls killed everything with one shot. Mrs Jack O' Connor, wife of the Outdoor Life gun editor mostly, did the same. I have seen American women outshoot their husbands. "But there is one thing we do note. The only things Americans are afraid of are bugs. But by God they disinfect themselves with the amount of whiskey they drink. No mosquito would have a chance with them. They swerve off from them."

So, George deMohrenschildt wasn't the only Baron who shows up in the JFK saga. Whether there is any other interesting material from this 'peripheral to the assassination' aspect remains to be seen. A word of warning.....beware of assuming anything about the Baron, especially his political affiliations. In World War 2, the Baron apparently was imprisoned by the Nazi's, from what I understand....

But....... I do not have the book....But it is readily available.

See

It is said in one of Capstick's safari related books, that Albensleben recieved the lengthy scar "fencing in Heidelberg,"

http://www.booktrail...ica/baronin.asp

I wonder if the Alvensleben's were familiar with the Baron von Tscheppe-Weidenbach family, in the old country?

Thanks Robert,

BK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems there are some genealogy issues regarding Baron von Albensleben, so I am reposting an earlier post from this thread:

Forum members might find the following post assassination news stories interesting, as they pertain to D.H. Byrd's safari.

From the Dallas Morning News January 9, 1964 Sec 3 Page 1

YOUNG HUNTRESS

Storybook Adventures Real

By Ann Donaldson

Society Editor of the News

Hollywood could not have picked the script: A German baron who attends safaris on a concession larger than the country of Belgium; his beautiful wife, a native African with the background of a famous old Portuguese family.

But Baron and Baroness W.V. Alvensleben of Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, are for real, and are in Dallas as guests of Col. D. Harold Byrd. Col. Byrd returned to Dallas three weeks ago from a hunt on the huge concession 1,000 kilometers north of the seaport

city of Lourenco Marques. THE CONCESSION, rented from the Portuguese government, can be reached by "bumpy roads that are agony to travel," or "charter plane---- there are two airstrips," says the olive-skinned baroness.

Clients are mostly American and have included Dr. Vander Davidson of Dallas and two Wichita Falls couples, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Vincent and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gose.

The baroness' father arrived in Mozambique in 1914 to practice law. He was married by proxy, and his wife came to Mozambique later. "My mother's parents had a fit says the former de Sousa Costa. Going to Africa was like going to the end of the world in those days."

Educated in Lourenco Marques and in Portugal, the baroness speaks perfect English she learned at a Portuguese convent and from tutors at her grandparents estate. She married Baron Alvensleben, former manager of a gold mine in Rhodesia, 18 years ago, often accompanies him on safaris.

THE FIRST ANIMAL she shot was the "sweet, harmless impala." and she has gotten to the stage where "I shoot, but feel sorry to kill. To satisfy a caprice of mine I'd, still like to shoot an elephant."

To hunt, the baroness wears khaki clothes, "so the animals won't see." Khaki hats, comfortable boots and sweaters for mornings and evenings during the cool months of June, July and August. Even though it's a sport, it's hard work, explains the tall, slender, brunette. "We rise at 4:00 A.M., because my husband likes it that way. It is a beauty to see the sun rise and the animals come out from under the trees. The fauna is the wealth of our nation"

Baron Alvensleben has also reached the stage where he prefers looking to shooting. The only animal they have mounted is the buffalo. You cant just put those heads anywhere. Anyway, when you are in contact with the animals you don't care about mounting them." The concession is closed during the hot rainy months, from Dec. 1 to April, and the Alvensleben's have been in the United States since the close of the season. Baroness Alvensleben, who speaks six languages (German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), has traveled all over the world but claims that "here in the United States is the largest quantity of beautiful girl's and women."

The baroness and baron accompanied Col and Mrs. Byrd to the ball Mr and Mrs N. J. DeSanders gave Saturday night for his debutante daughters Sue and Janet DeSanders.

"Above all, I am a woman," says the chic baroness. And I enjoyed seeing the elegant decorations, and the beautiful gowns.

From Dallas they will go to Wichita Falls. They were also in Las Vegas for the presentation of the Weatherby Trophy, to the best hunter of the year, presented December 7. "We are enchanted with our American friends and the kind hospitality they have shown us." says the baroness. "We have been to so many parties, that I have gained several pounds and lost much sleep."

When the baron and baroness return to Mozambique at the end of January, she will rest and "restore my energies."

From the January 19, 1964 Dallas Morning News

Baron Takes Look at Texas Hunters

By Kenneth Fores

Outdoor Editor of the News

He was tall enough to have been a basketball player, he had a scar on the left side of his face that ran from

his mouth to his ear and about which he volunteered nothing but he furnished a view of American hunters from the other side of the fence. From the white hunters side of the fence, that is, the men who take the American's hunting, who live with them for weeks, who often face death with then when they go up against mighty beasts.

He was Baron Werner Von Alvensleben, and although he used the broad A of the English, and last was lost and grass was gross, that von indicated Prussian descent and that long wicked scar could have come from a saber in a schoolboy fight. "Did that scar come from a African spear?" he was asked by this columnist. "No," he answered and began talking about American hunters, and the man was qualified for such, for Baron Von Alvensleben ("Just call me Werner," he said when Col. Harold D. Byrd introduced

him) arranged Byrd's recent African safari as director of Safarilandia had arranged many more and had watched many an American hunter. From a distant little or big corner, depending on how you look at it, of the world he came from Portuguese East Africa also curiously named Mozambique and from a beautiful and very modern city named Lourenco Marques Lo RAN soo Mer KASH in case your Portuguese aint grade A. Mozambique isn't a little corner of the world, being longer than Texas, 1,300 miles though only 400 miles wide, and in it there is an area, the Save Hunting Concession,leased to Mozambique Safari-

landia, Lda., of 34,000 square miles, or as big as Switzerland, said red-faced sandy-haired Baron Just-Call-Me-Werner. To spot Mozambique, it is that eastern coast of Africa just opposite Mozambique, which is

longer than Texas, too. In that Save Hunting Concession, where less than 10 per cent of the game is shot annually, being considerably under the natural increase and must be given the natives, Col Byrd and Dr. V.A. Davidson of Dallas shot 26 different species in a couple of weeks. Dr. Davidson got a 62-inch kudo, near the world record, and Byrd a 60-incher which is quite high,plus a 43-inch buffalo and a 41-inch sable which is in the record class.

Most of Mozambique Hunters Texan

But down to the interesting comments on how the tall Mozambique baron, who married a Portuguese lady of the first family, sees the men from this country who come wagging cannons. Firstly the Baron seemed quite qualified to speak of the Texas variety of American's, for he said "80 per cent of our hunters are Texans. Fifteen percent come from California and five per cent from the rest of the world." Then the baron added a slant. "One of my hunters George Gedek, speaks with a Texan drawl. He doesent knoaw anything else. He's only hunted with Texans you see." The he got onto the Texans. "Americans who come to our place are all sportsmen. All save one mon. There must be one bad egg everywhere, it seems but the great majority of Americans are good sportsmen. Then they are different from the hunters of other nations. They are much tougher. Most are used to rugged conditions. They have hunted Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alaska, where you have got to be able to take it. Such people find Africa comparatively easy." Then the man from Mozambique, where a three week safari costs $3,500 and a for week safari costs $ 4,100 in addition to transportation there, got onto guns. "American's believe in high powered rifles. Your American rifle, the Weatherby and the Winchester, are fine rifles. Europeans cawnt do as well, they dont have the rifles, or they dont have time, or the opportunity to practice. So Americans are much better shots. Your Herb Klein is a grond example."

And what do these American hunters want to shoot? "Texan's want a lion and leopard first," replied the Baron then a kudu, lostly the elephant. There is a tremendous argument as to the most dangerous onimal in Africa, No not the buff," he said to Byrd. "You can see him, the wounded lion or leopard is on you like lightning. The wounded leopard is the more dangerous of the two. Invariably it will attack. But I count the elephont as the most dangerous. An elephant is able to reason. My greatest friend and co-hunter Horst Rohe was killed by an elephant in 1952. Quite a few of my friends have been killed by them. Mechanized man is the only enemy the elephont has.

"Wally Johnson, Harold's white hunter, who has killed over 1,000 elephants, shot one six times last year, and it escaped into the bush. He was back there six months ago. That elephant attacked him. The wound scars proved it." It was but natural to ask a man who has lived in Mozambique for 17 years, or since the end of World War II, what his closest call has been.

"My narrowest escape," he replied was at Elm and St. Paul yesterday in front of the Athletic Club. This town is much more dangerous than the bush. Onimals dont do you any harm unless you or someone has wounded them. You cawnt say thot for Dallas drivers. Then he got back to American hunters

"American women are great sports and good shots. Mrs. Marty Gose of Wichita Falls killed everything with one shot. Mrs Jack O' Connor, wife of the Outdoor Life gun editor mostly, did the same. I have seen American women outshoot their husbands. "But there is one thing we do note. The only things Americans are afraid of are bugs. But by God they disinfect themselves with the amount of whiskey they drink. No mosquito would have a chance with them. They swerve off from them."

So, George deMohrenschildt wasn't the only Baron who shows up in the JFK saga. Whether there is any other interesting material from this 'peripheral to the assassination' aspect remains to be seen. A word of warning.....beware of assuming anything about the Baron, especially his political affiliations. In World War 2, the Baron apparently was imprisoned by the Nazi's, from what I understand....

But....... I do not have the book....But it is readily available.

See

It is said in one of Capstick's safari related books, that Albensleben recieved the lengthy scar "fencing in Heidelberg,"

http://www.booktrail...ica/baronin.asp

I wonder if the Alvensleben's were familiar with the Baron von Tscheppe-Weidenbach family, in the old country?

Thanks Robert,

BK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tom Scully

Robert,

Just as in the investigation of Oswald, I do not think the WC intended to make it plain what the actual political sentiments and commitments of DeMohrenschildt were. I think the proof of this is the omission of the name of the best man in the Pierson wedding, as the inclusion of it and questions about the man and DeMohrenschildt's relationship with him, most likely would have revealed too much about DeMohrenschildt's activities during WWII.

http://books.google.com/books?id=8eACAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=%22He+admitted+to+having+worked+for+French+counterintelligence,+and+had+contacts+in+Polish,+Finnish,+and+German+intelligence+agencies*%22&source=bl&ots=a5dnzxks17&sig=RnNuIkq0H9UbX44Nz1f4Zb30ATw&hl=en&ei=nljVTrGbHI2btwfj9bSqAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22He%20admitted%20to%20having%20worked%20for%20French%20counterintelligence%2C%20and%20had%20contacts%20in%20Polish%2C%20Finnish%2C%20and%20German%20intelligence%20agencies*%22&f=true

New York Magazine - Mar 6, 1978 - Google Books Result

...Vol. 11, No. 10 - 88 pages - Magazine

He admitted to having worked for French counterintelligence, and had contacts in Polish, Finnish, and German intelligence agencies. He had also been ... I never found out who he was really working for.

DeMohrenschildt's best man, Wrede, was considered a member of a hostile Finnish legation:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=13941&view=findpost&p=172405

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/F...&isize=text

United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States diplomatic papers, 1942. Europe

Volume II (1942)

Finland, pp. 21-122

I took the opportunity then to inquire of Mr. Solanko as to the present whereabouts

of Mr. Wrede, an Attaché

Page 23

of the Legation, who, so far as I knew, has spent very few days in Washington

since his arrival in the United States. Mr. Solanko said that the Legation

had already gotten in touch with Mr. Wrede who was in New York and had instructed

him to return to Washington immediately. I did not suggest that the Legation

might countermand this instruction so as to permit Mr. Wrede to return at

a later date as in the case of Mr. Mikkola.

Mr. Solanko inquired whether we are acquainted with the precise details

of Finnish restrictions upon the movements of American consular and diplomatic

personnel in Finland. I said that I was not but that from what I knew of

those restrictions they were similar in effect to those communicated to the

Finnish Legation in its note under reference. We did not discuss this matter

further.....

What influence would make a woman so partisan she could not support her own son-in-law's campaign for the office of U.S. president? You should be able to discern quite a lot about any person by learning more about the friends they have chosen. In this sense, Oswald, DeMohrenschildt and JFK were all riddles in the most elaborate charade in U.S. history of criminal investigations.

You've been fed leading and softball questions all day by Accardo/Crown stooge Albert Jenner and you write that you are weary from it, so what better way to relax that evening (with no complaint), than by cooperating in an unethical Q&A with a WC commissioner, Allen Dulles?

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1efcipXi_U0J:www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol12/pdf/HSCA_Vol12_deMohren.pdf+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

HSCA Volume XII: George de Mohrenschildt

Page 176

222

We wondered why the Committee paid so much attention to the testimonies

of people who had known Lee and Marina in Dallas, long before the assassi-

nation or others who had known him long before that? And the answer was -

just to fill uo the pages and tranquillized American populace.

Jeanne dispute with Mrs. Hugh Auchincloss, Jacqueline Kennedy's mother

in the evening when we finished our deposition . .9eanne asked her:"why don'},

you, the relatives of our beloved President, you who so wealthy, why don't

you conduct a real investigation as to who was the rat who killed him?"

"But the rat was your friend Lee Harvey Oavald," was the cold answer.

Thus the mind of not only the membefs of the Committee but of President'

family were all made up.

Jenner kept asking me constantly - "why did Oavald like you and didn't

like anybody else?" As if there was some homosexual likk between us....

"I don't have the slightest idea, maybe because I liked him.. ."

"Maybe he liked you because you were a strong person?" Jenner asked

agaiq intimating that maybe a was a "wolf" or a devil influencing him to

do evil."Maybe he identified you as an internationalist?" Intimating again

some dark connections I might have.

"Maybe," I answered . "I am no admirer of any particular flag."

"You and your wife were the only ones who remained his friends? Con-

Page 177

tinued Jenner his line of inquiry.

This question was akked of both of us. And we answered both in about

the same terms:"to us they were warm, open, young people, responsive to

our hospitality ."

223

Albert Jenner the brought to my attention part of a letter I wrote

to Mrs. Auchincloss from Haiti. He used this as my admission of Lee's

guilt, and I had explained already under what circumstances this letter

was written. "since we lived in Dallas we had the misfortune to have met

Lee Harvey Osvald and his wife Marina. I do hope that Marina and her

children (now she has two by Lee) will not suffer too badly through life

d tha

the s

gma of the assassination will not affect her and the innocent

children ."

This was my foolish letter and my speculation, not Jeanne's.

And again, after the impact of this letter read to me, Jenner very

cleverly mamboozled me into a possible motive of Lee's guilt. "The only

reason for Lee's criminal act," I continued, "would be that he might have

been jealous of a young, rich, attractive presidentwho had a beautiful

wife and was a world figure . Lee was just the opposite ; his wife was

bitchy and he was a failure."

Page 178

224

Now, away from the pressures of the Committee, I consider this state-

ment of mine most unfair. It would not have made him a here to have shot

a liberal and beloved president, especially beloved by the minorities,

and Marina was not such a bitch, while Jacqueline was not so beautiful .

Especially she was not beautiful inside when she married that gangster of

international shippin Aristotle Onessis .

If you read the Warren Report, there is another leading question by

Jenner:"as a humanitarian person you cannot imagine anyone murdering ano-

ther person?" A childish, naive question, m f course .

"I cannot imagine doing it myself," I answered equally supidly, but at

least I did not express opinion about Lee's guilt.

Lee, an ex-Marine, trained for organized murder, was capable of killing)

but for a very strong ideological motive or in self-derence.

But a few more words about my letter to Mrs . Auchinclosa, Mrs. Kenne-

dy's mother . The copies of these letters were given Warren Committee by

Allen Dulles, her close friend, as well as the copies of her letters to

me. On January 29, 1964 she wrote to me :"it seems extraordinary,that you

knew Lee Harvey Osvald and Jacqueline as a child . It ceitainly is a strange

world . And I hope, like you do, that Lee Harvey Osvald's innocent children

Page 179

....Very tired by our testimonies, we were invited after our ordeal to

the luxurious house of Jacqueline Kennedy's mother and her step-father,

Mr. Hugh Auchincloss. This luxurious home was located in Georgetown and

Auchlncloss' money originated of somm association of Hugh's family with

John D. Rockefeller, Sr, of the oil fame. We spoke about another coinci-

dence in our lives. I flew one day from Dallas to Washington and Mrs.

Hu3h Auchincloss happened to be on the same plane. She was flying from

some health-farm in Phenix, Arizona, where rich women stay on a diet, ex-

ercie and put themselves in an acceptable shape Again. This was the year

of presidential election and Mrs. Auchincloss, a staunch republican was

for Nixon and was sure than her son-in-law, JFK, did not have the slight-

est chance to win the elections.

I, on the other side, was sure that Kennedy would win the elections

and was going to vote democratic for the first time.

I told her that the mood of the country was for her charming son-in-

law, and she answered that I did not tnmderstand American politics ...

Eventually, we had to talk sadly about the assassination. Allan Dulles

was there also and he asked me a few astute questions about Lee.

One of them was, I remember, did Lee have a reason of hating President

Kennedy? However, when I answered that he was rather an admirer of the

dead President, everyone took my answer with a grain of salt . Again the

overwhelming opinion was that Lee was the sole assassin.

I was still thinking of poor Lee, comparing his life with the life of

these multi-millionnaires . I tried to reason - to no avail . It seemed to

me that I was facing a conspiracy, a conspiracy of stubborness and si-

lence....

Werner Von Alvensleben's father was imprisoned in 1934 and nearly executed by the Nazis. The Werner Von Alvensleben who hosted Byrd in Africa, died in Portugal in 1998. It is said he was briefly a prisoner of war, but escaped by digging under an electrified fence.

It is also written that the younger von Alvensleben was an OSS agent. He died in Portugal in 1998.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_von_Alvensleben

...In 1909 he married Alexandra Gräfin von Einsiedel (1888-1947). Three daughters, Alexandra, Armgard and Anna Caroline Harriet were born to this marriage, as well as a son named Werner....

https://www.google.com/search?q=brian+marsh+oss+Werner+Von+Alvensleben+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#pq=%22werner+von+alvensleben%22+%22consulate+general%2C+categorizing+the+various+documents%2C+%22&hl=en&ds=bo&cp=27&gs_id=ug&xhr=t&q=%22Werner+von+Alvensleben%22+%22*%22&tok=lbo1EVJr9uTWWxJTH3E8_Q&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbm=bks&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=%22Werner+von+Alvensleben%22+%22*%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=3fa79b40380ca6a5&biw=1280&bih=781&bs=1

The SS, alibi of a nation, 1922-1945 - Page 68

books.google.com Gerald Reitlinger - 1989 - 528 pages - Preview

Schleicher used the same intermediary to approach Roehm as he had used to approach the army for a coup against Hitler in January 1933, a certain Werner von Alvensleben, whom Hitler referred to as 'Herr von A'. .

http://www.amazon.com/Baron-Africa-Remarkable-Adventures-Unusual/dp/1571570675

Baron in Africa: The Remarkable Adventures of an ...

www.amazon.com › Books › Biographies & Memoirs

Werner von Alvensleben came from a long line of German aristocrats, yet far ...Imprisoned in Zimbabwe during World War II, he escaped by digging underneath an electric fence in the rain and made his way ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=XEPKTdIFm-IC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=He+had+been+working+on+dangerous+missions+for+the+OSS+during+the+war+and+was+now+at+loose+ends.&source=bl&ots=NC3NN886MP&sig=gqw5qLYl0UyK5kVZw9Yg7u1oPAc&hl=en&ei=3WDVTqjqFc6ctwez7_T6AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=He%20had%20been%20working%20on%20dangerous%20missions%20for%20the%20OSS%20during%20the%20war%20and%20was%20now%20at%20loose%20ends.&f=false

Fragments of our time: memoirs of a diplomat - Page 46

books.google.com Martin Joseph Hillenbrand - 1998 - 414 pages - Preview

I obviously needed help and was fortunate to be able to enlist the services of Werner von Alvensleben, a white hunter and political refugee from Nazi Germany, who had been condemned to death in absentia. He had been working on dangerous missions for the OSS during the war and was now at loose ends. It turned out to be an association that was to lead us, when we arrived in postwar Germany, to some of the best and most enduring friendships of our lives. Werner worked untiringly, going through the archives of the consulate general, categorizing the various documents, and separating the wheat from the chaff. Some identified individuals and organizations with Nazi affiliations, both in Mozambique and in South Africa. I dutifully sent the interesting items back to Washington, but I never found out if they had served any useful purpose. I could not be surprised at the degree of South African involvement; many Boers seemed to have a natural affinity for the German cause. Our association with Werner and his lovely Portuguese wife, Bibla, caused some problems with the English and South African community in Lourenijo Marques. After all, he was a German, and no matter what his wartime record, it was not cricket to use him as we were doing. At first, the consul general joined us in efforts to rehabilitate him and his wife socially, but when the protests started, he quickly retreated, leaving Faith and me to take the flack. In any event, our time in Africa was coming to an ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=eIMQIQGpVKoC&pg=PA105&dq=Werner+von+Alvensleben+died+in+portugal&hl=en&ei=80zVTqDeMsaItwfarfWqAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Werner%20von%20Alvensleben%20died%20in%20portugal&f=false

The winds of havoc: a memoir of adventure and destruction in ... - Page 105

books.google.comAdelino Serras Pires, Fiona Claire Capstick - 2001 - 265 pages - Preview

over the entire field management of a company called Safarilandia from the controversial Werner von Alvensleben, the "Baron" who ... German-born Von Alvensleben, who died in Portugal in 1998, arrived in Mozambique under highly dramatic

Edited by Tom Scully
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...