16 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

It’s written in first person. Go to Smashwords and read it. Fascinating book.

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

1 hour ago, Paul Brancato said:

Steve - you don’t consider Brandstetter’s autobiography Brandstetter - Portrait of an Intelligence Officer a primary source? 

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

2 hours ago, David Josephs said:

Tramps on the arrest reports were Gedney, Abrahms and Doyle...   

 

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

1 hour ago, Jim Hargrove said:

 Paul Brancato, David Josephs, and probably others here think he was, or at least may have been, a member of Jack Crichton's 488th MI outfit.

 

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:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=160976735#sthash.mX3LJS6E.dpuf

obit of Jack E. Earnest: "He enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in 1948 and served as an enlisted man in various units attaining the rank of Master Sergeant, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in September, 1953 and assigned to the 847th CIC Detachment. In June 1956, he was assigned to the 488th Strategic Intelligence Detachment until 1962, achieving the rank of Captain. This latter assignment was primarily concerned with providing intelligence on Russian and other countries' status in exploration and production of oil and natural gas for use with other intelligence units in preparing and updating National Intelligence Summaries."

(This global strategic focus was the primary mission of Military Intelligence Detachments, by the way).

There was a real 488th MID, but I don't believe it was Crichton's.

See page 14 of Thomas Cagley's Study - page 21 of the pdf file

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a233391.pdf

Steve Thomas

18 hours ago, Gene Kelly said:

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. 

 

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 26^th 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

1 hour ago, Cory Santos said:

I cannot recall if Bowers gave specifics of what he saw, not that they have to  be exact. 

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

On 10/10/2018 at 2:38 PM, Paul Brancato said:

Lumpkin was Brandstetter’s commanding officer? Interesting indeed.

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

4 hours ago, Cory Santos said:

Psychologically, they want to go back to when they were children and feel safe. 

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

21 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

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.

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

3 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Steve - you’ve read one book on Brandstetter - Our Man in Acapulco. I’ve read another - Portrait of an Intelligence Officer. In the latter, a co-written aitobiography, Brandstetter makes clear his 20 years relationship with and reporting to ACSI. He also says he joined Crichton’s 488th, and never mentions the Texas National Guard. Does your theory have support in Our Man in Acapulco? 

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

1 hour ago, Denny Zartman said:

Thank you very much for the link, Steve.

It seems Oswald didn't do a lot of work at his jobs. I seem to recall during his brief time at one (Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall?) he spent most of his time at the shop next door reading magazines.

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

Just now, David Josephs said:

Continental matches up with Flecha Rojas buses in MX, which was initially why the FBI went with Flecha Rojas for his bus ride thru Monterrey into MX City...

Greyhound matches with Del Norte...

 

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

13 hours ago, Denny Zartman said:

Does anyone know where I might find it? Anyone have any insight or more information about the Dobbs House connection?

Thanks!

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

13 hours ago, Denny Zartman said:

All I can seem to find is a brief mention of Harrison and Dowling in WE HE Vol. 26 CE 3009. I can't locate the FBI statement from Dowling which apparently has more detail.

Does anyone know where I might find it? Anyone have any insight or more information about the Dobbs House connection?

Thanks!

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

9 hours ago, Mark Lawson said:

 

Solid-gold prose from Pepe Escobar - well worth the read, IMO.  ML

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

4 hours ago, Robert Harper said:

 

I was aware of the Mahan influence and theory, but not Mackinder

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

On 10/4/2018 at 11:44 PM, Roy Wieselquist said:

* Army man MacArthur's stress on the Navy, especially the use of blockades (as in the Cuba Missile Crisis), as our greatest military strengths and tactics. 

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

21 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

The long awaited second segment of Vasilios Vazakas explication of the mystery of who the heck was Lee Oswald.

Amazing what Phil Melanson started.

What we do know is that the WR was up the creek without a paddle on the issue.

https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/creating-the-oswald-legend-part-2

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

7 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Corrected and correct.  Today I saw one non headline story on the law professors letter to the Senate on MSN.  It's up to 650 now with several from Harvard, where he now used to teach, and I believe a few from Yale.

Ron,

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

Steve Thomas

2 hours ago, Douglas Caddy said:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/macarthurs-last-stand-against-a-winless-war/

 

I am 80 years old and am very happy that I have lived long enough to read this important article by a highly respected historian. There is no American in public life today that has the charisma and wisdom of these two great men. 

Douglas,

Thank you for this.

I need to go back and re-read it three of four more times.

Steve Thomas

deleted

Steve Thomas

1 hour ago, Rick McTague said:

It's interesting that one of the names on this list, "James M Souter, Lieutenant, PD" is similar in name to Jean Soutre.  I wonder if any connection there exists....

Thanks

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