Steve Thomas

If you have some money you want to invest, invest it in prisons and crematoriums. I lived in Colorado for a while. By the time I left, land in Vail was costing $1,000,000 an acre. People living in Vail can't afford to bury their dead. They have to ship the bodies out of Vail to a town called Minturn. Never underestimate the capacity for man' inhumanity to man. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/philippines-duterte-drugs-prisons_us_582495bee4b01019814da067 Steve Thomas

Ron, I've been reading up on the election of 1800. The election went to the Electoral College and the College tied. The decision got bumped up to the House of Representatives where it took them 35 ballots over several days to decide in favor of Thomas Jefferson. Interesting times. Steve Thomas PS: If I understand it correctly, the Electoral College can elect anyone. I personally would like to see them draft Michelle Obama. She seems to be the most respected person in America right now. But that's just my personal opinion.

James, That is what I was talking about. It seems like the Trump/Putin talks, or mutual admiration society, or whatever you want to call it, is more like hammering out business deals, or "spheres of influence" as we used to call it; while the Kennedy/Krushchev talks were more about how to prevent nuclear war. I'm thinking that the right wing of today sees communism as dead, and views Putin as just another right wing business mogul - who they can recognize and relate to. In the 1960's, conflicts were more ideology driven, now it seems to be more business driven - or maybe I'm just being naive, and it was always business driven. In the trifecta of U.S./Russia/Chinese struggle, the alliances are constantly shifting. I think we are heading toward a U.S./Russia alliance vs. China world map. Our right wing of today seems perfectly okay with Russia annexing the Crimea and the Balkans, while we scrap NATO alliances and free-trade agreements. (This isn't really relevant I suppose, but I was reading about the General's Putsch in Algeria in April of 1961, and, if you read their memoirs, I was struck by the Generals' belief that the real danger of communism sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East wasn't Russian communism, but Chinese). We think the fall of The French at Dien Bien Phu was the height of French anti-communist effort, but France had more armed forces fighting in Algeria (more than 400,000) than in Vietnam. Fully half France's armed forces were committed in Algeria. (And again, I suppose I'm rambling, but - between the Bay of Pigs, the Generals' Putsch in Algeria, which spread to mainland France, and the Secret War in Laos, which one commentator called the "most bombed country in the world", April, 1961 was a pretty hairy time. See "The Secret War in Laos" here: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-avg-fh_lsonsw&hsimp=yhs-fh_lsonsw&hspart=avg&p=Laos+1961#id=6&vid=e0963c02c3f871fb18d3e5943eba17ef&action=click According to this web site, the War in Laos was entirely driven and financed by the CIA. Totally similar to what was going on in Cuba. According to the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State "The first foreign policy crisis faced by President-elect John F. Kennedy was not centered in Berlin, nor in Cuba, nor in the islands off the Chinese mainland, nor in Vietnam, nor in any of the better-known hot spots of the Cold War, but in landlocked, poverty stricken Laos." Steve Thomas

What would be the difference between back channel communications between Trump and Putin and between Kennedy and Krushchev? I suppose the intent would be one. It strikes me that the right wing would have been up in arms if they knew about Kennedy talking to Krushchev - they already had Wanted for Treason posters out and about. But today, it doesn't seem to bother the right all that much. How times have changed. Steve Thomas

I've been reading up on the Electoral College and Alexander Hamilton's Federalist 68. It seems to me that it has never been more appropriate than it is to us right now. "Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States" Steve Thomas

I think I read what says it best... "What do you have to lose?" We're about to find out. Steve Thomas

A kind-hearted person told me that these can be found in the CIA's Oswald 201 file. PHOTOS (448) DISPLAYED TO MARINA OSWALD FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES ON Oswald 201 File (201-289248)/ Oswald 201 File, Vol 32/ pages 58, 62, and 74 Nope. No snow. Oh well, it was a thought. Steve Thomas

James, In the newspaper article I cited above, it says that the Commissioners conferred behind closed doors with Captain Will Fritz that Sunday morning. Are you aware of any record of this session with Fritz? Seems a little odd that they would want to talk to Fritz so close to before the Report went to press. I found it a little odd to that they would use the Court Reporter for Judge Hughes "here". Is that the same Sarah Hughes who would administer the oath to Lyndon Johnson? Steve Thomas

James, Thank you. I'm reading through it now. The bus ticket is fascinating isn't it? "They took everything else, your passport and diploma and Lee's Social Security card, and everything else, and just happened to overlook this bus ticket? How did that happen?" "I don't know, they just did." *smile* Steve Thomas PS. I agree with you about the geographical "dichotomy"

Just as an aside, I had to smile. It looks like Hoover didn't much like the idea of trying to reconcile the Nix and Zapruder films. See Hoover's handwritten notes on page 247 in this group: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=61489#relPageId=247&tab=page "It (unintelligible) like a lot of poppy to me." and page 252 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=61489#relPageId=252&tab=page "OK, but it looks to me as if they are "playing games"." He wasn't thrilled. Steve Thomas

The way I read that paragraph is that Kelley didn't believe one bullet went through both men. If one bullet hit two men, "shot two" would have gone "wild" and not have continued in a straight line. Steve Thomas

I was looking at a copy of a Dallas Morning News Article which appeared on what looks to be September 7, 1964 here: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=62491#relPageId=46&tab=page September 7, 1964 was a Monday. The article says that Marina was questioned for more than 5 hours on Sunday "here" about discrepancies in some of her earlier testimony. Sunday would have been September 6, 1964. The article says that the three Commission members (Russell, Cooper and Boggs, and Rankin of the Staff), who held the press conference, would not comment. I can't tell from the news article if Marina was questioned at the Dallas Naval Air Station, or if it was just the press conference that was held at the Dallas Naval Air Station. The article says that Captain Will Fritz and Marina Oswald were the only people questioned that day. The article says that the three Commission members and Rankin arrived on Saturday, and that it was the first visit to the assassination scene for Russell and Boggs. Can someone point me to a transcript of this September session? Steve Thomas

Please read FBI 62-109090 Warren Commission HQ File, Section 2 pp. 248-249. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=61489#relPageId=249&tab=page This is memo from L.J. Gauthier to Mr. Callahan of the FBI concerning a meeting of Commission lawyers, Secret Service personnel and Shaneyfelt of the FBI on January 27, 1964. They were trying to reconcile the Nix film with the Zapruder film. The meeting lasted 8 and 1/2 hours. Please read the top paragraph on p. 249. Am I reading this right? Is Secret Service Inspector Thomas Kelley saying the single bullet theory is bogus? Steve Thomas

James, I was leafing through some old FBI documents yesterday and ran across a letter from somebody (maybe Rankin) who said that Liebeler was such an arch conservative that it made it difficult to work with him. Liebeler would be on one side and some of the more liberal staff would be on the other. Warren would serve as referee. Steve Thomas

Gary, Thanks. Yes I got it. I replied via PM. I'll email you in the next day or so. Steve Thomas

Gary, Thank you for your help in this. I was poking around these FBI files (right off hand I can't remember which one), and it said that after Marina identified the pictures in this large batch of photos, some would be returned to the Warren Commission (like the photos of Lee as a Marine, etc.), and the others would be put in the National Archives. I suspect that that is where these Neely Street baby pictures are. Steve Thomas

Gary, I believe that the the last paragraph on page 14 definitely refers to the photos shown to Marina on March 19th. I just wonder where the photos themselves are. Steve Thomas

Gary, Thank you. I'll have to poke around. Still haven't found those June Oswald images yet. Steve Thomas

Could someone help me find these? FBI 105-82555 Oswald HQ File, Section 114 page 37 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=58943#relPageId=37&tab=page Marina Oswald was interviewed by FBI Special Agents Richard L. Wiehl and Wallace Heitman on March 19, 1964 She was shown over 400 photographs and asked to identify them. On page 41 of that Section 114, it says that Marina was shown three photographs of baby June Oswald on a balcony of the apartment on Neely St. The are identified as Item#'s: B3-13 B3-17 B3-29 (1) Does anyone know how to find these? These are cross referenced to DL-100-10461 I believe that these are the Dallas FBI files. (2) Are the Dallas FBI files DL-100-10461 available on the Mary Ferrell Foundation web site? I can't seem to find them. Can someone tell me? The reason I ask is that on three separate occasions that I have found, Marina says that the Oswalds were living on Neely Street in January, 1963. (1) Warren Commission testimony of Marina Oswald February 3, 1964, http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/oswald_m1.htm Mr. RANKIN. When did you move to Neely Street from the Elsbeth Street apartment? Mrs. OSWALD. In January after the new year. I don't remember exactly. Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the first time that you observed the rifle? Mrs. OSWALD. That was on Neely Street. I think that was in February. Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the day that you took the picture of him with the rifle and the pistol? Mrs. OSWALD. I think that that was towards the end of February, possibly the beginning of March. I can't say exactly. Because I didn't attach any significance to it at the time. That was the only time I took any pictures. (2) During her testimony on February 4th, Marina was asked and answered: Mr. RANKIN. Can you tell us approximately when you first met Ruth Paine? Mrs. OSWALD. Soon after New Years I think it was in January. Mr. RANKIN. Would that be 1963? Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. Mr. RANKIN. Did Mrs. Paine ever visit you at Elsbeth Street? Mrs. OSWALD. At Neely, on Neely Street. Mr. RANKIN. But not at Elsbeth? Mrs. OSWALD. We moved soon after that acquaintance. She said that she met Ruth Paine at a party at the Glovers' house. For her part, Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission that she first met Marina at a party at the Glovers' on February 22nd, (3) Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XXIICurrent Section: CE 1156 - FBI report dated February 18, 1964, of interview of Marina Oswald, Dallas, Tex. (CD 735, pp. 439-445). http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1317#relPageId=227 This is cross referenced to DL 100-10461 (4) On February 17, 1964 Marina was interviewed by FBI Special Agents Anatole Boguslav and Wallace Heitman. In their writeup of that interview done on the 18th, they wrote: “She said further that in the beginning of January, 1963 at the Neely Street address, he, (Lee Harvey Oswald) was cleaning his rifle and he said he had been practicing that day.” (page 443 of CD 735). For whatever reason, conflicts with the official record as we know it.. Supposedly the Oswalds moved from Elsbeth to Neely on March 3rd and according to the postal money order, the rifle wasn't ordered until March 12th. CE 1404 - FBI reports dated February 22 and 25, 1964, of interviews with Marina Oswald (CD 735, pp. 446-453). On February 18, 1964 she was again interviewed by Agents Boguslav and Heitman. She told the FBI that she was mistaken about the date, and that the rifle cleaning incident had taken place in March, 1963. The Agents wrote a Report of this interview on February 22, 1964. http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1317#relPageId=815 (This is on page 446 of CD 735) What I would like to do is look at the pictures of June on the balcony and see if they show the same climatic conditions as seen in the back yard photos. The Oswald were only supposed to have lived on Neely Street for the two months of March and April. In the BYP, Oswald is in a tee shirt. Do the photos of June show snow on the ground? Steve Thomas PS: I'm going to have to get used to this new Forum formatting. PPS: I guess I need to apologize to people. I didn't realize that this Forum had a messaging capability. I just found out I've had messages that go back at least 8 years. I didn't know it.

Douglas, Unfortunately, the copy you are looking at was cropped off at the top. This is actually a copy of the Arrest Report that is on file in the City of Dallas JFK Archives. You can see a clearer copy here that gives the time of arrest as 1:40 PM. This is in Box 1 Folder# 3, Item# 17 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box1.htm I have a couple of problems with this Arrest Report: 1) We don't know when it was done. It's not time stamped, and I don't think McDonald says when it was prepared. 2) Compare this Arrest Report with the Case Report prepared by Captain Fritz for Henry Wade, which you can read in Box 15 Folder# 1, Item# 92 here: http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box15.htm Fritz's Case Report lists 2:00 PM as the time of arrest, and lists E.L. Cunningham and M.N. McDonald as the "investigating Officers", not the "Arresting Officers". The Arresting Officers are listed on page 2 of Fritz's Case Report. Fritz's Case Report is bolstered by the After Action Report filed by J.B. Toney, who was traveling around with E.L. Cunningham that day. You can read Toney's Report in Box 5, Folder# 2, Item# 82 here: http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box5.htm Toney says that after they got to the Texas Theater, he and Cunningham went up to the balcony and interviewed a young man sitting on the steps. While they were interviewing him, Toney looked at his watch and it read 1:55 PM. I think that the Arrest Report you referenced is bogus and filed long after the event - probably several days later. That's why it references JFK's murder, which Oswald wasn't even charged with until something like 11:30 Friday night. That Arrest Report is a clumsy CYA. Just as interesting side note, after Oswald's arrest, Cunningham took charge of the scene. He had the doors to the Theater locked, and everyone on the first floor of the Theater was interviewed. In his Report Cunningham does not say that he took down their names - which is kind of hard to believe. Paul Bentley says in his After Action Report - Box 5, Folder# 2, Item# 71 that when he went up to the balcony, he had a patrolman named C ___ Bentley, Jr. search everyone up there and take down their names. In the copy cited, it's kind of hard to make out the middle initial of this Bentley Jr. It might be C.F. or C.P. Bentley. Paul Bentley doesn't mention that Cunningham or Toney are in the balcony at this time. In Cunningham's Report, - Box 5, Folder# 2, Item# 74 http://jfk.ci.dallas.tx.us/box5.htm He says that he put one of these witnesses (he doesn't say who this is) in a squad car and had J.B. Toney take him downtown to take an affidavit. Toney, in his After Action Report - Box 5, Folder# 2, Item# 82 makes no mention of this, so I don't know who this witness is. Steve Thomas

David, I watched the movie to see if there were any references to Jean-Rene Souetre. Didn't see any that I remember. The antagonist in the movie was Moise Tshombe, I think. I have a thought that the mercenary who opposes the Irish force is based on the life of Bob Denard. Souetre was one of the mercenaries working with Denard in the mid 1960's. Steve Thomas

Chris, I understand. I've been reading through some of the comments from the Army Security Agency guys in Germany from the 1950's and 60's. Their time seemed to be spent divided between utter boredom and abject terror. This was around the time when the Berlin Wall went up. They are getting up into their 70's and 80's now and want to reminisce. A couple of examples: (Source: Email from Jack Welch, Det K, Vienna & Det L, Nottau) I was originally with the 328 C/R Co, in Bad Aibling from February 1955 to July 1956. Detachment L (Nottau) Det. L was about 20 Ks east of Passau in a little town called Nottau. We have a web site that I am able to hear from some of the guys. I'm about the oldest one left (82). I know most of the others have gone to the Great Beyond. When Austria shut down we received about 20 guys from (the ASA site at) Wels, Austria sometime after July 1955. We used to eat in a squad tent and by that time we lived in 3 of the neighbors houses. Great Duty -- Stay out of trouble, do your job, drink a lot of beer, and keep your mouth shut. 1961 (Source: Email from Wilson Gray, Processing Co, 1961; 78th USASA SOU, Berlin, 1961-63) In Jan-Aug 1961, I served with the Processing Company of the 507th USASA Gp in Heilbronn (Badnerhof Kaserne) and in Baumholder (Faulenberg Kaserne), before foolishly volunteering to go to Berlin, then learning that Processing Co. was being redesignated the 251st and being transferred to Frankfurt, my favorite city in Germany. The 507th did have its own "Air Force" in Heilbronn, but, as far as I know, it was used mainly to ferry people to TDY at remote sites. Of course, in those days, at least, "need-to-know" was taken very seriously and I had no need to know more than that. Processing Co. was divided into three "sections:" Silver Section, Blue Section, and Orange Section. A good buddy of mine transferred from Silver to Blue. He refused to tell me what Blue did, despite the fact that we had been asshole buddies since our days at the Army Language School. I had no need to know. Silver Section reworked and corrected the carbon copies of rough translations of Russian COMINT done in real time by Special Operations Units and other remote and airborne sites. It was a nice, civilian-style, 9-5, 40-hour-a-week job. By comparison, the 'round-the-clock, seven-days-a-week work in Berlin truly SUCKED!!! Processing Co. personnel flew COMINT missions in USAF B-29's. A member of Mary Co. (so-called by HHC, "Animal Co." of the 507th because it was made up of 99.44% Army Language School grads, "Monterey Marys"), McNabb - I can't recall his first name - was killed in 1961 when his B-29 crashed returning from such a mission. If there's a memorial to Agency personnel - uh, "human resources" - killed in the line of duty, McNabb's name ought to be on it. (Source: Email from Neil Piercey, 184th ASA Co and 182nd ASA Co, 1958- ) After completing basic training and 056 training at Ft. Devens, I was assigned to the 184th ASA Co, Rothwesten in 7-58 319th ASA Battalion (Corps) 507th ASA Group (Army) https://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?https&&&www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ASA%20Europe/USAREUR_ASAE.htm By this time, I had completed my first year of duty in Europe. I was then transferred to the 182nd ASA Co, at Herzo Base. I was immediately given an assignment to an outstation in Giebelstadt. We lived on a small Air Force base, and were supported with housing, rations, fuel, etc. by the Air Force. The purpose of this Air Force unit was to support the U2 spy plane. We could look out our barracks window and watch the U2 land and take off. Our site was off base and the Air Force pretty much left us alone. To make it even better, I became friends with some of the APs, who would get me out of trouble with the local police occasionally. Steve Thomas

This is apropos of nothing Just needed to share. 1970 Field Station Bad Aibling https://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?https&&&www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ASA%20Europe/USAREUR_ASAE.htm Source: Email from Thomas Nunn I served in Germany from Jan 1970 till Mar 1972 -- as a member of the Army Security Agency On our door was a timelock -- which opened every 8 hours to allow for shift change. We monitored "Scheds", or scheduled transmissions, in 8 different languages. We also had sections listening to the other Iron Curtain countries and one listening to a "mysterious" signal coming from "outer space". We even had a section listening to the Soviet space missions. Steve Thomas

I got to thinking about it, and I think you are right. It's probable that the Hidell card was only the first step in trying to create the identity of a former marine. The "Oswald" man left a Marine Corps manual with his name in it for Carlos Bringuer. Maybe the "Hidell" man was going to do the same kind of thing and never got around to it. PS: You wrote, "Oswald did try that sort of thing with exiles in Miami, but in his own name and for that he used his training manual as support." Can you expound on that a little? Did you mean to say New Orleans? or was Oswald supposed to have done something similar in Miami that I'm not familiar with? PPS: I was reading Bringuer's WC testimony. He said: And after that, I left the store, because I had to go to the bank to make the deposit, and Oswald was in the store talking to my brother-in-law--that is my partner in the store---Rolando Pelaez. Mr. LIEBELER. Is that P-e-l-a-e-z? Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right. Oswald was talking to him for about half an hour, Next day, on August 6, Oswald came back to the store, but I was not in the store at that moment, and he left with my brother-in-law a Guidebook for Marines for me with the name "L. H. Oswald" in the top of the first page. When I came back to the store, my brother-in-law gave to me the Guidebook for Marines. So, Oswald didn't actually give the Guidebook to Bringuer, he gave it to Pelaez. Do you know anything about this Rolando Pelaez? Steve Thomas

Larry, You are probably right that Oswald would have "just flashed it". If you look closely at it, the card forgery itself is pretty badly botched. I wonder if it had more to do with the name and the signature than the card itself. And the "dangle" with non-English speaking exiles is a pretty good assumption I think. As far as the missing two weeks goes, I've looked into that pretty extensively. The FBI was trying to figure that out as early as December, 1963 when Marina was interviewed by the FBI and as late at May, 1964 when Alexandra de Mohrenschildt testified before the Warren Commission. I don't know if they ever figured it out. Indications are that he moved somewhere in Oak Cliff. The de Mohrenshildts, the Taylors, and George Bouhe all thought so. (I personally believe that it was somewhere on N. Beckley). I loved Jeanne de Mohrenschildt's response to this question: http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/demohr_j.htm "I said, "For God sakes, if we are to help them, I cannot race to Oak Cliff to help them with this or that"--if she had to go to the doctor. Why wouldn't they take a little place near us, it will be much easier for me to help her." "He had some reasons to live far away. I don't know if anybody else mentioned that to you. That was everybody's impression. For some particular reason, he moved all the way out." Dennis Ofstein was interviewed by the FBI on January 29, 1964. He was specifically asked that question. Do you know where Oswald was living between October 19 and November 3, 1962? Ofstein said no.(Gary Taylor, who was periodically giving rides to Oswald around that time also got a visit from the FBI on January 29th. All he could say was that he picked up Oswald at the curb outside of the YMCA, but he couldn't say Oswald was actually living there). Dennis Ofstein, a "Monterey Mary", who studied Russian at the Monterey School of Languages for a year, who spent his military tour of duty with the 507th USASA Group, Heilbronn, West Germany whose mission it was to intercept and translate Russian and East German military traffic, and who worked "side by side" with Oswald and taught him everything he knew about enlarging and reducing prints, opaqueing negatives, and making clean prints - exactly the skills Alwyn Cole, a questioned documents expert of the Department of the Treasury, told the WC you would need to forge documents, and who told the WC that's what was done with the Oswald SS card to turn it into the Hidell SS card. And, speaking of Ofstein, in his WC testimony he said, Mr. JENNER. Do you know whether this company has done any confidential or secret work for any agency of the United States? Mr. OFSTEIN. I don't know the nature of the classification. I do know that they do work for the U.S. Government. Mr. JENNER. Have you ever participated in any of that work? Mr. OFSTEIN. Only during strike--approximately 2 weeks. Do you have any idea what Ofstein is referring to here? Who was on strike? If the JCS employees are on strike, why is Ofstein doing work on behalf of the U.S. Government at that particular moment? Does the term "during strike" refer to something besides a strike by the employees? Are these two weeks the same two weeks Oswald goes "missing"? Mr. JENNER. Was the problem with the Cuban nation or with Mr. Castro or any of Castro's activities ever discussed? Mr. OFSTEIN. “Yes, sir; at one time when they were having a little difficulty down there, I don't recall just what the difficulty was at the time, but I made a rather derogatory remark about Fidel Castro's ancestry...” The “little difficulty”? The Cuban Military Crisis. I've tried to think of something else that was going on in the fall of 1962 that Oswald may have been involved in. But so far, I haven't come up with a plausible need for a fake Hidell ID. From your research, have you ever encountered the word HIDELL in a military intelligence connotation? It doesn't appear to be a CIA cryptonym and I haven't encountered it in any FBI operation that I'm aware of like COINTELPRO. Steve Thomas