Martin Blank

Another name of interest is Baron van Pallandt any connection to either anita van pallandt (keith richards) or nina van pallandt (clifford irving)

Thanks. I didn't realize there was such a great divide on Armstrong. I think he hit a rich vein, though. Marty

It hasn't helped for the last 47 years, so why should anyone believe it will help now? How about looking instead at those who had motive means and opportunity to frame an innocent man? Your opening post makes it sound as though you really despise the man, and his entire family, and even his DNA, or did I misread what you wrote? knee jerk reaction doesn't begin to describe your faux pas

The character assassination of Lee Oswald -- and his family -- is one of America's favorite pastimes, and a most disgusting one at that. It distracts everyone from the search for the killers of JFK, and actually makes the Oswald character assassins accessories after the fact to the murder of a great and good man. actually asking questions about oswald's background may help lead to the killers; asking those questions does not, however, even begin to intimate that oswald is guilty of anything.

What are we to make of the Oswald “family”? Are they the modern spy age family? Consider: Who is and where did the other Oswald mother go? (The woman who was pictured in front of a car with Edwin Ekdahl?) Who is the second Marguerite Oswald? What was her role regarding her “son”? Who is the real mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, Robert Oswald and John Pic? Who is Harvey Oswald’s real mother? Are Robert Oswald, John Pic and Lee brothers? Are Robert Oswald, John Pic and Harvey brothers? Are Robert Oswald, John Pic and some other person with the last name of Oswald brothers? Marina once said she had two husbands. (“I had two husbands: Lee, the father of my children, an affectionate and kind man; and Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President Kennedy”) Did she get them mixed up innocently? Or was it purposeful. Who was the other in addition to Harvey? Was she with both Harvey and Lee? How many “Lee Harvey Oswalds” were there? Was Oswald’s cousin, Marilyn Murret, intelligence-connected? Was Oswald’s uncle Charles “Dutz” Murret mob-connected? What kind of “family” takes in and accepts two obvious strangers/outsiders (Harvey and Marguerite) as their own for a Thanksgiving celebration and more. Why did John Pic not recognize his half brother? Why did Harvey refer to Pic as his half brother when he never had previously? Was the Thanksgiving get-together a debriefing opportunity? Finally, there is the irony of Robert Oswald being able to condemn his brother for the assassination and people knowingly shaking their heads in assent unaware that he is talking about Lee and not Harvey. He is telling the truth but no one realizes the true nature of that truth. Talk about separate realities. Shakespeare could have done a sequel to Hamlet based on the Oswalds Has there ever been another “family like this? Can anyone say DNA?

if bundy was in fact "not in on Kennedy's real Vietnam policy," how could be expected to draft a document reflective of that policy? such guidance could only have come during the drafting procedure (which I believe we are relatively certain it didn't) or during a post-drafting editing phases (which it never had a chance to be subjected to under kennedy). why would someone who was known to be in the dark on this issue relative to "real policy" be given the task of drafting this document in the first place?

Hello everyone. New here as a member though I have been reading the forum for some time. I read the posts in this thread a few weeks ago and have been thinking about them since. In particular, I was interested in the discussion of this section of the draft of NSAM 273: . 4. It is of the highest importance that the United States Government avoid either the appearance or the reality of public recrimination from one part of it against another, and the President expects that all senior officers of the Government will take energetic steps to insure that they and their subordinates go out of their way to maintain and to defend the unity of the United States Government both here and in the field. Ultimately, I came to believe that this section had more to do with a context that already existed than it was a portent of a context yet to come. That context is reflected in the reporting of Arthur Krock and Richard Starnes (and others) that concerned an “Intra-administration War in Vietnam” and the “ ‘Arrogant’ CIA Disobey(ing) Orders in Viet Nam.” In this context, the section of the draft NSAM 273 reflects Kennedy’s desire to retain control of Vietnam policy and he is instructing the entities and individuals (CIA, military) who are opposing his moves in Vietnam and elsewhere to cease and desist, stop running to the press, and get in line with the program. A tall order, indeed, given the circumstances. While this section may have portended further moves by Kennedy in this conflict, I don’t believe it was indicative of the planned assassination. After the assassination, this section of NSAM 273 was no longer necessary because those entities mentioned previously were to be given the playground they wanted in Vietnam by Johnson. All opposition, such as it was, would now be swept aside, muted, or co-opted. A different team with a different coach was now in charge.

A lifelong resident of the Midwest. Hold a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and M.A.'s in English and journalism. Have worked as a writer and editor for 35 years. I was 13 when JFK was murdered. I delivered newspapers back then and remember waiting what seemed like forever to get my papers that evening. (I still have a copy.) A long twilight to say the least. I got interested in the assassination in the mid-1970s after reading an article in Rolling Stone about the "Nixon-Hughes-Lansky Connection." From the beginning, my mother maintained there was something fishy about the whole thing. "How did they know to look for him?" she would start. "how did they find him so fast?" Wise beyond her station in life.