Jim Root

Ron "I certainly think Taylor was involved (for which tellingly he later exhibited profound remorse on more than one occasion). I doubt that he was in the Pentagon at all on 11/22." From John M. Taylor's (son of Maxwell Taylor) bookGeneral Maxwell Taylor, the Sword and the Pen: "At the Pentagon his (Taylor's) staff was on notice that when hsi door was closed he was not to be disturbed for anything except the most dire emergencies. On November 22, 1963, he had just stretched out on his sofa following meetings with a German NATO delgation when his buzzer went off. It was the Pentagon's communications room, the National Military Command Center. General Tibbetts apologized, but said that they had just received word from Dallas that President Kennedy had been shot and was probably dying....Tayor then rejoined the German, telling them of the assassination attempt but withholding word, passed to him during the afternoon, that the President was dead." Jim Root

Ron Your phrase, "hardly the best assassin" discounts the fact that the assassination did take place in site of the TSBD, that a gun was discovered on the 6th floor of the TSBD, that Oswald worked at the TSBD, that Oswald had taken a long package to work with him that day, that he is the only TSBD employee to leave the scene, that the CIA (perhaps others) were aware of where Oswald was working, that the assassination route did pass Oswald's place of employment, etc., etc. While I am not convinced that the conspirators knew that Oswald would in fact take a shot that day, they, I believe, gave him the opportunity. By not having any direct contact with Oswald they insured that they themselves would not be detected providing minimal risks for the participants (a necessary ingrediant to garner support for a coup). Once again my suggestion here is that as few as three people were all that may have been involved (McCloy, Taylor and Walker, with Walker having the closest association to Oswald). Between May 25, 1963 and June 12, 1963 each of these men speak of Sylvanus Thayer either to each other by letters (McCloy - Walker) or in speeches (McCloy - Taylor). Each may well have been aware that the date of November 22 is an important date in the life of Sylvanus Thayer. Is this a coincidence? While speculative, my research provides a consistant tracking of Oswald beginning in 1957 with his contact with the Socialist Workers Party in New York. Oswald's marine enlistment, his training as a radar operator and stationing at U-2 basis, his unusual travel and defection to the Soviet Union (with the possible help of Walker et a, the shoot down of the Francis Gary Powers in his U-2 which led to the failure of the Paris Summit (something that McCloy did not want to see happen), the naming of McCloy as Nuclear Arms negoiator by Kennedy at his first press conference, the firing of McCloy, Kennedy's change of position on Nuclear Talks that coincides with the May 25 - June 12, 1963 dates mentioned above, the planning of the motorcade route past Oswald's place of employment, the assassination and the cover-up. These three men remain consistantly in the loop! I believe that Taylor's actions in the minutes leading up to the assassination (as reported by his son) are telling. Taylor left a meeting with a group of German NATO representatives in the Pentagon to be alone in his private office, only returning to the meetings after the information was brought to him about the death of JFK. I believe these are the actions that a man in his position might have taken knowing the exact timing of the event. I believe that this is plausible. Jim Root

Ron You are one of the best and your comments always make me think while forcing me verbalize my thoughts, thank you! In my mindset I am always looking for ways to minimize the number of participants in the assassination event as well as the original conspiracy which would have led to a cover-up. It seems very easy to suggest that the conspirators would have a plethora of assassins to choose from but the details of recruitment, I would assume, would be a little more difficult. Something as simple as identifing which assassin to use could leave a trail that someone could follow not to mention the logistics (support personal) necessary to move an assassin(s) into and out of the selected target area. Is it out of the relm of possibility to hypothisise that the consiprators could identify a potential assassin that was already in location (Hosty note) whom they knew had a proclivity to kill (Walker attempt) and then put the target in front of him? No middlemen, no logistic, no trail and 40 plus years of mystery searching for people who may never have existed in Dallas at the time of the shooting. Rather than having a conspiracy that would have involved numerous individuals, any of whom might have "spelled the beans" over the years, I would suggest the need for very few people to have been involved to insure a successful operation. My thoughts are that the "powerful conspirators" would have chosen a methodology that minimized the potential for being caught in the event of failure or success at least as much as they would have planned for the successfull murder of their intended victim......I think we can all agree that if a conspiracy did in fact exist the conspirators were successful in the assassination, the cover-up and the concealment of their identities. But how do you minimize your risk of being identified as a conspirator? Could it be by taking the focus off of Oswald as a shooter if in fact he were a shooter? Research that has been conducted over the years which centers around eliminating Oswald as a shooter, while shedding light on many things, has, as of yet failed to pinpoint the conspirators. Each different theory tends to identify a plausible group of conspirators which each have different motives. It seems that a majority of these theories require that Oswald be a "patsy" rather than a potental assassin. Each argues that the evidence in the TSBD must have been planted, once again increasing the number of people involved in the conspiracy. Evidence planted at Parkland Hospital, forensic evidence altered, Marina Oswald manipulated, etc., etc., etc. Have you ever attempted to count the number of individuals necessary to logistically carry out some of the conspiracy theories that are discussed on this forum? After running out of fingers and toes when dealing with any one theory I start to become skeptical, not because the theory is not logically derived but because the logistics timming and potential for leaks increases algebraicly with each additional participant. The sheer number of "mysterious deaths" linked to the assassination would have required a conspiracy so broad based that I have difficulty believing that someone, to protect themselves, would not have hidden or provided evidence that would surface upon their death if for no other reason than to protect themselves and their families. I return to a premise that I have been led to by my 13 + years of research: A conspiracy may well have existed and the potential conspirators that my research has identified would have known who Oswald was, would have had access to Oswald's intelligence "file," with his history with intelligence organizations, they would have had a motive, they would have even had an association with a person named John Hurt, they could have identified Oswald as the attempted assassin of Edwin Walker, they could have planned the motorcade route and they could have manipulated the cover-up of evidence that would have suggested their own involvement in a conspiracy. In other words, no need for some huge group of participants that would be needed to plant, destroy or distort evidence. Rather a very small group of men who first became associated together during WWII and can be tied to Oswald perhaps most tightly by their association with John B. Hurt and their unanimous disqust with Kennedy's position on Nuclear disarmament and perceived weakness toward the Soviet Union. Jim Root

Brian "According to one of the top scholars on this case, historian Gerald D. McKnight, in his latest book, Breach of Trust, the bullet recovered from the Walker shooting didn't ballistically match the fragments found at the scene of the JFK killing. See pages 49 and 50 for his discussion of the Heilberger report conducted for the Warren Commission." Reread Breach of Trust. The Heilberger report centered on the spectrographic analysis, not the ballistics. Heilberger's report showed that if Oswald did both, the attempted assassination of Walker and the actual assassination of Kennedy, that he needed to buy an additional box of ammunition sometime during the seven months between the two events. If we allow for some target practice by Oswald in the ensuing period of time we could logically conclude that this is not out of the relm of possibility. While the Warren Commission would have appreciated a finding that the bullets came from the same batch, they to seem to have concluded that it was possible that Oswald purchased more than twenty rounds of ammunition between April of 1963 and November 1963. On the other hand, according to McKnight, the report that was used by the Warren Commission from Robert A. Frazier dealing with ballistics states: "...Frazier was asked about the Walker bullet (FBI designated Q-188), Commission assistant counsel Melvin A. Eisenberg asked whether Q-188 could have been fired from Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano. According to Frazier, the Walker bullet was a 6.5-mm copper-jacketed bullet, but because of its distorted condition he could not answer conclusively. However, on the basis of 'its land and grove impressions.' the FBI's firearms expert left open the likely possibility that it could have been fired from Oswald's rifle." (Breach of Trust, Gerald D. McKnight page 49) So what do we have? Same caliber rifle used in both events, land and grove impression match in both events and were possibly fired by the same rifle and the bullets came from different batches. Once again the "different batches" senario suggests nothing more than the fact that the bullets used to assassinate the President were purchased sometime during the seven months between the two events. McKnight goes on to later state (when dealing with the Walker assassination attempt): "If the note (referred to as the 'Walker Note') Oswald had left his wife on the evening of April 10, 1963, and the circumstances surrounding its timely discovery were legitimate, then Oswald should have been a prime suspect in the Walker case. Pressing the point even further, if Oswald had written the note, then it was the most damaging evidence the government ever came up with connecting him with the assassination of President Kennedy. As the Warren report pointed out, this attempt on General Walker demonstrated Oswald's 'determination and the other traits required to carry out a carefully planned killing of another human being and was willing to consummate such a purpose if he thought there was sufficient reason to do so." (ibid, page 53) Mr. McKnight has been very gracious in the exchange of information over the past months. He is, as you point out, one of the few authors who has studied and deals with the Walker case. I was surprised to learn that he, like so many other researchers, was not aware of the note written by FBI Agent James P. Hosty that identified Oswald's place of employment in the TSBD before the motorcade route was designated. (See my "Big Fish" posts) I, for one, have reason to believe that Warren Commissioner John J. McCloy may have been one of the conspirators behind the assassination of JFK and the cover-up that followed. If my assumptions are true then the conspirators would have needed an assassin that had (according to the Warren Commission) the "determination and the other traits required to carry out a carefully planned killing of another human being and was willing to consummate such a purpose if he thought there was sufficient reason to do so" Could McCloy have known what was later written into the Warren Commission Report about Oswald's "determination and the other traits required to carry out a carefully planned killing of another human being and was willing to consummate such a purpose if he thought there was sufficient reason to do so" before the assasssination of John F. Kennedy? Looking further into what I suggest: IF someone, such as McCloy (backround in intelligence that goes back to WWII where he was the guardian of such highly classified secretes as the Atomic Bomb and the "Magic" intercepts) , were inclined to want to see the President assassinated (Limited Test Ban Treaty disagreement) and IF McCloy were aware of Oswald's movements in and around Dallas (Jefferson Morley's research shows that the CIA was in fact monitoring Oswald's movements), and IF McCloy were aware a Walker connection to Oswald (Oct. 1959) and IF McCloy were aware of Oswald's place of employment (Hosty note that was never given a Commission Exhibit Number but which McCloy questioned Hosty about) and IF McCloy and other potential conspirators had the ability to plan the motorcade route (which was planned in Washington) and IF McCloy knew that Oswald had attempted to take the life of General Walker (Walker himself, in later life, suggested that the government did in fact know who had shot at him) then we could have Oswald as an assassin doing the work of the conspirators. But then Oswald would need to be quickly eliminated, just as he was. I have found that most assassination researchers are stuck with the belief that if Oswald was a shooter that would somehow eliminate the possibility of a conspiracy. My research shows just the opposite, Oswald as a shooter manipulated or set up by the conspirators. I for one remain open to the possibility that the biggest misinformation campaign that the conspirators may perpetrated on the public is the belief that Oswald was not a shooter. Perhaps, if I am correct, that could explain why, after over fourty years of investigation, we have not been able to uncover the truth surrounding this event. Rather than focusing on the conspirators it seems that most researchers remain mesmerized by the few minutes in time that surround the assassination itself. As Gerald McKnight wrote to me in a recent email: "My deepest view of this whole thing is that if we ever get near the truth surrounding the assassination it will exceed any fictional rendereing."

Gary Interesting document that is dated within days of Oswald's entry into the Soviet Union via Helsinki. The New York connection to Ruby is also of interest because that is where Jack Ruby/Rubenstein countinued his relationship with Virginia Belasco whom Ruby's sister would contact just days before the assassination of JFK and whose family can be associated to Edwin Walker's family as well. Jim Root

I am searching for knowledgable comments on a possible scenario that would suggest that Oswald was given an assignment to either assassinate or fake an assassination attempt on the life of General Walker. Those persons who would be acting as the control agents for Oswald would first have required him to place an order for the weapon to be used and would require him to establish a mail drop to receive that weapon. The assignment would, of course, be considered a major one by Oswald that would carry a certain amount of risk, a chance for capture, adventure and an opportunity to gain or regain prestige within an organization that he may have thought had abandoned him upon his return from Russia. Either way (his failure to succeed in the assassination attempt or his success at providing a publicity stunt for Walker's political adventures) would perhaps elevate Oswald's self esteem as a participant within a covert organization while at the same time providing him with the boldness to take on additional assignments. These activities might include contact with Cuban nationals as well as activities for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in the New Orleans area in the weeks following the attempted assassination of Walker. I have heard the phrase, "building a backround" or something to that effect while some have described the activities of Oswald at this time. This scenario would imply that thse plotting to assassinate JFK would have been opperating prior to April 10, 1963 (the night of the attempted assassination of General Walker). This scenario would also suggest that Walker's actions in the 24 hours following the assassination of JFK (contact with a German publication while staying at the Captain Shreve Hotel in Shreveport, LA) was pre-arranged. Comments? Jim Root

Looking for a copy of CD1444c, the Warren Commission Dallas Police Department Document titled,"Telephone Sheets on prisoner's telephone calls for November 22, 23 and 24, 1963." Thanks, Jim Root

Ron I believe that Walker had helped to insert Oswald into the Soviet Union in October of 1959. When Oswald began his attempts to return (after the U-2 affair) any chance that Oswald could identify Walker would create an unbearable embarrasment for the US Military. It is my belief that Walker was a sacrificial lamb, perhaps unaware of why he was being handled in this manner. At this time Major Roberts was an information officer with the American 24th Infantry Division in West Germany where he was involved in creating a program to train the troops about the goals and dangers of communism. That assignment would end shortly after Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker was reassigned from the command of the 24th by his superiors for the implementation of this "Pro Blue" Program. I do not doubt that Roberts was a loyal supporter of Walker's but do not subscribe to the belief that the Major was in charge of the General in this matter. Jim Root

Some of you may recall that I have posted two letters, one from General Walker to the Association of Graduates of West Point and the other from John J. McCloy to Edwin Walker. By coincidnce these two men shared written communications some five months before the assassination of JFK. The spark for these two letters was the fact that John J. McCloy was presented the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the Association of Graduates on May 25, 1963. Sylvanus Thayer was the Superintendent of West Point from 1818 - 1833. When assigned to the Superintendency the students mutinied when Thayer replaced the previous superintendent. This mutiny led to the placing of West Point under strict military disipline and the cadets from this point forward were considered soldiers subject to military law and discipline. This mutiny occurred on Nov. 22, 1818 exactly 145 years before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In some ways this mutiny led to the assendency of a professional military elite within the United States. It was this event that began Sylvanus Thayer's march to becomming the "Father of West Point." Thayer would later resign as superintendent of West Point in a dispute with the President of the United States in 1833. At that time Andrew Jackson was fearful of the rise of a military class within the United States and was constantly overrulling Thayer's positions that delt with the corp of cadets at West point. Thayer was adament that the professional soldier served at the will of Civilian Authority in American but Thayer was also quick to point out that the President, although the Commander and Chief, was only a temporary custodian of the powers he controlled. Walker alluded to this same position in his letter dealing with McCloy. I have always found it interesting that John J. McCloy and Edwin Walker exchanged letters five months before the assassination of JFK. I now find it interesting that the subject of their letters center around Sylvanus Thayer whose own history with "Civilian Authority" would seem to suggest that he believed that the power of the President is only temporary. The fact that Thayer's assendency in West Point leadership lore began with a mutiny on November 22 is perhaps only a coincidence but one that I find interesting when dealing with events that surround McCloy, Walker and Maxwell Taylor. Another in this series of coincidences then occured on June 5, 1963, the same day that Edwin Walker penned his letter dealing with McCloy to the Association of Graduates. Maxwell Taylor would talk about the ascendency of the professional military man and Sylvanus Thayer at the graduation commencement at West Point. Taylor spoke about the "emancipation" and "independence of the American Soldier" making the statements "If recognized and respected abroad, at home the achievements of the American Soldier are often ignored...We must perhaps progress further before there will be wholehearted acceptance at home of the continuing need for a large and respected military profession in the United States...you are about to become an American Soldier, one of the band who, having emancipated themselves from foreign authority, now set the dominant tone in matters of national defense, stategy, tactics, and advanced weaponry...He (the American Soldier) must have a just appreciation of our national objectives and of the role of military power in attaining them...He must understand the proper relation of the military in support of civil policy, and comport himself in accord with the code which has always guided the American Soldier in the past - loyal support of the Commander-in-Chief and the civil authority which he represents...the voice of the American Soldier is entitled to a serious hearing in our national councils...But when civil autority makes the decision, it then becomes his own decision - therafter to support loyally and to execute fathfully in the tradition of the American Soldier." Knowing that at the time of this speech Taylor was in a serious dispute with Kennedy over the Limited Test Ban Treaty I find the speech to be enlightening. Taylor, the linguist, uses the word "COMPORT" when speaking of "loyal support of the Commander-in-Chief and the civil authority which he represents." These two groups, the Commander in Chief (Kennedy) and the Civil Authority (others in government including John J. McCloy) were not alligned on this important issue dealing with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, there development and the testing of these weapons. Yet Taylor speaks of comporting himself or bringing these two distinct groups together or into alignment. On the issue of Limited versus Comprehensive Test Ban Treaties the two would only be brought into allignment after the assassination of JFK when once again John J. McCloy would find himself in a leadership role in this effort. At the end of his speech Taylor points out that "when civil autority makes the decision, it then becomes his own decision - therafter to support loyally and to execute fathfully in the tradition of the American Soldier." I believe that it may be of importance to understand that at that exact time in history, while Taylor was in a dispute with his Commander and Chief, that he (Taylor) would choose the words that suggest that the American Soldier must follow the directives of "civil authority" and to "execute faithfully in the tradition of the American Soldier" rather than the using the wording "Commander in Chief." Just five days after Taylor's speech was spoken at West Point, Kennedy would announce his new position on nuclear talks with the Soviets. This to the dismay of both Maxwell Taylor and John J. McCloy! Jim Root

From an article found at: http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v1n2/worldreaction.html According to Ian Griggs, the first announcement of the assassination of JFK broadcast in the Soviet Union contained this information: "Pravda stressed that Kennedy had insisted that Congress should ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty despite sharp attacks from the American ("wild men.")(?) Ian Griggs compiled his infromtation in the United Kingdom from the Public Record Office (PRO). In light of the direction of my research over the past several months I find this rather interesting. The exact citation is below: "Sub-file: NS 103145/30 Under the general title Soviet Coverage of the Assassination of President Kennedy, this lengthy file comprises five sections. The first four cover specific dates (22nd-24th, 25th, 26th and 27th-28th) whilst the fifth is an overall report specifically entitled Soviet Treatment of the Assassination of President Kennedy. This report is undated but as it is based upon the four dated files, it was probably compiled on 29th November 1963. The file is concerned with daily media coverage of the assassination in the Soviet Union. It explains that the first news of an attempt on Kennedyís life was given in the Moscow Home Service (radio) at 19.28 GMT (1.28pm CST) (Endnote 2) It then quotes the principal Soviet newspapers. Pravda stressed that Kennedy had insisted that Congress should ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty despite sharp attacks from the American ëwild mení. " "Endnote 2: A BBC Monitoring Service newsflash (copy in authorís possession), timed at 1938 GMT (1.38pm CST), stated: MOSCOW RADIO, HOME SERVICE, BROADCAST THE FOLLOWING, BREAKING INTO ITS NEWS BULLETIN AT 19.28 GMT: +IT HAS JUST BEEN REPORTED FROM NEW YORK: ACCORDING TO AMERICAN PRESS AGENCIES. DURING THE STAY OF U.S. PRESIDENT IN DALLAS, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE ON HIS LIFE. KENNEDY HAS BEEN SEVERLY WOUNDED BY A FIREARM.+ (See Griggs, Ian (1994), KENNEDY ASSASSINATED! OSWALD MURDERED! (Dallas, TX: JFK Resource Group, 1997), p. 31" Jim Root

I have seen two victims of shotgun blasts to the head, one of the persons survived his suicide attempt. While in college I worked in a mortuary and two out of every five months we worked on coroners calls. I was called out for a shotgun suicide that was done with a 12 guage shotgun. The result was total devestation to the head. The wounds caused by a 12 guage would be very different from what would be done by a much smaller 20 gauge shotgun shell. By coincidence I saw a person that was hospitalized after attempting suicide with a 12 guage to the mouth. Apparently he jerked the rifle stock backward which caused the barrel to go forward as he pulled the trigger. In this case he blew off his face but did not damage his brain or any other areas vital to sustaining life. In effect he missed his chance to kill himself and inflicted additional damage to his obviously low self esteem. My simple imput here would be to say that all shotguns are not alike. A 20 guage would do nowhere near the damage of a 12 guage. Depending upon the load of the 20 guage shell (shot type and powder load) the damage would be varied as well. Jim Root

In a recent post Gerry Hemming suggested that Dallas confidential informant T-2 was perhaps a bug in the home of Edwin Anderson Walker. If true it would be Walker who informed the FBI of Oswald's Pro Castro support before Oswald started his Fair Play for Cuba activities. Some have suggested that the attempted assassination of Walker may have been faked, something that I have doubted for years. In the past few weeks I have began to think that this event may deserve a new look for several reasons. Before I go further into my numerous new thoughts I would like to open a discussion with a "what if" line of reasoning. What if Walker did in fact know Oswald (I believe they met while Oswald traveled to Helsinki and believe that specific information was passed to Oswald that helped him obtain an entry visa into Russia) and was his "handler?" Could Walker have been the person that debriefed Oswald when he returned to the US? Could Edwin Anderson Walker be Andy Anderson? (Excerpted from John Newman's testimony to Rep. Conyer's oversight committee on November 17, 1993 and originally reprinted in the Coalition On Political Assassinations newsletter, Open Secrets, Vol. #1, August, 1994.) "In addition, a memo from James Angleton's CIA mole hunting unit, the CI/SIG, which stands for Counterintelligence Special Investigations Group, has surfaced in these files with handwriting on it which gives the name of a CIA Domestic Contact division employee - a name which appears to be one "Andy" Anderson - as a CIA contact for Harvey Oswald. This document, which, like the SR 6 document, was in a "soft file," meaning it was not in the original Oswald 201 file, confirms the recollections of other Clandestine Services employees that Andy Anderson did in fact debrief Oswald. Don Deneselya, who worked in the Russian Branch, Foreign Documents Division, Office of Contacts [OO/FDD, USSR] read Anderson's debrief in 1962. The very branch chief in the Domestic Contacts Division who would have overseen incoming debriefs like Anderson's confirms that his branch recovered the debriefing from the field office that had it. There is nothing conspiratorial about the fact that the CIA debriefed Lee Harvey Oswald. They should have. That was their job. The debrief was routine. The troubling aspect is why the CIA has doggedly denied a debrief ever took place. The answer to this question has really been available all along, and the answer is that this denial is part of a broader lie the Agency has been telling for decades: that they were not interested in Oswald. This false statement of no interest in Oswald was not advanced to hide a routine debrief, an act which the Agency did do, but to excuse the Agency for an act it failed to do, namely, to launch a counterintelligence investigation of Oswald at the time of his defection to Russia. This failure was deeply troubling to the House Select Committee, which probed the Agency vigorously but unsuccessfully on this question. For 14 months the CIA failed to properly investigate Oswald, a man who left the U-2 spy base in Japan to defect to Russia and boldly announced his intention to commit an act of espionage. Thus the debrief story is integral to the larger enigma of why, in the case of Lee Harvey Oswald, the CIA was apparently asleep at the switch for 14 months. Perhaps because of the CIA's interest in and contact with Oswald, the Agency panicked when President Kennedy was assassinated. Perhaps the cables indicating Oswald had announced his intent to commit espionage were "lost," thus explaining the Agency's failure to do its job. Perhaps. Perhaps indeed, but perhaps not. I think it prudent to reserve judgment until we have all of the CIA's materials. One thing is certain: These new files make it clear that the CIA's past denials of interest in and contact with Oswald are not true. Your thoughts, Jim Root

Robert Your questions penetrate to the heart of my thoughts. "I am just trying to understand your perception of Edwin Walker. Are you saying that you believe that Walker's history (distributing John Birch literature to troops under him in W. Germany, assertions that both the US Government and the military were under Communist control and his resignation from the Army in 1961,) was an occasion of creating a 'legend' for a counter-intelligence assignment?" The most important question that has not been answered is, "Was Oswald an intelligence asset?" IF Oswald was an intelligence asset "gone bad" then the Warren Commission cover up has an understandable albeit less than credible motive. If Oswald was an intelligence asset then we could assume (if Oswald was a shooter) that Oswald may well have had a motive for both the attempt on Walker and the killing of Kennedy and we could assume that the motives could be tied together (which I have attempted to do). My "IFS" alone are difficult to follow and perhaps difficult to accept but if you closely examine the career of Major General Edwin Walker what is really difficult to accept is that he would denounce and turn against the leadership of the coutry that he had served so faithfully for so long. You also would have to be willing to discard Walker's relationship to Maxwell Taylor as insignificant which I cannot do. Way to often did Taylor turn to Walker to accomplish the most difficult assignments. As Chief of Staff of the Army Taylor turned to Walker in two of what the Arlington National Cemetery refers to as Taylors four most difficult challenges. And then again we find that the association of Max Taylor and John J. McCloy is way to tight to be discarded. From WWII forward their careers and association grows and joins together repeatedly. I cannot believe that this association and the fact that both differed on the Limited Test Ban Treaty with Kennedy is insignificant. That both can be associated to Walker is again important in my mind. Walker was also involved in two specific assignments that were important to John J. McCloy during WWII. Mix this together with Walker's turn to the right being timed to Oswald's initial attempt to return to the US from Russia and one could begin to speculate that what motivated the change in Walker was duty rather than a professional soldiers political beliefs. Remember that the Soviets had their own Walker, Yuri Nosenko, whose turn against his country is also timmed to the movements of Oswald. Then there is that letter written to Walker from John J. McCloy on June 12, 1963. As a curiosity it should rank very high but when placed in historical context and against the career of Walker as a backdrop you find a letter that may well be less than coincidental in its placement and timming. But then Oswald's intelligence mission would have to have been extremely important and would place him in the position of being used by both the Soviets and the Americans with neither quite sure of his real allegence. This does in fact tie into Walker's later pronouncements and would provide him with a reason to believe what he said, truthful or not, in every detail. When Oswald declared that he was a "Patsy" because he had gone to the Soviet Union his statement may have been more true than most have given him credit for and may have been a confession of his motive in very persise words! Oswald's desire to have Jonathan Abt, a Smith Act Attorney, to act as his attorney, I believe, suggests that his defense was to be centered around the intelligence communities of both east and west and how they worked to sabotage the Parris Summit and prevent an opportunity for world peace. The name of John Hurt may be what ties this all together. Everyone of the principal people that I associate with this crime can be associated with that name. The NSA's investigation into IF Oswald had intelligence connections is done by persons who can be asssociated with a person of that name. McCloy, Taylor and Walker can be associated with a person of that name. Oswald attempted to contact a person of that name. My story does not begin and end on the day of the assassination or even the weeks and months before the assassination. Instead it begins with a group who became Cold Warriors. A group of men who first begin working together as early as 1927 then gained power and authority right up until the assassination and beyond. The story can trace Oswald from the first letter he writes to the Socialist Workers Party before he joins the Marines. It is that letter and the fact that he enlists so soon after it, I believe, that marked Oswald as a potential intelligence asset that could be manipulated, rather than trained and used for a covert operation that was hatched at the highest level of US intelligence. But Oswald was not supposed to return to the US. When he did I can imagine that a counter-counter-intelligence operation of the highest level may have been suspected. It is here that the White Russian Community's involvement with Oswald becomes of significance. Oswald had to be watched and he had to be monitored. The question becomes how and by whom? With a Russian wife the Russian community could be used to initiate contact with both Lee and Marina. I suspect that both sides were doing that watching and the monitoring which would account for the fact that every conspiracy theorists seems to be able to find traces of intelligence assets abounding around Oswald's life and movements. Jim Root

Ron Ecker asked, "I've heard this story too, but can it be verified?" I do attempt to cloak my remarks in vague terms at times. The closest I have come to a verification for the story was from Gary Mack but even he related it as something less than a proven fact. Perhaps he could be more specific with information he has at his disposal. Greg Parker stated, "Walker may have been a lot of things, but unless his war record was bogus, one thing he wasn't, was a coward." From everything I have learned of General Walker the above is a true statement. Since I believe the above to be true how could I then believe that this war hero became "scared" upon realizing that it was Oswald that was the accused assassin. This is a legitimate question and deserves an answer. First, I believe even the bravest person can still feel fear and that the difference between what we consider bravery and cowardice is how a person handles or reacts when put into a fearful situation. If the direction of my research has merit it leads me to believe that Walker was up to his neck in intelligence and counter intelligence throughout his career. Walker had always accepted any assignment and always performed in a manner that any soldier of any age would find admirable. His loyalty to his superiors and to his country is above reproach until just a few days after Oswald applies to return to the United States from Russia. It is at this point that I believe Walker is "assigned/ordered" to infiltrate the far right movement in America. I believe that Walker was both unaware of Oswald's attempts to return to the US or that his "assignment" was tied to this fact. I believe that "Ted" Walker, when given this assignment, clicked his heals as he snapped to attention and saluted whoever ordered him to perform this task. Fast forward to the day of the assassination. Now imagine Edwin Anderson Walker, whose "cover" has him viewed as an enemy of Kennedy's, realizing that Kennedy has just been assassinated. Now imagine that on the television screen in front of him is the face of the accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. If, as I believe, Walker had in fact been the person who supplied Lee Harvey Oswald with the information about how to attain a visa from the Soviet Embassy in Helsinki, Walker would know that Oswald was a US intelligence asset. Walker would also know that he could be tied to Oswald and Walker would know who had ordered him to pass information to Oswald (Oswald's handlers) and who had ordered him to infiltrate the "Right Wing" in America. If those two assignments were ordered by the same person or persons, Walker could resonably guess at who was behind the assassination of President Kennedy. Please continue to follow my train of thought. Imagine a man whose whole life had centered around "Duty, Honor, Country." Now imagine a man who had willingly sacrificed his personal "honor" to do his "duty" for his "country." Then imagine that this same man realized that his personal sacrifice may have been used in a plot to assassinate the Commander and Chief. I can imagine a type of fear that might overwhelm Edwin Walker if he suddenly realized that everything and everyone that he had believed in and served so faithfully throughout his career had just carried out the assassination of the President of the United States. Walker would know what they were capable of because he had been involved in their activities for years. Walker would understand the power that the conspirators held and he would know that they had positioned him to be the "patsy." How would Walker handle that situation? Is it reasonable to believe that he might attempt to make contact with the foreign press and disseminate a stroy that could be used to protect himself by focusing light upon his role in the life of Lee Harvey Odwald? Did Walker believe or know that the US Press might be controlled and unwilling to report this story? How did the German newspaper know where Walker was staying? Walker had no scheduled appearence planned, that I have been able to uncover, in Shereveport, LA yet he received a call directly to his room at exactly 7:00 am the morning following the assassination. The story then reported in Germany was essentially the same story later reported in the Warren Commission Report. A few facts are true. The Warren Commission was offically established on the day the German news story was published. The US Government took the investigation away from the City of Dallas where the crime had been committed. The FBI did not become aware of the Walker assassiantion attempt until a week after the assassination of Kennedy. Here is another strange or coincidental fact. Something had to have the distinction of being Warren Commission Exhibit Number 1. CE 1 was in fact the letter, alledgedly written in Russian by Oswald, which instructed Marina in what to do if Oswald were captured or killed after assassinating Walker. I would suggest that the biggest problem facing the conspirators after the assassination of Kennedy was not eliminating Oswald (that could have been planned for in advance) but rather how to handle the fact that Oswald (after the German news story) could now potentially be tied to Walker! I believe it is this "bump in the road" that required John J. McCloy to become involved in controlling the investigation of the Warren Commission. I also now believe very strongly that the "Raleigh Call," Oswald's attemt to contact John Hurt, may be the one known link that can tie Oswald to US Intelligence. Considering that Oswalds "Walker" letter became CE 1, we can speculate that this was the most important item that had to be dealt with by the Warren Commissioners! Jim Root

Robert Thank you for the interesting addititions to this thread. "Gordon Blake, a NSA Employee was also involved in the NSA/Oswald information/Warren Commission situation, as Gardner was I believe." Gordon A. Blake was the head of the NSA in 1963. He was a classmate of Edwin Walker's at West Point and they attended flight school in San Antonio together immediatly following their graduation. Blake continued in the Air Corp while Walker would focus on Artillery. There paths would almost cross again at Fort Monmouth in 1935. Blake would take the first classes offered by William Friedman's group on cryptology and Walker would be assigned to Fort Monmouth when the second class began. Blake and Walker would both be in Hawaii in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor. In a rather mysterious manner Walker was suddenly pulled out of Hawaii within hours of the time that Friedman's "codebreakers" dycrypted a message that suggested that there would be a Japanese surprise attack somewhere in the Pacific by the last week in November. "How do you younger people explain it? The policy was wrong. I couldn't prosecute a communist because he knew Khrushchev and because he knew Kennedy, and in my opinion Oswald was a ward of both states. You know bloomin' well he was a ward of the Kennedy state and a ward of the Khrushchev state." After more than ten years of study I believe strongly that Major General Edwin Anderson Walker was himself involved in military intelligence throughout his entire career. Jim, I completely agree with your perception about Walker, but as far as the above quote, do you think it is reliable as a factual statement on his part, or his own 'spin' on the Oswald lone nut scenario? At present I tend to believe that Walker was not a part of the assassination conspiracy. I believe this to be true because of his actions in the minutes and hours following the assassination. When the assassination was first announced Walker was on an airplane traveling to Shreveport, LA. As I have heard the story, Walker got out of his seat, upon hearing the news, and identified himself to everyone on the airplane. It seems that Walker knew he was recognized as an enemy of Kennedy and his first reaction to the news was to make sure everyone knew where he was (not in Dallas). Early the next morning Walker receives a transatlantic telephone call from a German Newspaper that then prints a story about Oswald attempting to assassinate Walker on April 10, 1963. In his Warren Commission Testemony Walker "dances" around questions dealing with this call and denies that he provided all the information used but the story reflected in the German publication mirrors the Warren Commissions conclusions about the incident. In a signed statement distributed in November of 1991 Walker wrote: "The President went to Dallas knowing and protecting his November assassin Lee H. Oswald from prosecution for his April Crime "Attempted Assassination of the former General working at his desk in his Dallas home, 9:00 p.m. April 10. The Kennedy protection included an early-morning secret release of the prime suspect Lee H. Oswald, from Dallas Police Custody on Kennedy orders, April 11. The President did not live to know that he knew his assassin but everyone else lived to know that he did and that his assassin could not be prosecuted for the November Crime of his Kennedy protection from prosecution for his April Crime." Walker's personal papers are stored at the University of Texas at Austin. They are "restricted" from researchers with no release date. I tend to believe that when Oswald's face appeared on television, Walker, sitting in his room at the Captain Shreve Hotel, recognized him. Walker, I believe, knew then that Oswald was not a "lone nut" assassin but rather an intelligence asset that could be tied to Walker via his "defection" to Russia. I believe that Walker was scared and that he could be associated with the plotters. I believe that he could also assume who the conspirators were, especially since he had received a letter from John J. McCloy just a few months before. Gerry Hemming has posted: "I clearly stated in my post that: When the FBI 302s were raised by me in the federal courtroom, a day or two before I examined Lou Conein as a "defense witness" -- I stated to the judge (during a sidebar) that "T-1 & T-2" must have been telephone taps, and/or room "bugs" placed inside Walker's home at that time. I was told later (during 1963) that he had "grown a brain", and had paid to have his residence swept by countermeasure experts on more than one occasion." If true Walker did in fact know who Oswald was and may have known that Oswald shot at him seven months before the assassination of JFK. If true Walker then lied during his Warren Commission testimony when he said that he did not know who Oswald was. According to FBI Agent James Hosty (WC Testimony): "It says, "On April 21, 1963, Dallas confidential informant T-2 advised that Lee H. Oswald of Dallas, Tex, was in contact with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New York City at which time he advised that he passed out pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. According to T-2, Oswald had a placard around his neck reading, 'Hands Off Cuba, Viva Fidel.'" If T-2 was either a bug at Walker's home or Walker himself we have a very significant piece on information that fits into the scenario I have been discribing over the past year. Jim Root

Stephen Thank you for keeping this thread alive. The Venona Project was one of the most important intelligence operations of the Cold War. I cannot help but feeling that Meredith Gardner being assingned to look into Oswald's potential intelligence connections is significant for two reasons: 1. Gardner's association with John B. Hurt who is associated with Edwin Walker, John J. McCloy, Maxwell Taylor, Frank Rowlett and whose name is also associated with Lee Harvey Oswald as is everyone else on the list with the possible exception of Maxwell Taylor. 2. With thousands of employees why would the NSA assign a person (Gardner) who is so involved with the Venona Project to take time away from an obviously important job to address the simple question of, "was Oswald associated with any intelligence organizations, foreign or domestic?" It leads to the question that I must ask, "how important was Lee Harvey Oswald within the intelligence world?" It could be argued that since Oswald was accused of killing the President, the highest echelons of NSA, CIA and FBI personal would be assigned to investigate this man. But I do not see where the FBI or the CIA used people on the same level as the NSA. I come back again to the fact that the NSA not only used men near the top (Rowlett was a Special Assistant to the Director and a former employee of the CIA as well) but they used men who were associated directly with John B. Hurt. Coincidence? Of the five original members of William Friedman's Team (from 1930) four members, Friedman, Solomon Kullback, Abraham Sinkov and Frank Rowlett are all enshrined at the National Security Wall of Fame. Information can be found about the work that each did until the end of their respective careers. Of the original five man team, only John B. Hurt's career remains classified to this day, yet, as a Japanese linguist his role in the original accomplishments seem to be played down and that work is reported as less significant than the role of the others. Why then is his and only his work (of the original five) still totally classified? You brought up Yuri Nosenko, who is another "coincidence" in the picture that seems to surround the assassination story. Nosenko first made contact with the CIA in the same week that Oswald departs from the Soviet Union on his return trip to the United States. Within weeks of the assassination Nosenko defects to the US via Geneva were new Arms negotiations are taking place and where John J. McCloy is in attendance. Nosenko has first hand knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald and is willing to share that knowledge with the CIA. Either this is all just coincidence or Lee Harvey Oswald was an important individual to both the East and the West. As Edwin Walker said in his last interview: "How do you younger people explain it? The policy was wrong. I couldn't prosecute a communist because he knew Khrushchev and because he knew Kennedy, and in my opinion Oswald was a ward of both states. You know bloomin' well he was a ward of the Kennedy state and a ward of the Khrushchev state." After more than ten years of study I believe strongly that Major General Edwin Anderson Walker was himself involved in military intelligence throughout his entire career. The triple coincidence of Walker's overlaping travel to Europe, at the same time as Oswald, the Warren Commissions failure to identify flight records that could have varified both Oswald's travel and who else might have been on the plane/s with Oswald and Walker's sudden involvement with the "Pro Blue Program" (that begins in the same week that Oswald applies to return to the United States) and leads to Walker's resignation from the military are too many "coincidences" for comfort. Walker's phone call from a German newspaper (while he is in a hotel room in Shreveport, LA) the morning after the assassination and the story which was published the following Wednesday is just another coincidencee in a series of coincidences that are to many to be coincidental! Walker' close association to Maxwell Taylor, the letter that he received from John J. McCloy five months before the assassination only adds to the "coincidences." One of the methods used by the Codebreakers was to search for the coincidence of occurance of encrypted words in relationship to the coincidence of occurance in a native language. Perhaps we would do well to observe the factual coincidences that surround the people mentioned above. It seems that everything and everyone is associated with intelligence and potential intelligence operations, except of course, the accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Jim Root

Several months ago Ron Ecker shared information with this Forum about Meredith Gardner. I was surprised to read that Gardner, as an NSA employee, had written a report for the Warren Commission on Oswald's possible intelligence connections that was then censored by Frank Rowlett. Both these men had worked with John B. Hurt, a man who, at a minimum, shares a name with a person that Oswald attempted to contact after the assassination of JFK. Today one of my students asked if Gardner's work had anything to do with the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenber. Not only did I realize that Gardner did have something to do with the discovery of the Rosenberg's as Soviet spies it also places Gardner's work in the middle of US attempts at understanding of Soviet Nuclear capabilities, a subject that greatly concerned John J. McCloy and Maxwell Taylor. Some excerpts from information about the Venona Project and the work of Meredith Gardner: In 1943 America was at war with the Axis Powers. At Arlington Hall, outside Washington, D.C., Army code breakers were trying to penetrate enemy communications. One day they received a surprising order, "Start spying on America's ally the Soviet Union." Robert Louis Benson a Historian with the National Security Agency recently made this statement: "The Army General Staff were concerned that Stalin might cut a deal with Hitler and get out of the war. So we wanted to see if we could find anything, any evidence of this, in Soviet diplomatic communications." John B. Hurt, in his post war account of the work he did during WWII (250+ pages of declassified material), makes reference to the fact that it was information that he had decrypted that was sent from Tokyo to Moscow that sparked this interest. We learn from the National Security Agency, “Introductory History of VENONA and Guide to the Translations” that: "In the summer of 1946, Meredith Gardner, an Arlington Hall analyst, began to read portions of KGB messages that had been sent between the KGB Residency in New York and Moscow Center. On 31 July 1946, he extracted a phrase from a KGB New York message that had been sent to Moscow on 10 August 1944. This message, on later analysis, proved to be a discussion of clandestine KGB activity in Latin America. On 13 December Gardner was able to read a KGB message that discussed the U.S. presidential election campaign of 1944. A week later, on 20 December 1946, he broke into another KGB message that had been sent to Moscow Center two years earlier which contained a list of names of the leading scientists working on the Manhattan Project -the atomic bomb! In late April or early May 1947, Gardner was able to read two KGB messages sent in December 1944 that showed that someone inside the War Department General Staff was providing highly classified information to the Soviets. These two messages are currently undergoing declassification review. U.S. Army intelligence, G-2, became alarmed at the information that was coming out of Arlington Hall. An Arlington Hall report on 22 July 1947 showed that the Soviet message traffic contained dozens, probably hundreds, of covernames, many of KGB agents, including ANTENNA and LIBERAL (later identified as Julius Rosenberg). One message mentioned that LIBERAL's wife was named "Ethel." General Carter W. Clarke, the assistant G-2, called the FBI liaison officer to G-2 and told him that the Army had begun to break into Soviet intelligence service traffic, and that the traffic indicated a massive Soviet espionage effort in the U.S. In October 1948, FBI special agent Robert Lamphere joined the VENONA Project full time as the FBI's liaison and case controller for the VENONA espionage material. Also, by 1948 the British joined the VENONA effort; in particular, their signal intelligence service assigned full-time analysts to Arlington Hall. There was excellent cooperation between the two U.S. agencies and the U.K. over the many years of VENONA, in large measure a result of the early efforts of Robert Lamphere and Meredith Gardner." From a PBS broadcast dated: February 5, 2002 we learn that: "The decodes reveal that a massive Soviet spy network penetrated the U.S. government during World War Two. Even more incredible, the government knew about these spies as early as 1948 but kept the information secret until the end of the Cold War. " ROBERT LAMPHERE (Retired FBI Agent): "There is no question that the Communist Party USA, through the highest levels, was deeply involved in espionage against the United States." My cunundrum; Since the Venona Project was still in operation in 1963 and John B. Hurt provided the information that began the project and Meredith Gardner was involved in it from the start why did the NSA choose Meredith Gardner to research Lee Harvey Oswald's phone book etc. for possible intelligence connections? Seems Gardners specialty was Venona and Atomic spies not Presidential assassins. Does this seem strange to anyone else? I ask again, what possible reasons would the NSA have for assigning Meredith Gardner the task of researching Lee Harvey Oswald's intelligence connections? Jim Root

John Well written piece. During his first term as a Senator, Johnson was first elected minority whip then minority leader. He gained a position on the Senate Armed Services Committee and chaired several sub-committees of importance including the Senate Special Committee on Space and Astronautics. Johnson was also involved with the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 and the National Security Agency Act of 1959. All of these committee assignments as well as his position as Majority Leader of the Senate would provide Johnson with the type of intelligence briefings reserved for those at the top of the Congressional heap. I tend to believe that the U-2 incident was an intelligence coup that was designed to disrupt the Paris Summit. If so one could also believe that it would be a good possibility that Johnson may have either been aware of or could have guessed at who or what agency was responsible for staging that event. I have believed for years that the U-2 incident was an important event for Kennedy on his road to the White House. Being privy to the type of information that was available to Johnson in his position of power in the Senate, Johnson may have been easily led to "jump on the bandwagon" of the person (Kennedy) who had been "selected" to be the next President by the power elite. Johnson may also have realized that if Kennedy stumbled along the way this group of the "power elite" would have a reliable hand at hand to turn to. This would be especially true if some of the same caliber of people that were suggesting him for the Vice-Presidendcy were amoung the group that had the ability to stage the U-2 incident. Jim Root

John, Let me try to give you the tip of the ice berg on McCloy. More can be found by searching through my posts. Asst. Sec. of War during and before WWII: Assignment: Revamp American Intelligence capabilities. Created the OSS: Was in charge of the distribution list for the Ultra/Magic Information: Paraphrases a John B. Hurt intercept during the June 18th 1945 meeting with Harry Truman: Attends the Kiska Landings where Edwin Walker is the first officer ashore: Orders Eisenhower to monitor the movements of Bernard Bernstein near the end of WWII in Europe, Walker is assigned to “assist” Bernstein: Works directly with Maxwell Taylor during the surrender negotiations with Italy and subsequently when dealing with civilian/military rule over occupied territories in Italy. Post War: Some say he was the author of the Plan for Post War Germany: Revamps the US Intelligence system and helps to create the structure of the “new” national security apparatus including the CIA the NSA and NSC: High Commissioner of Germany and manipulates Maxwell Taylor’s appointment to be the Military Governor of Berlin: Pardons many convicted German War Criminals: Head of the World Bank and Ford Foundation: Chiefs arms negotiator during Eisenhower years: Opposed to the Paris Summit scheduled for May 15, 1960: Becomes Kennedy’s arms negotiator and opposes the Limited Test Ban Treaty: Becomes Johnson’s arms negotiator and succeeds in bringing about a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty….something that he first began discussing before the first atomic bomb was dropped: Warren Commissioner with a great deal of time and influence on the outcome of the Warren Report. John, almost every person you mentioned would have an association to John J. McCloy. I have a lot more information that I, at least, find intriguing. Jim Root `

John "However, the weakness of this argument is that researchers rarely identify the people involved in this conspiracy. Over the next few weeks I intend to name the people who made up what I prefer to call, the Military Industrial Congressional Complex." As you know I continue to suggest that members of the Military Industrial Complex should be examined while researching the assassination of John F. Kennedy. My two prime candidates to further investigate remain John J. McCloy and General Maxwell Taylor. As we discuss this concept of a "Military Industrial Congressional Complex" and the influence it may have on a nation we would do well to remember that ALL NATIONS, large and small, super powers and not so super powerfull will have a similiar "complex" of industrialist whose power is dependent upon military budgets. With this in mind, woe to the nation or body of people whose government neglects this aspect of their national security for better or for worse. Jim Root

Robert I might suggest that you read "The Murder of Admiral Darlan" by Peter Tompkins. Tompkins was an OSS agent in Rome at the time of the allied landings at Anzio. He is still alive and living in Europe. During WWII he had contact with many of the people who would become focal points in the post war intelligence community and that we find surrounding the Kennedy assassination. This book (that was published shortly after the assassination of JFK) provides a great deal of information about the Southern French intelligence community and the intrigues that they were involved in (right wing versus left wing polarizaiton). I wish to clarify that when I started this topic I was refering to John B. Hurt, a NSA employee until just a few months before the assassination of JFK. Upon retirement, this Hurt left the country for an extended visit to France. John J. McCloy, Maxwell Taylor and Edwin Walker can all be associated with this Hurt and his Signals Intelligence connection. Both John B. Hurt's name and work were classified until after his death. Only his work from before 1946 has been declassified. We can only speculate on what projects he was involved in after 1946 because his work from 1946 forward is still classified today. The fact that John B. Hurt's name was classified until after his death (several years after 1963) provides a valid excuse why the Warren Commission (at least officially) was never provided the information about Oswald's attempt to contact a "John Hurt." We might resonably assume that disclosure of the name of John B. Hurt may have been illegal at the time that the Warren Commission Report was submitted. It is also interesting to note that the two people who were assigned by the NSA to investigate Oswald's phone book and possible intelligence connection were Meredith Gardner and Frank Rowlett. In 1930 Frank Rowlett, along with John B. Hurt were two of the original five members of William Friedman's group of codebreakers. From this humble begining of five members in this original group of 1930 would spring what is today know as the National Security Agency. Meredith Gardner was one of the original Arlington Hall codebreakers that began working on the Venona Project designed to break Soviet Codes shortly after the end of WWII. This work actually began during the closing days of WWII when it became apparent that the Soviets had a massive intelligence network inside the US. What is of interest is that John B. Hurt was working on intercepts sent from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Moscow just as Gradner was working on gaining an understanding of the Soviet code system based upon intercepts going to Moscow. Gardner, just like Hurt, was an expert Japanese linguist and it is not unrealistic to assume that the two were both co-workers and aquaitances. It was John B. Hurt that was translating the messages that showed that the Japanese were attempting to engage in negotiations to end the War using the Soviets as mediators to the allies (this is the information that Warren Commissioner John J. McCloy would use at the famous June 18th, 1944 meeting with President Truman). Previous to this Hurt was involved in discovering that the Japanese attempted to mediate a peace between the Soviets and the Germans in the 1942 - 1943 period. The Russian response to these overtures was of great importance to the United States and an understanding of Soviet Codes became an important topic within the codebreaking community. So we have the unconfortable coincidence that of the two NSA employees assigned to investigate Oswald's potential intelligence connections, one had a known 30 year plus personal and working relationship with a man who shared the same name as a "person" that Oswald attempted to contact on the night of the assassination of JFK and the second NSA employee quite possible had a nearly 20 year working relationship with the same person, John B. Hurt, that can be tied directly to Warren Commissioner John J. McCloy. If Oswald's trip to the Soviet Union was in anyway tied to Signals Intelligence, one could speculate that the downing of the U-2 may have been a staged event. It is not out of the relm of possibility that both Gardner and John B. Hurt would have been involved in this type of project if it were designed to gain information on Soviet signals capabilities. Oswald being stationed at Astugi, Japan would provide an opportunity for him to infiltrate and/or to be recurited by a Japanese Communist/Socialist Cell that could well have been monitored by the likes of John B. Hurt and Meredith Gardner in an ongoing project known as Venona. Jim Root

Since I started this thread with information that was provided by FBI Agent Hosty (and it has been brought back up again), I think that it is important to recall what Hosty said in his testimony about why the FBI was actively monitoring Oswald's movements before he was hired at the TSBD. It seems that sometime after April 21st Hosty received a FBI memo stating that confidential informant T-2 had provided information that Oswald was distributing Pro Castro leaflets on the streets of Dallas. Because of this information Oswald's case file was to be reopened and his movements tracked from that moment on. From the Record: Mr. STERN. If you will look at page 2 of the report we have marked for identification No. 829 Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir. Mr. STERN. The last paragraph on that page relates--well, tell us what information that refers to. Mr. HOSTY. It says, "On April 21, 1963, Dallas confidential informant T-2 advised that Lee H. Oswald of Dallas, Tex, was in contact with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New York City at which time he advised that he passed out pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. According to T-2, Oswald had a placard around his neck reading, 'Hands Off Cuba, Viva Fidel.'" Mr. STERN. Did you attempt to verify that information? Mr. HOSTY. When I got it, it was approximately 6 or 7 weeks old, past the date it allegedly took place, and we had received no information to the effect that anyone had been in the downtown streets of Dallas or anywhere in Dallas with a sign around their neck saying "Hands Off Cuba, Viva Fidel." It appeared highly unlikely to me that such an occurrence could have happened in Dallas without having been brought to our attention. So by the time I got it, it was, you might say, stale information and we did not attempt to verify it. Mr. STERN. When you record this as something that an informant advised about on April 21, that doesn't mean he advised you or the Dallas office on April 21? Mr. HOSTY. That is right. Mr. STERN. Did this information come from another part of the FBI? Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir; it came from the New York office of the FBI. They were advised on the 21st of April. Mr. STERN. But the information didn't get to you until some time after? Mr. HOSTY. In June, I believe. Mr. STERN. Did you have any information apart from this that there was an organization active in the Dallas area called, "The Fair Play for Cuba Committee"? Mr. HOSTY. No, sir; we had no information of any organization by that name. Mr. STERN. Had you at this time ever heard of such an organization? Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir; I had. Mr. STERN. In what connection? Mr. HOSTY. The New York office had advised all offices of the FBI to be on the alert for the possible formation of chapters of this organization which was headquartered in New York. Mr. STERN. Had you investigated the Dallas area in that connection? Mr. HOSTY. We had checked our sources, I had and other agents assigned to the internal security division had checked sources. We were on the alert for it. Mr. STERN. And you found what? Mr. HOSTY. We found no evidence that there was any such organization in Dallas. Mr. STERN. Have you reviewed this report marked for identification No. 829, Mr. Hosty? Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir; I have. Mr. STERN. In connection with your preparation for testimony today? Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir. Mr. STERN. Is there any change you would like to make in anything set forth in it? Mr. HOSTY. No, sir; I wish it to stand as it reads. Mr. STERN. Is there anything you would like to add? Mr. HOSTY. No, sir. I like to point out that this information (from the New York Office) suddenly came in 11 days after the assassination attempt on the life of General Walker. In Hosty's testimony he states that he could not verify and that he doubted the information about Oswald's Pro Castro activities on the streets of Dallas because nothing had been reported. Yet based upon this information two things occurred: 1) Oswald's movements were monitored (including his move to New Orleans and return to Dallas. 2) The location of where Oswald was working (TSBD) was reported to Washington before President Kennedy's motorcade route was established. The third thing that I find intriguing about the "new" monitoring of Oswald's movements is that the information about Oswald's Pro Castro activities, while not varifiable before April 21, 1963 by agent Hosty would become true at a later date. Did the same people that tipped the FBI off about these activities on April 21st, 1963 know that they could influence Oswald's New Orleans activities at a future date. Let's look at the timeline. Information from the FBI dated April 21, 1963 is provided to Agent Hosty sometime in June. April 24th Oswald leaves for New Orleans. May 26th Oswald writes to the Fair Play For Cuba Comm. May 29th Oswald orders 1000 handbills for the FPCC June 3rd Oswald opens a PO Box in the name of A. J. Hidell (Hosty receives information about Oswalds activities in Dallas in June) June 16th Oswald distributes FPCC leaflets at Dumaine St. Wharf Throughout August, 1963 The Bringuier incidents begin that lead to a radio debate on August 21st It seems to me that someone (The Big Fish?) knew what Oswald was going to do before he did it ( at least in this incident)! Jim Root

BK That same document and another can be found at: http://www.nsa.gov/jfk/index.cfm Seems that in a 4 Dec 63 document McCloy, " has serious doubts of the credibility of the investigation to date. He does not eliminate the possibility that the attempt on KENNEDY was made by two pa(e)rsons..." I would love to know what is in the 27 Jan 64 document that seems to have had to much information! Jim Root

Bill My information for the above post comes from John Taylor's book about his father. I do not have it in front of me but the two pages that deal with that particular moment in time are interesting, at least from my perspective. Your information seems to confirm what I consider an interesting fact, when Kennedy was shot the military was not put on a high state of alert. Not being an expert in the field of military alert status protical, it would seem prudent to at least raise the alert status to some level above the normal status of the day. Why this was not done intrigues me as does the actual actions of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the hours and minutes that surrounded the assassination. The fact that Taylor broke from a meeting and was alone when the information about Kennedy's assassination came to him may just be a coincidence on the hand while on the other hand it may demonstrate a pre-knowledge of the timing of "the mission" on the other. We continue to speculate. Jim Root