Question for James

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hi James

I'm trying to identify the guy in the attached picture - I'm not very good on nationality but from the suave dress and manner and Mediterranean look, I initially guessed at George Joannides or Dick Helms' right-hand man, Tom Karamessines. Do you have any photos of them to compare this to?

Jeff Morley describes Joannides as well-dressed, 6’ tall, 41 years old in 1963, Mediterranean-looking, Greek-American, which seems to fit. Or could he be a senior member of one of the Cuban groups?

Thanks

Shane

Edited December 5, 2004 by Shane O'Sullivan

[Bernice Moore]

Hi Shane:

James is to be away for a few weeks...then will return.

So perhaps you could give him a post in Jan. ?

Bernice

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Thanks for letting me know, Bernice. Will do.

Shane

[James Richards]

I'm trying to identify the guy in the attached picture - I'm not very good on nationality but from the suave dress and manner and Mediterranean look, I initially guessed at George Joannides or Dick Helms' right-hand man, Tom Karamessines. Do you have any photos of them to compare this to? (Shane O'Sullivan)

Hi Shane,

Sorry it has taken so long for my reply but I have been in Far North Queensland. I did have photographs of the men you asked about but a few years ago, a rather unpleasant episode saw most of my hard drive wiped clean (the days before I was backing everything up on CD).

From memory, the image you posted does resemble Joannides but I can't be 100% sure. I'll have a hunt around and see if I can find images to compare with.

Cheers,

James

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Thanks, James. According to Jeff Morley, no photo of Joannides is publicly available, so anything you could come up with would be great.

Cheers

Shane

[John Simkin]

I am also anxious to know if it is George Joannides. I would like to add it to my page on Joannides.

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

However, I have always considered Joannides to be a false lead. Look at the people involved in the campaign to get the CIA to release documents on him: G. Robert Blakey, John McAdams, Gerald Posner. See:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16865

[James Richards]

Thanks, James. According to Jeff Morley, no photo of Joannides is publicly available, so anything you could come up with would be great. (Shane O'Sullivan)

Hi Shane,

There were several images taken of Joannides by Gjon Mili. Mili also snapped some interesting ones of Richard Helms, E. Howard Hunt and James McCord. Mili also had several black and white shots of David Morales on a trip to Washington. Some of these were published by LIFE but none of the Morales or Joannides images made it into print.

My source for unpublished LIFE photographs passed away about 18 months ago but I will see if I can get my hands on the Mili images. I'm not holding my breath.

James

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hi James

Wow, those Mili photos sound amazing. I just saw some of the Helms and Hunt ones on the Time-Life website, maybe I can email Getty Images about the others next week.

Do you know when the Joannides and Morales photos were taken? Helms and Hunt were taken at the Watergate hearings in 1973 - maybe the same assignment?

Shane

[James Richards]

Hi James

Wow, those Mili photos sound amazing. I just saw some of the Helms and Hunt ones on the Time-Life website, maybe I can email Getty Images about the others next week.

Do you know when the Joannides and Morales photos were taken? Helms and Hunt were taken at the Watergate hearings in 1973 - maybe the same assignment?

Shane

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Shane,

I know some family members of deceased photographers who worked over the years for LIFE have been donating images to the Getty archive. I tried to contact the Mili family some time back but received no reply.

I don't have a date for the Morales images but they were taken pre assassination when he and other CIA guys made a trip to Washington for some briefing.

I have no idea when the Joannides photographs were snapped but from memory, they weren't from the Watergate hearings.

James

[Shanet Clark]

I remember the important Memo I received from John Simkins on this fellow:

George Joannides, the son of a journalist, was born in New York on 5th July, 1922. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1951 and later became chief of the Psychological Warfare branch of the CIA's station in Miami. In this role he worked closely with the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE), a militant right-wing, anti-Communist, anti-Castro, anti-Kennedy, group. This was a group that Lee Harvey Oswald was in contact with in New Orleans in August 1963.

In 1978, Joannides was called out of retirement to serve as the agency's liaison to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The CIA did not reveal to the committee that Joannides had played an important role in the events of 1963. Some critics believe that Joannides was involved in a conspiracy to link Lee Harvey Oswald with the government of Fidel Castro.

George Joannides died in Houston in March 1990. In recent years investigators into the assassination of John F. Kennedy such as G. Robert Blakey, Anthony Summers, John McAdams, Gerald Posner have campaigned for the CIA to release the files concerning the activities of Joannides.

"So, Did you get the memo?" John lays it on the line with this guy, I think

Thanks for the Joannides thread.

He looks like the Cuban regional point man for MK/Ultra type psychological ops known to be operating in that period. John Marx retrieved materials from the MK/Ultra programs, and much of this was about Sidney Gottlieb and the Canadian psychology fronts and conduits.

But George Joannides was the one closest to Oswald, someone with the most knowlegde of any MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE developements in the counter intelligence environment of US Cuban relations in the late 1950s/1960s......thanks

Edited December 11, 2004 by Shanet Clark

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hi James,

I got in touch with Getty Images who license all Time-Life images and they did a search for Joannides and Morales but 'didn't turn up anything on Mili shooting any CIA pictures (other than testimony at the Watergate hearings)' - these are the 1973 images on their website. 

They 'even tried searching for the CIA names without Mili but didn’t find anything. Time Life is not aware of anyone/anyplace else holding any of Mili’s material, but there was a fire in his studio some time ago and a lot of material was lost. This may have been where the material you’re after met its demise'.

Best

Shane

 

[James Richards]

Hi Shane,

The unpublished shots of Morales and Joannides have been very difficult to track down. The person who had these images and wouldn't let me copy them is now deceased (nothing suspicious) and I have no idea what became of his photographic collection. I have not yet been able to find another source.

BTW, I am very suspicious of the accuracy of any statement coming from the various publishing houses. Corbis are notorious for getting details wrong and Time Life don't exactly strike me as an organization I would trust.

There are lots of interesting images out there that have not yet seen the light of day but do exist; like a wealth of material held in private collections that showcase suspects like David Ferrie, Felipe Vidal Santiago and David Morales.

Needless to say, there is much photographic evidence relating to the JFK assassination that remains locked away in safe deposit boxes and the like.

Onward.

James

Edited December 22, 2004 by James Richards

[Shane O'Sullivan]

Hi James,

Thanks for checking that out, it is a pity these photos are bound up with Time Life and all their associations over years and I can't be sure I'm not getting the 'party line' but the door there is now closed, I think. Like you say, onward, find more doors to try.

All the best for the New Year,

Shane