Thomas Thompson's interview with Marina Oswald

[John Simkin]

In Philip Kunhardt’s book, Life in Camelot: The Kennedy Years (1988), he claims that Thomas Thompson, a journalist working for Life Magazine, interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife and mother before the Dallas police reached them after his arrest (pages 13-14). Has anyone else heard this story? If true, does it suggest that the journalist was aware of Oswald’s existence before the assassination?

[Robert Howard]

I think the word "before" is a reach. According to Marguerite Oswald's Warren Commission Testimony, she stated Marina and herself stayed with him the night of November 23, 1963. [WC Vol 1 testimony of Marguerite Oswald page 151] I am of the viewpoint that being a Time-Life representative, the two Mrs. Oswald's might as well have had a Dallas policeman sheltering them. Which for some reason reminds me of a variable or perhaps not. The author of Dallas, Public and Private, Warren Leslie had Yakeo Okui living with him in the spring of 1963 see CD 932. The irony is that Warren Leslie was the Vice-President of P.R. for Neiman-Marcus, and when World of Fashion publisher Igor Cassini sent his emissary to Dallas, Alfred Davidson, Jr., the person Davidson contacted [ostensibly via telephone] who was ultimately responsible for Ruby calling Davidson, was the credit manager for Neiman Marcus, William Cofer, who subsequently died eight days before President Kennedy was assassinated. It is part of the factual record that the Warren Commission went to quite a bit of effort to obscure the fact that Cofer was the cog that connected Cassini to Ruby. Neiman Marcus VP and attorney, Robert M. Jeffrey stated in July 1964, that if any Neiman-Marcus employees, [especially in the Credit Department] knew Jack Ruby he would have known of it.....See below document page 62, and the notation "copies destroyed."

https://www.maryferr....do?docId=57062

It is also not irrelevant that RFK had authorized an investigation of Cassini prior to the assassination. I certainly do not follow the line of thought that Igor Cassini was "behind" the JFK assassination, but more of a cog in the multi-spoked wheel, political assassinations by their very nature are complex just as black-ops are, multi-layered, complex, whatever you want to call it.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Robert Howard

[Guest Tom Scully]

Robert, is it better to read complaints posted by other members who claim they have difficulty following/understanding,

but who then ask no questions, or merely to attract no responses?

From Tom Scully's initial post.

Ragen knew not only the Capone outfit in Chicago but gamblers and

mob bosses all over the country, "including Annenberg's close friend,

Meyer Lansky."

We learn from the diaries of the late journalist Drew Pearson that it

was Pearson who had persuaded Ragen, one month before his death, (Drew

Pearson's words, published in 1974):

"to meet with the FBI. I sold the idea to Tom Clark, then Attorney

General, and the FBI interviewed Ragen at great length. They brough

back a multitude of tips, leads, and evidence. Tom Clark told me

afterward that it led to very high places. J. Edgar Hoover intimated

the same thing. He said the people Ragen pointed to had now reformed.

I learned later that it pointed to the Hilton Hotel chain, HENRY

CROWN, the big Jewish financier in Chicago [involved in Cook County

real estate deals with Jake Arvey, the local Democratic Party Boss],

and Walter Annenberg [son of the prewar wire-service owner Moe

Annenberg]."

The liberal Pearson's information is partly cooroborated by the right

wing crime writers Lait and Mortimer, who reported that HENRY CROWN

bankrolled Jake Arvey in real estate, just as he put up $3 million for

Conrad Hilton to purchase the Waldorf Astoria. "The syndicate", they

noted elsewher, "owns a controlling interest in three of the most

importand hotel chains in the country."

Robert: An excellent post obviously, and as such, was not forgotten by myself........

What follows is pretty much "in the mind of the beholder."

But first, I wanted to preface my post of a 1963 in Mexico related factoid

to another interesting angle to Mexico before the assassination.

We know that Thomas Arthur Vallee was in Mexico prior to the assassination

of JFK, and if one reads James W Douglass' JFK and The Unspeakable,

dispassionately, at least the author makes a very good case for being to Chicago,

what Lee Harvey Oswald was to Dallas.

Even going as far as to note that an informant named "Lee" provided information

relating to events in that city that were transmitted to Chicago Police Lt. Berkeley Morland

which, in effect, compromised, if not completely derailed the Chicago plot.

Imagine my surprise when I read the following document entitled

CABLE REQUESTING NAME CHECK ON EDWIN ARVEY

http://www.maryferre....do?docId=41514

This document is dated October 9, 1963, which is six days after Lee Harvey

Oswald ostensibly, crossed the border back into the United States from Mexico.

The document reads

ODENVY HAS REQUESTED TRACES ON EDWIN ARVEY U S CITIZEN BELIEVED TO BE IN MEXICO. HE IS SON OF JAKE ARVEY NOTORIOUS CHICAGO POLITICIAN. REQUEST STATION TRACES ONLY.

Obviously, believed to be is not the same as "is," but nevertheless, is an interesting cable to say the least.

On another somewhat similar note, there is another obscure connection, that would probably make Bruce Campbell

Adamson blush, concerning something of an Oleg Cassini connection to Alfred Davidson, Jr., who was in Dallas, Texas circa September, October 1963

promoting a radio show called "The World of Fashion."

And what a small world it was, as later Davidson wound up hobnobbing with Jack Ruby, who "extended every hospitality" to Alfred.

See

http://www.maryferre...5&relPageId=394

Take note that the introduction to Jack although via telephone, was due to the efforts of the Credit Manager of Neiman Marcus, who is, of course, unnamed.

Seven days before the assassination of President Kennedy, an obituary for William Cofer, a credit manager for Neiman Marcus, appeared in the Dallas Morning News.

See

November 15, 1963 DMN "Rites Planned Saturday For W.F. Cofer."

Mysterious Death? Guess you would have had to have been there......

The funny thing about all this is that we haven't even discussed Charles the "Babe" Baron.

Charles "Babe" Baron was an organized crime figure in Chicago, Illinois, who, owning a successful car dealership as well as holding the rank of Brigadier-General in the Illinois National Guard, and was involved in illegal gambling as a handbook operator for the Chicago Outfit.

Along with Dave Yaras and Lenny Patrick, Baron served as a protege to Democratic Party ward boss Jacob Arvey. Baron was an associate of Meyer Lansky. He was also a close associate of Patrick Hoy, a Henry Crown employee of General Dynamics who was later able to arrange a job for Sidney Korshak at the Hilton Hotels.

Twice arrested for murder, including that of bootlegger James Walsh, whom he shot and killed following a prize fight in 1929, and of North Side Gang financier 'Smiling' Gus Winkler, on October 9, 1933, Baron was identified as an associate of John Roselli during the Kefauver Hearings, in the 1950s.

It is alleged that “according to Jack Ruby and Baron associate Tony Zoppi, Baron knew U.S. Air Force General Curtis LeMay.”

A former general manager of the Havana Riviera in pre-revolutionary Cuba, Baron was one of the first to be granted a gaming license by the Gaming Control Act, in 1960, and served as the official greeter of the Sands Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, under Joseph "Doc" Stacher.

In fact, Peter Dale Scott provided a wealth of information regarding Reserve General Charles Baron, Scott wrote in Deep Politics and The Death of JFK that in the mid 1950’s the Havana Sans-Souci casino “was operated by Dave Yaras and Lenny Patrick, the suspected killers of James Ragen, also at this time [John] Roselli’s most constant companion was “Major” Charles

“Babe” Baron.“ It almost goes without saying that Lewis McWillie knew both Dino Cellini and Jake Lansky, which makes the allegation that the son of Jake Arvey was thought by the CIA to be in Mexico in October 1963 even more compelling.

See page 179, Deep Politics and The Death of JFK.

"Thus, although Peter Janney was very skeptical about Damore's claims regarding Mary Meyer's alleged "assassin William Mitchell," he instantly regarded Damore's claims about Mary taking LSD with JFK etc. as "facts"..- Culto, 25 October, 2012

Dawn, don't you see what Janney has done? He could have written about the mystery of the century, and instead, he wrote a gossipy piece of trash intended to shield his actual background and intimate knowledge.

(quote)http://educationforu...67

Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary ... - Google Books Result

books.google.com/books?isbn=162087282X... Peter Janney - 2012 - Biography & Autobiography

"....The youngest of six children of a wealthy, prominent investment banker, my

father was raised in Bryn Mawr on Philadelphia's Main Line. His given name at

birth, resembling an almost royal title, was Frederick Wistar Morris Janney.

To his close friends, immediate colleagues, and family, he was "Wistar," or

"Wis." ....

...He had not had a chance to reconcile with his father, who died

unexpectedly just a few days before the largest naval battle in history. the

father-son duo had remained estranged, despite the fact that Wistar's

father--Walter Coggleshall Janney--knew that his time was near...." (/quote)

Two Will Go East And Be Ushers At Society Weddings .

‎Milwaukee Journal - Oct 24, 1940

What on earth were Janney's uncle Frank and his close friend, Roswell Gilpatric thinking, when they "negotiated" this "deal"?

Compare the numbers of the two companies. Frank Pace gave Henry Crown 16 percent of General Dynamics in exchange for Crown's Material Service, with net profits of just $7 million in the year Frank Pace became interested in making a deal.:

Arkansas Prodigy; Frank Pace Jr. Sports Enthusiast

New York Times - May 2, 1957

https://lh4.googleus...1957NYTimes.jpg

Firm .

The Day - Nov 21, 1958

Henry Crown whose varied ac tivities include ownership of the Empire State Building in New York. Colonel Crown is a vice presi dent of Hilton Hotels Corp. and a director and....Material Service, which has only 200 shareholders, had 1957 sales of $103,405.938 and net income of $7,142.166.

Personality: A Colonel Upholds Autonomy; Henry Crown Heads...

‎New York Times - Feb 21, 1960

Henry Crown of Chicago's Material Service Corporation is a man who started ... of building materials, was merged into the General Dynamics Corporation six weeks ago... "with General Dynamics I hope to become interested in their situation purely as a di- rector, not as an officer. I'll continue to operate Material Service. I have no plans for it other than to continue building the company.

It now is an au- tonomous operation of General Dynamics.

"Nothing has changed as a result of the merger except that we have three directors on the General Dynamics eighteen-man board. For our stock in Ma- terial Service we have received a preference issue of General Dynamics that eventually can be converted into a 16 percent common stock interest."

HOTEL MAN IN NEW POST; Hoy Becoming President of Material...

New York Times - Mar 31, 1960

His appointment was announced jointly yesterday by Frank Pace Jr., chairman of General Dynamics, and Henry Crown, chairman of Material Service. Mr. Hoy had been scheduled to move to New York as presi-j dent of Zeckendorf Hotels Corporation, which recently acquired the Sherman and Ambassador' Hotels.

Crown's Material Service Corp. was a worthless shell. Crown immediately brought in Chicago mob affiliated Patrick Hoy, an executive with no experience related to his new responsibilities, and Frank Pace gave his approval.

Uhhh... if I had this much JFK Assassination related coincidence in my background, I'd probably do the same thing Peter Janney has attempted.... author a disinformation, deflection "tell all" book, right from the desk of a privileged insider, a man in the know!

Fat chance..... Peter Janney does not mention his Aunt Peggy and Uncle Frank Pace.

I think it is a mistake to approach the Time-Life "purchase" of the Zapruder film and the TFX scandal as unrelated events. TFX was at the time the most expensive single government contract in the history of the world. Frank Pace and Maurice T. Moore were two of the most trusted Henry Luce associates. It was and is a fact it is impossible to determine the reach and the influence of LCN in our American society, so maybe it was just easier to ignore LCN taint on the FBI, DOJ, Supreme Court, WC, the U.S. presidency, the business community, and of defense contractors.

DID McNAMARA WEEP AT QUIZ?

‎

Chicago Tribune - Mar 23, 1963

"My 12-year-old-son came home from school and asked me, 'When are you going to say to the people you are not a crook?'" McNamara's defense of the contract .

Maybe "Bob" should have been asked by senators during the McClellan inquiry how Patrick Hoy and Henry Crown of General Dynamics could have possibly been cleared for top security clearances by FBI or DOD investigators?

Did Roz Gilpatric knowingly saddle General Dynamics with the assetless shell of a company Atty. Harry Booth, in 1963 exposed LCN financier, Henry Crown's Material Service Corp. to actually be, in exchange for 20 percent of General Dynamics' stock?

Chicago Tribune - Nov 19, 1963

Gilpatric insists that his service with Dynamics dealt almost exclusively with its merger with the Material Service corporation of Chicago....

http://educationforu...ndpost&p=180439

...Crown was to grow up to become the greatest exponent of sand and gravel in the world— virtually

transforming sanitary district sand piles and quarries into gold mines.

"Henry Crown," said Booth, "views the Sanitary District as a small subsidiary of

Material Service Corporation." From the mid 1920s to the early 1940s, Crown purchased nearly 1000

acres of district land through nominees — Benjamin Z. Gould, general counsel of MSC,

and one Clarence R. Serb — without competitive bidding, paying an average of $64 an acre.

These vast holdings, plus another 420 acres held under long-term leases negotiated mostly in the 1950s, literally formed the foundation of MSC. These properties had mountains of earth and rock deposits on their surface (spoil banks rich in limestone used for crushed rock and cement) which were the residue from channel widening and deepening at the turn of the century. They saved MSC the expense of quarrying for years. In his complaint, Booth pointed out that "none of the leases approved by the Trustees authorized Material Service Corporation to engage in excavation of sand, gravel, or other materials from below the surface of the ground. On information and belief Material Service Corporation has engaged in extensive excavating operations and removed enormous quantities of sand, gravel, limestone and other materials from below the surface of the ground which it has sold. . .[obtaining] large revenues . . . and has unjustly and unlawfully enriched itself thereby.

. . . All such acts and operations . . .

are illegal and beyond the power granted . . . under the laws of the State of Illinois. ...

From time to time Material Service Corporation has also been granted sub-leases

and short-term leases also at inadequate rentals as well as buy the right to take other spoil banks at nominal prices. ....

.........

(quote name='Tom Scully' date='15 December 2011 - 09:53 AM' timestamp='1323942805' post='240950']

Only one, oh really?

https://www.google.c...iw=1280&bih=783

Frank Pace Jr. Joins Time Inc. Directors

‎

Hartford Courant - Apr 25, 1960

Frank Pace Jr., chairman ot the board and chief executive officer ot General Dynamics ... A joint announcement from Time Inc. Editor-in-Chief Henry R. Luce and. ...

https://www.google.c...iw=1280&bih=783

Luce Aides: 'No Drastic Changes'; 3 He Picked to Run Empire...

‎

New York Times - Mar 6, 1967

Luce last Monday, the day before he died in Phoenix, Ariz. ... Paul G. Hoffman, Samuel Meek, Maurice T. Moore and Frank Pace Jr. ' Mr. Luce, who was also on .

https://www.google.c...iw=1280&bih=781

Evidence Implies Order Expected by Dynamics

‎

Hartford Courant - Nov 21, 1963

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate probers produced evidence Wednesday that a top executive of the General Dynamics Corp., claimed "reasonably strong indications" far in advance that the firm would win the huge, disputed TFX warplane... tract. Frank Pace, who has since resigned, was named as the . Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell L. Gilpatric, testifying before the Senate Investigations subcommittee, swor he had no idea where Pace could have received such information.

Former Legal Adviser

Gilpatric is a former legal adviser to General Dynamics whose role in the TFX contract negotiations is under senatorial fire. He described Pacej as his close friend. Earlier in the day. Chairman John L. McClellan. D-Ark., told Gilpatric that he should have disqualified himself from having anything to do with the contract award, to avoid any possible allegations of conflict of in-i terest. I The subcommittee is investi-. gation whether favoritism' steered the contract to General Dynamics last December. Gilpatric and others in the Defense Department's civilian command overruled military I evaluations that a rival design and bid by the Boeing Co. of Seattle promised a better, cheaper version. Costly Project

The Pentagon estimates the TFX project will cost between $5 billion and $7.5 billion. This would make it the largest in Pentagon history .

I The subcommittee produced a! document dated "July 1961" in! which Pace, top official of Gen-; eral Dynamics' Fort Worth, \ Tex., division, told its top management: "There are reasonably strong

indications that Fort Worth's proposed -: ration offers the only approach] that can satisfy both Air Force and Navy requirements" for (or the TFX. ! McClellan said this was "a, month and seven days" before the Pentagon had even complet-1 ed a statement of design re-! " Where," he demanded, "was the source of these reasonably strong indications?

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

(/quote]

This is only the second time this year that a trashy but celebrated literary "work" intended to be embarrassing to the JFK presidency

has emerged, and just as Mimi Alford could be linked to David Rockefeller through her best friend, Marnie Stuart Pillsbury, so too can Peter Janney be linked to David Rockefeller via Janney's uncle, Frank Pace, Jr.

...........

[Guest Robert Morrow]

Marguerite Oswald on the likelihood her son Lee Harvey Oswald was U.S. intelligence

“We are a patriotic family. All my three children volunteered for service in the armed forces. Lee wanted to enlist in the Marines at sixteen years old – he was rejected as being too young. But he was a member of the Cadet Aviation Corps, and they wanted to make him a pilot – the American Air Force doesn’t normally recruit young people whose patriotism is in doubt. An officer often came by the house to talk to Lee. That’s how he came to read Das Kapital; but at the same time he learned by heart the big wordy manual, The Perfect Marine. At seventeen, he enlisted, and his letters said he was happy. He was decorated. He did not receive a medal for being a sharp-shooter; it was his battalion which received that distinction … but the police and the press lied, making the world believe that my son was a champion rifle-shot.

“I am sure that the Marines trained Lee to be a secret agent. True, he did not tell me so, nor does anyone say so today. But since when did secret agents tell their mothers what they were doing? Or the secret services acknowledge their members?

“Lee was never in contact with the Communists. If he became a Marxist, it was because the Marines made a Marxist of him …

“Lee decided all in a minute to go to Russia … as if he’d received an order. He, always so truthful with me, told me that he was going to get on a cargo-boat for Europe. How could he, in the two days he stayed with me after leaving the military base, have arranged so quickly to get a passport, a Soviet visa and a passage to Russia?

[Nerin Gun, “Red Roses From Texas” p. 206]