Steve Thomas

Paul, No, I'm sorry. It isn't. This, anyway, is from page 102: "After Brandy arrived back home in Dallas, he received a letter from Colonel Rose dated 20 March 1959, and it had some great news. The Selection Board to screen Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonels for promotion to full “Bird Colonels” was at last considering Brandy’s records to be submitted through the Chief of Army Reserve. In the meanwhile, Brandy had permission to perform “Appropriate Duty” for pay on the weekends with the 488th Strategic Intelligence Team in Dallas." I'm sorry, but I don't know what a "Strategic Intelligence Team" is. That doesn't fit into any Table of Organization and Expenditures I've ever seen. Steve Thomas

Paul, I don't know. Is it written in the third person by a man named Chuck Render? How much literary license did he take? Steve Thomas

David, At the time of his arrest, Daniel Douglas told the police he was from Memphis, that he had been in Dallas for two weeks, but refused to tell them where he was staying. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/elrod.htm “John Elrod, a 31-year-old cook was living in Memphis in 1964. He was an admitted alcoholic who "After drinking an unknown amount of beer and vodka, [he] wound up at the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in downtown Memphis. There he volunteered that something was preying on his mind." What the LaFontaines believe was preying on John's mind is revealed in the article based on their interviews and additional research Ray and Mary say Elrod was arrested November 22, 1963 at 2:45 p.m. by the Dallas Police and as such became the fourth tramp. He was placed in a cell with two other men. Within a few paragraphs we discover the men are Lee Harvey Oswald and a nineteen year old car thief from Memphis, Daniel Douglas.” Arrest Reports of John Elrod and Daniel Wayne Douglas DPD Archives, Box 3, Folder# 20 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box3.htm I wonder what the possibility is that Douglas was staying with Elrod. Steve Thomas

Jim, I have yet to see a single piece of paper with Crichton's 488th name on it. I have yet to see a primary source of information from someone claiming to belong to it. I have yet to see anyone claiming that they reported to Crichton on anything. The closest I have come to someone believed to belong to a 488th MID is an obituary of a Jack E. Ernest:

Gene, You wrote, "Westbrook... was with the Dallas Police Department from 1940 to 1965, and also worked as a special investigator for the Dallas County district attorney's office from 1970 to 1983." I found what you wrote about Westbrook to be very interesting because... https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13030510/ernest-roneal-beck Ernest Roneal (“E.R.”) Beck: “He was a member of the "Cracker Jacks". A group of detectives under the leadership of Capt. Will Fritz. The CAP's division investigated the Kennedy Assassination and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. Mr. Beck honorably retired from the Dallas Police Department on October 10, 1965. On October 11, 1965, his service career continued, joining the Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office as an investigator for District Attorney Henry Wade. He was lovingly known as "POB" (Poor Old Beck). Mr. Beck retired from Dallas County District Attorney's office, in 1979.” I read somewhere that Beck became Henry Wade's personal driver. E.R. Beck would sign the release forms of the Three Tramps, John Elrod and Daniel Wayne Douglas in what I view as the purge of the Dallas City jail that took place at 9:00 AM on the 26th of November See Box 3, Folder# 20 in the DPD Archives. http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box3.htm It makes me wonder who else went from the Dallas Police Department to Henry Wade's Office after JFK's assassination. Steve Thomas

Cory, AFFIDAVIT IN ANY FACT THE STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF DALLAS http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/bowers1.htm BEFORE ME, Patsy Collins, a Notary Public in and for said County, State of Texas, on this day personally appeared Lee E. Bowers, Jr., “This car was a 1957 Ford, Black, 2 door with Texas license. This man appeared to have a mike or telephone in the car.” http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/bowers.htm “Mr. BOWERS - Yes, some 15 minutes or so after this, at approximately 12 o'clock, 20 to 12--I guess 12:20 would be close to it, little time differential there--but there was another car which was a 1957 black Ford, with one male in it that seemed to have a mike or telephone or something that gave the appearance of that at least. Mr. BALL - How could you tell that? Mr. BOWERS - He was holding something up to his mouth with one hand and he was driving with the other, and gave that appearance.” Doesn't sound like a transistor radio to me. Steve Thomas

Paul, Brandy, Our Man in Acapulco: The Life and Times of Colonel Frank M. Brandstetter. A Biography by Rodney P. Carlisle and Dominic J. Monetta. University of North Texas Press, 1999. https://books.google.com/books?id=QLdqgDsVio4C&pg=PA122&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 128. “As was common for Brandy, he received a fine commendation for his work from his commanding officer, at this time, Colonel George Lumpkin....” This would be in the 1950's. Steve Thomas

My belief that two or more people conspired to kill the 35th President of the United States of America brings me no comfort, solace, joy or riches. Nor does it make me a kook, a freak, or any other insulting name you choose to call me. Steve Thomas

Cory, There is that, and then there is the idea that the human mind needs to bring order out of chaos. With conspiracy, there is too much that is unknown, and that makes it hard to come to grips with. It's so much easier to wrap things up and put them in a tidy little box so that mentally, you can deal with it. Steve Thomas

The Sportatorium The Dobbs House Restaurant The guy who got into a fight with Jerry Buchanan on the docks in Miami There's a bunch of them. Steve Thomas

Yeah!!! 😊 https://www.loc.gov/digital-strategy Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress “Bring the Library to our users Many of the Library's digital users come directly to our websites to discover content. To expose even more people to the Library's content and services, we will bring digital content to users by making more of our material available in other websites and apps that they are already using. Structuring our information to be machine-readable will make the Library's primary source material available to more people in more places and accessible to a broader diversity of users. We will work to broadcast the availability of our machine readable content and make strategic partnerships with those that can use and extend the reach of our content to additional platforms.” Steve Thomas

Russia-Ukraine Tensions Set Up the Biggest Christian Schism Since 1054 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/world/europe/ukraine-russia-orthodox-church.html This is still playing out and may help to understand, and put into context, the Warren Commission testimony of Paul Raigorodsky and the White Russian Community in Dallas and Fort Worth. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/raigorod.htm “Mr. DAVIS. I didn't understand--what was the reason that the church was split? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Well, they just couldn't get along together. I mean, it's purely personality. You see, Father Royster at that time--that's the main point--Father Royster doesn't mean anything to you or to me, but to lots of Russians it means everything. You see, Father Royster at that time belonged to the Ukraine branch of the church. You see, he couldn't get ordained, but then he tried to, and I tried to help him to be ordained by Metropolitan and Anastasia, but he couldn't fulfill the requirements so he tried to get in through Metropolitan Leonty. He couldn't quite get in because of their requirements, but they suggested that he will be ordained by the Russian Ukranian Church, of which Father Joseph Bogdan, B-o-g-d- a-n [spelling] had the jurisdiction of the Ukranian branch of Metropolitan Leonty's branch of the Russian Church in this country, and so, you see, and that was--now, we have to go back through the basic facts that Russians and Ukranians have never gotten along together, and in fact, Ukranians were separative-----they wanted to separate from the rest of the Russians and he will have their church to become part of their parish. That was just going against the grain of every Russian.” Steve Thomas

Paul, I can't say that I have read, "Our Man in Acapulco" in its entirety, only the abbreviated Google version I found online; and I haven't read, "portrait of an Intelligence Officer" at all. Mostly, I'm going on what I have read about various men and the role they served a "Inspector/Advisors" in the Reserves. The 90th Infantry is a Texas National Guard unit. . The Mexia Daily News from Mexia, Texas · Page 1 November 7, 1957 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/11876796/ Mexia Man Receives Appointment Earl McKeilh, (center) is pictured with L. Robert Castorr, of Dallas, Southwestern division manager of the National Federation of Independent Business, and Si N. Meadow, district manager of the organization from Austin. “Earl McKeith was coming out of a local bank Tuesday and came face to face with a man who was one of his fellow Army officers in the early thirties. Earl didn't recognize him but L. Robert Castorr, of Dallas, immediately grabbed Earl's arm and said "I know you." Mr. Castorr. who is now a- colonel in the Active Reserve serving as inspector and advisor to the 90th Division in Texas., and Mr. McKeith, a Reserve. Army captain, were first lieutenants when they served with each other in the Second Infantry Division. They last saw each other in 1930. Col. Castorr served with Merrill's Marauders in Burma during World War II.” “Mr. Meadow was accompanied to Mexia by L. Robert Castorr, the Southwestern division manager for the National Federation of Independent Business. Mr. Castorr formerly served in the U. S. Army with Mr. McKeilh.” Brandy, Our Man in Acapulco: The Life and Times of Colonel Frank M. Brandstetter. A Biography by Rodney P. Carlisle and Dominic J. Monetta. University of North Texas Press, 1999. https://books.google.com/books?id=QLdqgDsVio4C&pg=PA122&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false “...in December, 1953 he (Brandstetter) and several other officers were attached to different units for the first three months of 1954 assigned as “Inspector/Advisors” " Who were these "Advisors" and what unit was Whitmeyer "advising" in Louisiana? The Monroe News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana · Page 5 March 25, 1955 https://newspaperarchive.com/monroe-news-star-mar-25-1955-p-5/ “Those reserve officers interested in this program are urged to contact Major George L. Whitmeyer at the office of the unit advisor, United States Army Reserve, building T-39-2, Selman Field...: The Monroe News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana · Page 3 September 21, 1955 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/89404823/ “Vacancies in the high school student draft deferment group still exist in the reserve army, Major George L. Whitmeyer, army reserve advisor, said Wednesday. The Monroe News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana · Page 3 October 23, 1956 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/84343273/ “Looking on as Capt. Pipes reads his new commission is Major George L. Whitmeyer, unit advisor.” Steve Thomas

Denny, It's either that, or it wasn't Lee Oswald at the Dobbs House. Someday I would to correlate the "surly" Oswald with the instances of where he was reported to have been at the time. I'm willing to bet that the "surly" Oswald was seen at times and places where he shouldn't have been. Steve Thomas

David, I though of you when I posted the bit about Continental Trailways. Without going into a lot of the documentation you have provided in the past, is it your contention that Oswald did not take a bus to Mexico City, and that the story of him taking a bus is fiction? If that is so, Brandstetter, with his background in army intelligence, could possibly have had a hand in creating this story. His association with Continental would have given him access to a lot of the documentation needed to create false bus manifests, etc. This also ties back into the "Colonels" thread and my idea that many of these "Colonels" were not part of the Army Active Reserves, but were part of the Texas National Guard, or State Guard Reserves. 'p. 125. “General Carl L. Phinney, an attorney for Continental Trailways and commander of the Texas National Guard knew that Brandy was looking for new ventures.” Clint Murchison was a “member of the Board of Directors of Continental Trailways.”" Steve Thomas Steve Thomas

Denny, How about this for a little twist: Frank Brandstetter: (A tantalizing side note): Brandy, Our Man in Acapulco: The Life and Times of Colonel Frank M. Brandstetter. A Biography by Rodney P. Carlisle and Dominic J. Monetta. University of North Texas Press, 1999. https://books.google.com/books?id=QLdqgDsVio4C&pg=PA122&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 117 In March, 1951, Brandy took over the management of the restaurant chain for Continental Trailways, a newly formed subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad. Trailways would become the nation's second largest bus company after Geryhound. Maurice Moore appointed Brandy as President of the restaurant subsidiary, Continental Restaurants. Continental was headquartered in Dallas, TX. Brandy planned the construction of new bus depots. Developed training and instruction manuals, and introduced pre-cooked frozen meals to smaller kitchens within a four hundred mile radius from a central kitchen in Dallas. He designed their logo, and raised sales from $215,000 in 1951 to $1,228,000 in 1953. p. 125. “General Carl L. Phinney, an attorney for Continental Trailways and commander of the Texas National Guard knew that Brandy was looking for new ventures.” Clint Murchison was a “member of the Board of Directors of Continental Trailways.” Warren Report p. 732. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=946#relPageId=756&tab=page “On September 26, Oswald boarded Continental Trailways bus No. 5133 in Houston and departed at 2:35 AM for Laredo, TX...” https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=57742&search=Dobbs_House#relPageId=34&tab=page FBI 105-82555 Oswald HQ File, Section 56 Mary Adda Dowling, waitress at the Dobbs House Restaurant, who told the FBI that Oswald was in the Dobbs House Restaurant at 10:00 AM on November 20, 1963 and that J.D. Tippit was also there at the same time, told the FBI that, “...she had known Officer Tippit for approximately five years because he had formerly come into the Continental Bus Station in downtown Dallas in which bus station she worked in the drug store”. Steve Thomas

Denny, You can find an FBI interview of Mary Dowling here: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=57742&search=Dobbs_House#relPageId=34&tab=page She said that Oswald was in the restaurant at around 10:00 AM on November 20th (which would be hard to do if he was working), and that J.D. Tippit was there. Steve Thomas

Mark, Mr. Escobar wrote, " Hop in for some essential time travel." I wrote him a note and thanked him for the time travel. Steve Thomas

Robert, Here's a down-and-dirty version of the Heartland vs. Rimland discussion: Back in the (Great) Game: The Revenge of Eurasian Land Powers https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/29/back-in-the-great-game-the-revenge-of-eurasian-land-powers/ Steve Thomas

Roy, From the sounds of it, it looks like Macarthur would have subscribed to the theories of Alfred Thayer Mahan as opposed to the theories of Halford Mackinder. If you're interested in this topic, you might be interested in this discussion of the Heartland Theory vs. the Rimland Theory and the advantages/disadvantages of interior lines of communication vs. mobility. See this U.S. Army War College Study: http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/parameters/articles/00summer/fettweis.htm I find this fascinating and haven't made up my mind yet. Steve Thomas

Jim, That is a pretty impressive article. The info about Brundage is eye-opening. I have read in the past that Oswald was deliberately put into the USSR to "leak" the U-2 Program because it was outdated. Do you think the U-2 had been supplanted by the Corona Project, and is there any evidence that you know of indicating that Oswald had ever brushed up against it in his military service? From what I can tell, it wasn't really all that successful until about 1962. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite) Steve Thomas

Ron, As of Friday morning, this had grown to more than 2,400 law professors. Steve Thomas

Douglas, Thank you for this. I need to go back and re-read it three of four more times. Steve Thomas

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Rick, By November, 1963, James M. Souter had been promoted to Captain of the Dallas Police Department's Patrol Division, Third Platoon, Headquarters Station, 4:00 PM to Midnight shift. https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/pdf/WH19_Batchelor_Ex_5002.pdf (page 11 of the pdf file) Jean-Rene Souetre was born on October 15, 1930 at Ayguemorte-les-Graves in the Gironde Department of France. Steve Thomas