Paul Trejo Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) Just for balance I should probably note that I think Somersett was reliable on some things, he certainly was on a Miami PD sting on a gun buy to kill MLK, but you have to keep in mind that he had been outed by none other than JB Stoner as an FBI source early on, well before 63. Stoner had cautioned those hanging with him about what to say and to give him only misleading information. In fact so much misleading info was passed to him (he continued to pass on everything he heard) - that ultimately the FBI dropped him as a credible source. That doesn't mean it isn't worth following what he was passing on but you have to weigh that against Stoners warning and the fact that Somersett was given information that would not pan out upon investigation so as to discredit him as a credible source to the FBI. Anyone with a copy of AGOG can see how much Stu and I wrestled when to use his info and when it was dubious. Well, Larry, regarding your 2012 book, AGOG (The Awful Grace of God: Religious Terrorism, White Supremacy, and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King Jr.), I find many similarities with this new book by Jeff Caufield. It's worthwhile to note some similarities at this point. First, the MLK murder, like the JFK murder, has not been satisfactorily solved in the opinions of scholarly persons. Secondly, the MLK murder and the JFK murder occurred during the peak of the Cold War, when the 1960's Civil Rights movement confused the issues due to the fact that the Radical Right (and even the Moderate Right) in the USA feared that the Civil Rights movement was being controlled by the Communists. J. Edgar Hoover himself was afraid that MLK was Communist influenced, and said so. It is not very surprising that the Segregation/Integration issue in Public Schools is still controversial to this day. Modern attacks on the US Public School system begin with these attacks on the Brown Decision of 1954, and related bussing initiatives. Voucher systems and many other alternatives have been aggressively promoted even in recent times. This suggests that Conservative and even high-placed people in the USA could have been at some level involved in the Anticommunist wing of politics in 1963, and might even be implicated with the JFK KIllers -- at least by name -- if the facts were allowed to hit the newspapers willy nilly. It's been a half-century and the US Government is still holding onto Top Secret documents with regard to the JFK murder (and evidently with regard to the MLK murder). Your book, AGOG, written with Stuart Wexler, with a foreword by Gerald McNight, addresses these same issues and offers a special focus on Willie Somersett and Joseph Milteer. The Somersett/Milteer angle is a third feature that your 2012 book shares with Jeff Caufield's new book. For this reason, I'm going to dust off my copy of AGOG for review within the context of the current thread, because clearly Jeff Caufield will retain Joseph Milteer as a central character throughout his long narrative on General Walker. Regards, --Paul Trejo Edited October 26, 2015 by Paul Trejo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Hancock Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 There is no doubt that we took a close look at some of the same figures Paul, albeit with a different purpose. We also spent a lot of time on how the really dangerous ultra right groups operated - well compartmentalized from the ones you normally hear about because they talked but usually didn't act. I would also point out that both Stu and I felt that there was a serious ultra right NSRP goal of assassinating JFK and other leaders as well as Jewish financial figures. You probably recall there was an NSRP threat out of San Antonio reported to the SS during the Texas trip. The problem is that making the argument that those same people actually conducted the attack in Dallas is different than the argument that they wanted to and talked doing it...both messages that Sommersett and Milteer would readily have picked up through gossip within the ultra right network. But conspiracy to commit is not the same as accessories to the act and there were individuals such as H.L. Hunt who were rightly worried that some of their associates had been behind the assassination, they had no way of knowing for sure, simply that they had encouraged something of that nature. In any event, anyone who does have AGOG might want to refresh their memory on our research as they venture into any discussion of Sommersett and Milteer - don't know if Stoner comes up in his book but that was one deadly guy, who was extremely sophisticated in his plans and had a history of getting away with attacks of various sorts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Paul - Hoover, and the NSRP, weren't afraid that the Civil Rights movement was controlled by Communists. They were just against the Civil Rights movement, and hid behind anti-communism, using it as a means to an end. That is what makes Hoover's antagonism towards MLK so insidious. The FBI was completely aware of how powerless the U.S. Communists were, and how easy it was to make sure they stayed that way. We would never have had Communism here in the U.S., even if we had elected Wallace and people like Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White had stayed in the post war government. We might have had stronger unions, maybe some infrastructure industries would have become nationalized, perhaps we would have universal health care. But Soviet style communism - no way. And Hoover and Dulles and Nixon and Walker and Banister etc all knew this, unless of course they were stupid, which I admit is possible. All of them were against FDR, against the New Deal. So really, excusing any of their decisions or actions on the basis of fear of Communism is just fakery. Not all of them were racists, though many were, but all of them were right wing elitists, a word now used against lefties more than righties, as per George Orwell. They all believed in their own brand of exceptionalism, and did not believe in real democracy. I fail to understand how anyone can look at the Cold War objectively and not become cynical as to the real reasons we got stuck in the stalemate for so long. I would argue that we are still stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trejo Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) Paul - Hoover, and the NSRP, weren't afraid that the Civil Rights movement was controlled by Communists. They were just against the Civil Rights movement, and hid behind anti-communism, using it as a means to an end. That is what makes Hoover's antagonism towards MLK so insidious. The FBI was completely aware of how powerless the U.S. Communists were, and how easy it was to make sure they stayed that way. We would never have had Communism here in the U.S., even if we had elected Wallace and people like Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White had stayed in the post war government. We might have had stronger unions, maybe some infrastructure industries would have become nationalized, perhaps we would have universal health care. But Soviet style communism - no way. And Hoover and Dulles and Nixon and Walker and Banister etc all knew this, unless of course they were stupid, which I admit is possible. All of them were against FDR, against the New Deal. So really, excusing any of their decisions or actions on the basis of fear of Communism is just fakery. Not all of them were racists, though many were, but all of them were right wing elitists, a word now used against lefties more than righties, as per George Orwell. They all believed in their own brand of exceptionalism, and did not believe in real democracy. I fail to understand how anyone can look at the Cold War objectively and not become cynical as to the real reasons we got stuck in the stalemate for so long. I would argue that we are still stuck. Well, Paul B., it's a mistake, IMHO, to lump together J. Edgar Hoover with the NSRP. I do believe that Hoover was honest with us -- he truly believed that MLK was connected with Communists -- and it drove him to investigate MLK more than any other American citizen in history. My argument comes from FBI Agent Wesley Swearingen, who claims to have evidence that J. Edgar Hoover himself was part Negro. As for the NSRP, I surely agree with you, Paul B., that they didn't care what Communism was or wasn't, as long as they could maintain their traditional Jim Crow status quo. I do believe that. The NSRP attracted the more violent types in politics; the more activists who would shoot first and ask questions later. I think we're seeing hints of that history in Jeff Caufield's new book. As for the alleged "powerlessness" of the US Communists -- we should reconsider that. They always took credit for the end of the Vietnam War -- and some historians give them some credit for that. They weren't powerless. Things were not so black and white as we like to think in retrospect. I also agree with you (as I think you're saying) that without the CPUSA in America we would have had stronger Unions, a stronger Labor voice in government, and generally more progress. The Radical Left like the CPUSA, with their waving of the Communist Manifesto, and calling for the "Abolition" of Private Property, Marriage, Religion and Nationalism, just turned most people off quick. Also, nobody can claim that those who were against FDR's New Deal were effective -- because it still stands to this day. I maintain that Anticommunism was a most confusing issue during the Cold War, and nowhere more than in the Brown Decision. IMHO the Radical Right who opposed the Brown Decision above all else, were the political force that murdered both JFK and MLK. Nor did this have to do with "elitism" or "exceptionalism" or anything but Old-fashioned Racism. The use of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina only this year in a mass murder shows how hard Racism dies. But that's not an American phenomenon alone. The USA has more diversity in racial population than most places on Earth by far. The USSR, for example, used to boast that they solved their Race issue (just as they solved their Alcohol issue). Total lies. Racism in the Russian Empire remained as strong in the 20th century as it had in the 19th century. Regards, --Paul Trejo Edited October 26, 2015 by Paul Trejo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) Paul - Hoover, and the NSRP, weren't afraid that the Civil Rights movement was controlled by Communists. They were just against the Civil Rights movement, and hid behind anti-communism, using it as a means to an end. That is what makes Hoover's antagonism towards MLK so insidious. The FBI was completely aware of how powerless the U.S. Communists were, and how easy it was to make sure they stayed that way. We would never have had Communism here in the U.S., even if we had elected Wallace and people like Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White had stayed in the post war government. We might have had stronger unions, maybe some infrastructure industries would have become nationalized, perhaps we would have universal health care. But Soviet style communism - no way. And Hoover and Dulles and Nixon and Walker and Banister etc all knew this, unless of course they were stupid, which I admit is possible. All of them were against FDR, against the New Deal. So really, excusing any of their decisions or actions on the basis of fear of Communism is just fakery. Not all of them were racists, though many were, but all of them were right wing elitists, a word now used against lefties more than righties, as per George Orwell. They all believed in their own brand of exceptionalism, and did not believe in real democracy. I fail to understand how anyone can look at the Cold War objectively and not become cynical as to the real reasons we got stuck in the stalemate for so long. I would argue that we are still stuck. Significantly, when you make these broad assertions you never quote documentary evidence to support your contentions. Obviously, we all have subjective personal opinions but it is not historically accurate to say that the FBI (as an institution) or that all of its senior officials were "against the civil rights movement". IF you genuinely want people to believe your unkind assertions, then you should demonstrate that you have taken the time to explore, in depth, the background of all the Section Chiefs and supervisory personnel within the various FBI units which had direct responsibility for civil rights matters. In addition, you should prepare a documented paper to substantiate precisely in what ways senior FBI officials (and the FBI as an agency) were "against" our civil rights movement. A major section of that paper should quote extensively from testimony and speeches and articles by senior FBI employees, along with monographs (used internally to train FBI Agents). In addition, it would be hugely important for you to show awareness of research done by well-known historians who have often spent decades researching the FBI, i.e. people like Dr. David J. Garrow ( who has won a Pulitzer-prize for his reporting on our civil rights movement), and Taylor Branch (who spent two decades researching our civil rights movement and then wrote a multi-volume history of it) and, of course, Dr. Athan Theoharis. See if you can get any or all of them to agree with your generalization. Lastly, a major section of your paper should attempt to explain why (if Hoover and other senior FBI officials were so "against" our civil rights movement) then why did they bother to make dozens of speeches around our country before all sorts of civic organizations and in those speeches they explicitly and categorically falsified the major premises of white supremacist organizations such as NSRP and Citizens Councils of America? For example: why would J. Edgar Hoover bother to make the following comment in 1964? “Let me emphasize that the American civil rights movement is not, and has never been dominated by the communists—because the overwhelming majority of civil rights leaders in this country, both Negro and white, have recognized and rejected communism as a menace to the freedoms of all.” [J. Edgar Hoover speech, 12/12/64, Our Heritage of Greatness, pg 7 - Hoover speech before Pennsylvania Society and the Society of Pennsylvania Women; bold emphasis in original document on “not” and “never”] And why would senior FBI officials bother to develop cordial personal relationships with major figures within the civil rights movement like Walter White Jr. (Executive Secretary NAACP) and his successor, Roy Wilkins? And why would the FBI as an institution conclude (in direct opposition to white supremacists and extreme right anti-communist groups) that organizations and institutions such as Highlander Folk School in Monteagle TN (described by extreme rightists as a "Communist training school" and eventually closed by the state of TN) was NOT a Communist created or Communist run or Communist dominated school? And why would the FBI describe the heroes of the white supremacy movement and the major critics of our civil rights movement (such as Sen. James O. Eastland, Senate Internal Security Subcommittee Chairman) as a life-long bigot? And ditto for virtually everybody mentioned in Dr. Jeffrey Caufield's new book i.e. the FBI's files on those persons (and organizations) are almost universally derogatory. Edited October 26, 2015 by Ernie Lazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Paul - Hoover, and the NSRP, weren't afraid that the Civil Rights movement was controlled by Communists. They were just against the Civil Rights movement, and hid behind anti-communism, using it as a means to an end. That is what makes Hoover's antagonism towards MLK so insidious. The FBI was completely aware of how powerless the U.S. Communists were, and how easy it was to make sure they stayed that way. We would never have had Communism here in the U.S., even if we had elected Wallace and people like Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White had stayed in the post war government. We might have had stronger unions, maybe some infrastructure industries would have become nationalized, perhaps we would have universal health care. But Soviet style communism - no way. And Hoover and Dulles and Nixon and Walker and Banister etc all knew this, unless of course they were stupid, which I admit is possible. All of them were against FDR, against the New Deal. So really, excusing any of their decisions or actions on the basis of fear of Communism is just fakery. Not all of them were racists, though many were, but all of them were right wing elitists, a word now used against lefties more than righties, as per George Orwell. They all believed in their own brand of exceptionalism, and did not believe in real democracy. I fail to understand how anyone can look at the Cold War objectively and not become cynical as to the real reasons we got stuck in the stalemate for so long. I would argue that we are still stuck. Well, Paul B., it's a mistake, IMHO, to lump together J. Edgar Hoover with the NSRP. I do believe that Hoover was honest with us -- he truly believed that MLK was connected with Communists -- and it drove him to investigate MLK more than any other American citizen in history. My argument comes from FBI Agent Wesley Swearingen, who claims to have evidence that J. Edgar Hoover himself was part Negro. As for the NSRP, I surely agree with you, Paul B., that they didn't care what Communism was or wasn't, as long as they could maintain their traditional Jim Crow status quo. I do believe that. The NSRP attracted the more violent types in politics; the more activists who would shoot first and ask questions later. I think we're seeing hints of that history in Jeff Caufield's new book. As for the alleged "powerlessness" of the US Communists -- we should reconsider that. They always took credit for the end of the Vietnam War -- and some historians give them some credit for that. They weren't powerless. Things were not so black and white as we like to think in retrospect. I also agree with you (as I think you're saying) that without the CPUSA in America we would have had stronger Unions, a stronger Labor voice in government, and generally more progress. The Radical Left like the CPUSA, with their waving of the Communist Manifesto, and calling for the "Abolition" of Private Property, Marriage, Religion and Nationalism, just turned most people off quick. Also, nobody can claim that those who were against FDR's New Deal were effective -- because it still stands to this day. I maintain that Anticommunism was a most confusing issue during the Cold War, and nowhere more than in the Brown Decision. IMHO the Radical Right who opposed the Brown Decision above all else, were the political force that murdered both JFK and MLK. Nor did this have to do with "elitism" or "exceptionalism" or anything but Old-fashioned Racism. The use of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina only this year in a mass murder shows how hard Racism dies. But that's not an American phenomenon alone. The USA has more diversity in racial population than most places on Earth by far. The USSR, for example, used to boast that they solved their Race issue (just as they solved their Alcohol issue). Total lies. Racism in the Russian Empire remained as strong in the 20th century as it had in the 19th century. Regards, --Paul Trejo You can totally ignore what "Hoover believed" and just focus upon (1) what senior members of the Communist Party believed about Martin Luther King Jr. and (2) what MLK's father said about his own son's beliefs, i.e. that he was a Marxist! Truth, even unpleasant or inconvenient truth, is still truth or reality. There was a legitimate reason for what caused the FBI to be concerned about MLK Jr. or his associations with known CP members. Significantly, the Bureau did NOT concern itself about other major figures within the civil rights movement (such as A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins) -- even though those persons ALSO were described by their detractors as Communist sympathizers or Communist agents or as suspect in terms of their loyalties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trejo Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Proceeding further into Jeffrey Caufield's new book, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy: The Extensive New Evidence of a Radical Right Conspiracy, Chapter 6, Joseph Milteer and the Congress of Freedom, New Orleans 1963, we finally arrive at material that is news to me regarding Somersett and Milteer. In 1963, there were three hardcore Radical Right underground meetings, and Milteer was at all three. Willie Somersett joined Milteer at two, and he reported both to the FBI. The first was held by the "Congress of Freedom," which is the topic of this chapter. The meeting was concerned with Freedom from Racial Integration in the Brown Decision, which they considered Communist and a violation of the US Constitution. Three key groups were involved: the JBS, the Christian Crusade of Reverend Billy James Hargis, and the Liberty Lobby. The "Congress of Freedom," originally formed in 1952 in support of Joe McCarthy, met on the weekend of April 4-6, 1963 in New Orleans at the Fountainbleau Hotel. According to Willie Somersett, the "Congress of Freedom" there revealed plans for the assassination of many political, CFR and business figures who were considered Communists. Jeff Caufield expresses astonishment that neither the Warren Commission nor the HSCA ever mentioned this meeting. Willie Somerset provided many details, as Jeff Caufield writes: Their goal was to eliminate the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) through legislation, if possible, but if not, through assassination. "Eskimos" was the code word they used for Jews. They advocated "knocking off the Eskimos with carbines." (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 141) They considered JFK's policies beyond scandal -- they were Treason -- especially: (1) Civil Rights; (2) disarmament; (3) compromise with the USSR; and (4) failure to overthrow Fidel Castro. Caufield introduces a new radical character, Ted Jackman, whom Willie Somersett believed was "one of the Dealey Plaza riflemen," who was also on the national speaker's roster of the JBS, as "Reverend Jackman." Jeff Caufield writes: Somersett estimated that 75 to 90 percent of the top leadership of the Congress of Freedom meeting were members of the John Birch Society. He reported, "Any action by the Congress of Freedom regarding assassination would have the sanction of the John Birch Society." (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 142) At least, this was the opinion of Willie Somersett, FBI informant. The COF group was new to me, so I'm glad that Jeff Caufield presented a full chapter on them. There are still a dozen more pages in this chapter to review. Regards,--Paul Trejo <edit typos> Edited January 2, 2016 by Paul Trejo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Hancock Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Paul, for a little more detail, could you specify when and to whom Sommersett identified Jackman as a DP shooter......it might be interesting for David Boylan to chime in on the COF, as I recall he collected a lot of background information on them. It's interesting to trace their membership and leaders over the years and also to separate out some of the subgroups that seem were having their own very private and possibly more "action" oriented meetings during the larger COF gatherings. As you continue if you could call out any actual attacks that the COF sponsored that would be interesting too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Paul, for a little more detail, could you specify when and to whom Sommersett identified Jackman as a DP shooter......it might be interesting for David Boylan to chime in on the COF, as I recall he collected a lot of background information on them. It's interesting to trace their membership and leaders over the years and also to separate out some of the subgroups that seem were having their own very private and possibly more "action" oriented meetings during the larger COF gatherings. As you continue if you could call out any actual attacks that the COF sponsored that would be interesting too. You may also review the FBI HQ file on CoF here: https://archive.org/stream/foia_Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-1/Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-1#page/n0/mode/2up [see pages 111-128 for list of Board of Directors and brief biographical sketch of key figures within the Congress as of 1960] https://archive.org/stream/foia_Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-1/Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-1#page/n111/mode/2up https://archive.org/stream/foia_Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-2/Congress_of_Freedom-HQ-2#page/n0/mode/2up P.S.: I currently have FOIA requests being processed for 9 FBI field office files on CoF. Unfortunately, when I submitted my request for the HQ file, that file had been processed by the Bureau less than 10 years previously for somebody else which means that the FBI would not re-process it. Instead they just sent me what they released previously. My requests (HQ and field) included 3 pages of death records on persons connected to the CoF so I anticipate that the field office files will (when released) contain very few (if any) redactions. Edited October 28, 2015 by Ernie Lazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) This is a list of some of the individuals whom were (1) Congress of Freedom officers at some point (2) speakers at CoF conventions, or (3) attacked by CoF in their newsletter, The Greater Nebraskan OR (4) persons whom I thought might be mentioned in field office files on CoF. [The references to "RIDS Dead List" merely informs the FBI that they have already processed requests on those deceased individuals.] There are, of course, many other individuals who could be added to the list but I was not always able to find death records about them or, in some cases, they are very obscure individuals and their names appear only once or twice in CoF literature so I did not bother to include them. DECEASED PERSON NAME SSN (if known), BIRTHDATE, DEATH Hobart Young Andrews 262-01-8395 01-02-03 10-01-78 Orland Kay Armstrong aka O.K. Armstrong 577-22-6537 10-02-1893 04-15-87 Guy Banister aka William Guy Banister (FBI SAC) 03-07-01 06-06-64 Bryton Barron 223-50-7069 12-06-1898 08-05-89 George Stuart Benson 430-72-9760 09-26-1898 12-15-91 Eugene Robert Black Sr. 05-01-1898 02-20-92 Roger Blough 01-19-04 10-08-85 Arthur J. Bohn 493-07-7885 04-05-10 03-01-72 Anthony Trawick Bouscaren 547-38-3059 07-07-20 07-07-00 Spruille Braden 133-30-2176 03-13-1894 01-10-78 Tullius Brady 425-05-2273 06-18-06 09-26-93 Mary Helen Brengel 556-20-1839 05-29-15 08-12-96 Howard Homan Buffet (U.S. Congressman, NE) 08-13-03 08-30-64 Benjamin Joseph Buttenwieser Jr. (aka Buttenweiser) 10-22-00 12-31-91 Taylor Caldwell aka Janet Reback (Buffalo NY) 09-07-00 08-30-85 Frank Alphonse Capell aka Francis A. Capelli 057-03-6999 05-08-07 10-18-80 N.J. Cardin aka Nolen J. Cardin 420-38-7616 06-11-33 05-20-98 Frank Chodorov 120-01-2003 02-05-1887 12-28-66 Lucius D. Clay 08-23-1897 04-16-78 Ralph Jarron Cordiner 03-20-00 12-04-73 Richard Berkeley Cotten (on RIDS Dead List) 556-05-4807 09-18-19 06-18-98 Kent Howard Courtney (RIDS Dead List) 539-09-1329 10-23-18 08-12-97 Phoebe Greene Courtney (RIDS Dead List) 433-02-8190 03-13-18 09-14-98 Lucille Cardin Crain 061-01-3820 08-28-01 02-83 Ralph Emerson Davis 561-12-8483 03-05-1897 03-25-85 Mary McPhilomy Davison aka Mrs. Clyde Davison 072-10-6449 03-12-1896 06-78 Pedro Augusto Del Valle 094-24-8109 08-28-1893 04-28-78 Robert D. Dilley 11-05-26 06-20-11 James L. Doenges 313-48-4034 01-24-15 07-73 Robert Newsom Donner Sr. 12-17-1891 08-08-64 Robert Bartlett Dresser 037-16-0051 12-28-1880 09-76 Harry T. Everingham 321-18-4076 08-14-08 05-01-05 Austin Thompson Flett 319-12-5490 12-12-1894 06-71 W.L. Foster aka Walter L. Foster 1882 C.O. Garshwiler aka Clarence Oliver Garshwiler 586-16-1646 10-05-04 01-23-77 Richard Earl Gerstein (Dade County FL State Atty) 265-28-2588 09-05-23 04-26-92 Percy L. Greaves Jr. 131-10-4163 08-24-06 08-13-14 Kenneth Goff aka Oliver Kenneth Goff 09-19-14 04-11-72 Lochard Flood Gracey Jr. (aka Lochart) – Miami PD 05-06-23 06-04-07 Ferrell Eugene Griswold (Rev.) 417-32-3818 09-21-28 02-82 Helen S. Habig 267-46-7780 07-28-01 01-19-90 Robert C. Habig 267-24-3407 12-23-01 06-30-91 Billy James Hargis (on RIDS Dead List) 455-20-3977 08-23-25 11-27-04 W. Averell Harriman 11-15-1891 07-26-86 Merwin Kimball Hart 064-07-0484 06-25-1881 11-30-62 Willard Owen Hedrick 325-03-1511 08-16-1899 07-27-70 George Delos Higgins 1877 Frank Ezekiel Holman 01-07-1886 1967 Edward Hunter 215-12-6187 07-02-02 06-24-78 T. Robert Ingram aka Tolbert Robert Ingram 522-03-4288 05-15-13 01-01-94 Gerald Orville Inman 358-20-0892 03-08-08 04-06-88 Walter B. Jackson 043-07-3283 05-19-10 08-06-80 George Racey Jordan (Major) 05-03-3107 01-04-1898 05-05-66 Verne Paul Kaub 390-07-0365 07-04-1884 09-06-64 Joseph Stephen Kimmel aka J.S. Kimmel 484-14-2790 10-31-21 07-26-02 Alfred Kohlberg 01-27-1887 04-07-60 Joseph Zack Kornfeder 093-16-6418 03-20-1897 05-01-63 Arnold Kruckman 11-13-1880 Robert T. LeFevre 468-10-4661 10-13-11 05-13-86 Herbert Henry Lehman 03-28-1878 12-05-63 Dallas Bedford Lewis aka D.B. Lewis 570-03-8162 07-24-04 04-25-66 Milton Miles Lory 483-36-3662 01-16-1896 12-78 Sumter deLeon Lowry (Lt. General) 261-01-2052 08-27-1893 02-03-85 Florence Fowler Lyons 548-26-9345 01-29-11 11-01-71 John Russell Maguire aka Russell Maguire 093-10-9884 07-27-1897 11-10-66 Marcia C.J. Mathews 11-26-1891 05-27-63 John J. McCloy 03-31-1895 03-11-89 Thurman L. McCormick 492-60-9364 05-23-1893 12-83 Anna McKinney 027-38-2615 07-03-03 05-74 Martel Pratt McNeely 361-07-9198 10-17-1888 11-28-56 Roger Milliken 208-10-7142 10-24-15 12-30-10 Joseph Adams Milteer 261-32-0646 02-26-02 02-28-74 Gordon Dwight Mohr aka Jack Mohr 354-14-3191 01-01-16 07-17-03 George Samuel Montgomery Jr. 067-18-1795 07-07-1897 01-06-66 Revilo Pendleton Oliver 358-42-3679 07-07-08 08-10-94 Alvin Mansfield Owsley 315-22-3327 06-11-1888 04-03-67 Charles William Pavey III 299-26-1605 06-10-33 07-20-01 Jessica Wyatt Payne 330-18-3725 02-26-1899 01-78 Fernando Jose Penabaz 266-70-4469 03-17-16 05-30-92 J.C. Phillips aka James Clayton Phillips 451-07-3153 12-23-1899 05-01-90 R. Carter Pittman aka Robert Carter Pittman Hugh S. Ramsey (M.D.) 303-96-9395 11-20-07 06-30-89 Clayton Thomas Rand 426-09-8638 05-25-1891 02-71 Robert B. Rapp 527-42-7617 08-05-07 04-20-88 Archibald Edward Roberts 237-05-9922 03-21-15 07-28-06 George Washington Robnett 321-28-6766 12-30-1888 01-70 Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt 057-03-2238 04-09-1894 10-13-79 E. Merrill Root aka Edward Merrill Root 038-18-0505 01-04-1895 10-26-73 John Harbin Rousselot (RIDS Dead List) 564-32-5120 11-01-27 05-11-03 Alexander Sachs 08-01-93 06-23-73 Clifford J. Simpson 283-42-9019 12-31-07 06-09-02 Dan Smoot aka Howard Drummond Smoot (FBI SA) 452-03-3106 10-05-13 07-24-03 Robert B. Snowden 413-07-6989 10-14-11 07-83 Willie Augustus Somersett aka William A. Somersett FBI-Miami informant 607-C 241-32-0646 02-26-02 02-28-74 George Soule 11-24-1896 03-18-83 George Edward Stratemeyer 263-58-0102 11-24-1890 08-09-69 William Scott Stephenson 227-34-9514 03-11-14 03-83 Willis Emerson Stone 323-10-2106 07-20-1899 03-02-89 Lewis L. Strauss 01-31-1896 01-21-74 Wesley Albert Swift (Rev.) 551-12-8781 09-06-13 10-08-70 George Junior Thomas 479-24-9298 01-22-28 12-08-02 John Walton Thurman 263-05-0544 07-13-00 04-03-86 George H. Todt 526-09-3199 11-06-15 08-30-77 Ned Oneal Touchstone aka Ned O’Neil Touchstone 434-30-4346 09-27-26 07-26-88 Edwin Anderson Walker (Maj. General, US Army) 460-64-3005 11-11-09 10-31-93 Eric Moritz Warburg 04-15-00 07-09-90 James Paul Warburg 08-18-1896 06-03-69 Clyde J. Watts 443-40-5169 12-20-07 11-75 V. Orval Watts aka Vernon Orval Watts 548-28-9767 03-25-1898 03-30-93 Albert Coady Wedemeyer (General, US Army) 061-28-6345 07-09-1896 12-17-89 Sidney James Weinberg 10-12-1891 07-23-69 Opal Tanner White aka Opal Maurine Tanner 334-18-9911 09-18-19 09-29-96 Edwin Leo Wiegand aka E.L. Wiegand 167-01-0992 09-10-1891 04-29-80 Robert H.W. Welch Jr. 023-07-1169 12-01-1899 01-06-85 Felix Wittmer 138-32-8370 10-26-02 11-11-85 John Hornor Wisner Jr. 150-22-1002 07-30-1879 11-73 John Travers Wood (U.S. Congressman, ID) 11-25-1878 11-02-54 Glenn Olen Young 447-88-1440 10-26-1894 07-11-91 Edited October 28, 2015 by Ernie Lazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Hancock Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Good stuff Ernie, I think it should help everyone understand how much of an Umbrella organization COF was.....very much different from the true action oriented groups, although no doubt it had some very special cliques with their own plans. One of the things we had to learn was how sophisticated people like Stoner were, setting up very visible political groups like the NSRP to garner the broadest public support and then dialing down through sub groups to a handful of individuals trusted and vetted to carry out actual bombings and shootings. As I recall Milteer himself commented that the NSRP existed largely as a recruiting took and cover for Stoner's more violent activities. All of which shows the risk of six degree type associations until you are able to connect the dots for an actual tactical operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Lazar Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Good stuff Ernie, I think it should help everyone understand how much of an Umbrella organization COF was.....very much different from the true action oriented groups, although no doubt it had some very special cliques with their own plans. One of the things we had to learn was how sophisticated people like Stoner were, setting up very visible political groups like the NSRP to garner the broadest public support and then dialing down through sub groups to a handful of individuals trusted and vetted to carry out actual bombings and shootings. As I recall Milteer himself commented that the NSRP existed largely as a recruiting took and cover for Stoner's more violent activities. All of which shows the risk of six degree type associations until you are able to connect the dots for an actual tactical operation. Also, Larry, there are other relevant considerations. I will discuss this at greater length after I finish reading Caufield's book (I'm 1/2 way through it now). 1. Caufield is very fond of listing the names of people whom "belong to" organizations -- but it should be remembered that many of these groups were letterhead only and many existed for very short periods of time. 2. More importantly, what, exactly, does "belong to" mean in practical terms? Some of these guys (according to Caufield) "belonged to" more than a dozen organizations -- which is to say that they allowed their name to be listed as an endorser or even as an officer (on paper). If you take everything presented in Caufield's book at face value (and literally), you would have to assume that some of these guys had no personal life of any kind because every minute of every day would have been totally consumed by their organizational activities and responsibilities. 3. Let me use the JBS as an example. The JBS National Council was (on paper) the governing body of the JBS. It met quarterly at various locations around the country and it also sponsored dinners around the country which were open to JBS members and invited guests. However, the men who were National Council members often told Welch that they would need to skip the quarterly Council meeting because of other matters (including family health problems, business meetings, or other conflicting activities). Furthermore, it is clear from the personal papers of Council members which are archived at various institutions that many Council members did not regularly participate in the JBS and, in fact, they did not even exchange much correspondence with Welch or with other Council members. Welch, himself, stated that the JBS National Council was intended more to show the stature of the people whom were willing to associate themselves with the Society than it was meant to be an actual or active governing body. So, in short, it was more of a public relations device. 4. As you point out, the inherent quality of "umbrella groups" is to serve as a recruiting device and to present a "respectable" public face and to encourage public support. It also is interesting to learn how often individuals discovered that their names appeared on some group letterhead when those persons never authorized such a listing! [This was not uncommon for both left-wing and right-wing organizations]. 5. In 1957, Willis Carto's group, Liberty and Property, Inc., published the first edition (27 pages) of the First National Directory of Rightist Groups, Publications, and Some Individuals. By 1962 it had grown to 36 pages. But 99.9% of the organizations listed were just paper organizations that totally disappeared within a year or two and/or which left no trace of themselves in any library. So, in summary, the "six degrees type associations" methodology can be very misleading because it can suggest "dots" which are not even connected, much less active. Edited October 28, 2015 by Ernie Lazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Trejo Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I gotta admit, Ernie Lazar's listing of COF members is historically valuable. --Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry J.Dean Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 In the dark It is no doubt frustrating for any who were not there,especially those to young to understand or care at the time in history re; murder of J F Kennedy, also the so-called brilliant self promoting researchers and book writers, along with a document retrieving, older, and contrarian self proclaimed expert attaching themselves, like barnacles, to the hull of ship of history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry J.Dean Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Into the light General Walker and the murder of President Kennedy by Jeffrey Caufield MD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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