William Kelly Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 (edited) One of the most important articles published about the assassination of President Kennedy is The Bayo/Pawley Affair by Miguel Acoca and Robert K. Brown in Soldier of Fortune Magazine (Vol. 1 #2, 1975), which is no longer available from the publisher. Greg Parker has posted the article at this web site: http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=37 http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index....6&Itemid=37 I've tried to put the proper link up but it won't take. Does this work? BK Edited October 20, 2007 by William Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted October 20, 2007 Author Share Posted October 20, 2007 (edited) The Bayo-Pawley Affair - The Plot to Destroy JFK and Invade Cub Written by Miguel Acoco and Robert K Brown Page 1 of 23 Five months before he was shot to death in Dallas, a group of conspirators attempted to destroy John F. Kennedy by political means. The group, which included members of Time Inc., former ultra-conservative assistant Secretary of State and assistant Secretary of Defense, William D. Pawley, disgruntled CIA agents and anti-Castro Cubans, proposed to spirit two Russian colonels out of Cuba, to testify that Soviet offensive ballistic missiles were still based on Cuban soil. Their testimony, if true, and if it could be proved - would have meant the end of John Kennedy's political career, for would have shown that the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended, not in a qualified U.S. victory, but in a monumental bungle eclipsing the Bay of Pigs disaster. Such a revelation would have so discredited Kennedy that he could have been defeated in the 1964 election, by someone willing to topple the Castro regime by direct military intervention - Barry Goldwater, for instance. Alternatively, the disclosure could have forced Kennedy himself, to re-impose the blockade, order air-strikes and send in the Marines. To the dedicated cold-warriors and adventurers who planned Operation Red Cross, as the plan was christened, that outcome was equally desirable. Operation Red Cross, however, did not succeed. The ten Cuban's who took part in it are missing, and presumed dead, so is a Mafioso, who served as a key contact in bringing the plotters together. Time Inc., which bank-rolled the adventure on the recommendation of Life Managing Editor George P. Hunt, is out $15,000 and Pawley, who used his yacht in the operation isn't saying much. One of the three CIA agents who accompanied the operation is dead; the other two are unidentified. Kennedy was assassinated a few months after the Cuban's disappeared over the side of Pawley's yacht, the Flying Tiger II, as it lay off the southeast coast of Cuba in June 1963. The two events may not have been entirely unrelated. In today's context, Operation Red Cross seems, at best, bizarre; to understand the actions and motivations of the parties involved, it's necessary to recall the national atmosphere and the mood of the restive Cuban-exile community in the spring of 1963. It was almost eight months after the missile crisis. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was five-months away. While the rest of the country thought that the missile crisis had ended in victory, those closest to the situation - the Cubans in Miami and the CIA contingent there - the Bay of Pigs remained unavenged, a defeat which had been raised to the degree of mortal sin and - the sinner, to an armed band of Americans and Cubans was President John F. Kennedy. This story is an excerpt from the unpublished manuscript Ripped Cloak, Rusty Daggers, JFK, LBJ and the CIA's Secret War Against Castro Prev - Next >> [ Back ] © 2007 REOPEN JFK CASE Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License. Edited October 20, 2007 by William Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Parker Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 One of the most important articles published about the assassination of President Kennedy is The Bayo/Pawley Affair by Miguel Acoca and Robert K. Brown in Soldier of Fortune Magazine (Vol. 1 #2, 1975), which is no longer available from the publisher. Greg Parker has posted the article at this web site: http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=37 http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index....6&Itemid=37 I've tried to put the proper link up but it won't take. Does this work? BK Bill, the link works fine. Do you know when this operation first became known as "Red Cross"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted October 20, 2007 Author Share Posted October 20, 2007 One of the most important articles published about the assassination of President Kennedy is The Bayo/Pawley Affair by Miguel Acoca and Robert K. Brown in Soldier of Fortune Magazine (Vol. 1 #2, 1975), which is no longer available from the publisher. Greg Parker has posted the article at this web site: http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=37 http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index....6&Itemid=37 I've tried to put the proper link up but it won't take. Does this work? BK Bill, the link works fine. Do you know when this operation first became known as "Red Cross"? No, I don't. But every ooperation has a code name. What did they call the Dealey Plaza operation? And many thanks for posting that article as I think it is very important and hope others get something out of it. BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Richards Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 As you guys are well aware, it was officially known as 'Operation Tilt'. I believe the first reference to 'Red Cross' was in that Robert Brown article. Why? I have no idea. This image below is from Operation Tilt. Alfredo Mir on the left, Luis Cantin on the right and Eddie Bayo in the background. Mir and Cantin ended up in Tony Cuesta's Commandos L so they did not go missing at all. Other participants showed up elsewhere as well. A few were killed in a firefight with Castro's forces including Tomas Vaquero. As for what happened in Dealey Plaza, Operation Shade is a place to start. FWIW. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Parker Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 As you guys are well aware, it was officially known as 'Operation Tilt'. I believe the first reference to 'Red Cross' was in that Robert Brown article. Why? I have no idea.This image below is from Operation Tilt. Alfredo Mir on the left, Luis Cantin on the right and Eddie Bayo in the background. Mir and Cantin ended up in Tony Cuesta's Commandos L so they did not go missing at all. Other participants showed up elsewhere as well. A few were killed in a firefight with Castro's forces including Tomas Vaquero. As for what happened in Dealey Plaza, Operation Shade is a place to start. FWIW. James James, what I was wondering is whether it was originally known as Red Cross -- perhaps in the very early planning stages? A long-shot, but the reason for asking is that when Oswald was trying to get out of Russia, he was adamant that neither he nor his family ask the Red Cross for help. Yet in the so called Walker letter, he tells Marina "We have friends in the Red Cross, they will help you." Then there is the "Dear Mr Hunt" letter... George Hunt of LIFE? Never heard of Operation Shade, but it sounds appropriate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Richards Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Greg, I have just been told by a contact that the term 'Red Cross' was one of the many voice codes that was used between the Flying Tiger and support craft. He doesn't know if the article by Robert Brown refers to this specifically. I have not found any references to an Operation Shade other than via some folk who were mixed up with the various anti-Castro activities of the day. It is their belief that this was a sub-operation splintered off various other operations to provide personnel for the events of Dallas. This also included a flight out of Laos and movement of two individuals down from Canada. FWIW. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 (edited) That's some cast of characters: Miguel Acoca - Whatever became of him? Robert K. Brown - Publisher of Soldier of Forune John F. Kennedy - POTUS William D. Pawley - Barry Goldwater Dwight D. Eisenhower Batista Castro Operation Red Cross – Exfiltration of Russian missile officers from Cuban underground. George P. Hunt – Life Flying Tiger II - Pawley's yacht. Hal Hendrix – CIA newspaper media asset Robert Kennedy Khrushchev John Martino – Mob casino guy/Castro prisoner "Rip" – Rip Robertson CIA "Mike" – CIA "Ken" – CIA Eduardo Perez – "Bayo" Frank Pais – Guantanamo – US Naval base Tejano III – Howard Davis – Francis "Papa Doc" Duvalier – Dictator of Haiti Joseph C. Garman – Kentuckian Lynn Clark – West Coast freelance photographer Terrance Spencer – British photographer, former Spitfire pilot. Senator Kenneth Keating (NY) – Pushed Russian missiles in Cuba before crisis. "John" – CIA Jerry Patrick Hemming – Soldier of Fortune, USMC Trujillo – Dominican Republic dictator Theodore Racoosin – Kennedy liason w/ Pawley et al. Radio Free Europe – Davis Friend. Bill Baggs – Life editor Tony Questa Mario Fontela - Larry LaBorde – Captain of Tejano III Ramon Font – FORDC - Jack Gore – Editor, Fort Lauderdale News Congressman Kramer – Frank Fiorini – aka Frank Sturgis, Watergate burglar. Jerry Buchanan – CIA newpaper media asset Mrs. John Perry – Newspaper publisher. Nathaniel Weyl – Author "Red Star Over Cuba" Livingston Merchant – Nesters Williams – Cuban black. John McCone – Director, CIA Henry R. Luce – Chairman Time-Life, husband of Clare Booth Luce - Flying Tiger II – Pawley's yacht James Sourwine, Chief Counsel US Senate Internal Security Committee Aircraft Ferry Company, Inc. 280 S. W. 34th St. Fort Lauderdale, The Rex – CIA Ship – Collins Radio/Belcher Oil/Louis Somoza - Eddie Baez – Commandos L. Freighter Baku – 22 foot Bertram – Rex launch Edited October 21, 2007 by William Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 Greg questions whether LHO's letter to Mr. Hunt could have been for Mr. George P. Hunt, Life Magazine editor - an interesting possiblity since Oswald noted his occupation on his Mexico visa application as "photographer," and it was Hunt or his unnamed Regional Editor who gave assignments to freelance photogs. Whatever happened to Terrance Spence or Lynn Clark, who were the designated photographers for the mission? I'd also like to know if anybody has anything on Mario Fontela and the FOROC - the exile "labor movement," Larry La Borde, Captain of the Tejano III, Bill Baggs, editor of the Miami News and Theodore Racoosin, alledgedy friend of the Kennedys who kept the administration posted on this dubious affair. What ever happened to these people? They can't all be dead? And then there's the Aircraft Ferry Company 280 S.W. 34th St. Fort Lauderdale, where they got the PBY and ex-Navy pilot for the midnight June 7, 1963 mission. Are there any logs or records with this company? And they drag the Rex into it, and the Rex loses a launch, just like the Holloween raid of Oct. 63'. Even if these people are dead there must be more on them out there. BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bevilaqua Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) Bill, The name Tony Questa should be spelled Tony Cuesta by the way. Did I ever tell you that my father was drawn into the whole anti-Castro millieu when everyone was still pro-Castro? He used to go down to the University of Miami and rub elbows with the anti-Battista forces at JM/WAVE though at the time we didn't even know a thing about JM/WAVE. That was in 1958. They convinced him to drive a brand new 1958 Buick down to Key West and onto the Havana ferry and not to ask any questions about what might be hidden in the seats, under the trunk and in the door side panels. It was filled with some contraband for Castro in the foothills. He took my brother along for a little vacation as a cover story. He got a week in Havana free plus expenses and $500 plus they told him he could keep the car. Well he pulls into the Hotel gives the keys to a contact and sat by the pool for a week when the car was returned to him and he took it back to Miami. Only problem was they wouldn't let him keep the car. I had to chase the bastard out of the house with a cocked baseball bat on my shoulder but he got the keys. He reached inside his coat pocket as if to go for a gun but when he saw the bat he froze and settled just for the keys. I was not even a teenager yet but pretty big for my age at almost 6 feet tall and a solid 130 pounds. <grin> And that was my introduction to the world of pro-Castro Cubans. His contact and paymaster? Tony de la Cuesta, who was in Miami during 1958-59 contrary to what his wife has said. Early in 1959 Castro took over. (Jan 1, 1959 was it?) And the rest is history. Technically JM/WAVE might not even have existed but the University of Miami was a hotbed for discussions, dissent and diabolical plotting even then and my father went there because he knew the Spanish language cold and just enjoyed a good imbroglio. Like Father, like Son I guess. He was William "Wild Bill" Donovan's personal Spanish tutor when the D-Day site was still being debated he was that good with his Spanish. At one time I guess there was some talk of using Spain as an alternate landing site to Normandy Beach or a simultaneous landing site. And in fact, history has recorded the usage of fake blow-up tanks and trucks made of rubber to make the Gemans think that we had already landed or were planning to land there. Later he made the same transition from pro-Castro to anti-Castro like everyone else and still continued to frequent the University of Miami for a good Cuban coffee and some small talk for a few years after that. No more trips to Havana though. He learned his lesson. Wish I could have gone along, but I was told that NO ONE would even want to sit on that back seat loaded with guns, bombs, bullets or whatever. Guess they were right. Regards, John B Edited October 23, 2007 by John Bevilaqua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bevilaqua Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) One of the most important articles published about the assassination of President Kennedy is The Bayo/Pawley Affair by Miguel Acoca and Robert K. Brown in Soldier of Fortune Magazine (Vol. 1 #2, 1975), which is no longer available from the publisher. Greg Parker has posted the article at this web site: http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=37 http://reopenjfkcase.interodent.com/index....6&Itemid=37 I've tried to put the proper link up but it won't take. Does this work? BK Bill, Can you share with us the results of your telephone interview of Nathaniel Weyl and I will do the same? I may have a short posting elsewhere regarding that issue which would explain why he carefully modified his story to include a mythical freighter passing between their boat and the shore while they were awaiting the return of the launch carrying the operatives to the island and back. Why he made up the story to blame the freighter for swamping their boat will become obvious later on. And if you read between the lines of his postings before he died, he walked a thin tightrope to make sure that no one either accused him of violating territorial waters of Cuba during a boom and bang operation or accused him of just watching while someone else on the boat fired a machine gun into the boat when they all realized there were no Russian missile officers to be found in the boat. He in fact DID violate the territorial waters of Cuba and he WAS in fact an accessory after the fact to murder, something he had to carry to his grave. He also violated the Neutrality Act and could have served serious jail time. Weyl was the one who framed Alger Hiss by the way as well, on behalf of Wickliffe Draper, did you guys know that? And he was also a Draper styled Eugenicist paid by Draper directly. He wrote about IQ controversies, pure blooded Eugenics, raising brighter children, snipping the tubes of those he considered lower forms of intelligence, all that stuff. He was a real Draper clone and drone, bought and paid for in fact. Needless to say Barry Goldwater, waiting at his ranch in Arizona was mightily disappointed according to Weyl when he heard that they had all just been had. Goldwater was counting on these kidnapped missile officers to embarrass JFK and rocket him to victory in the 1964 elections. Compare how Weyl's final version of the story was twisted and distorted to make him look innocent of any felonies when in fact he committed at least 2 or 3 of them just by his presence. I will read Robert Brown's version later this week and add any relevant comments. By the way I used to work at the Miami News later as a teenager in the mid-1960's when Hal (the spook) Hendrix was there. We were often visited by groups of Soldiers of Fortune pitching either Bill Baggs or Hal Hendrix with some new story line which they usually published regardless. I was the copy boy at The News during some of the more turbulent summers in the history of South Florida. It was only a summer job but in fact one of the best summer jobs a kid could have, it all seemed so important then and fascinating to watch News being made, reported on and followed up. They treated me like some sort of child prodigy there because everyone working at the editorial offices had to take this barrage of tests before you could get any job and this test had been administered to everyone from Jack Kassewitz, the Editorial Writer to Bill Baggs, the Editor to even include Hal Hendrix the CIA spook and to anyone who worked at the Miami News since its inception and I scored higher by far than any of them. They used to joke about asking me to make coffee, or clip the teletype machines or to move copy from the reporters desks to the headline writers work area, or to call the Funeral Parlors for any recent obituaries saying it was such a waste of brainpower. But heck I was like 15 or 16 years old and that was the only job I could do. It was a real chuckle. That is probably where I got this investigative reporter bug put into me. Who knows? Ciao. John B Edited October 23, 2007 by John Bevilaqua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Gratz Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) John wrote: The name Tony Questa should be spelled Tony Cuesta by the way. Did I ever tell you that my father was drawn into the whole anti-Castro millieu when everyone was still pro-Castro? He used to go down to the University of Miami and rub elbows with the anti-Battista forces at JM/WAVE though at the time we didn't even know a thing about JM/WAVE. That was in 1958. They convinced him to drive a brand new 1958 Buick down to Key West and onto the Havana ferry and not to ask any questions about what might be hidden in the seats, under the trunk and in the door side panels. [Emphasis supplied.] I MIGHT be wrong but I do not believe JM/WAVE even existed in 1958. Per Wikipedia: JMWAVE or JM/WAVE or JM WAVE was the codename for a major, secret United States covert operations and intelligence gathering station operated by the CIA from 1961 until 1968. It was headquartered in Building 25 on the South Campus (formerly the site of Richmond Naval Air Station, an airship base about 12 miles south of the main campus) of the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. It was also referred to as the CIA's "Miami Station" or "Wave Station".[1][2][3][4][5] JMWAVE underwent its first major development when it was established as the operations center for Task Force W, the CIA's unit dedicated to "Operation Mongoose"[2][6][7] - a US effort to overthrow President Fidel Castro's Communist government in Cuba. JMWAVE was also active in some form during the failed US-sponsored "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba in April 1961.[8] The JMWAVE operation grew out of an earlier fledgling CIA office in Coral Gables.[1] Edited October 23, 2007 by Tim Gratz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bevilaqua Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) John wrote:The name Tony Questa should be spelled Tony Cuesta by the way. Did I ever tell you that my father was drawn into the whole anti-Castro millieu when everyone was still pro-Castro? He used to go down to the University of Miami and rub elbows with the anti-Battista forces at JM/WAVE though at the time we didn't even know a thing about JM/WAVE. That was in 1958. They convinced him to drive a brand new 1958 Buick down to Key West and onto the Havana ferry and not to ask any questions about what might be hidden in the seats, under the trunk and in the door side panels. [Emphasis supplied.] I MIGHT be wrong but I do not believe JM/WAVE even existed in 1958. Per Wikipedia: JMWAVE or JM/WAVE or JM WAVE was the codename for a major, secret United States covert operations and intelligence gathering station operated by the CIA from 1961 until 1968. It was headquartered in Building 25 on the South Campus (formerly the site of Richmond Naval Air Station, an airship base about 12 miles south of the main campus) of the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. It was also referred to as the CIA's "Miami Station" or "Wave Station".[1][2][3][4][5] JMWAVE underwent its first major development when it was established as the operations center for Task Force W, the CIA's unit dedicated to "Operation Mongoose"[2][6][7] - a US effort to overthrow President Fidel Castro's Communist government in Cuba. JMWAVE was also active in some form during the failed US-sponsored "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba in April 1961.[8] The JMWAVE operation grew out of an earlier fledgling CIA office in Coral Gables.[1] Come on, Tim, pay attention... there might be a test at the end of the week... "Technically JM/WAVE might not even have existed but the University of Miami was a hotbed for discussions, dissent and diabolical plotting even then and my father went there because he knew the Spanish language cold and just enjoyed a good imbroglio." These guys were probably affiliated somehow with the "earlier fledgling CIA office in Coral Gables" where the University of Miami is actually located. Do a Mapquest on it. It didn't move to Building 25 until somewhat later and my father NEVER even went to Building 25. He went to the University of Miami Library in Coral Gables, Florida not the Building 25 in Miami, Florida. Don't tell me you are going to play: "Gnat XXXX vs. Peppah" and waste your breath and waste my time, too. I should have included this in my Top Ten List of what JFK Researchers should avoid. So what do you think it is, Tim? "Gnat XXXX or Peppah?" "Gnat XXXX or Peppah?" Remember that Walter Matthau line in JFK? Please don't waste my time on "Gnat XXXX vs. Peppah". You should be in AWWWWWWE! You see, the anti-Battista effort in 1958 PRECEDED the Castro takeover in 1959 and even the Bay of Pigs and the Bayo-Pawley affair which happened much later. Funny that even Gordon Winslow who considers himself some sort of Castro expert constantly got these things out of order, too. He once asked me if my father noticed anything peculiar about Cuesta's appearance when he worked with him (which was in late 1958). When I checked and reported to the negative, Winslow got all huffy and puffy and said: "Well he was blind and his hand was mangled, how could he have given him a car? Who drove it? His guide dog? You are making all this up!" In fact Cuesta tried to blow himself up with a hand grenade during The Bay of Pigs a few years later. "Gnat XXXX vs. Peppah" "Gnat XXXX vs. Peppah" Sheesh! EDITED by moderator, due to langauge. Edited October 23, 2007 by Antti Hynonen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bevilaqua Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) [quote name='John Bevilaqua' post='123758' date='Oct 23 2007, 11:04 AM' My previous suggestion still holds. Get off your butt, and drive to the University of Miami and check it all out. You know my attitude towards "Couch Potato JFK Researchers" and "Armchair Quarterbacks". Now I am not saying you are IN that category, YET but you are in front of the nominating committee as we speak! <grin> And come on, Timmy, Wikipedia? Your sources are Wiki-friggen-pedia? The History Channel? and... whatever? I rest my case! Edited October 23, 2007 by John Bevilaqua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Gratz Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 (edited) Gnat XXXX v Peppah, John? As they say, the devil is in the details. I love pepper on a nice hot corn on the cob, but gnat XXXX, nevah! You wrote about JM/WAVE in 1958. That is more than just a "little detail" when JM/WAVE did not appear for another two years or so. You wrote: You see, the anti-Battista effort in 1958 PRECEDED the Castro takeover in 1959 and even the Bay of Pigs and the Bayo-Pawley affair which happened much later. You are telling us that the anti-Batista effort in 1958 PRECEDED the Castro takeover in January of 1959? And that the anti-Batista effort in 1958 PRECEDED the Bay of Pigs in 1961? And that the anti-Batista effort in 1958 PRECEDED the Bayo-Pawley mission in 1963? Wow! I would nevah have been able to figure THAT out on my own! But I am glad theCIA was no longer fighting Batista in 1961 and 1963! EDITED by moderator, due to language Sorry, Antti, I should have known better myself. I appreciate your efforts to maintain civil standards of discourse here! Edited October 23, 2007 by Tim Gratz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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