Steve Thomas

Is this a black bag job? *smile* https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=57691&search=%22John_Lester+Quigley%22#relPageId=14&tab=page Steve Thomas

Ron, I wonder if this P S Nichols is the same P S Nichols who wrote Harold Weisberg a couple of letters found here: http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index Files/N Disk/Nichols Prescott S/Item 01.pdf Steve Thomas

Bart, Where did you get these pictures of Kunkel inside the Homicide and Robbery Bureau? The reason I ask is that back in 2008, I wrote an essay on the Secret Service in which I speculated that it was in fact, Charles Kunkel who was the Secret Service man who was present during Oswald's interrogation. Secret Service, On the Knoll and Beyond http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/12084-secret-service-on-the-knoll-and-beyond/ January 21, 2008 JFK Online Seminars "There is strong evidence that there was a Secret Service Agent present during Oswald’s first interrogation at a time when no known Secret Service Agent was in the Police Headquarters. If that is the case, who could this person have been? Sims, Boyd, Fritz, Curry and Stevenson all testified, or wrote later, that a Secret Service man (who was not Sorrells) had been present during Oswald's interrogation. I believe that a better candidate for the alleged Secret Service Agent who participated in Oswald’s first interrogation beginning at 2:20PM is Charles E. Kunkel." I'd like to update that essay. Steve Thomas

Jim,, I was reading through this site: JFK Assassination Quotes by Government Officials https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/JFK_Assassination_Quotes_by_Government_Officials.html It was fascinating to see how many high government officials said that the reason for JFK's assassination lay with the Cuban exiles. Steve Thomas

Jessica, I was looking at the website you provided. I hadn't realized that Fritz and Boyd brought rifles into the TSBD. (Picture located up near the top of the website). Steve Thomas

In November, 2017 in the Harvey Lee Oswald thread, I wrote: “Warren Commission Document 498 - SS Rowley Memorandum of 13 Mar 1964 Forwarding Reports https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10898&search="Harvey_Lee+Oswald"#relPageId=37&tab=page pp. 37-38. The Report is titled, Harvey Lee Oswald. SS Protective Research Report by Kenneth J. Weisman of an interview with Billy Joe Lord, who traveled to Europe with Oswald aboard the SS Marion Lykes. Lord constantly refers to “Harvey Lee Oswald” whom he found to be “unfriendly, standoffish, and that the two of them “didn't hit off”. (p. 38.) The Report was written by Weisman on February 28, 1964 and approved by a Jose(?) (Benavides?)(sic?) on March 2, 1964. You might say that Harvey Lee Oswald was a simple transposition, but you'd have to believe that a trained investigator made the same mistake seven times in the same document. This wasn't a mistake, Weisman was reading off a script of some kind.” This report was written in February, after the name Lee Harvey Oswald as the President's alleged assassin had been broadcast in the media an estimated 5 billion, one hundred gazillion times. I got to thinking about Bill Harvey's ZR Rifle notes, and his talk about backstopping and creating fake 201 files. I wonder if the creation of this “personna” or “dossier” tracks back to Oswald's fake defection to the USSR. I've been puzzled about why this Harvey Lee Oswald shows up in Russian files. A letter from Anatoly Dobrynin to the U.S. State Department concerning Harvey Lee Oswald's request for Soviet citizenship is dated December 11, 1963. It says that Harvey Lee Oswald's request for USSR Citizenship was denied. It doesn't say when he applied for that citizenship, but the character reference memo from the Minsk Radio factory is dated December 11, 1961 and refers to “Citizen” Harvey Lee Oswald. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135&relPageId=447&search=%22Harvey_Lee%20Oswald%22 On page 433 of that CE 985 it says that “Citizen” Harvey Lee Oswald was hired as a regulator at the Minsk Radio Plant on January 13, 1960. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135&relPageId=447&search=%22Harvey_Lee%20Oswald%22 Was just the fact that this Harvey Lee Oswald shows up in Russian files an indication that US intelligence been penetrated in some way? Did this Harvey Lee Oswald dossier show him as being 5'10" weighing 165lbs with wavy brown hair and blue eyes as the October 10, 1963 Lee Henry Cable indicates? Steve Thomas

As I wrote to Paul Brancato in the thread on Harvey Lee Oswald back in February of 2017: Paul, "I've been approaching this as if Harvey Lee Oswald was a real person. That may not strictly be the case however. As I said to David Joseph, I think the Harvey Lee Oswald persona was created long before we knew it to be, but by who or why or how, I don't know. And, it, or may not, be connected to John Armstrong's Harvey and Lee. I think these are two separate issues. I think this persona, or dossier was created and shared across all spectrums of the intelligence community. You have it showing up in FBI files, CIA, Secret Service, Army and Navy Intelligence, Dallas Police Criminal Intelligence. It would explain a lot, like Revill's list of TSBD employees." Steve Thomas

David, Not necessarily, but he could have been a member of the LEIU. Quoting from Peter Dale Scott's Deep Politics & the Death of JFK, Chuck (Schwartz?) posts: “Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, military intelligence teams from the army, navy, and air force, and other federal agencies with investigators operating from headquarters here…The job of [Revill's] intelligence section in Capt. Gannaway's bureau…requires the closest cooperation with these other governmental agencies gathering intelligence on subversive groups suspected of espionage…With membership in a national police intelligence organization known as LEIU (Law Enforcement Intelligence Units) the local officers are able to get information almost immediately on suspected subversives when they move into Dallas. This information is exchanged by police units as these persons move from city to city…Employees in [industrial] plants are carefully screened by security conscious personnel officers, and in key jobs are given strict government security clearances. Industry is taking great strides to upgrade security practices. One such group in this area is the American Society for Industrial Security.” “ One can see how easily a false legend for Oswald could have been generated in the shared files of this coordinated security campaign, involving the Dallas SSB, FBI, military intelligence, and the American Society for Industrial Security. Such a centralized file system could be the source for the recurring (and unexplained) inversion of Oswald's name, as Harvey Lee Oswald, in the files of the Dallas police (e.g., 19 WH 438, 24 WH 259), FBI (e.g., 23 WH 207, 23 WH 373), Secret Service (16 WH 721, 748), army intelligence, and navy intelligence.” See also: “America's Secret Police Network”, by George O'Toole. Penthouse Magazine, December, 1976. pp. 77-82, cont'd on pp. 194-206. https://fightgangstalking.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/americas-secret-police-network1.pdf “The LEIU links the intelligence squads of almost every major police force in the United States and Canada.... The organization (LEIU) forms a vast network of intelligence units that exchange dossiers and conduct investigations on a reciprocal basis.” The LEIU was formed in 1956. Look at page 5 of O'Toole's article about the definition of an "affiliate member". In those early hours of November 22nd, both Fritz and Curry were telling newsmen that they had never heard of Oswald and had no idea he was living in Dallas, but some unidentified policeman did, and told Fritz out in the hall about Oswald living at 1026 N. Beckley before Fritz began his interrogation. Could that unidentified officer have been a member of the LEIU? Steve Thomas

David, Fain's report is dated 7/3/61. In his report, he says that information is predicated on an interview of Maguerite conducted April 28, 1960. The paragraph reads, "where she is currently residing..." at 1111Herring Ave. in Waco, TX., where she was employed at the Methodist Orphan's Home. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135#relPageId=400&tab=page The way the paragraph reads, I can't tell if that 's "currently residing" as of July 3, 1961, or "currently residing" as of April 28, 1960. Steve Thomas

Jim, Marrion Baker's call sign was 134. That puts him the same category as Hargis (136), Brewer (137) and Jackson (138) They were all solo motorcyclists in the Traffic Division's 7:00AM to 3:00PM shift. https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/pdf/WH19_Batchelor_Ex_5002.pdf (page 18 of the pdf file) If you look at a copy of Altgens 6, it looks like they did have an antenna right behind their seat. This is a remarkably clear copy of Altgens 6, but it takes a while to load. http://www.jfksouthknollgunman.com/index.php/01-2-altgens/ Steve Thomas

I had been collecting some notes on the 5'10" individual that shows up from time to time. 1) CIA cable Lee Henry Oswald is 5'10” weighing 165 lbs, light brown, wavy hair with blue eyes. October 10, 1963 http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=110013&relPageId=2 2) CIA cable to Dep't of State, FBI and Dep't of Navy October 1, 1963 https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/157-10014-10242.pdf p. 436 “Probably identical to Lee Henry Oswald” 5'10”, light brown wavy hair, blue eyes. 3) Stringfellow Cable In this referenced cable, Harvey Lee Oswald was described as 5'10" tall, 165 lbs, with light brown hair and blue eyes. https://ia601309.us.archive.org/22/items/nsia-ArmyIntelligenceJFK/nsia-ArmyIntelligenceJFK/AI%20JFK%2001.pdf The initial description broadcast over the DPD radio was for a suspect 5"10" tall weighing 165 lbs and nobody knows where that description came from 4) DPD Sergeant Gerald Hill: We went on to the scene of the shooting where we found a squad car parked against the right or the south curb on 10th Street, with a pool of blood on the left-hand side of it near the side of the car. Tippit had already been removed. The first man that came up to me, he said, "The man that shot him was a white male about 5'10", weighing 160 to 170 pounds, had on a Jacket and a pair of dark trousers, and brown bushy hair." http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/hill_gl.htm 5) Report of John Fain (FBI Dallas) dated July 3, 1961. CE 980 p. 388 1 copy to ONI New Orleans On April 28, 1960 Mrs. Marguerite Oswald provided the following physical description of Lee Harvey Oswald: 5'10" tall, 165 lbs light brown wavy hair, blue eyes. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135#relPageId=399&tab=page Posted by Bill Simpich in the Education Forum 10/11/2009 http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/4023-lee-henry-oswald/ A final anomaly brought out in "Popov's Mole" is a crucial key to the assassination itself A false physical description of Oswald as 5 feet, 10 inches and 165 pounds can be found in three crucial places: 1. This description originated in a memo written by FBI Special John Fain in May, 1960, supposedly based from talking to Oswald’s mother, although Oswald’s weight never varied any more than 130-150 and was 150 at the time of his death. LHO's height was generally described as 5 feet, 9 inches, though the Marines reported Oswald as 5 feet, 11 inches. LHO seemed to favor the 5'11" description when dealing with government officials, for some still-unknown purpose. http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/w...eport_0084b.htm http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=10 http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...bsPageId=792581 2. “The last known pre-assassination use of this physical description was in the second of the twin October 10 messages was a cable sent two hours later to the station in Mexico: "Oswald is five feet ten inches, one hundred sixty five pounds..." Although Egerter checked it for accuracy, "accuracy" is not the issue. The issue is how this particular description was chosen from all the descriptions out there.” http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=157 3. Finally, the broadcast over the Dallas police radio fifteen minutes after JFK was shot was that the unidentified assassin was “5/10, 165 pounds...” http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/w...Vol23_0438a.htm “Although confused commentators have claimed that Howard Brennan was the source, it's well documented that an "unidentified citizen" gave the above description to Inspector Sawyer after he saw someone looking like Oswald running from the Book Depository immediately after the assassination. The citizen did not comply with the sheriff's request to come to the office later to fill out a report, and Hoover said that the "sheriff's office can locate no record on this citizen". http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=109 Even after the Warren Report was published, Hoover responded to general counsel J. Lee Rankin's request that according to the Dallas police the information came from an ‘unidentified citizen’.” (There is no record of Hoover re-contacting the sheriff's department). http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=72 - Hoover says in November of 1964 that on January 14, 1964 the Dallas Police Department had provided this description based on the description, provided by an unknown citizen, of a man seen running from the Texas School Book Depository after the assassination. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=109 Huh? What is that all about? also see Gerald McKnight's (Breach of Trust, p. 109) Rankin repeated his request to Hoover for more information on this incident, but apparently to no avail. http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=33 Please feel free to add to this list. It's a work in progress. Steve Thomas

John, To me, it looked like his right eyebrow had been painted on, but I'm not a photo expert. Steve Thomas

John, The first thing I thought of when I saw this picture was, "The man on the left doesn't smile with his eyes." Steve Thomas

Trygve, The picture of Souetre on the right is taken from a larger picture. This picture was posted by a Michaux on 8/10/2006 in the Forum: LEGION ETRANGERE,KEPI BLANC,FORUM SCH(er)MUNCH http://www.legion-etrangere-munch.com/t11103-quel-est-le-nom-de-ce-militaire-et He said this photo was taken in Sante Prison in June of 1961. I do not not know the other man is. On his beret. he wears the insignia of the 20/541 http://www.commando-air.fr/24.html The badge was approved by Francois Coulet in 1956 and adopted by all of the 541's. On his right pocket, he wears his parachutist wings. And on his left pocket, he wears the "Sicut Aquila" badge of the "commandos de l'air" Steve Thomas

Cliff, Yours was a terrific post. Congratulations. Steve Thomas

David, Thanks, Steve Thomas

Stringfellow and Biggio were working the police radio at the Fairgrounds on 11/22/63 “Army Apparently didn't tell Commission of Oswald's Alias” Dallas Morning News March 19, 1978 in the Weisberg Collection http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/F%20Disk/FBI/FBI%20Records%20Release%2012-7-77%20News%20Accounts/Item%20069.pdf “However, (Bill) Biggio, who was directing police intelligence communications at the Fair Park office the day of the assassination...,” Former Dallas police Capt. W. P. Gannaway, who commanded the special service bureau in which Biggio worked, said if Army intelligence in San Antonio or Dallas "had any information pertaining to Oswald, we didn't know about it." “Don Stringfellow, a fellow police intelligence officer working with Biggio at the Fair Park office, was named as the source of information in a secret cable the night of Nov. 22 from Army intelligence in Texas to the U.S. Strike Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The cable said that information "obtained from Oswald revealed that he had defected to Cuba in 1959 and is a card-carrying member of the Communist Party." THIS CABLE, containing false information, was sent to an Army-Air Force operation set up three years earlier to provide a quick-reacting strike force in case of enemy attack. “ Steve Thomas

Tom, No. I haven't, but I did run across a couple of interesting references to an M.H. Truly including this one: Colonel M.H.Truly, G2 of Region III of the 112th CIC at Fort Sam Houston is writing to the Assistant Chief of Staff, G2 in Washington, D.C. in April of 1955 about a spate of UFO sightings in Texas and New Mexico in early April, 1955. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://photovni.free.fr/f.o.i.a%252010/f.o.i.a%252010.htm&prev=search This is a translation from the French, I believe. The two thumbnails will take you the two pages of Truly's memo here: http://photovni.free.fr/f.o.i.a%2010/images/storm1_jpg.jpg http://photovni.free.fr/f.o.i.a%2010/images/storm2_jpg.jpg MINISTRY OF AIR FORCE Washington DC September 1, 1977 Lieutenant General Edward L.Crow, US Air Force National Administration of Aeronautics and Space 400 Maryland Avenue Washington DC 20546 Dear General Crow: Here is the brochure, and the standard answer to the public about UFO investigations, which you requested. I sincerely hope for your success in preventing the reopening of UFO investigations. Truly Charles H Senn Colonel USAF A hurricane of UFOs that can not be attributed to artillery fire, missiles or rockets FOIA April 15, 1955 TRANSLATION FOURTH ARMY HEADQUARTERS FORT SAM HOUSTON TEXAS Unidentified aerial phenomenon object A Auxiliary Commander of the General Staff Ministry of the Armed Forces Washington 25, DC 1. Excerpts from Summary Information , Region III, 112th CIC Detachment, El Paso, Texas, dated April 9, 1955, and the San Antonio Express, dated April 7, 1955, you are sent under this envelope for Information. 2. The Summary Information , of Region III, 112th CIC Detachment, dated April 9, 1955, is as follows: On April 8, 1955, reports indicated that a "hurricane" of unidentified objects rained in southern New Mexico from El Paso, and from Texas from April 1, 1955 to April 5, 1955. A witness described the object as "a flash of light with three red lines behind him." According to the spokesperson of the Army and the Air Force, none of these events could be attributed to the shots artillery, rockets, guided missiles or other military activities. Source: El Paso Herald-Post , 8 April 1955. (F-6) (RC Commentary: The Office of the Auxiliary Chief of the General Staff, 02, the Air Defense and Air Missile Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, was unable to provide any additional information.) " 3. The San Antonio Express of April 7, 1955, was carrying a dispatch from "United Press" dated Albuquerque, New Mexico, dated April 6, 1955, signaling a "third mysterious fireball" seen in the south New Mexico at that time was not, according to scientists at the Institute of Meteorites of the University of New Mexico, a meteorite. It was said that the investigators would not find any fragments of the object. Another "object", supposedly seen for "apparently crashing and exploding near Lordsburg, New Mexico on the previous date, had disappeared" in an intense conflagration. Another report described "a green fireball" allegedly sighted in New Mexico on April 5, 1955, "in northern Albuquerque, 200 miles away." The main source added that there were "unconfirmed" reports of a fourth outstanding fireball the day before in Lordsburg. (C-6) 4. Any additional information relating to this subject will be sent to your Office upon receipt. MH TRULY Steve Thomas

Jim, There was also a rumor that he was flown to Mexico and killed down there. Something about the Yucatan? Sorry, I can't offer any specifics. Like I said, it was just a rumor. Steve Thomas

Paul, Yes, strategic is more a global outlook as opposed to a tactical or operational outlook. Looking at a problem from a strategic viewpoint would look at a region's natural resources (like oil), as well its geographic, economic, transportation, social or cultural background, linguistics, etc. Acting on a tip from Larry Hancock, I was reading this the other day: Cultural Perspectives, Geopolitics & Energy Security of Eurasia: Is the Next Global Conflict Imminent? http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/cultural-perspectives.pdf Read the conclusion by Dr. Mahir J. Ibrahimov on page 201, “The world has approached a very dangerous point of tension with multiple regional and global threats and conflicting interests. If the current trends of the regional and global geopolitics continue, the world would potentially see another major global conflict during the next 5 to 10 years. The world powers need to act responsibly and apply all their influence and joint efforts to avoid such a scenario, which could be potentially disastrous for the entire mankind. Without exaggeration, one can say that understanding the cultures, history and mentality of other countries and regions will be the core of the right policies and related decisions.” Steve Thomas

Tom, My guess would be the 49th Armored Division. An Introduction to the history of the 49th (Lone Star) Armored Division (1947 -1963) Brian Schenk http://texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org//49ad/49division.htm “Soon after being designated as a "combat-ready" unit in 1955, the 49th was assigned as one of the six National Guard divisions making up the Ready Reserve Strategic Army Force, a first-priority reserve component. The designation gave the division higher priority for newer equipment and advanced training. “ “Command Post Exercises (CPX) called "Cloverleaf" became a part of the command staff's training beginning in 1957. Conducted by Headquarters, 4th U. S. Army, the Cloverleaf exercises were based at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas.” From: Our Man In Acapulco: The Life and Times of Col. Frank M. Brandstetter by Rodney P. Carlisle and Dominic J. Monetta (University of North Texas Press, 1999) p. 121. “While at the Presidio, Brandy had prepared a draft of a Domestic Emergency Plan, which he revised and submitted in 1954 as part of the Cloverleaf I exercise, to G-2 of the Fourth Army Command in Dallas, Colonel M.H. Truly.” pp. 127+ “after leaving Jamaica in early 1957, Brandy served as assistant troop commander and provost marshal of the Fourth U.S. Army Area Intelligence School for two weeks in August, 1957. These intelligence school sessions reviewed procedures and studies in a wide variety of areas for reserve intelligence officers including a review of a Central Index of Investigative and Domestic Subversive files. The Irving Daily News Texan from Irving, Texas May 10, 1966 Page 3 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48695616/ "Green Door Mystery Solved By Nat. Guard Two Texas National Guard divisions, the 49th Armored Division -- which has a unit in Irving and the 36th Infantry, both learned what was behind the "green door" in Houston this weekend. But mum is the word. The green door just happened to be the color scheme of barracks at Ellington Air Force Base at Houston where one of the U. S. Army’s largest map maneuvers — Exercise Cloverleaf — was field under tight security precautions to train more than 1,000 staff officers and key enlisted men of the National Guard and Army Reserve from a five - state area."... Read up on the Cloverleaf Exercises. Scared the beejeesus out of me. Steve Thomas

Trygve, Of all the wild speculations, hunches and guesses that I have read on this Forum, or any other Internet forum, your guess is the closest I have ever read that comes closest to being true. *smile* Steve Thomas

Trygve, You speak English very well. You do much better than I would trying to speak your language. Steve Thomas

Paz, I think this idea was also expressed in the book, Farewell America, originally published in France.. see here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/617391.Farewell_America Steve Thomas

Paul, In his 1991 study of Military Intelligence Detachments, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a233391.pdf Thomas Cagley wrote on pp. 11-12, “The aforementioned FORSCOM (forces command) major evaluation of STRATMIDS (Strategic Military Intelligence Detachments) in 1989 placed most of the units under operational control of two agencies, the Defense Intelligece Agency (DIA) and the Army Intelligence Agency (AIA) (see Table II-2 p. 14) I'm not sure how these allocations were made, but I think it had to do with the geographic area in question, Africa, Europe, etc. Peter Dale Scott in his book, Deep Politics wrote: Researcher Larry Haapanen has discovered the 488th seems to have had its own direct chain of command linking it to Washington. In an esoteric publication entitled The Military Order of World Wars (Turner Publishing Company, 1997, p. 120), he found that Crichton "commanded the 488th MID (Strategic), reporting directly to the Army Chief of Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency." [56]. And in 1970 Haapanen was told by Crichton’s commander in the Texas Army Reserve, Lt. Col. Whitmeyer, that Crichton's unit did its summer training at the Pentagon. Russ Baker wrote in Family of Secrets, https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_bush59_10.htm "In the fall of 1963, about two months before JFK’s assassination, the two political neophytes Jack Crichton and George H.W. Bush both decided to mount GOP races for statewide office. The following year, they would head the Texas GOP’s ticket, with Crichton the nominee for governor and Bush for U.S. Senate. Both used the same lawyer, Pat Holloway, who worked out of the Republic National Bank Building. The man who recruited them as candidates, state GOP chairman Peter O’Donnell, would several years later be forced by newspaper revelations to admit that his family foundation was a conduit for CIA funds. In his oral history, Crichton couches his relationship with Bush in benign and casual terms. He says that he and Poppy, "spoke from the same podiums and got to be fairly good acquaintances." Their appearances on behalf of the Texas Republican Party evolved into a private friendship that continued over the years.