Jim Root

John Thank you for the Spartacus attachment. One thing you left out about Walker's career is that between Korea and Arkansas was the First Straits of Taiwan incident. Walker was the lead US military advisor sent to Taiwan. He was selected for that position by Maxwell Taylor who would also hand pick Walker for the Arkansas assignment. You do clearly point out that Walker took command of the 24th Infantry Div. in October of 1959......at the same time Oswald traveled to Helsinki on his way to the Soviet Union. Did Oswald get some help on his way to Helsinki? Oswald did show up at the Soviet Embassy, Itourist vouchers in hand as was suggested by Ambassador Hickerson in a classified note to the State Department sent exactly one day before Oswald arrived in Helsinki. Is it possible that Walker could have passed information to Oswlad? With the help of Antti we have shown that it would have been possible for Oswald to have traveled to Hamburg, Germany on his way to Helsinki. Via this route he would have taken the same plane that Walker could have used to get to Augburg and Oswald would have arrived in Helsinki on the same airplane that the London to Helsinki passengers would have arrived via Stocholm. Both the Warren Commission and the HSCA are mum on how Oswlad traveled to Helsinki. Is it logical to suggest that someone else was on the same flight whose name would not only have been recognizable but would have cast a very dark. sinister shadow over the assassination story as we know it? Remember that Walker was hand picked by Taylor, his former mentor at West Point on two previous occassions for the most sensitive of jobs. I have also identified two assignments that Walker did that were of special importance to Assit. Sec. Of War John J. McCloy during WWII. Walker was well connected and was repeatedly called upon to provide assissitance for the most sensitve jobs. If Walker was the man who provided information to Oswald would that then perhaps provide a motive for Oswald to later attempt to assassinate Walker? If Walker had provided information to a "patsy" Oswald who was unknowingly being sent to the Soviet Union to confirm or provide information about the U-2 is it unreasonable that when Oswald began a process of returning to the US Walker would have to be discredited? The timming of the Overseas Weekly article that led to Walkers resignation does in fact coincide quite well with Oswald's first attempt to return to the United States. Remember that Walker was twice selected by Maxwell Taylor for two of the most sensitive jobs Taylor faced as Chief of Staff of the Army (Taiwan and Arkansas). Is it possible that Taylor turned to his old friend Walker to provide information to Oswald? If so Oswald's "defection" would have been a very special mission. Perhaps a mission instituted by John J. McCloy who did not want the Limited Test Ban Treaty signed at the Paris Summit in 1960 (note of the meeting of arms negotiators from Nov, 1959) Is it ironique that the Paris Summit was sabotaged with the downing of the first U-2 flight since Oswald had defected? Could this have been a "mission" so important that Oswald's role could never be acknowledged? The Warren Commission is quick to point out and goes to great lengths to do prove that Oswald was very frugal with his money. But the one flaw in this frugality is that Oswald, when traveling to Russia, went from France to England before going to Helsinki. Oswald could have gone, with less expense, to Helsinki from Paris. If Oswald would have done this his flight would have left Paris and traveled to Hamburg then to Stockholm and on to Helsinki. This would have still placed Oswald on one of the two flights that he had to have arrived on in Helsinki, only he would have arrived before the information from Ambassador Hickerson would have been available to him! Why did the FRUGAL Oswald spend extra money traveling to England before going to Helsinki? I doubt if it was to site see. By the way, according to all the accounts that I can find, John B. Hurt was in France at the time that Oswald arrived in La Harve. I do not believe that these events are random coincidences. The same players reappear in 1963. Thoughts? Jim Root

double post

Antti Great to hear from you again. Excuse my ignorance here but are the Ingrians and Karelian Finns in any way related? In the past few weeks I have received a great deal of information on Swedish Finns and Finn Swedish connections as well as Karelian Finns (both Red and White). Still trying to understand all the connections but seems to be as interesting as trying to understand what is the ethniticiy of an American! The period of time from 1939 until 1945 is of great interest to me in regards to Hayhanen. Where he was and what he was doing. As I understand it it was during this time that he began to be regarded as an expert in Finnish affairs for the Soviets. His reapperance in Finland in 1949 coincides with the disapperance of Tikander from history (something that I am still attempting to unravel). Neither Hayhanen or Tikander appear in the Social Security Death Index (not that this is complete) suggesting that they were both working for the US Government for the rest of their lives. As I understand it Hayhanen officially died as the result of a drunk driving accident soon after the Abel trial was completed and that Soviet Intelligence took credit for his death. Hayhanen is also creditied with providing information about Soviet codes after his defection. Although these codes seem to have been for used by lower level opperatives the Venona connection is none the less made. Antti, what is your take on the Karlian Finns? Jim Root

Thanks John and James A few, perhaps, unimportant, points: 1. Bouhe worked, as a young Russian, with the Hoover Relief program and befriend several administrators from that program. 2. When Bouhe "escaped" the Soviet Union he did so via Finland (see my thread on Stella Polaris) 3. On October 7th 1962, apparently with Bouhe present, Lee Harvey Oswald announced that he had been fired from his job (which he had not been) and that he was moving to Dallas. October 7th was also the day that Edwin Walker, reported on national television news, returned to Dallas after the riots at "Ole Miss." 4. This would probably have been Oswalds first opportunity to see Walker's face since his return to the United States from the Soviet Union. (Remember that I believe Walker may have helped Oswald into the Soviet Union on October 9, 1959) 5. Upon his move to Dallas, Oswald was in constant contact with Bouhe for at least the first few weeks. 6. Oswald, according to the Warren Report, begins setting up a secrete mail box, establishes an alias and orders and receives a rifle while beginning to "hunt" Walker. I must admit that I find it unusual that Oswald decided to give up a good job that he was having success with to move to Dallas on the first day that he may have seen the face of Edwin Walker and learned of who he was via the TV News. If I am correct and it was Walker who had helped the idealistic former Marine, radar operator (U-2 base), socialist Oswald gain entry into the Soviet Union from the only Russian Embassy in the world that could grant immediate access, one could imagine Oswald's shock and anger at realizing that he may have been dupted by the Right Wing to provide information to the Soviets that would help to down a U-2 and foil the opportunity for a successful Paris Summit, (as Oswald spoke about later during his speech at Spring Hill College). According to the Warren Report Bouhe did not like Oswald and tried to get Marina to leave him but the fact remains that when Oswald went to Dallas there were numerous phone calls between Oswald and Bouhe. These calls, according to Bough, amounted to nothing but taunts by Oswald about how well he was doing without him. Bough is also the man who intoduced Oswald to de Mohrenschildts, who would remain in contact with Oswald for the remainder of the time until the Kennedy assassination. De mohrenschildts would suspect that it was Oswald who had shot at Walker and would be presented with a backyard photo with the inscription of something like, "hunter of Nazi's" Could Bouhe have been Oswald's contact and financial backer at this time? One additional curious fact. The Walker family was also engaged in the Texas Cotton trade. Jim Root

James As a young child, Roy Adair Rhodes was my next door neighbor. My mother used to babysit his daughter. While Rhodes was a key whitness in he trial of Rudolf Able it was Hayhanen who started the ball rolling toward the exposure of Able and his network. Hayhanen's entrance into the US as a Karelian Finn (especially one who had returned to the Soviet Union via an organization the Tikander was involved with) is what I find interesting herel During WWII Hayhanen was involved in Soviet Intelligence, working in Finland, and was considered an expert on Finnish matters by the KGB during and after the war. This information seems to provide Tikander with an opportunity to have known at least about him or who he was. Then we find Hayhanen/Maki living in Finland for several years, to establish his new identity, before comming to the United States as an American born Karelian Finn ( Once again the real Maki's family having returned to the Soviet Union with the help of an organization that Tikander's family was involved with. From what I am currently speculating, after my recent trip to Tikanders stomping grounds in St. Louis County, MN, Tikander returned home after the war, runniig for Congress in 1948 in Minnesota. Tikandr then disappears from the radar (as well as the community, family and friends, that he had returned to). While it may be a coincidence this disappearance seems to coincide with Hayhanen's entry into Finland as Maki. One more sidebar. I started another thread on Marina Oswald's benifactor in Dallas, GEORGE ALEXANDROVITCH BOUHE. A few, perhaps, unimportant, points: 1. Bouhe worked, as a young Russian, with the Hoover Relief program and befriend several administrators from that program. 2. When Bouhe "escaped" the Soviet Union he did so via Finland 3. On October 7th 1962, apparently with Bouhe present, Lee Harvey Oswald announced that he had been fired from his job (which he had not been) and that he was moving to Dallas. 4. Upon his move to Dallas, Oswald was in constant contact with Bouhe for at least the first few weeks. According to the Warren Report Bouhe did not like Oswald and tried to get Marina to leave him but the fact remains that when Oswald went to Dallas there were numerous phone calls between Oswald and Bouhe. These calls, according to Bough, amounted to nothing but taunts by Oswald about how well he was doing without him. Bough is also the man who intoduced Oswald to de Mohrenschildts, who would remain in contact with Oswald for the remainder of time until the Kennedy assassination. Jim Root

James Another name to add to this thread is Reino Hayhanen. Hayhanen was the key to the capture and conviction of the Russian spy Rudolf Abel (later exchanged for Francis Gary Powers). Seems that Hayhanen spent a great deal of time in Finland during and after WWII. He would later be infiltrated into the US by taking on the identity of a Carilien Finn, Eugene Nicolai Maki. The real Eugene Nicolai Maki had returned to the Soviet Union via the organization that Tikander's family was involved with. Is it possible that Hayhanen had been "turned" much earlier than 1957? I refuse to believe that Oswald's use of Helsinki, Finland to enter the Soviet Union was a random act. Jim Root

Does anyone have references on the early life (Up to 1939) of George Bouhe? Jim Root

Always helpfull, always a pleasure to work with. I am thankful that I had an opportunity to learn a great deal from Tim's fertile mind, thoughtful comments and wide range of well organized material. Jim Root

On Page 111 of Vincent Bugliosi's book Reclaiming History there is a fundamental error that is rather substantial but a necessary error if you want to debunk the possibility of a conspiracy that includes participation by individuals at high levels of US Intelligence. This is substantial for my own belief that John J. McCloy and Maxwell Taylor may have been the "Big Fish" at the top of the conspiracy food chain. The sentence is: "Hosty had learned on November 1 that Lee worked at one of the Texas School Book Depository buildings in Dallas, but he did not know which one." In a 1600 + page book (which I have not as yet finished) a single sentence may seem obscure but it is more than an omission of fact. In this case it is a distortion of the Warren Commission Testimony of James Patrick Hosty. In the Testimony of Hosty we find this information that contradicts Mr. Bugliosi: "Mr. STERN. When Mrs. Paine told you that Lee Harvey Oswald was working at the School Book Depository, did that mean anything to you? Did you remember the building? Mr. HOSTY. No, sir; I knew of the building in the outskirts of the downtown area. That is about all. I looked up the address, and I recognized the address, but it meant nothing to me...." "Mr. HOSTY. Oh, yes, sir. This occurred on the (November) 1st. This was a Friday. I returned to the Dallas office. I covered a couple of other leads on the way back. I got in shortly after 5 o'clock and all our stenos had gone home. This information has to go registered mail, and it could not go then until Monday morning. Monday morning---shall I continue? Mr. STERN. Yes. Mr. HOSTY. On Monday morning, I made a pretext telephone call to the Texas School Book Depository, I called up and asked for the personnel department, asked if a Lee Oswald was employed there. They said yes, he was." 21 Days before the assassination of JFK the FBI was aware of where Lee Harvey Oswald was working and this information was forwarded to Washington, DC on November 4th, before the Dallas luncheon location was decided upon and before the final motorcade route was decided. But in another unusual happening this Hosty note was not given a Commission Exhibit Number nor was it ever brought before the Warren Commission even though two previous Hosty notes were given Commission Exhibit Numbers. In an article written by Washington journalist Jefferson Morley, "What Jane Roman Said, A Retired CIA Officer Speaks Candidly About Lee Harvey Oswald," we find some interesting information revealed about the information that James Hosty was providing to the FBI and where that information was being forwarded too. Quoting from Morley's article: "I first called Jane Roman in the summer of 1994. I told her that I worked as an editor for the Sunday Outlook section of the Washington Post. I told her I had seen her name on some new CIA records in the National Archives. Could she spare some time to review them with a colleague and me?Roman said she was going away for the summer, maybe when she got back in the fall. In October, I called her again. I explained that it was very difficult to understand records like this, especially for some one like myself who had never worked at the CIA. I needed her help. I told her that I liked to work with a colleague, I preferred to tape record my interviews and thought we could cover everything in 90 minutes. She agreed. She invited me to come to her house on Newark Street in Cleveland Park on November 2, 1994." Morley took with him a former CIA employee named John Newman. "Newman produced a sheath of copies of the CIA cables that Roman had signed for over the years. They were all cables about one Lee Harvey Oswald of New Orleans and his travels between November 1959 to October 1963. Roman took her time examining them. From that point on, Roman did not dispute that she had been familiar with Lee Harvey Oswald before November 22, 1963. She spoke with candor. A second thing that stands out from the interview tape: Jane Roman was well informed about the agency’s workings and its inner circle. She mentioned that she had been to the funeral of Ray Rocca, a longtime counterintelligence expert. She alluded to her friendship with retired CIA director Dick Helms, then living a couple of miles away on Garfield Street in Northwest Washington." Digging further into the Morley article: "As the interview proceeded, Newman sought to coax Roman into talking about the handling of information on Oswald by the senior staff members of the CIA’s operations division and the counterintelligence staff in the weeks before Kennedy was killed. He showed her the cover sheet on one FBI report on Oswald that had been sent to the agency. There was a blizzard of signatures on it. Newman had deciphered the writing and identified the officials in various offices in the Directorate of Plans, as the covert operations division was then known. He read off the names of all the people who signed the routing slips for the Oswald file in September 1963. “Is this the mark of a person’s file who’s dull and uninteresting?” he asked. “Or would you say that we’re looking at somebody who’s—“ “No, we’re really trying to zero in on somebody here,” Roman acknowledged." But what of Hosty's notes? The article continues: "Newman then reviewed the routing slips on two documents about Oswald that Roman herself had received in September 1963. The first was the FBI report from agent Hosty in Dallas. Hosty reported on Oswald’s address in the summer of 1963 and his recent leftist political activities, including his subscription to the Socialist Worker newspaper." Continuing: "On top of that cable was the cable and routing slip that showed she had just a few days before signed for the two FBI reports on this same Lee Harvey Oswald. She had signed for the second of these reports on Oct. 4, 1963." "Newman’s implication was clear. If Roman had read the FBI reports, then she knew on October 10, 1963 that Oswald had just a few weeks earlier been handing out pamphlets on behalf of the FPCC, the most prominent pro-Castro organization in the United States. Moreover, Oswald’s pro-Castro activism had embroiled him in an altercation with members of the Cuban Student Directorate, one of the agency’s most favored front groups in the anti-Castro cause. All of this information was on Jane Roman’s desk in October 1963." My question is, "What would motivate Mr. Bugliosi to misstate this information about what Hosty knew and when he knew it, especially in light of the fact that Hosty's information was being routed to the highest echelons of the CIA?" Jim Root

Greg "Late November was the time-frame Eugene Dinkin believed the assassination would take place -- a time-frame he arrived at during September and the first half of October. This is the same period we see the dates for the actual trip being finalised or discussed - announced in Dallas papers, Sep 26 and discussed further on Oct 4." September is when a retired NSA employee named John B. Hurt left for an extended visit to France. France is where Eugene Dinkin, who had access to NSA intercepts, had stumbled upon information that led him to believe an assassination of the President would take place in late November. John B. Hurt was associated with both the men assigned to investigate Lee Harvey Oswald's potential intelligence connections (Frank Rowlett and Meredith Gardner). John B. Hurt was also closely associated with John J. McCloy. John Hurt would be the name of a man Lee Harvey Oswald would attempt to contact just hours before his own execution by Jack Ruby. Connection? Coincidence? Jim Root

Harry Do you know when they would have first sent info about the Dallas visit? By September 26, 1963 the dates were published by the Dallas press. It would seem that nothing after 9/26 could carry any sinister implications, at least concerning "moles" revealing unknown travel information. So our period of interest seems to be between June 5, 1963 and September 26, 1963. Would you agree? Jim Root

Ron Here is the curious coincidence that is based upon fact but first upon one simple assumption. If, as it seems, the date of the trip was established as November 22, 1963 at the El Cortez Hotel in El Paso Texas on June 5th, we could assume that potential conspritors would want to have that information as quickly as possible. I believe this to be a resonable assumption. Facts 1: Edwin Walker, a man of some influence in Texas political circles at that time, did in fact write a letter (dated June 5, 1963) that ended up in the hands of John J. McCloy (reproduced below). Letter from Edwin Walker to Lt. Gen. Groves with a c.c. to John J. McCloy dated June 5, 1963. Lt. General Leslie R. Groves President, Association of Graduates West Poin, N.Y. Dear General Groves: In view of the Sylvanus Thayer Award to John J. McCloy (May, 1963) by the United States Military Academy's Association of Graduates, I hereby resign from the Association of Graduates. I respectfully request that my name and membership be dropped from your rolls. The Association of Graduates is not representing me in it's presentation of the Sulvanus Thayer Award to John J. McCloy as an honored and distinguished United States citizen whose service and accomplishments in the national interests exemplify outstanding devotion to the ideals expressed in the West Point motto, "Duty, Honor, Country." I prefer to stand by the ideals, principles, and traditions of the Long Grey Line - past, present, and future - rather than to stand with the Association and the temporary administrators of our government. The New Frontiersmen of today were accurately classified by Khrushchev before he took Cuba - "Too liberal to fight." Yours sincerely, Edwin A. Walker c.c. Lt. General Earl Wheeler, Chief of Staff, United States Army General Douglas MacArthur Maj. General W. C. Westmoreland, Superintendent, United States Military Academy John J. McCloy Fact 2: We can prove that McCloy received this letter because he responded to it on June 12, 1963 (reproduced below). My dear General: I received through the mail the other day a copy of your resignation from the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, prompted by my selection for the Colonel Thayer Award for this year. You are a graduate of the Academy and for you to resign because a group of graduates duly selected to make an award and did so according to their best judgment, in a manner which resulted in an award to me, seems a rather fantastic expression of your disapproval of what you term "new frontier policy" as contrasted to the traditions of West Point. Whether my selection was deserved or not, I was very much warmed by it. I was in the regular service in World War I, here and in France. I served as The Assistant Secretary of War during World War II. All during this period and since, I have been closely associated with graduates of the Academy and among them are my warmest friends. I am also very familiar with your very fine record in World War II and in Korea and I had been distressed that a leader of your qualifications should have been lost to the service, whatever the reason. I have served the country according to my lights and opportunities, just as you have according to yours. I very much doubt that I have ever been less concerned with the security of the country than you. I was called in form abroad in the Cuban emergency to express my views as to what should be done in regard to the presence of missiles in Cuba. I did so and I think no one misunderstood my position. Thereafter, I was asked to arrange with the Russians for the removal of the missiles. This I did and I also arranged for the removal of the bombers, though they were not part of the original agreement -- both under condidtions far better for the security of the country, in my judgment, than the form of United Nations inspection which was originally contemplated. Apart from this, I have had nothing whatever to do with Cuban policy, either under President Kennedy or General Eisenhhower. I have not been what you term a "New Frontiersman" in the sense that I have been a Republican all my life and I was born in the last century, not this one. All this is written to you not to justify my selection, in any sense, but to urge you to reconsider your resignation from your own Graduate Association on any account with which I am Concerned. I suggest that you tell whomever you want, as vigourously as you care to, that, in your opinion, I do not deserve the Award, but to sever your relations with the Graduates of West Point on this account, though I recognize in the last analysis it is entirely your own business, does seem to me to be a hasty and perhaps ill-advised action. Sincerely, John J. McCloy Major General Edwin A. Walker 4011 Turtle Creek Boulevard Dallas 19, Texas P.S. In the possibility that it might be of some interest to you, I am sending to you herewith a copy of the remarks I made tot he Cadets at the time of Award. Fact 3: "According to Ernest DuPuy (Mutiny at West Point), ...Sylvanus Thayer, "Father of the Military Academy" a native of Braintree, Massachusetts, assumed the command he would occupy for sixteen years, rebuilding West Point, launching its Corps of Cadets on the path of "Duty, Honor, Country." That the first fourteen months of his incumbency were spent in an atmosphere of riot and smoldering insurrection is something else again." ...And so the storm clouds rose, amongst a corps still composed mostly of young men accustomed to "Old Pewt's" laxities, and chafing under the new restrictions. They burst on Sunday, November 22, 1818, in an explosion whose reverberations would not cease until they had reached the halls of Congress, and the result of which would settle once and for all the heretofore moot status of the Corps of Cadets in the military hierarchy." Once again, perhaps only a curiosity, but two men who would play a roll in the assassination drama had a dialog with each other that began on the same day that the decision to go to Dallas was aparantly made. That dialog then centered around Sylvanus Thayer, a man whose most important day in his military career was November 22. With the additonal information that I have gathered over the years I must leave open the possibility that this is not just a series of simple coincidences. Jim Root

Ron Thanks for the info. In reading the Cliff Carter account, Carter does seem to suggest that the Nov. 21, 22 date may have been set at the June 5 meeting. I find this of particular interest. Contrast this with the testemony of Gov. Connally which suggests that the Nov. 21, 22 date was not decided until Oct. 4, 1963. But the Oct. 4th meeting seems to be nullified as the day the Dallas trip was decided upon because it is stated that, "by then (Oct. 4th) the White House had already informed the Dallas Morning News that JFK would be in Texas on November 21 and 22." I have also found this quote, "In September, the White House decided to permit further visits by the President and extended the trip bo run from the afternoon of November 21 through the evening of Friday, November 22" making the October 4 date moot. I guess that I leave open the possibility that Connally may have been mistaken about what decisions were made on June 5th and would lean toward accepting the memory (or perhaps notes) of a "staff" person who would be responsible for managing the local fund raising etc. to be done during the "event." It seems that a decision made on Oct. 4th would reduce the lead time necessary to organize and maximize the trip into a profitable and successfull political "event." Since the trip, it seems, was "extended" sometime in September to begin on the afternoon of Nov. 21 it could be that the original plan was for the trip, since President Kennedy could not be available befor Nov. 21, may have originally been planned for only Friday, Nov. 22. Ron (others), does this seem to make any sense to you? Agree, disagree? Jim Root

As I understand it the decision to make a November trip to Dallas was made at a meeting attended by President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson and Governor Connally on June 5, 1963. The meeting took place at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso, Texas. Earlier that day the President had given a speech at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and flew to El Paso to discuss the Texas trip and other matters with the Vice President and the governor. I have been led to believe that the date set was vague calling for the visit to be in "late November 1963" but did include Dallas as well as Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. I have read that sometime in September the visit was extended and would run from the afternoon of November 21 until the evening of November 22 suggesting that either the November 22 date or the November 21 date had already been decided, perhaps at the meeting of June 5, 1963. Does anyone have more detail on this meeting? Who else may have attended? Was an actual date decided at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso, Texas on June 5, 1963? Thanks for any help here. Jim Root

James I believe de Ganahl is Walker's cousin. It is the hand written message to "Ted" signed "Love Frank" at the bottom of the copy of this telegram that is even more intersting. While a great deal of information about the "commercial" station on Swan Island was available and that it was anti-Castro in content was well know the extent of its set up and control by the CIA does not seem to have been that well know. Hence the special secret report for Taylor. Once again the part about Overseas Weekly also being characterized as a CIA funded publication is to me even more significant. Jim Root

William I do have an inventory of the Walker material stored at the 6th Floor Museum. Hope to get further into that information soon. From the 6th Floor I did hand copy some notes that were made from the Warren Commission's volumes of information which had been in Walker's possession (Walker's notes). These notes were written on legal paper and correlated by Volume. It seems to support the fact that Walker may have been still searching for some answers himself as the time passed after the assassination. I tend to believe that Walker was not involved in the assassination (although the jury is still out on that one) but that he instantly knew who was and thought that he would be set up to be the "patsy"(hence the interview with the German Newspaper....see some of my early posts on this subject). I'm not sure if I was surpised to find that many of the areas of the report that Walker seems to have found of interest are areas that I have looked into over the past several years as well. The further I look, the deeper I go, I continue to believe that there is a McCloy -Taylor influence on the assassination and that the motive was the control of the spread of Nuclear Arms. (Walker had files on the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963). Jim Root

Myra I personally feel that Maxwell Taylor is a much more suspicious General and was the one General (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) positioned within the Government who would have access to the authority necessary to "pull the strings" of an assassination (but not acting alone). Jim Root

James What are your initial thoughts on this telegram that I have found? Frank de Ganahl 39 Broadway - Room 403 STRAIGHT TELEGRAM June 7, 1961 Senator Barry Goldwather Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. Hope you are doing all possible insure General Walker receiving fully deserved clean bill of health. Believe findings now there for President’s decision stop. Suggest you talk to Senator Eastland and reinforce him all you can on his investigation, CIA’s financial connections Overseas Weekly and associated periodicals and Swan Island radio stop. Am convinced there are very strong forces in Washington will crucify Walker regardless of findings from his superiors in Germany clearing him. Regards. Frank de Ganahl Bold and underlining my addition. Jim Root

William Suffice it to say that I do not feel at liberty to say at this time. I will say that my first attempt at gaining access was several years ago. I will also say that I still have additional hoops to jump through. Have you attempted to view the Walker material? Let me know. Jim Root

William With the expert help of an outstanding archivist I was able to obtain access to the Walker collection stored at the University of Texas in Austin. Currently I have about 190 pages of copied material from that collection that I am sifting through. There is one very curious document that has me very perplexted. See my Swan Island thread where I will expound on that document and the file of papers that it came from further. Jim Root

John Everything within ( ) was added by myself. "or about" was actually crossed out on the original but easily read. Mrs. Haverty (sp) indicates that I am not sure if I spelled the name correctly. The underlinning was on the note as show. The Jung (famous New Orleans Hotel) was to indicate what "The Jung" was if someone did not know. Same for Capt. Shreve. Hatti(e)sburg was spelled incorrectly in the original. Because the note indicating a phone call to the FBI on Dec. 5, 1963 was within the same file I believe an assumption can be drawn that the "engagements" note was written at about the same time that the call to the FBI was made. We can speculate if the note was written before the FBI call or after but the Dec. 5th date is of interest because it was within a few days of the time that the FBI first began investigating and connecting Oswald to the Walker shooting incident. Jim Root

On May 18,1961 Maxwell Taylor was presented with an "Eyes Only Secret" document called "Brief History of Radio Swan." As I understand it this report remained classified for over 30 years. Here is a copy: ANNEX 2 EYES ONLY SECRET Brief History of Radio Swan 1. On 17 March 1960, President Eisenhower approved a covert action program to bring about the replacement of the Castro regime. Within the propaganda framework of that program, an important objective was to create and utilize a high-powered medium and short wave radio station. CIA was asked to provide such a station, outside the continental limits of the United States, and have it ready for operation within sixty (60) days. 2. Swan Island, in the Caribbean, was chosen as an appropriate site. The United States Navy furnished CIA with splended support: within sixty days, equipment had been brought from [intentional blank] a landing strip was cleared on the island, and the station was able to go on air on 17 May of the same year, precisely on schedule. 3. Originally it was planned that Radio Swan would be a clandestine station [intentional blank] Just prior to inauguration, however, it was decided the station should be a commercial one. This was at the request of the Navy, which reasonably argued that should their participation in construction of a black facility be known, explanations would be difficult. 4. Using a "commercial" station for the tactical and strategic tasks envisaged for Radio Swan is not, of course, the most desirable way to support a covert operation. The only pracitical method of operation is to "sell space". Thus, program time on Radio Swan was gold to various Cuban groups. These included organizations of workers, students, women, two publications in exile, two radio stations in exile, and several political groups. [intentional blank] Programs (on tape) were produced in [intentional blank] and later, on Swan Island. 5. Radio Swan effectively reached not only its target area of Cuba, but the entire Caribbean as well. Soon after broadcasts began Castro started jamming, but was sucessful in hindering reception only in the City of Havana. Scores of letters were received from all parts of Cuba to show that the station had listeners. As late as March 1961, a survey was made to determine the extent of listening coverage. An inexpensive ballpoint pen was offered to those listeners who would write in to the station. The reply was immediate: almost 3,000 letters from 26 countries. This barrage of mail included significant amounts from all parts of Cuba. 6. As Radio Swan progressed, it became the symbol of the anti-Castro effort within Cuba and of opposition to Castro throughout the hemisphere. Toward the end of 1960, the effectiveness of Radio Swan began to diminish. Although great numbers of Cubans still listened to the station, its credibility and reputation began to suffer as the result of statements representing the selfish interests of the Cuban groups producing the various programs. In the first place, these groups talked overmuch about their activities in Miami and the hard fight they were conducting along Biscayne Boulevard. Naturally, the Cubans who were suffering under the Castro dictatorship within Cuba resented this. Secondly, the Cuban programs became a fulcrum where individual political ambitions of Cuban exiles in Miami were presented to the other Cubans in Miami, forgetting the all-important target audience within Cuba. Finally, each program fought with the other for "scoops". As time passed and the Cubans found that their sources of information were no better than the next fellow's, the program producers began to exaggerate in order to give their broadcasts a touch of sensationalism. They made statements which were obvious lies to listeners. An example: One of their announcers stated that there were 3,000 Russians in a park in Santiago de Cuba -- the residents had only to walk to the park to see that this was untrue. Moreover, the various programs began to defy coordination. All programs but one told the Cuban militiaman that he would be a hero on the day that he defected from Castro. The sole exception told the Cuban militiaman that he would be hanged regardless of what he did. [intentional blank] This action falied to achieve proper control. 7. As this unfortunate situation developed, the military operation was about to be launched. It was obvious that CIA could not allow uncoordinated programming to continue while the station attempted to provide tactical support to military forces. On the 27th of March 1961 each program producer received a letter from the management of Radio Swan informing him of the termination of his program. Broadcasting was not suspended. Rather, it was immediately repalced with a new, overall programming schedule--more broadcasting hours than before [intentional blank] Thus Radio Swan was converted into a station which provided the Cuban people with straight news as well as a program which stated its only function was to assist those who were fighting Castro within Cuba. This was the beginning of an intensified propaganda campaign directed against Castro. Within a few days after the change, Radio Mambi, a Cuban government station, said to its listeners, "the hysterical parrots of Radio Swan have recently raised their voices scandalously." On the day following these declarations by Radio Mambi, President Osvaldo Dorticos declared in a speech over another radio station, "Cubans must be alert for lies and attempts to destroy the revolution through psychological warfare." A Cuban newspaper, at the same time, repeated Dorticos' statement: "Our enemies are intensifying psychological warfare to find weak points in our domestic front." 8. During the military action in Cuba, Radio Swan was used in tactical support of the strike force [intentional blank] Radio Swan was monitored by hemisphere radio stations and by world news services, and was an important factor in presenting the desired picture of the fighting in Cuba to world opinion. Despite some press allegations, Radio Swan was not responsible for the wild rumors during those hectic days. [intentional blank] 9. When it became obvious that the main attack on Cuba had been unsuccessful, Radio Swan deliberately anticipated Castro's victory [illegible] by admitting that the Cuban Expeditionary Force had been stopped by Communist armament, but that many of the Freedom Fighters had been able to join resistence groups in the hills. Radio Swan then returned to a calm presentation of world news and over a period of one week changed from round-the-clock broadcasting to a normal schedule, avoiding all program content designed to incite the Cuban people. The producer of the consolidated program was instructed to present programs with a minimum of [illegible] content, but to continue the anti-Castro orientation through the selection of news items. At the present time present time, Radio Swan is broadcasting simultaneously over medium and short wave daily from 0500 to 0600, from 1230 to 1400, and from 1800 to 0015 (E.S.T.). The broadcasts are made up of hourly news, [intentional blank] and other commercial programs including the relay of [intentional blank] Neither during nor after the strike phase has there been any [illegible] of Radio Swan from any country other than Cuba and the United States. James, fromyour comments it seems that the DRE was involved in this operation. It seems that Edwin Walker was aware of this information before June 7, 1961 and was using it to avoid being censored by the Kennedy Administration. I wonder how he got it? Thoughts? Jim Root

Does anyone have detailed infromation about the Swan Island Radio Station used around the time of the Bay of Pigs? In particular, this station was a classified operation until when? When did knowledge of the Swan Island Station first become public? Who had knowledge or oversight, of the Swan Island Station in May of 1961? May have an interesting document. Thanks for your help, Jim Root

I do not have the ability to photo copy and post information that I have collected but would still like to put into the record a handwritten note that I have recently received a copy of. This note is not signed but seems to be written by Edwin Walker (based upon other signed hand written notes I have). Having read several Walker papers I have come to the conclusion that Walker was not an excellent English student. Here goes: Nov. 8th (P.M.) Jackson, Miss. Nov. 19th 1:30 - 2:30 P.M. Hatti(e)sburg - Southern Aire Motel Nov. 20th Civic Club group Hatti(e)sburg - lunch Nov. 22nd Flew from N.O. to Shereveport Mrs. Haverty (sp?) wants him in Spring Hill, La. Citizins Council on (the next words are scratched out but easily read) or about 23rd Nov. Nov. 24 Back in Dallas The Jung (famous New Orleans Hotel) Capt. Shreve (Shreveport Hotel) End of note. It seems that Walker, as I believed did not have an actual speaking engagement arranged in Shreveport but had been requested to speak in Spring Hill ,La "on or about" 23rd Nov. To the best of my knowledge there is no record of that event being actually planned. Which leads me to ask several questions "Why did Walker arrive in Shreveport on the day of the assassination?" "How would a German Newpaper know to contact Walker in Shreveport on the 23rd (especially if he was to be in Spring Hill, LA on the 23rd)?" "Why is "or about" crossed out of his note?" This leaves only the word "on" to suggest that he arrived in Shreveport for a reason (he was scheduled to be in Spring Hill, LA) on the day following the assassination. The note above was in a file along with another interesting note that begins, Calls placed from Shreveport 868-6412 on Dec. 5, 1963.....To J. Edgar Hoover(,) FBI - Washington D.C. (,) 11:55 A.M. Dec. 5th (,) Talked to Mr. Witt Jim Root