Dickey Chapelle

[John Simkin]

Dickey Chapelle was a founder member of Citizens Committee to Free Cuba (CCFC). It included several members of Operation Mockingbird: Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, Hal Hendrix, Paul Bethel, Virginia Prewett, Leo Cherne and Ernest Cuneo. I wonder if she was also a member. She was an important figure in the disinformation campaign against Fidel Castro.

Here is a picture of Chapelle with Leo Cherne.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKchapelle.htm

[David Andrews]

What was Dickey doing for us in Vietnam?

[Zach Robertson]

Very nice Bio. Glad to see Dickey has a page on Spartacus. Here is an associated Forum topic from many years ago:

Dickey Chapelle and Felipe Vidal Santiago

Chapelle was involved with Robert Emmett Johnson in 1963. Johnson was working with Vidal on some operations concerning Haiti around that same time. This is how Vidal and Chapelle met.

The Miami News: 5/28/64

Vidal Executed in Cuba, Rescued Chapelle from boat explosion 5 months earlier

I wonder what became of Chapelle's interview with Vidal? I assume it was destroyed, but you never know.

Zach

[John Simkin]

Very nice Bio. Glad to see Dickey has a page on Spartacus. Here is an associated Forum topic from many years ago:

Dickey Chapelle and Felipe Vidal Santiago

Chapelle was involved with Robert Emmett Johnson in 1963. Johnson was working with Vidal on some operations concerning Haiti around that same time. This is how Vidal and Chapelle met.

The Miami News: 5/28/64

Vidal Executed in Cuba, Rescued Chapelle from boat explosion 5 months earlier

I wonder what became of Chapelle's interview with Vidal? I assume it was destroyed, but you never know.

Zach

Interesting story. It seems that it was Cuba that moved Chapelle to the right. She seemed to be in favour of national liberation when she was reporting in Hungary, Algeria and Lebanon. She later wrote in What's A Woman Doing Here?: A Reporter's Report on Herself (1962): "I had become an interpreter of violence. I'd covered three revolutions in three years - Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon.... I minded the larger truths that the revolutions had failed. Hungary had fallen to the tanks. Brother still fought brother in Algeria. Rioting continued in Lebanon. But men continued to hope and fight for a better world."

She claims that she was invited to Cuba by supporters of Fidel Castro. However, she was working for the Reader's Digest at the time, and it would seem that reports in favour of Castro would not have gone down well. At this time she began mixing with other anti-communist fanatics such as Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, Hal Hendrix, Paul Bethel, William Pawley, Virginia Prewett, Arleigh Burke, Leo Cherne and Ernest Cuneo.

By the way Zach, I share your views on the JFK assassination:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1037&st=180&p=216508entry216508

[Michael Hogan]

By the way Zach, I share your views on the JFK assassination:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1037&st=180&p=216508entry216508

Zach Robinson is a talented and gifted writer. I always thought the post referenced by John to be extremely well-written. Zach crafts his sentences so that there is a lot of food for thought in each one.

Zach's posts on the Education Forum follow the same formula. They always contain a lot of valuable, hard to find information.

I hope Zach gets the opportunity to write his own book someday. No doubt it would be a winner.

He could use the researcher pen name "Zach Robinson." Just kidding you Zach.

[Zach Robertson]

Interesting story. It seems that it was Cuba that moved Chapelle to the right. She seemed to be in favour of national liberation when she was reporting in Hungary, Algeria and Lebanon. She later wrote in What's A Woman Doing Here?: A Reporter's Report on Herself (1962): "I had become an interpreter of violence. I'd covered three revolutions in three years - Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon.... I minded the larger truths that the revolutions had failed. Hungary had fallen to the tanks. Brother still fought brother in Algeria. Rioting continued in Lebanon. But men continued to hope and fight for a better world."

She claims that she was invited to Cuba by supporters of Fidel Castro. However, she was working for the Reader's Digest at the time, and it would seem that reports in favour of Castro would not have gone down well. At this time she began mixing with other anti-communist fanatics such as Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, Hal Hendrix, Paul Bethel, William Pawley, Virginia Prewett, Arleigh Burke, Leo Cherne and Ernest Cuneo.

By the way Zach, I share your views on the JFK assassination:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1037&st=180&p=216508entry216508

Thanks John,

Yes, I have read and learned a great deal from many of your posts over the years. They are very rational and well thought out, which I have found to be a rarity when it comes to this particular subject. There have been so many great people who have contributed to research at the Forum, I feel fortunate to just be a member here. To be honest, Spartacus and the Forum are what inspired me to get into researching.

One note on Chapelle here: she did indeed mix with Tony Cuesta and the men of Comandos “L” in 1963. She took many photographs of them training, in private meetings, and even cooking and creating homemade explosives.

By the way Zach, I share your views on the JFK assassination:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1037&st=180&p=216508entry216508

Zach Robinson is a talented and gifted writer. I always thought the post referenced by John to be extremely well-written. Zach crafts his sentences so that there is a lot of food for thought in each one.

Zach's posts on the Education Forum follow the same formula. They always contain a lot of valuable, hard to find information.

I hope Zach gets the opportunity to write his own book someday. No doubt it would be a winner.

He could use the researcher pen name "Zach Robinson." Just kidding you Zach.

Mike,

That is pretty funny and I got a good laugh out of the whole name thing. That actually happens quite a bit with my last name, dating back many decades and I’m sure it will continue in the future one way or another. I’m planning on using the pen name of Robinson as a “marked card” to throw people off my trail. Don't tell anyone

Thanks for the kind words; you know I appreciate it and how highly I regard you. I will try to live up to the hype you have created

Not only is Zach on the money, he also provides a faint outline of the organizations operating behind the scenes at higher levels. I hope to expand on that aspect of the environment in the near future. The anti-Castro Cubans were certainly the main actors, and could have pulled off much of what they did solo, but they are still simply pieces in a much bigger puzzle that was created decades before 1963. More to come...

Tom,

Thank you as well; I created the chart long ago to aid in my own education on the assassination. I have a more specific one as well. It has changed slightly over time and it represents my opinion only.

I don’t think all of the people who were operational in Dallas that day were Cuban Exiles, although two of the three Shooter Cells in Dealey Plaza likely were. However, all these operatives did have one thing in common: a sponsor who had a connection to David Morales. The hooks from 11/22 reach out to many future events in our history, but I do not see that as some ‘vast conspiracy.’ I look forward to your work in this area in the future.

Zach

Edited November 19, 2011 by Zach Robertson

[John Simkin]

Zach Robinson is a talented and gifted writer. I always thought the post referenced by John to be extremely well-written. Zach crafts his sentences so that there is a lot of food for thought in each one.

Zach's posts on the Education Forum follow the same formula. They always contain a lot of valuable, hard to find information.

I hope Zach gets the opportunity to write his own book someday. No doubt it would be a winner.

He could use the researcher pen name "Zach Robinson." Just kidding you Zach.

Zach, if you ever decide to write that book, I can put you in touch with someone who will help you with it a great deal.

[Zach Robertson]

Here is a quote from the late Roy Hargraves from his 2001 interview with Noel Twyman that concerns Dickey Chapelle:

"We left for Mollendale on a Cuban run that went sour and this is, uh, the boat was sunk at the dock, a time gunsel was put up into the instrument panel and it blew up while we were at sea...peeled the instrument panel off. This news journalist, Dickey Chapelle was blown overboard, Felipe [Vidal] was blown overboard. I'm forward because I brought it out with Ed Collins sleeping so I could take the next leg. Dickey got blown clear because she was bailing water out of the boat. Felipe was at the wheel, so he got burnt the worst. He had skin peeling off his face. Of course all the hair burned off. Skin hanging down from his hands. Dickey's lost all the facial hair and burnt back to the ear line. It was that far on her..."

Here are two associated Forum topic links that also belong here. They are linked up to the James Richards posts that are of great importance.

William C. Bishop

Silvia Odio a New Look

Zach

[Robert Howard]

Hopefully, someone might actually find this interesting enough to actually have a comment.

From a Forum post by the late Gerry Patrick Hemming

Gerry Patrick Hemming: It was later explained to me by Tony's buddies that he admired Dunkin greatly,

and that given that Dunkin was a Marine who had fought in Korea, he was not surprised by Tom's cool demeanor during the "Baku Op".

A short time prior to Tony's final run to Cuba, one of their "Prowler" boats was violently sabotaged at the dock near Key West. I had previously warned Tony against his associating with specific individuals, and after the sabotage he was a little beligerent with me, especially in asking if I had mentioned anything about his plans to "anybody??" I reminded him more than once, that when he had made reference to "operational matters", that I absolutely did not want to hear ANY details whatsoever, nor be associated with same in any fashion -- reminding him of the "need-to-know-rules"; and that especially since his Op might be blown, I didn't want to experience any of the same suspicions that I had encountered with Felipe Vidal after his boat sank in a NE 135 St. canal [Christmas Eve, 1963] after Dickey Chappelle accidently stepped on the bilge-pump exhaust pipe that night.

END

U.S. Intercepts Exile Raiders;

Dallas Morning News; 10-22-1963;

A big Cuban exile raiding party, heavily armed and accompanied

by an American woman freelance photographer, was intercepted

and stopped off Miami Beach, Sunday night as it headed for

Cuba, U.S. Customs officials announced Monday. There were

21 Cuban men, all members of the Commandos-L exile organiza-

tion, and U.S. photographer Georgette Dickey Chapelle in the

raiding expedition, which was seized aboard four boats,

according to Miami customs supervisor Joseph P. Fortier.

Leader of the raiders was 56 year-old Santiago Alvarez, former

governor of Cuba’s Mantaza Province during the Fulgencio

Batista regime.

Land Mine Kills Correspondent

11-4-1965

Saigon (UPI) Dickey Chapelle, a woman war correspondent

covering the Vietnam War for the National Observer was killed

Thursday when she stepped on a land mine.

Miss Chapelle, 47, was killed while accompanying U.S. Marines

on operation “Black Ferret,” a search-and-destroy operation

near Chu Lai, about 50 miles south of the military complex at Da Nang.

She is a veteran newspaperwoman who covered the Algerian rebellion

from the guerrillas side and marched through the Cuban jungles with Fidel Castro.

Fire In The Wind: The Life of Dickey Chapelle - Roberta Ostroff

Epilogue page 387

The dramatic death of was made even more newsworthy by the fact that

she was the first American woman reporter ever killed in action, as pointed

out by her friend, S.L.A. “Slam” Marshall in his obit in the Los Angeles

Times on November 25, 1965

Dickey was cremated and brought back to Milwaukee on November 12

by an honor guard of six marines, one of whom Staff Sergeant Albert

P. Milville, had been tossed flat by the explosion and would be returning

immediately to Vietnam. The honor guard was an extraordinary tribute

for a civilian and a woman.

Robert: Dickey Chapelle obviously was very connected, and one of those acquaintances

was Colonel Edward Lansdale. see Fire In The Wind pps. 348-49

.....and since she was very connected to Commandos-L, she undoubtedly had the acquaintance of Tony Questa and Ramon Font, unfortunately, David Morales and other persons who may have known Dickey,

who were also "connected," and in more ways than one, are not mentioned in the book.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Robert Howard

[Zach Robertson]

Hopefully, someone might actually find this interesting enough to actually have a comment.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for posting this interesting information. It is nice to see people like yourself doing some good work here.

Do you have a copy of Fire in the Wind? I wonder if it is possible to post the excerpt of Chapelle being associated with Lansdale here?

Robert Emmett Johnson was fascinated with Dickey Chapelle. Johnson wanted to go to Vietnam with her, but she would not have it. She encouraged him to retire from his soldier of fortune career, write a book [under his own name], and get a 'real job.' Johnson worked at an Ad Agency for a while but it did not take. After Chapelle died, he went back to the shadowy world of free lance merc work.

Here are some pictures she took. The plan was to post these here months ago, but you know how it goes some times...

http://www.wisconsin...yword1=chapelle

A couple of my personal favorites:

CIA Truck observes Comandos "L" meeting

Top echelon Comandos "L" meeting - Tony Cuesta is seen in the center with the red shirt [is the man on the left his case officer?]

Zach

Edited September 10, 2012 by Zach Robertson

[Robert Howard]

Zach, if you are like me, you always try to find any "unusual" or hitherto "unknown" facts, that are not previously known when you peruse books, or documents for that matter....I had never been very interested in Dickey Chapelle and my interest had been pretty much confined to the fact that she was admittedly, just another journalist along the lines of Dorothy Kilgallen and Lisa Howard...I was, in that respect, real curious about her death in that context, but after realizing how long the period was between her death 1965 and JFK's 1963, mystery death's just aren't as hot a topic for me, as everybody else, although there are some very, very compelling areas....

To get back on to Chapelle, the areas that I have found compelling are not what everyone might think....The bio's mentioning of Lansdale are mainly after 1963......

In my mind, the chief areas of what I consider as "unusual," are as follows:

1. She met Admiral Byrd sometime before his Anartica expedition [1936] and was so enamored with Byrd as a child she fantasized about meeting him as well as flying, and of course, she really met him, by sheer force of will, as her parents who seem very responsible for her widely noticed state of "dysfunction, were horrified at the thought of really taking up flying.

2. He family surname was Meyer, and I believe there is a real possibility she was in some way related to Cord Meyer. more on that later.

3. She is noted for a clandestine trip to Hungary that dovetailed with the Hungarian Revolution, it is very, very, compelling if for no other reason than the fact that "her chief" at the time she was arrested and detained in Hungary was Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd.....of the International Rescue Committee, in light of Ferenc Nagy, living in Dallas in 1963, I consider this an area of interest, although no one else seems to.

More later.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Robert Howard

[John Simkin]

Zach, if you are like me, you always try to find any "unusual" or hitherto "unknown" facts, that are not previously known when you peruse books, or documents for that matter....I had never been very interested in Dickey Chapelle and my interest had been pretty much confined to the fact that she was admittedly, just another journalist along the lines of Dorothy Kilgallen and Lisa Howard...I was, in that respect, real curious about her death in that context, but after realizing how long the period was between her death 1965 and JFK's 1963, mystery death's just aren't as hot a topic for me, as everybody else, although there are some very, very compelling areas....

To get back on to Chapelle, the areas that I have found compelling are not what everyone might think....The bio's mentioning of Lansdale are mainly after 1963......

In my mind, the chief areas of what I consider as "unusual," are as follows:

1. She met Admiral Byrd sometime before his Anartica expedition [1936] and was so enamored with Byrd as a child she fantasized about meeting him as well as flying, and of course, she really met him, by sheer force of will, as her parents who seem very responsible for her widely noticed state of "dysfunction, were horrified at the thought of really taking up flying.

2. He family surname was Meyer, and I believe there is a real possibility she was in some way related to Cord Meyer. more on that later.

3. She is noted for a clandestine trip to Hungary that dovetailed with the Hungarian Revolution, it is very, very, compelling if for no other reason than the fact that "her chief" at the time she was arrested and detained in Hungary was Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd.....of the International Rescue Committee, in light of Ferenc Nagy, living in Dallas in 1963, I consider this an area of interest, although no one else seems to.

More later.

Does Roberta Ostroff have anything to say about Dickey Chapelle's membership of the Citizens Committee to Free Cuba (CCFC)? Formed in March 1963 it included several interesting figures that had links to the assassination of JFK. This included Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, Hal Hendrix, Paul Bethel, William Pawley, Virginia Prewett and Ernest Cuneo. I have recently read two biographies of Clare Booth Luce that do not mention the CCFC or the Luce's funding of Alpha 66. In 1962 Alpha 66 launched several raids on Cuba. This included attacks on port installations and foreign shipping. The authors of Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War Against Castro and the Assassination of JFK (1981) argues that Clare Boothe Luce paid for one of the boats used in these raids: "The anti-communist blonde took a maternal interest in the three-man crew she adopted... She brought them to New York three times to mother them."

[William Kelly]

Zach, if you are like me, you always try to find any "unusual" or hitherto "unknown" facts, that are not previously known when you peruse books, or documents for that matter....I had never been very interested in Dickey Chapelle and my interest had been pretty much confined to the fact that she was admittedly, just another journalist along the lines of Dorothy Kilgallen and Lisa Howard...I was, in that respect, real curious about her death in that context, but after realizing how long the period was between her death 1965 and JFK's 1963, mystery death's just aren't as hot a topic for me, as everybody else, although there are some very, very compelling areas....

To get back on to Chapelle, the areas that I have found compelling are not what everyone might think....The bio's mentioning of Lansdale are mainly after 1963......

In my mind, the chief areas of what I consider as "unusual," are as follows:

1. She met Admiral Byrd sometime before his Anartica expedition [1936] and was so enamored with Byrd as a child she fantasized about meeting him as well as flying, and of course, she really met him, by sheer force of will, as her parents who seem very responsible for her widely noticed state of "dysfunction, were horrified at the thought of really taking up flying.

2. He family surname was Meyer, and I believe there is a real possibility she was in some way related to Cord Meyer. more on that later.

3. She is noted for a clandestine trip to Hungary that dovetailed with the Hungarian Revolution, it is very, very, compelling if for no other reason than the fact that "her chief" at the time she was arrested and detained in Hungary was Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd.....of the International Rescue Committee, in light of Ferenc Nagy, living in Dallas in 1963, I consider this an area of interest, although no one else seems to.

More later.

Does Roberta Ostroff have anything to say about Dickey Chapelle's membership of the Citizens Committee to Free Cuba (CCFC)? Formed in March 1963 it included several interesting figures that had links to the assassination of JFK. This included Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, Hal Hendrix, Paul Bethel, William Pawley, Virginia Prewett and Ernest Cuneo. I have recently read two biographies of Clare Booth Luce that do not mention the CCFC or the Luce's funding of Alpha 66. In 1962 Alpha 66 launched several raids on Cuba. This included attacks on port installations and foreign shipping. The authors of Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War Against Castro and the Assassination of JFK (1981) argues that Clare Boothe Luce paid for one of the boats used in these raids: "The anti-communist blonde took a maternal interest in the three-man crew she adopted... She brought them to New York three times to mother them."

I think Clare Booth Luce wrote an article about "Her Boys" who ran maritime raids into Cuba. She said their leader was "Julio Fernandez" and Brad Ayers gives a detailed account of his working closely with "Julio Fernandez, the leader of one of the commando units he trained in Florida out of JMWAVE.

I'd like to read the article she wrote about the boat she financed and any photos they might have of the men she supported, especially Julio Fernandez.

BK

[Guest Tom Scully]

....................

2. He family surname was Meyer, and I believe there is a real possibility she was in some way related to Cord Meyer. more on that later.

.....................

Chapelle's brother's obituary :

Meyer, Robert Paul .

news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat...id...sjid...

During his 40-year career In geophysics at 1957-1996 head of the Seismology program, and with a turn as chair of Oceanography and Limnology). Bob Meyer ...

and ....

http://freepages.gen...mjs417.obi.html

Meyer, Robert Paul

A Wisconsin native and an internationally recognized geophysicist, died on

April 9, 1997 in Punta Gorda, FL, of a short illness after living with leukemia

for 5 years. He and his wife Marion were in Florida for a sail with friends to

the Dry Tortugas.

Bob was born on Dec. 12, 1924 in Shorewood, WI to Edna Engelhardt and Paul

Gerhardt Meyer, one of two children. (His sister, Dickey Chapelle, a

photojournalist and war correspondent, was killed in Viet Nam in 1965.) ...

https://familysearch...M9.1.1/MFV8-SRW

U.S, Census 1920

Name: Paul G Meyer Residence: , Milwaukee, Wisconsin Estimated Birth Year: 1883 Age: 37 Birthplace: Wisconsin Relationship to Head of Household: Self Gender: Male Race: White Marital Status: Married Father's Birthplace: United States Mother's Birthplace: Wisconsin Film Number: 1822001 Digital Folder Number: 4390349 Image Number: 00716 Sheet Number: 6

Household Gender Age Birthplace SELF Paul G Meyer M 37y Wisconsin WIFE Edna Meyer F 32y Wisconsin DAU Georgetta Meyer F 10m Wisconsin

https://familysearch...M9.1.1/X9SS-HJ6

Name: Georgi Lou Meyer Event: Census Event Date: 1930 Event Place: Shorewood, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Gender: Female Age: 11 Marital Status: Single Race: White Birthplace: Wisconsin Estimated Birth Year: 1919 Immigration Year: Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter Father's Birthplace: Wisconsin Mother's Birthplace: Wisconsin Enumeration District Number: 0362 Family Number: 546 Sheet Number and Letter: 16A Line Number: 46 NARA Publication: T626, roll 2600 Film Number: 2342334 Digital Folder Number: 4547568 Image Number: 00169 Household Gender Age Birthplace Head Paul G Meyer M 47 Wisconsin Wife Edna F Meyer F 42 Wisconsin Daughter Georgi Lou Meyer F 11 Wisconsin Son Robert P Meyer M 5 Wisconsin Maid Margaret Newmond F 20 Germany

Dickie Chapelle's memorial is in the same cemetery plot as her parents' :

http://www.findagrav...r&GRid=12908818

http://www.findagrav....&GRid=85066765

https://familysearch...M9.1.1/XRZS-513

Name:

Paul Gerhard Meyer Gender: Male Baptism/Christening Date: Baptism/Christening Place: Birth Date: 20 Oct 1882 Birthplace: Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Death Date: Name Note: Race: White Father's Name: Charles Julius Meyer Father's Birthplace: Milwaukee Father's Age: Mother's Name: Anna Goldsmith Mother's Birthplace: Kingdom Of Hanover Mother's Age: Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C00321-0 System Origin: Wisconsin-EASy Source Film Number: 1305103 Reference Number: item 1 p 486

https://familysearch...M9.1.1/XRRZ-GP8

Groom's Name: Charles Julius Meyer Groom's Birth Date: Groom's Birthplace: Groom's Age: Bride's Name: Anna Goldsmith Bride's Birth Date: Bride's Birthplace: Bride's Age: Marriage Date: 17 Jun 1875 Marriage Place: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Groom's Father's Name: John Bernard Meyer Groom's Mother's Name: Charlotte Meyer Bride's Father's Name: Joseph Goldsmith Bride's Mother's Name: Rebeca Goldsmith Groom's Race: Groom's Marital Status: Groom's Previous Wife's Name: Bride's Race: Bride's Marital Status: Bride's Previous Husband's Name: Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I00659-7 System Origin: Wisconsin-ODM Source Film Number: 1292037

Dickey Chapelle's great-grandfather was John Bernard Meyer

The Voyagers: a history of Geuders and Paeschkes, 1600-1940

books.google.comJulianne Ruetz - 2004 - 328 pages

....She is buried in Forest Home Cemetery. Charlotte was seventeen when, with her mother and siblings she made the crossing to America.

She was old enough to appreciate fully what the journey meant and what life in a new and young country would mean to them all. Unfortunately, we know nothing of that life from the children's

point of view until they had become adults. Charlotte, at age eighteen, married John Bernard Meyer in 1 84 1 . He is sometimes called John B. Meyer or J.B. Meyer or even Meyers, Myers, or

He is sometimes called John B. Meyer or J.B. Meyer or even Meyers, Myers, or Meier in documents. Spelling was erratic in those days.

This is the same John Meyer, the German baker to whom a newspaper referred earlier as "the first German baker in Milwaukee."

He arrived in Milwaukee in 1833 and became a citizen by naturalization in 1837. This man would have another successful career before his early death in 1 847 and it would involve the Franz Neukirch. John and Charlotte Meyer had two children, Charles Julius and John. The Civil War was to disrupt the lives of the parents and the children in this branch of our family, as it disrupted so many of those in America. Charles Julius enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry on 8-16-1862. This is the same unit that Francis Neukirch's son, Charles W. Neukirch, was in. They both fought in the Charles Julius enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry on 8-16-1862. This is the same unit that Francis Neukirch's son, Charles W. Neukirch, was in. They both fought in the Battle of Chancellorsville, a battle in which Charles Meyer was slightly wounded. The other Meyer son, John, is said to have been a Captain in a Kansas regiment during the war and to have been war and to have been killed in that war, but we have no documentation for this other than that it is a story that was passed down.The next daughter of the Neukirchs was Elisabetha (Elizabeth) Neukirch, bom on 9-14-1824 in Kuehkopf. ....

IMO Robert, you would have to search in Germany to find clues to a genetic connection with Cord Meyer.

A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential ... - Page 85 - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=0307574172

Nina Burleigh - 2009 - Biography & Autobiography

His great-grandfather Cord Meyer emigrated from Germany in I845 and began

working as a grocer in Brooklyn. He soon owned a wholesale grocery business

http://m.theislandno...1a4bcf887a.html

Columnist Karen Rubin: GN Historical Society honors home

Posted: Thursday, August 2, 2012 2:20 pm

After a long period of preparation and anticipation, the Great Neck Historical Society in June bestowed its first plaque recognizing the significance of a residence (the first plaque presented by the historical society went to a public building, Great Neck House).

This singular honor went to a magnificent and distinctive home, that interestingly, had intrigued the current owner as a child growing up in Great Neck (I know it has always been one of my favorites, too). She never imagined as a girl that she would someday be its caretaker.

Anyone who has traveled down West Shore Road at Cove Lane is sure to have been struck by the charming white house with its distinctive tower. This structure was once the carriage house, stables, hayloft and water tower for “The Cove” estate.

In much the same way as exploring one’s genealogy yields fascinating stories and characters (did you hear that President Obama’s mother, Ann Durham, may have been a descendent of one of the first documented African slaves in America, John Punch?) homes harbor the stories of their inhabitants and their community. They take on a life of their own.

Homes in Great Neck nurtured and gave inspiration to the likes of George M Cohan, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ring Lardner, Oscar Hammerstein II, Groucho Marx, Madeleine Albright, W.C. Fields. We have homes of notable architects and designers including Frank Lloyd Wright; McKim, Mead and Stanford White and Gustav Stickley.

The Great Neck Historical Society does not just willy-nilly present these plaques. The owner has to make application and explain why the home is significant - historically, architecturally or for some other reason, such as being connected to some important person. And then the Heritage Recognition Program committee does its own research. In the this , the committee chair, Joan Wheeler, and Leila Mattson, who only recently retired as the Great Neck Library reference librarian, did extensive research, caught up in the intrigue.

What they found is fodder for a novel or movie, involving the CIA, JFK and...... murder.

As Joan Wheeler recounted (noting that it was hard to follow the history since all the early owners were named Cord Meyer - a Cord Meyer Sr., a Cord Meyer Jr. and a Cord Meyer II who is not the third but the first - but sometimes these suffixes were left off):

The home at One Cove Lane is the former carriage house, stables, hayloft and water tower built c. 1879 on the property of “The Cove,” an 11-acre estate on West Shore Road owned by Cord Meyer II (1854–1910) and his wife, Cornelia Meyer (1856–1939). “The Cove” was their main residence, built on the shorefront of what is now Cove Lane.

Cord Meyer II was the son of a German immigrant, Cord Meyer, of Dick & Meyer, an old firm that refined sugar in Cuba. On his father’s death, c.1891, Cord Meyer II inherited a portion of his father’s $7 million fortune. He became a wealthy financier, industrialist and developer of large tracts of land, including the areas now known as Elmhurst and Forest Hills. He was active in politics, serving as chairman of the New York State Democratic Party. His friends included President Grover Cleveland.

Cord Meyer II’s son, Cord Meyer Sr. (1895–1964), was a senior diplomat and real estate developer. He is listed as one of the original Early Birds of Aviation, a group of pioneer pilots who flew solo before 1917.

His grandson, Cord Meyer Jr. (1920–2001) fought in the assault on Guam with the U.S. Marine Corps, and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. His dispatches from the war were published in The Atlantic Monthly, and one of his short stories won the O. Henry Prize in 1946 for best first-published story. He was a founding member of the United World Federalists, where he fought for controls on the use of atomic weapons. He served 26 years at the Central Intelligence Agency where he was in charge of the covert operations branch.

“The Cove” main house was demolished in 1950, and the property became Cove Lane. On June 6, 1969, the original carriage house that remained, at One Cove Lane, was sold to William Nielson for $52,000. ....

STRENGTH IN CORD MEYER, JR.; HIS NAME ON THE ...

‎

New York Times - Oct 9, 1893

Although not yet forty years old, Mr. Meyer has been well known both in business ... Newtown in 1854, and is the eldest of three sons of Cord Meyer, a native of Germany, ... business about 1870 as a member of the Williamsburg firm of Dick & Meyer. ... Before his father s , Cord Meyer, the son. had a large interest In the bone ...

MAY BE The "SOOTHING" THIEF; SHERLOOK MUST ANSWER ...

query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res...

21 looted at Maspeth, L. i:, the residence of Christian M. Meyer, brother of Cord Meyer. Mr. MeLaughltn said yesterday that, for police reasons, it would not be

CM MEYER DIES; REALTY OPERATOR; Developer of Elmhurst and...

‎New York Times - Aug 31, 1925

ALSO WAS SUGAR REFINER President of the Cord Meyer Companies and Yachtsman Was a Native of Maspeth, Aged 61. Christian Aloller l%leyer died .

http://forgotten-ny....t-hills-houses/

Cord Meyer Jr. (1854-1910) was the original developer of Elmhurst and Forest Hills. In 1893 Meyer, a successful banker and lawyer, purchased acreage in what was then called Newtown from British retail magnate Samuel Lord of Lord & Taylor fame and proceeded to lay out a street pattern that still exists today, built utilities and sewers, and introduced retail businesses and a bank.

In 1906 Meyer’s development company turned its attention to Whitepot, just to Elmhurst’s southeast...

[Robert Howard]

There is such a wealth of information in the book, that obviously, transcribing chunks of it, is difficult to say the least. There are a couple of things that I wanted to do, this is sort of a fill in post, I will try to again point out that Chapelle's connection to Lansdale in the book takes place after JFK's death, but what is compelling about that is that General Curtis LeMay, is pretty much smack dab in that as well...small world, eh.

I specifically want to thank Tom Scully for his information regarding the Meyer family and my supposition about Cord Meyer, Jr., and Dickey Chapelle's family [her maiden name, or real name was Georgie Lou Meyer. The main reason that I find the possibility conceivable is that Cord Meyer's genealogy seems rather limited on the internet, books and documents in light of the fact that his own autobiography states....My twin brother and I were our own parents in a New York apartment in 1936 .....I was sent to buy a copy and can recall the black headlines proclaiming Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland.....In the years that followed my family spent each summer in an old rambling farmhouse on the New Hampshire coast. There were four boys. In addition to my twin brother and myself, there was another set of twins, four years younger.

Cord Meyer Jr.,'s family were New York state Meyer's and has the German background. Dickey Chapelle's family were Wisconsin Meyer's Chapelle's parents Paul and Edna, had a German background as well...At any rate, the main reason I find the point worth mentioning is there seems like such a lack of information about Cord Meyer's family...and wonder why that is.....

My guess is that if there is any thing of note it has to do with other members of Cord Meyer's family, and not Dickey Chapelle...For instance, in Blond Ghost pages 246-247....there is mentioned Charles Meyer, who was the assistant Secretary of State during the Nixon Administration; he is mentioned regarding the whole Chile/ITT affair, so it probably is not really a big deal....who knows....

The Cuban aspect of Dickey Chappelle's career doesen't seem to make mention in the book anyway of the Citizens Committee For A Free Cuba, or much else besides Commandos-L, however it is a very, very informative book, especially if you know what to look for....

Another very interesting area is that the, at the time secret congressional SISS testimony of November 1963, seems rather hard to locate....

See below

NO TITLE

RIF#: 124-90106-10056 (11/06/63) FBI#: 105-117222-NR

https://www.maryferr...do?docId=138181

The following volume of testimony has been received from SISS and sent to Mr. Sizoo of the Domestic Intelligence Division for appropriate review and return to my office to return to the SISS.

Volume 2: November 4, 1963 Executive Session - Confidential

Testimony of Dickey Chapelle 487 First Ave, New York, 16 New York

NO TITLE pg 2

FBI - HSCA Subject File: John Thomas Dunkin

This is an informative memorandum setting forth high lights of testimony of [ paragraph redacted ] By way of background Customs, Miami, Florida on 9/21/63 seized large quantity of explosives and ammunition belonging to Commandos-L (CL), Miami anti-Castro organization engaged in carrying out raids against Cuba

in Hialeah, Florida residence which had been rented by [redacted]. On 10/20/63 Customs intercepted CL raiding party, seized four boats and quantity of arms, munitions and other military equipment. Raiding party was made up of 21 Cubans and was accompanied by [redacted]. SISS endeavored to determine if CIA knew of CL plans to move base in advance.

Miss Chapelle had no personal knowledge concerning CIA connection with this matter.

There is nothing in testimony requiring action by Bureau.

https://www.maryferr...do?docId=138184

[although it is only a guess, redacted name Tony Cuesta?] BTW Tony Cuesta was the person who received the "inspired act of God" letter which was postmarked Arlington, Texas, that everyone hopefully is very well aware of.....if you can determine who sent that letter you would be getting more than a feather in your cap...

see CD 1107 page 1057

ANTHONY DEL VALLE “TONY CUESTA” full text of “inspired act of God should place a Texan in the White House postmarked April 18, 1963, Arlington, Texas

http://www.maryferre...&relPageId=1090

NO TITLE

RIF#: 180-10141-10366 (12/08/77)

HSCA Segregated CIA Collection (staff notes)

page 16

CL

Commandos-L

Affiliation

CL formerly known as Commandos L-66, offshoot of Alpha-66

Political Alignment

Exile organization with headquarters in Miami and Puerto Rico dedicated

to overthrow of Castro regime through the use of military force

Personalities

ANTONIO QUESTA Del Valle -Chief of Military Ops (since Mar. ‘59, Member MRP, UR, formerly Chief of

Action group under Veciana - Alpha-66)

Santiago ALVAREZ Rodrigu z, Sr., - Leader, spokesman

Dr. Jose Manuel GUTIERREZ - Spokesman for group, radio, meetings

Ramon FONT Samuell - Chief of Ops (wife serving 30-year prison sentence

for CR activities)

George MACHADO -Described as Civilian Coordinator of Support

Pedro MUIRIA -Director PR

Roberto VALE Ares - Military Coordinator (prior to departure from Cuba

in ‘61 member in MRP cell)

Guilermo BELT - Washington, D.C. Rep

Santiago ALVAREZ Fernandez - Member, boat crew (in raid October ‘62 as member of Alpha-66)

Dickey CHAPELLE, AKA Mrs. Georgette Meyer - U.S free lance photographer and journalist

History

Kept in public because of publicity - i.e., LIFE

page 18

20 August '63 and decided to report SIERRA's activities to a Mr Dillon BRADEN in Chicago August '63.

Free-lance writer Dickey CHAPELLE safehoused in Miami by CL group in preparation for upcoming operation

page 19

3 or 4 trips Late Oct '63 U.S authorities broke up a 4-boat anti Castro "expedition force headed for Cuba Among individuals detained Santiago ALVAREZ Sr. Georgette CHAPELLE All 4 boats confiscated

https://www.maryferr...do?docId=111835

This book below mentions Dickey Chappelle and papers...BTW

http://books.google.com

Archival Information - How To Find It How To Use It - Steve Fisher

One of the reasons I find the book on Dickey Chapelle so interesting concerns her arrest in Hungary. While her mission, which involved fairly detailed involvement with the International Rescue Committee, was ostensibly to help get medical supplies to Hungarians, Roberta Ostroff, [the author] is very much convinced that there may have been another purpose to this mission which she states “Although Dickey ostensibly worked for the institute, she actually worked for Leo Cherne, who jockeyed between institute analysis and IRC’s activism. She wrote up the pres release of her boss’ journey including his historic meeting with Cardinal Joseph Mindzsenty.” page 188 Mission of Mercy.

Leo Cherne's fuzziness about Dickey's trip to Vienna, which occurred within forty-eight hours of getting the assignment, as well as her Mata Hari-type correspondence and unpublished material, suggests that Dickey's mission was not, as she insisted publicly, to photograph the Hungarians fleeing into Austria or the transfer of IRC antibiotics into the hands of the Hungarian freedom fighters. It was something far more important to the — IRC. Since it was the IRC’s position to aid persons fleeing totalitarian governments, it is likely that Dickey’s

job— considering the large amount of money she brought with her and the continuing reticence of Leo Cherne, and her predecessor Julia Edwards— was to get somebody important out of Hungary. Dickey would later refer to her trip as a “suicide mission”.....

page 196...Every night reporters, rescue workers and CIA agents waited on the Austrian side with bottles of slivovitz, a Balkan plum brandy to offer the frozen Hungarian refugees, who, under a bright harvest moon, children slung over their backs, arriving in shivering clumps of twos and fours. Here General William “Wild Bill” Donovan the IRC’s national committee chairman, could (according to his biographer, Anthony Cave Brown) be found night after night.......

....later she wrote that her interrogator knew that two men from the research committee, Leo Cherne and Angier Biddle Duke had been in Budapest during the uprising

page 209

So, in that light it might be compelling to remember that the International Rescue Committee was also involved with Lee Harvey Oswald, peripherally or even more so, depending on your “take” on history.

See

Home/Archive/Documents/JFK Assassination Documents/JFK Documents - Central Intelligence Agency/Oswald 201 File (201-289248)/Oswald 201 File, Vol 53B/

NARA Record Number: 1993.06.22.17:10:59:460340

CALL TO MR. STERNBERG WITH THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE RE FUNDS

https://www.maryferr....do?docId=97232

much more

http://www.combat.ws...04N3/DICKEY.HTM

When Dickey got back to New York in late 1961, she typed up a report for Marine Commandant General Wallace M. Greene Jr., entitled, "Course of Action, Laos and Viet Nam". He thanked her for her report and called her a good Marine.

Dickey's seven months in Laos and Viet Nam, where she saw more of the war than most reporters, certainly entitled her to voice her opinions, and she did, long and hard. On the lecture circuit she would tell audiences that South Viet Nam "is as much my real estate as my home in Minnesota". She was a true Cold Warrior who believed the line in the sand was South East Asia. She of course ran into a lot of doubters, such as Mike Wallace and Jack Parr. When she repeated her opinion that "South Viet Nam was as much her real estate as her home in Minnesota", Parr responded, "But isn't the problem the fact that it isn't our real estate – aren't these sovereign people?"

Another frustration was the fact that many of the photos she'd taken were still with the censors. She felt like so much of her hard work done under trying and deadly circumstances had come to nothing.

Another problem was editors who failed to share her view of Southeast Asia. Bill Garrett Of National Geographic viewed Dickey's opinion as too simplistic. "She was sort of a commie hater and I'd say that's not why we're there at all." There was a general chorus of disagreement with Dickey's opinions. But in her defense, she had been on the ground and they hadn't. Also, if Dickey was wrong, why was so much of her work censored?

In April of 1962, The Overseas Press Club presented Dickey with The George Polk Award, the organizations highest. She was only the second woman to ever win it. She accepted the award dressed to the nines. One of her friends remarked, "I wish Tony could see you now."

It was about this time that Dickey decided to deal with some of the physical problems that had begun to plague her forty-three year old body. Shortly after, she went against her Physicians advice and returned to Viet Nam.

By now, there were thousands more American advisors in South Viet Nam. Father Hoa and the Sea Swallows had been having a hard time, mainly because of the jealousy of some South Vietnamese officers. One of Dickey's first duties upon her return was to attend the funerals of thirty Sea Swallows. To add insult to injury, they had been killed by U.S. captured weapons. The funeral marked the beginning of the end of the Sea Swallows as a military unit.

That afternoon, she was approached by several young Marines who excitedly told her that they knew of her from their fathers on Iwo Jima. She was shocked. Had she really been covering battles that long?

When she returned to the States from her second trip to Viet Nam she was informed that National Geographic was going to run her story, "Helicopter War In South Vietnam". It would be the cover story and would mark the first time a combat ready Marine was shown in South Viet Nam.

With the Gulf Of Tonkin resolution in 1964, American involvement in Viet Nam increased dramatically. Dickey was busy on the lecture circuit telling America that "this was the right war at the right time" – a rebuttal to the argument against U.S. involvement in the Korean War. She made her pitch for thirty thousand more Green Berets to act as advisors to Vietnamese units. "They're good soldiers but they need leadership." It seemed she was ready to do battle with everyone. She lambasted the American government for censorship of reporting from Viet Nam and was still criticizing America's mothers for raising sons that were too soft. It was almost as if she had a premonition that her time was short and she needed to get her opinions aired.

By August '64, Dickey had another National Geographic assignment. Fly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. At the time Dickey was recovering from surgery on both kneecaps. She wanted it kept secret lest her jumping privileges be canceled. Wallace Greene told National Geographic that Dickey's injuries happened because she injured her knees jumping with the Army Airborne. Had she jumped with the Marines, her injuries would never have happened.

In preparation for her next Southeast Asia visit, Dickey would begin an exercise regimen that would leave much younger people gasping. She worked out with weights and ran two miles a day. When she landed in Laos in October of '64, ready for her visit to the Ho Chi Minh Trail, she felt ready for anything.

It was the time of suicidal monks burning themselves to death, and her family at home began to worry. Viet Nam seemed so unstable. Dickey reassured them by downplaying the danger.

Navy Lieutenant Meyerkord

It was during this trip to Viet Nam that she met Naval Lieutenant, Harold Dale Meyerkord, who had become a legend training the Vietnamese. She spent a lot of time with Meyerkord in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. They soon became kindred spirits. Meyerkord gave credit to Dickey for saving his life when she warned him of a Viet Cong Ambush by firing her carbine. Of Meyerkord, she would simply say, "He is a man." She became angry when another reporter was seemingly competing for the Meyerkord story. The reporter apologized, explaining to Dickey that he admired her work. "I think she was in love with the guy (Meyerkord), not in a sexual way but more like hero worship." Later the young reporter gave Dickey credit for helping him in his work. "Photographers just didn't help each other – it was very competitive." He remembered telling Dickey how he hated traveling in choppers and boats because of the danger. Dickey reminded him that foot patrols were the most dangerous.

Lieutenant Meyerkord had forecast his own death. He said it would be on patrol in the Mekong. Three months later his forecast came true. Dickey would write, "The audacious, ebullient Lieutenant Meyerkord – husband, father, leader and teacher of men – dead of a bullet in the brain on the bank of a muddy canal." She wrote a letter of condolence to Meyerkord's widow, the fourteenth such letter she'd written. Meyerkord was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross.

Dickey came home to Milwaukee in January of 1965 and immediately took to the lecture circuit, trying to explain Viet Nam and why we should be there. She further cautioned that the war was being lost. She ran into her first protesters at the University of Wisconsin. She was stunned, and in her now raspy voice, due to too many years of heavy smoking, told them that Hanoi loved what they were doing. As she was leaving, she said, "I could turn those kids around, just give me a couple of weeks." A couple of days later in a Television studio, she was asked what the country should do about Viet Nam. She yelled out, "Win the war!"

National Geographic turned down her request to do another story on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In a seeming backhand the editor said that "She was never really that good and she really had to hustle to keep the work coming." But then he admitted, "She would stick with a story for two or three months where another reporter wouldn't stick two days, and she would bring back the facts, no matter what." One wonders how that editor could say that Dickey Chapelle "wasn't very good".

In September of 1965, Dickey was given an assignment by the National Observer to follow a group of Marine recruits from basic training to Viet Nam. All of her problems suddenly vanished. She was back with her beloved Marines.

No doubt because of her outspokenness about censorship, Dickey had a problem getting a visa for Viet Nam. So she called on her friend, General Wallace Greene. She was ushered into his office neatly dressed and carrying her Australian bush hat. Greene looked at the hat and shook his head. Dickey was puzzled and asked, "What is it sir?" "I don't see any Marine insignia there, aren't we tough enough for you?" "Oh, no sir, it's not that." Greene removed his Marine insignia from his collar and gave it to Dickey. She was speechless with a look of wonderment. "You're giving this to me sir?" Greene smiled, "I don't think anybody will mind." As Dickey attached the insignia to her hat Greene asked, "Why are you going back to Viet Nam?" "Well sir, the Marines are there and I'm looking forward to covering them."

Dickey left Greene's office in the company of a Sergeant she'd known for years, who said, "I didn't have a good feeling about this trip and I could tell she didn't either."

Maybe for that reason, Dickey made one last trip home to Milwaukee, something she didn't always do.

Dickey landed in Saigon in October, 1965, soon to join the Marines she'd just seen through boot camp. The American presence was everywhere, things looked so different.

Those who knew Dickey thought she looked different too. She was more haggard, always had a Pall Mall between her fingers and had a bad smokers cough. More than one thought "isn't she getting too old for this?"

On 23 October 1965, Dickey set off with a combined ARVN/Marine force on Operation Red Snapper, a search and destroy mission. As she marched, she talked into her tape recorder. "If there are bogeymen here, I have no fear as long as I'm in this company."

On 4 November 1965, Dickey was walking behind a Lieutenant when he hit the trip wire of a booby trap. The blast hit several people but the only one mortally wounded was Correspondent Dickey Chapelle, the only woman correspondent ever killed in combat. As they knelt over her shrapnel riddled body, someone heard her say, "I guess it was bound to happen".

General Walt at dedication plaque

Dickey Chapelle was cremated and brought home to Milwaukee. A Marine honor guard performed at her funeral, an unusual tribute for a civilian and especially for a woman. One of the honor guard had been on the same patrol as Dickey and would be immediately returning to Viet Nam.

The Marine Sergeant who had walked out of General Greene's office with her attended the funeral along with an Editor from National Geographic. On the grave site was a bunch of roses in the name of the Hungarian freedom fighters. One red rose wrapped in a white ribbon said simply – "Tony". Taps were sounded.

On 4 November 1966, General Lewis Walt came to the village of Chu Lai, South Viet Nam to dedicate the Dickey Chapelle Memorial Dispensary. On a marble plaque was this inscription:

To the memory of Dickey Chapelle, War Correspondent, killed in action near here on 4 November 1965. She was one of us and we will miss her.

As General Walt stood there, he remembered Dickey's words: "When I die, I want it to be on patrol with the United States Marines."

She'd gotten her wish.

other combat journalists in Vietnam

http://www.armchairg...p?t=78199&pp=40

Edited September 13, 2012 by Robert Howard