Bradford P. Angers' story -- any other background?

[Paul Trejo]

In Dick Russell's influential book, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1992, 2003), his few pages on Larrie Schmidt, using memoirs from Bradford P. Angers, differs in his two editions.

In his 1992 edition Bradford P.Angers suggests that Robbie Schmidt joined Oswald to shoot at Walker on 10 April 1963.

In his 2003 edition, Bradford P.Angers suggests that Larrie Schmidt joined Oswald to shoot at Walker on 10 April 1963.

Would someone please help explain this discrepancy?

Also, Larrie Schmidt insists that he first time he met Bradford P. Angers was in 1964, and not in 1963, as Dick Russell's report of Angers allegation implies.

Is there any other source to this sensational story than Bradford P. Angers? How reliable is Angers' account, according to various researchers?

The HSCA concluded that Oswald had accomplices in his role in the JFK assassination -- but the HSCA could not determine who those accomplices were. I'm also convinced that Oswald had accomplices.

The DPD official reports indicate that Oswald had accomplices in shooting at ex-General Edwin Walker on 10 April 1963.

Occam's Razor suggests that Oswald's accomplices in the first shooting could have been Oswald's accomplices in the second shooting. That's why I think it is worthwhile trying to track down other sources for Dick Russell's allegations of Bradford P. Angers' allegations.

Any clues or threads would be appreciated.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

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Edited January 6, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

Since there are no replies, I'll add some context.

First, my interview with Larrie Schmidt that started on July 16th was a major flop. He promised me "the scoop of a lifetime" and instead took a long time to basically repeat what LIFE magazine had already published in 1965, adding some defensive remarks about that article.

So, for those who saw that article, you have all the basic facts relevant to this Forum.

At the end of the interview I told Larrie Schmidt that I didn't wish to pursue a defense of his CUSA episode, but would prefer that he come forward with more detail about some of the characters that the Warren Commission finds him hanging around, e.g. Robert Allen Surrey, a member of the American Nazi Party, and ex-General Edwin Walker, fomenter of the race riots at Ole Miss on 9/30/1962.

Mr. Schmidt was unwilling to discuss this, and was unhappy that I would even ask such a question. He stopped all further interviews and threatened to sue me if I printed any of the information that he sent me over the past two months -- yet as I said, there was nothing new in that information anyway, so it's a moot threat. If you've seen the LIFE article, and have read all the Warren Commission documents, you have more than Larrie Schmidt told me, because he was fuzzy on the Warren Commission facts, anyway.

Anyway, we agreed to part ways.

At the end, however, I was intrigued by his explicit origination of the same suspicion that Gerry Patrick Hemming had made on this Forum some years ago -- namely, he suspected that ex-General Walker had deliberately fabricated his own 10 April 1963 shooting.

I have never accepted that theory -- but since Hemming said it, and since Schmidt admitted suspecting it at one time, it now makes me wonder.

Dick Russell openly stated that Bradford P. Angers refused to name the person whom he suspected joined Oswald in the 10 April 1963 shooting -- and then he carefully described Larrie Schmidt in fine detail -- but he didn't name him. So, Dick Russell has an excuse for the guesswork that his book, TMWKTM (1992, 2003) made of this theory. I won't pursue Dick Russell's claim without more facts -- which are obviously not forthcoming.

I no longer believe Larrie Schmidt's CUSA was anything more than five Keystone Kop youths who fancied themselves political masterminds. Clearly over their heads in Dallas, they became seriously exploited by forces far bigger than they ever dreamed. The naivete we encounter in Bernie Weissman's testimony to the Warren Commission sums it up rather well. Perhaps Bernie was really the smartest one of the lot.

However -- the suspicion by both Hemming and Schmidt that ex-General Walker staged his own 10 April 1963 shooting has finally succeeded in intriguing me.

(1) First and foremost, it means to me that Walker knew Lee Harvey Oswald before April of 1963.

(2) If so, then Walker lied under oath everytime he told the Warren Commission that the first time he ever saw Oswald was on the news on 22 November 1963.

(3) If so, then we must combine this premise with the fact that the HSCA concluded in 1979 that Oswald certainly had accomplices.

(4) Now add the likelihood that the accomplices on 10 April 1963 were the same accomplices that Oswald had in 22 November 1963.

(5) The conclusion is stunningly simple: if ex-General Walker staged his own shooting on 10 April 1963, then Walker himself becomes a likely accomplice of Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassination of JFK.

(6) This, obviously, would explain why Walker would lie so often to the Warren Commission.

Now we need to find out what Lee Harvey Oswald was doing at ex-General Walker's US Day rally on 23 October 1963, just one day before the mean-spirited attacks on Ambassador Adlai Stevenson's UN Day rally on 24 October 1963 -- on the very same stage (the Dallas Memorial Auditorium).

Maybe Lee Harvey Oswald was playing Michael Paine for a sap. Maybe, while pretending to spy on the right, as Michael Paine admitted doing in his own Warren Commission testimony -- maybe Lee Harvey Oswald was really supporting ex-General Walker, and spying on the left.

The possibilities go on and on.

Finally, this train of thought again once confirms (although quite unintentionally) Harry Dean's claim that in September, 1963, he saw and heard ex-General Walker propose to the John Birch Society in Southern California that they exploit Lee Harvey Oswald in their JFK plot.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

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Edited September 21, 2012 by Paul Trejo

[William O'Neil]

Paul, Did you come across evidence that Larrie actually knew Robert Alan Surrey, if so where?

Thanks

-Bill

[Paul Trejo]

Paul, Did you come across evidence that Larrie actually knew Robert Alan Surrey, if so where?

Thanks

-Bill

Bill, I apologize for taking so long to reply to your excellent question. Yes, Larrie Schmidt told me that he knew Robert Allen Surrey in the following context:

(1) Larrie met Surrey in the context of John Birch Society activites following a party given by Robert Morris, the attorney of ex-General Edwin Walker.

(2) Larrie's brother, Robbie Schmidt, had recently been honorably discharged from the US Army in 1963, and was looking for a job. Robbie's job in the Army was acting as an Aide to a US General. Larrie mentioned this to a friend during or around a John Birch Society gathering.

(3) This friend told Robert Allen Surrey about Larrie's brother, Robbie.

(4) Robert Allen Surrey, at that time, was a conitnual associate of ex-General Edwin Walker, and basically created the American Eagle Publishing Company (AEPC) inside ex-General Walker's home at 4011 Turtle Creek Boulevard in Dallas. The booklets and other materials sold through the mail were mailed from Walker's home. Walker used one of the bedrooms in his spacious house as a warehouse for the printed matter.

(5) Robert Allen Surrey was the President of AEPC, but he took no salary. He also had his offices there at 4011 Turtle Creek Boulevard, along with Walker's long-time volunteer secretary, Julia Knecht. When Walker was away on long trips (with segregationist Reverend Billy James Hargis) Robert Allen Surrey and Julia Knecht would still remain at the home office.

(6) At a certain time in 1963 (Larrie could not remember the month, but he was certain it was after April 10th, when somebody took a pot-shot at Walker at his home) Robert Allen Surrey called Larrie and told him that ex-General Walker was looking for a General's Aide to work for room and board and a small stipend.

(6.1) The Aide's main duties would be to drive the ex-General around town, and also use the ex-General's car to run errands, pick up visitors from Love Field, and the like. Surrey had heard about Robbie Schmidt, and asked Larrie if Robbie might be interested.

(7) Larrie Schmidt called Robbie that same day and told him the good news -- he found Robbie a job.

(8) Robbie Schmidt came to Dallas right away, and began working for ex-General Walker right way. Aside from room and board, his monthly stipend was perhaps $20.

(9) Larrie Schmidt told CUSA that he personally installed Robbie Schmidt as Walker's chauffeur for the purpose of "spying" on ex-General Walker (and he also told this to LIFE magazine in 1965).

(10) Actually, Larrie told me, Robbie never spied on Walker, nor would he do so under his military ethics. Robbie was not interested in politics in the slightest. He liked his job, he liked living at Walker's house, and he was comfortable in this Army type of environment.

(11) Such exaggeration (or BS) was common with Larrie, the advertising copy writer, in his letters to CUSA. Bernie Weissman's WC testimony is my evidence in this regard.

(12) After that moment, as Larrie told me, he saw Robert Allen Surrey at several social/political functions, typically for the John Birch Society throughout 1963. They were on friendly terms all year, until the JFK assassination. .

(13) When I told Larrie that Robert Allen Surrey was also a publisher for the American Nazi Party (ANP) he acted surprised. Larrie told me that Surrey never mentioned that to him, ever. Nor did Surrey tell anybody that Larrie knew, or Larrie would have heard of it through the grapevine. Surrey probably kept it very secret, because most convervatives, like Larrie, tended to despise Nazis.

(14) So, according to Larrie Schmidt in 2012, he had no idea that his regular associate, Robert Allen Surrey, was a card-carrying member of the Nazi Party. Aside from small talk, they only talked about John Birch Society activities. Larrie never asked Surrey about ex-General Edwin Walker.

(15) Robbie Schmidt never volunteered any interesting information about ex-General Walker. At least, that's what Larrie was willing to tell me.

(16) After the JFK assassination, when the right-wing abandoned CUSA en masse, Larrie Schmidt never saw Robert Allen Surrey again -- to the best of my knowledge.

Best regards,

--Paul Trejo

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Edited December 9, 2012 by Paul Trejo