Question for Ryan Crowe

[James Richards]

Hi Ryan,

Is it possible to tell what kind of weapon is being used in this image below?

Cheers,

James

[Ryan Crowe]

Hi James,

That is a Johnson 30-06 , same type of weapon Hemming had Very accurate rifle.

[James Richards]

Hi James,

That is a Johnson 30-06 , same type of weapon Hemming had Very accurate rifle.

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Thanks, Ryan.

Was this type of weapon common amongst the militant exiles? Was it easy to obtain one and how would the cost of such a firearm compare to others at the time?

Cheers,

James

[David G. Healy]

Hi James,

That is a Johnson 30-06 , same type of weapon Hemming had Very accurate rifle.

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from a tree?? Gott'a love those PR shots -- Sorry!

[James Richards]

from a tree?? Gott'a love those PR shots -- Sorry! (David Healy)

David,

I guess these guys have to keep in practice when it comes to hitting targets from elevated positions. One never knows when one may be asked to fire from an office building or something.

James

Edited August 27, 2005 by James Richards

[Lee Forman]

from a tree?? Gott'a love those PR shots -- Sorry! (David Healy)

David,

I guess these guys have to keep in practice when it comes to hitting targets from elevated positions. You never know when one may be asked to fire from an office building or something. 

James

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James,

It may be worthwhile to pull together all of the assorted calibers and weaponry allegedly/suspected to have been used in the assassination on one thread. A 30.06 has come up multiple times in my wandering.

- lee

[Gerry Hemming]

Hi James,

That is a Johnson 30-06 , same type of weapon Hemming had Very accurate rifle.

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Thanks, Ryan.

Was this type of weapon common amongst the militant exiles? Was it easy to obtain one and how would the cost of such a firearm compare to others at the time?

Cheers,

James

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James:

That IS my Johnson 30-06 rifle [with 4x scope]. The photo was taken by Bob Brown [then of "Panther Publications", now SOF Magazine] in the Everglades during early 1962. The lad in the tree was posed there by Bob, and was the only member of the "30th of November" organization who wore a spanish style Stetson in the bush. He was one of those snatched by Spetsnaz/DSE commandos off of Elbow Cay [bahamas] during February 1963, and served almost 20 years in Habana's "Combinado del Este".

The Johnson was a "recoil" operated rifle [as opposed to "gas operated", eg., M1 Garand, AK47, etc.], which meant that the barrel moved to the rear during the reloading cycle, thus degrading accuracy somewhat at 300+ yard targets.

These "scoped" Johnsons were purchased on the open market by the D.R.E. just before the Bay of Pigs [JM/ATE] with CIA funds via a proprietary front. After the failure at BOP, all of the Johnsons were sold back to the sellers [National Gun Traders, 400 block SW 22nd Ave., Miami]

I sold my Schmeisser MP-40 machine-pistol ["Burp-Gun"] to Bobby Willis during November 1961, and purchased the Johnson at Nat'l Gun for $45. This was the same rifle left with Dick Hathcock, as I was cognizant of the fact that Loran Hall was an FBI snitch [L.A. to Miami trip 1963], and the fact that I remained under a "legal disability [federal charges of Neutrality Act violations] -- I knew that I was prohibited from even vicarious possession of a firearm until the charges were disposed of, and also avoiding the risk of bail-bond release revocation. [i forbade his carrying a weapon on the trip, as if found by police in the same car I was riding in, I could be held liable.]

The Johnson 30-06 lost out in the late 1930s competition by the government which was seeking a replacement for the WWI "Springfield 06" bolt action.

The only disqualifying factor cited by the Gov't was that the Johnson did not have a wooden foregrip [protecting the hand from a hot barrel] needed for bayonet fighting. Despite the Army's adoption of the M1 Garand, Lt. Col. Jimmy Roosevelt [Marine Raider Battalion] got the OK for the Raiders and Krulak's Parachute Marines to purchase a large number of Johnsons. The Netherlands purchased a large quantity just before Sept.1939.

Only one other person in the entire exile community used a Johnson, and that was our "Little Joe" Garman, but his was quite worn and had no scope. He still has it in Bowling Green, KY -- along with his trusty Springfield "06".

The Johnson had a circular magazine, and required the old Springfield 5-round strip chargers for loading its 10 round mag. -- but the great advantage over the Garand was that a shooter could reload individual bullets into the magazine -- instead of waiting for an 8 round clip to be ejected, as was the disadvantage with the Garand.

The Johnson light machine gun was similar in design and some parts were interchangeable with the rifle.

I ultimately sold my Johnson to young Anselmito Alliegro when I left for California during 1967.

The great majority of Miami Cubans used the Carbine [which they called an M-1 - "emmy-uno"], especially when the Hialeah gun factory started selling refurbished M-1 carbines for $25.

Submachineguns [s.M.G.s] and light machine guns included every type that you might find in a gun book, Czech "ZB", Jap "Nambu", B.A.R.s, U.S. tripod .30 cal., Thompson SMG, UK BREN, etc. -- with a choice of coversion to 30-06 or .308 NATO, or left in the original calibre !!

Cheers,

GPH

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[James Richards]

Thanks, Gerry.

That is amazing. Your rifle certainly has an interesting history. Can I ask at what point you got the weapon back from Loran Hall?

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Lee,

I agree that an overall view of weapon types used during the anti-Castro campaigns would be an interesting exercise. In particular how widespread the FAL's were.

James

[David Boylan]

Thanks, Gerry.

That is amazing. Your rifle certainly has an interesting history. Can I ask at what point you got the weapon back from Loran Hall?

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Lee,

I agree that an overall view of weapon types used during the anti-Castro campaigns would be an interesting exercise. In particular how widespread the FAL's were.

James

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James.

Not to answer for Gerry, but Loran Hall claimed that he left it at Dr. Crockette's house in Miami. Crockette was a dentist.

Dave

[Gerry Hemming]

Thanks, Gerry.

That is amazing. Your rifle certainly has an interesting history. Can I ask at what point you got the weapon back from Loran Hall?

****************

Lee,

I agree that an overall view of weapon types used during the anti-Castro campaigns would be an interesting exercise. In particular how widespread the FAL's were.

James

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James:

Dave is correct. I learned from Larry Howard that they had left the U-Haul trailer at the dentist's house, and when I went there the dentist showed me the trailer in his back yard -- and when I made reference to Hall stealing my Johnson, he told me that he had it in his bedroom. I thanked him for securing the weapon and went on my way. This happened during January 1964,after the late Lester Logue told me that Hall had called him (during a December 1963) seeking money to move into a new apartment in California.

The Belgian F.A.L.s were much too expensive at that time. One of my brothers bought one about that time, but after the MiamiCubans devised a modification which easily permitted full automatic fire, the FALs were taken off of the market. These rulings bounced back and forth over the next 20 years, and it was finally decided that since a Class 3 or Federal Collectors license was quite inexpensive [and permitted ownership of full auto weapons]; the Gov't gave the OK on the semi-auto sales long after the 1968 Gun Control Act.

What the Sarah Brady, et al. gun control wingnuts are wont to conceal is the fact that approximately 160,000 U.S. citizens currently own more than one fully automatic weapon -- and the sole violations have been failure to pay the transfer tax on a sale. [no massacres, no "reckless displays", no wild shoot-outs] California has repeatedly passed its own "assault??" weapons bans, but every time somebody sues under the 2nd amendment [via a "Bivens Action"]; the State moots the case by issuing the plaintiff an immediate special permit in order to abate "standing" requirements necessary to continue [or even initiate] an action at law.

GPH

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[James Richards]

Thanks, Gerry.

I appreciate the information.

Cheers,

James

[William Turner]

I sold my Schmeisser MP-40 machine-pistol ["Burp-Gun"] to Bobby Willis during November 1961, and purchased the Johnson at Nat'l Gun for $45.  This was the same rifle left with Dick Hathcock, as I was cognizant of the fact that Loran Hall was an FBI snitch [L.A. to Miami trip 1963], and the fact that I remained under a "legal disability [federal charges of Neutrality Act violations] -- I knew that I was prohibited from even vicarious possession of a firearm until the charges were disposed of, and also avoiding the risk of bail-bond release revocation. [i forbade his carrying a weapon on the trip, as if found by police in the same car I was riding in, I could be held liable.]

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In September 1963 Loran Hall was en route from LA to No Name Key with a trailer load of weapons when he was stopped and detained for questioning by the Dallas PD. FBI agent W. Harlan Brown was called in and he set Hall free. Brown was a senior Dallas agent working Neutrality Act matters. His partner was James Hosty. Some six weeks after the assassination a source close to the Dallas FBI office divulged that Hosty and Brown were running LHO as a potential criminal informaner. This ties in with the urgent attempts on 11/22 by a Dallas SO deputy, Buddy Walthers, to inform the Secret Service that Oswald was seen at the Harlandale safe house occupied by exile militants who split just before the assassination.

[David Boylan]

I sold my Schmeisser MP-40 machine-pistol ["Burp-Gun"] to Bobby Willis during November 1961, and purchased the Johnson at Nat'l Gun for $45.  This was the same rifle left with Dick Hathcock, as I was cognizant of the fact that Loran Hall was an FBI snitch [L.A. to Miami trip 1963], and the fact that I remained under a "legal disability [federal charges of Neutrality Act violations] -- I knew that I was prohibited from even vicarious possession of a firearm until the charges were disposed of, and also avoiding the risk of bail-bond release revocation. [i forbade his carrying a weapon on the trip, as if found by police in the same car I was riding in, I could be held liable.]

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In September 1963 Loran Hall was en route from LA to No Name Key with a trailer load of weapons when he was stopped and detained for questioning by the Dallas PD. FBI agent W. Harlan Brown was called in and he set Hall free. Brown was a senior Dallas agent working Neutrality Act matters. His partner was James Hosty. Some six weeks after the assassination a source close to the Dallas FBI office divulged that Hosty and Brown were running LHO as a potential criminal informaner. This ties in with the urgent attempts on 11/22 by a Dallas SO deputy, Buddy Walthers, to inform the Secret Service that Oswald was seen at the Harlandale safe house occupied by exile militants who split just before the assassination.

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Hall, Howard, and Celio Castro Alba managed to get some weapons from various sources. According to Howard the weapons consisted of a “. 30 caliber, there was a scope weapon, and there was M-1s, standard M-1 Girands and M-14, modified, strictly semi...” Some of these weapons were supplied by Ergiaga Arms Company owned by Juan Ergiaga, the former top arms ordinance man for Fidel Castro. The trailor also contained medical supplies. According to Harry Dean, Hall and Howard were given the medical supplies by Harry from Guy Gabaldon’s supply.

The trailor was left in Dallas at Lester Logue's house. Now I'm going to talk out my arse and suggest that Hall left the semis to be converted to fully automatic by a local gun dealer. This would be John Masen. Hall and Bill Seymour came back a week later to pick up the trailor. It was on this return trip that Hall and Seymour were arrested for drug possession — a bottle of Dexedrine. While in custody, Hall was questioned by an FBI agent whom he identified as “Hostel or something”, a Military Intelligence agent, and a “CIA guy.” The “CIA guy” was probably ATF Agent Frank Ellsworth who was working closely with FBI agent James Hosty and Military Intelligence agent Ed Coyle on a gun smuggling case. He claimed that the MI Agent attempted to recruit him. Hall remained in jail for two days before being released. Hall had called Dr. Robert Morris who in turn called Lester Logue. Logue secured an attorney for Hall.

As Gerry mentioned, Hall was probably an FBI informant and this is where he informed on Masen. Heck, he probably informed Hosty when he and Seymour were coming back to Dallas and the PD arrested him and Seymour on a trumped up "Dexedrine" possession charge that they found in the glove compartment.

Dave

[James Richards]

David,

Do you know if the Ed Coyle mentioned from MI is the same guy who is now running the Defense Logistics Automatic Identification Technology division within the Department of Defense?

James

[David Boylan]

David,

Do you know if the Ed Coyle mentioned from MI is the same guy who is now running the Defense Logistics Automatic Identification Technology division within the Department of Defense?

James

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James,

That I don't know but the answer might prove interesting. I believe Coyle was quite young in 1963.