Getting Down to the Nuts and Bolts ... and the question of Cubans in "direct capacities"

[Leslie Sharp]

. . . of who did kill JFK, not who didn't:

 

In response to the question of the depth of direct involvement of revenge-driven Cuban exiles in Skorzeny's strategy to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas:
 

I'm looking for precise command structure for the machinations fleshed out with @Robert Montenegro's amazing dive into the released files. 

I can't believe that (SS) Otto Skorzeny would hand responsibility for a battalion over to anyone other than those who had the most to lose. For that reason, the November 19 entry, "Souetre to go overt with Jack C." may well mean Col. Jack Canon and not Jack Crichton as originally suspected. This would position experienced military officers Capt. Souetre and Ret. Gen. Charles Willoughby's Z. Org Col. Canon working in tandem, each with their own kill team. So, would Morales, responsible for the swamp groups (identified in the datebook) having trained at Opa-locka and or Pontchartrain OR the property of the New Orleans guy whose name escapes me (see Fensterwald document), be read in on the strategy prior to November 22? If so, by whom? No evidence Pierre Lafitte was in that communication loop, so the likely candidate is "T" for Tracey Barnes, right, or Bill Harvey? And perhaps James McCord enters the picture here under the auspices of the RAVEN entry in Lafitte's datebook, a.k.a. Francis Raven, NSA cryptologist extraordinaire! Raven once said of J. Edgar Hoover — our prime candidate for Lafitte's HOLDOUT — that if he asked him to surveil the Quakers, he surveilled the Quakers.

Next stop: Zagnew Station, Eugene Dinkin. pigpen cypher, Proctor in the desert with WerBell, Eritrea, Tom Davis, Philippe de Vosjoli and Sam Kail.
 

Still a lot of loose ends.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

A seasoned researcher who knew Hank personally recently asked to play 'devil's advocate' and challenge an insider's caution provided Hank by an agent within the CIA that this specific plan to eliminate Kennedy did not involve Cubans. He told Hank (paraphrasing) that the cultural temperament, fueled by rage and resentment toward Kennedy for the BoP, would've impaired their ability to remain calm and effective in Dallas and to keep their mouth shut following the hit.  The 'advocate' pointed out that the CIA guy sounded like he was culturally stereotyping;😎 I suggested that was likely the norm within this milieu, especially in the '60s. 

That said, in addition to Lafitte's reference to "swamp groups", many argue persuasively that Radio Guy and Umbrella Man were Cubans. So, one must ask whether Capt. Jean Souetre had worked with them on the island to the degree he would trust them with that support task in Dealey? Would Col. Canon and Col. Askins for that matter?  

The designation "swamp groups" in Lafitte's datebook definitely lends credence to involvement of those training in Florida or Louisiana in the timeframe, and we know they included anti-Castro Cubans and/or their sympathizers. 

And what role did Gerard Litt — Otto Skorzeny's main ally within the group of ex-Cagoulards — and sociopaths Jean Paul Filiol and girlfriend/trained assassin Alice Lamy play in Dealey?

[Leslie Sharp]

42 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

A seasoned researcher who knew Hank personally recently asked to play 'devil's advocate' and challenge an insider's caution provided Hank by an agent within the CIA that this specific plan to eliminate Kennedy did not involve Cubans. He told Hank (paraphrasing) that the cultural temperament, fueled by rage and resentment toward Kennedy for the BoP, would've impaired their ability to remain calm and effective in Dallas and to keep their mouth shut following the hit.  The 'advocate' pointed out that the CIA guy sounded like he was culturally stereotyping;😎 I suggested that was likely the norm within this milieu, especially in the '60s. 

That said, in addition to Lafitte's reference to "swamp groups", many argue persuasively that Radio Guy and Umbrella Man were Cubans. So, one must ask whether Capt. Jean Souetre had worked with them on the island to the degree he would trust them with that support task in Dealey? Would Col. Canon and Col. Askins for that matter?  

The designation "swamp groups" in Lafitte's datebook definitely lends credence to involvement of those training in Florida or Louisiana in the timeframe, and we know they included anti-Castro Cubans and/or their sympathizers. 

And what role did Gerard Litt — Otto Skorzeny's main ally within the group of ex-Cagoulards — and sociopaths Jean Paul Filiol and girlfriend/trained assassin Alice Lamy play in Dealey?

This same devil's advocate followed with the astute observation: If an “agency insider” wanted to deflect attention away from the participation of anti-Castro Cubans, he/she might do so by stating they were “far too impassioned” to be reliably useful in the operation, a sweeping characterization that verges on cultural stereotyping? There were a lot of passions at play in this plot and surely they didn’t all belong to the anti-Castro Cubans. 

Those of us who have stayed with Hank's investigation for the past four years have asked the aforementioned as well. Might Hank have been deliberately mislead?  If so, did those same agency misleaders also concoct the Lafitte datebook and leave the Cubans out of it in some bizarrely complicated scheme to deflect?  And then sit and wait for Hank to find his way to Lafitte's doorstep in the late '90s where he was handed the misleading datebook?

I've also accepted that detractors suspect me, maybe Hank, as being one of those "agency insiders" attempting to deflect from exposure of anti-Castro Cubans' involvement in the Dallas assassination as it would lead to the agency(ies). That simply is not the case.

"I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party, a 'Communist Party sympathizer,' or one who 'hews to the Communist Party line.'" 

Insert any three-letter acronym of any and all US Intel agencies in place of "communist party."

 

[Robert Montenegro]

34 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

If so, did those same agency misleaders also concoct the Lafitte datebook and leave the Cubans out of it in some bizarrely complicated scheme to deflect?  And then sit and wait for Hank to find his way to Lafitte's doorstep in the late '90s where he was handed the misleading datebook?

 

At the expense of sounding like a horse's ass, Leslie, but the Lafitte datebook mentions several commanders of the anti-Castro operations, by name, as criminal co-conspirators, no?

William King Harvey (Chief of Task Force W & CIA liaison to Operation MONGOOSE)

COL. Samuel Goodhue Kail (commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station & commander, CIA Cuban Operations, Joint Support Group, US Army Element—Region II, 4th US Army Operations Group—US Army Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Pentagon)

William Wayne Dalzell (founder, Radio Cuba Libre, Pan-American Radio Inc. & co-founder of Friends of Democratic Cuba)

John Wilson-Hudson (co-founder, Friends of Democratic Cuba & commander of "Amerikadeutscher Bund," South American branch)

COL. Joseph Young "Cactus Jack" Canon (US military intelligence infiltrator of Movimiento 26 de julio)

Gen. George Henry Decker (deputy commander of Phase II, Operation MONGOOSE & commander of Special Action Force, Latin America - 8th Special Forces Group in the Canal Zone)

“Jerry Droller” AKA “Frank Bender” AKA “Gerald Drecher" AKA "Wallace A. Parlett" AKA "Mr. B" AKA "Don Federico"  (CIA Cuban Political Action Chief, Western Hemisphere Division & founder of Frente Revolucionario Democrático)

Maj. Gen. Mitchell Livingston WerBell III “AMBOAR” (CIA Technical Services Division contractor/ anti-Castro Cuban commando trainer)

Robert Emmett Johnson (security advisor, Servicio de Inteligencia Militar, Dominican Republic/ special agent, International Services of Information Foundation, Inc./ commander, Intercontinental Penetration Force)

 

Uhm, correct me if I missed anybody.

Certainly I don't want to sound obtuse, but, you pretty much have all of the important anti-Castro covert action officers all mentioned in the Lafitte datebook.

I don't understand your argument.

You're saying all of the important anti-Castro commanders were involved in murdering President Kennedy, but they didn't trust their own subordinates?

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Robert Montenegro

[Leslie Sharp]

45 minutes ago, Robert Montenegro said:

 

At the expense of sounding like a horse's ass, Leslie, but the Lafitte datebook mentions several commanders of the anti-Castro operations, by name, as criminal co-conspirators, no?

William King Harvey (Chief of Task Force W & CIA liaison to Operation MONGOOSE)

COL. Samuel Goodhue Kail (commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station & commander, CIA Cuban Operations, Joint Support Group, US Army Element—Region II, 4th US Army Operations Group—US Army Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Pentagon)

William Wayne Dalzell (founder, Radio Cuba Libre, Pan-American Radio Inc. & co-founder of Friends of Democratic Cuba)

John Wilson-Hudson (co-founder, Friends of Democratic Cuba & commander of "Amerikadeutscher Bund," South American branch)

COL. Joseph Young "Cactus Jack" Canon (US military intelligence infiltrator of Movimiento 26 de julio)

Gen. George Henry Decker (deputy commander of Phase II, Operation MONGOOSE & commander of Special Action Force, Latin America - 8th Special Forces Group in the Canal Zone)

“Jerry Droller” AKA “Frank Bender” AKA “Gerald Drecher" AKA "Wallace A. Parlett" AKA "Mr. B" AKA "Don Federico"  (CIA Cuban Political Action Chief, Western Hemisphere Division & founder of Frente Revolucionario Democrático)

Maj. Gen. Mitchell Livingston WerBell III “AMBOAR” (CIA Technical Services Division contractor/ anti-Castro Cuban commando trainer)

Robert Emmett Johnson (security advisor, Servicio de Inteligencia Militar, Dominican Republic/ special agent, International Services of Information Foundation, Inc./ commander, Intercontinental Penetration Force)

 

Umm, correct me if I missed anybody.

Certainly I don't want to sound obtuse, but, you pretty much have all of the important anti-Castro covert action officers all mentioned in the Lafitte datebook.

I don't understand your argument.

You're saying all of the important anti-Castro commanders were involved in murdering President Kennedy, but they didn't trust their own subordinates?

Excellent points, and I anticipated the post would provide you with an opportunity to contribute the glossary!

The "point' of the discussion pertains to the insider's advice - nay direction given to Hank to assist him with the investigation -   that Cubans — specifically Cuban Nationals who had been  (in their minds) betrayed by JFK - would not be brought in on the plot nor the execution itself for fear their innate temperament compounded by revenge might scuttle Skorzeny and Angleton's Lancelot Project.

We're on the same page @Robert Montenegro: you've not listed a single Cuban-born participant that I can see.

 

This underscores my concern all along that unless one spent hours and days of concentrated, focused deliberation with Hank, factoring in all he had accumulated — and another four years dedicated to the analysis of the Lafitte datebook — the interpretation of Lafitte's datebook  and other records might be skewed if not canibalized to suit a biased hypothesis. Hank was focused specifically on the plan to assassinate in Dallas, not the official structure that some of those responsible fell within.  

This was a one-off operation comprised of a tight network as evidenced in Lafitte's datebook - and your list captures many  — but key elements are missing, those who operated within another structure orchestrated by Skorzeny from Madrid and possibly Ireland.

For example, I don't see Degrelle, or Rudel in this list yet Rudel arrived in the US on October 8/9, the same day of Lafitte's auspicious entry.  Would Rudel report to any on this list?

Nor do I see Algur Meadows (who provided the meeting venues) and the Texas oilmen, or the characters at Republic National Bank/Howard Corp. all of whom managed the socio-political dynamics on the ground. I guarantee they didn't report to any on this list.

I'll add to the list as they come to me ...writng from stream of consciousness at the moment:

George Hunter White

Thomas Eli Davis

Carolyn Davis

Philippe de Vosjoli

Victor Oswald

Vickers a.k.a. ??

Hunt a.k.a. E Howard or H. L.?

 

etc.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Robert Montenegro]

24 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

We're on the same page @Robert Montenegro: you've not listed a single Cuban-born participant that I can see.

 

I see.

[Leslie Sharp]

On 7/12/2023 at 1:25 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

Excellent points, and I anticipated the post would provide you with an opportunity to contribute the glossary!

The "point' of the discussion pertains to the insider's advice - nay direction given to Hank to assist him with the investigation -   that Cubans — specifically Cuban Nationals who had been  (in their minds) betrayed by JFK - would not be brought in on the plot nor the execution itself for fear their innate temperament compounded by revenge might scuttle Skorzeny and Angleton's Lancelot Project.

We're on the same page @Robert Montenegro: you've not listed a single Cuban-born participant that I can see.

 

This underscores my concern all along that unless one spent hours and days of concentrated, focused deliberation with Hank, factoring in all he had accumulated — and another four years dedicated to the analysis of the Lafitte datebook — the interpretation of Lafitte's datebook  and other records might be skewed if not canibalized to suit a biased hypothesis. Hank was focused specifically on the plan to assassinate in Dallas, not the official structure that some of those responsible fell within.  

This was a one-off operation comprised of a tight network as evidenced in Lafitte's datebook - and your list captures many  — but key elements are missing, those who operated within another structure orchestrated by Skorzeny from Madrid and possibly Ireland.

For example, I don't see Degrelle, or Rudel in this list yet Rudel arrived in the US on October 8/9, the same day of Lafitte's auspicious entry.  Would Rudel report to any on this list?

Nor do I see Algur Meadows (who provided the meeting venues) and the Texas oilmen, or the characters at Republic National Bank/Howard Corp. all of whom managed the socio-political dynamics on the ground. I guarantee they didn't report to any on this list.

I'll add to the list as they come to me ...writng from stream of consciousness at the moment:

George Hunter White

Thomas Eli Davis

Carolyn Davis

Philippe de Vosjoli

Victor Oswald

Vickers a.k.a. ??

Hunt a.k.a. E Howard or H. L.?

 

etc.

@Robert Montenegro Who in the structural hierarchy managed Capt. Souetre or La Cagoulards Litt, Lamy, Filiol?  THE C.I.A. turned down OAS Captain Souetre's request for assistance in removing President Charles de Gaulle.  Why would they turn around and hire him to kill President Kennedy?

Edited July 14, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

@Robert Montenegro @Paul Brancato In response to queries from a retired university publisher who contracted Hank for his June Cobb / MC project: 
 

No soundbite summary of Hank's investigation is accurate without shining a spotlight on Ret. Generals Charles Willoughby and Edwin Walker. 
 

How, in 1963, might Walker (who served as attaché to Angleton in Italy) have found himself working in tandem with his former commander and Wm. Harvey (former chief Berlin Base) is most likely found in the sympathies all four shared with those post-war European fascists cited throughout Coup. 
 

Willoughby's friendship with Allen Dulles is well documented, as is his notoriety for being Gen. MacArthur's "favorite little fascist." So, we see a pattern forming.
 

George Joannides doesn't appear to be "in on the plot" in the specifics, so the brouhaha over the potential for a smoking gun in the still withheld files seems overblown in context of what Lafitte reveals. 
 

Harvey on the other hand appears to be pivotal although he disappears from the radar as the assassination plot solidifies and Otto Skorzeny gets down to nuts and bolts in late October. Barnes, presumably referenced as "T" in the datebook, sees things thru to fruition. 

David Atlee Phillips is no where to be seen in the datebook, UNLESS he's a better candidate for "caretaker" or "holdout" or "Raven". As we've noted frequently, this investigation is a "work in progress" and one that Hank intended to pursue until the cold case crime is solved.
 

If as we posit, FBI Director Hoover remained a "holdout" to the very end, and/but his Dallas-based SA Bard Odum was interacting directly with Pierre/Rene/Barnes as "caretaker" for Oswald, then the Secret Service could not be far behind. 
 

I remain intrigued by the determination of the parade route, the White House SS agent who made the final call yet took a vacation from his job - the first in four years - that weekend, and a woman known to be a personal friend of Otto Skorzeny in Madrid was sitting in on those parade meetings to be sufficient reason to continue to probe the SS writ large that Friday.

 

It is with the material Hank secured from the Lafritte family that we're able to construct a near-solid scenario of the nuts and bolts of how the plot evolved, soup to nuts (to mix one’s metaphors).

Of Note: Oswald, the patsy, does not appear in this summary.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Ron Bulman]

On 7/11/2023 at 6:34 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

. . . of who did kill JFK, not who didn't:

 

In response to the question of the depth of direct involvement of revenge-driven Cuban exiles in Skorzeny's strategy to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas:
 

I'm looking for precise command structure for the machinations fleshed out with @Robert Montenegro's amazing dive into the released files. 

I can't believe that (SS) Otto Skorzeny would hand responsibility for a battalion over to anyone other than those who had the most to lose. For that reason, the November 19 entry, "Souetre to go overt with Jack C." may well mean Col. Jack Canon and not Jack Crichton as originally suspected. This would position experienced military officers Capt. Souetre and Ret. Gen. Charles Willoughby's Z. Org Col. Canon working in tandem, each with their own kill team. So, would Morales, responsible for the swamp groups (identified in the datebook) having trained at Opa-locka and or Pontchartrain OR the property of the New Orleans guy whose name escapes me (see Fensterwald document), be read in on the strategy prior to November 22? If so, by whom? No evidence Pierre Lafitte was in that communication loop, so the likely candidate is "T" for Tracey Barnes, right, or Bill Harvey? And perhaps James McCord enters the picture here under the auspices of the RAVEN entry in Lafitte's datebook, a.k.a. Francis Raven, NSA cryptologist extraordinaire! Raven once said of J. Edgar Hoover — our prime candidate for Lafitte's HOLDOUT — that if he asked him to surveil the Quakers, he surveilled the Quakers.

Next stop: Zagnew Station, Eugene Dinkin. pigpen cypher, Proctor in the desert with WerBell, Eritrea, Tom Davis, Philippe de Vosjoli and Sam Kail.
 

Still a lot of loose ends.

 

 

Hi Leslie. Between your post above and those below in this thread and Roberts post below about possible participants in the organization aspect of the assassination, and, his post in another thread about potential assassins, it got me to thinking.

The teams part is what really got me going.  I've read speculative comments by others and maybe somewhere in a book or two about thoughts of teams being used.  You mention those of Souetre, Canon and Morales.  Robert mentions up to five teams.  Something along these lines has seemed the most logical way it happened to me for a few years now.  I do think the efforts of the teams were coordinated.

If we consider the work of Dr's Mantik and Chesser examining and evaluating the x-rays in the National archives, then JFK was hit in the hairline above the right eye and in the right temple hairline.  In addition, I believe there is evidence of an entry wound in the back along the edge of the blow out.  First, we have a throat shot, then (?) something at T-3 in the back, then, Dan Rather, Cartha DeLoach (? - of Hoovers top 3-4-5) and someone else saying the first version of the Zapruder film they saw violently forward, last we have the version we've all seen, back and to the left.  Take with a grain of salt, shake it up, I'm not saying that Is the way it happened.  Just the way I've interpreted what I've seen and read over the years.

One point I'm getting at is I think the shots were synchronized.  I'd come to think of the teams as a shooter, a spotter - for longer shots with binoculars to observe close up the actions of JFK and those immediately around him while the shooter focuses on the target, and, possibly rear observer/guard to keep anyone from wandering too close.  Given the time frame of what I at least think may have been three shots hitting JFK in the head in 1-2 seconds they virtually had to be simultaneous.  Coordinated by radio instruction from an on site in Dealy Plaza or near the edge of it.

Once upon a time I thought this might have been Morales as the dark skinned guy in a (?) brown sports coat or White dress shirt seen on the sixth floor by a witness on the ground.  Not so much anymore, though he was quite likely somewhere around.

As a result of Coup, your and Roberts comments and those of others I've come to wonder if this might have been Souetre.  If he was Skorzeny's most trusted or one of his most trusted assassins and trainers at his three training facilities around Madrid might he have been even more valuable in the on site set up and execution of the operation than just one of the assassins.  Coup claims he was possibly in Florida, New Orleans, Dallas and more in the months before meeting with others involved, then in Mexico City ten days before the assassination, doing things just an assassin probably wouldn't.

I've thought for some time the operation was planned out and set up well in advance.  Some one or two maybe three walked Dealy Plaza, probably more than once.  They had access to the TSBD and Dal-Tex.  They timed the run from the last shot on the sixth floor to the elevator and how long it took to get to the ground, along with other escape routes.  Where to hide/get weapons out. Weeks if not a month-two-three in advance.

I could see Soutre and say Morales working together on this given their backgrounds???

Food for thought.

[Leslie Sharp]

The "Coup Brief" Group is working diligently to compose brief narratives for each datebook entry. I think I shared with everyone that Tony at Skyhorse declined my proposal to publish a facsimile of the datebook, without explanation.  The good news is that in the exchange he acknowledged that he has no standing in the disposition of the physical instrument a.k.a. datebook which I knew from talking with one knowledgeable of the issue  ... but I wasn't certain Tony knew. I now have it in writing.

 

With every breakthrough, I think I can speak for all four in our CB Group, the datebook becomes "more and more authentic."  Will that convince you, or others of The Royal You?  No.  So, I've not given up on landing exemplars.  I was hopeful that a former staffer of Robert Sr.'s presidential campaign might somehow open a door legally, but his focus is on Bobby's assassination to the degree that he thinks Jack was the lesser of character and ability so the LA assassination is more significant therefore priority over our investigation into Dealey.  During our exchanges, he did hint that he recognized some parallels with what he knows about Bob Sr.s investigation and what Hank uncovered, so .... stupidly I shared screenshots of the ledger sheets because they reflect an aspect of what he was talking about.  Now he has the ledger sheets. Our ten day exchange ended with my stating that I think  Robert's records of his private investigation should be handed over to those able to decipher clues.  The staffer took offense, asserting this remains physchologically traumatizing ... at the same time telling me over and over what a strong family it was and remains.  I don't deal with cognitive dissonance very well, and in hindsight, I realize it's possible the fellow may have been trying to see what I/we have.  Paranoia never fully subsides in this arena.

 

All by way of saying, the authentication process is stalled - and incomplete - without handwriting samples.  What else can I say.

 

I argue that suggesting we should consider "some Willougby" involvement is highly inadequate.  Willoughby, an avowed racist referred to by his boss as a little fascist, is identified by Lafitte as an active player in the specific plot - up to and including knowledgeable of the Ella scandal, and traveling to Europe to meet with a milieu of religious leaders which included Stetzco and other KofM's, and is honored by Lafitte as being responsible for the "Willoughby team" a.k.a. Col. Jack Canon, Col. Charles Askins, and likely, R. Emmett Johnson. 

 

@Robert Montenegro identified the document confirming Walker was Angleton's attaché. I have the link "somewhere." If I can't put my hand on it readily, I'll get him to resend  

 

 

Joannides served as a catalyst, in my opinion, which reignited interest in the assassination, and kudos to Morley for being the conduit.  There is no indication in Lafitte's records that Joannides did anything other than activate Oswald in August.  That's All. That said, there was other low hanging fruit that JM ignored. Win Scott's years as head of Western Division of the agency ... a.k.a. Europe where he signed off on reports related specifically to "former" SS Otto Skorzeny who was corresponding with John McCloy about raising money to support a 200,00 strong reserve army composed of Nazis from his base in Madrid. As we noted recently, Skorzeny's base was shared with The Black Prince, and Leon Degrelle, and occasionally, SS stuka pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel (two of whom appear in Lafittes records if we count Rene's comment about Leon as "a record.") Rudel remained an activist for the Nazi cause, attempting to launch a new and improved party. Rudel appears in a datebook entry in mid-September, and again the first week of December. As I've shared with this group in the past, Rudel secured a visitor's visa which he applied for in September (remember he had been unsuccessful in landing entry for over a decade), in time to arrive in the US at Wright Patterson for an air conference on October 8/9, the date of Lafitte's auspicious OSARN entry.  

 

Sorry to digress: Could the unreleased files pertain to the geo-political drama of 1963, and implicate leaders of our strongest allies then and now? Franco? maybe even de Gaulle; elements within Ireland's government (at the embassy while Otto sashayed in and out unimpeded?) INTERPOL? Germany's BND?  Is that why Biden has balked? Ukraine-OUN-ABN in 1963? What might be the blowback? 

[Robert Montenegro]

On 7/11/2023 at 4:34 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

So, would Morales, responsible for the swamp groups (identified in the datebook) having trained at Opa-locka and or Pontchartrain OR the property of the New Orleans guy whose name escapes me (see Fensterwald document), be read in on the strategy prior to November 22? If so, by whom?

 

Uhh, Leslie, the "...whom..." that you are, for some strange reason cannot bring yourself to fathom, responsible of the "...swamp groups..." is, in fact, mentioned in the datebook: 

 

COL. Samuel Goodhue Kail, who was literally the CIA task-force commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station, overseeing the spotting, recruiting, training, interrogation, integration, and resettlement of thousands of displaced Cuban expats—along with his immediate counterparts at CAC:

 

George E. Aurell (CIA Defector Coordinator, Interagency Defector Committee/ commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

Dorothe Kerans Matlack (CIA Interagency Defector Committee/ commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

David Sánchez Morales (Chief of Foreign Intelligence, CIA Counterintelligence Staff, Western Hemisphere Division, Cuban Operations/ CIA liaison, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

 

Not to mention that COL. Kail was the United States Army liaison to the entire CIA Cuban Operations Task Force, operating under 4th US Army Operations Group—US Army Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Pentagon, which just so happened to include:

George Efythron Joannides, JMWAVE Chief of Psychological Warfare and JMWAVE Deputy Director of Covert Operations.

 

Just because that mass-murdering, narco-terrorist, fascist, psychopath Lafitte, didn't mention it in his datebook, doesn't mean it isn't crucial or not intrinsic, to the factual historical narrative of what happened on 22 November 1963!

 

On 7/11/2023 at 4:34 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

Next stop: Zagnew Station, Eugene Dinkin. pigpen cypher, Proctor in the desert with WerBell, Eritrea, Tom Davis, Philippe de Vosjoli and Sam Kail.

 

And I cannot believe you mentioned the pigpen cypher I identified.

 

We literally talked about that yesterday evening, and you agreed it would never be mentioned until WE, as a TEAM, could verify bonafides on what it represents.

 

I think I'm done here.

 

Adiós Ed Forum, like Pontius Pilatus, I wash my hands.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Robert Montenegro

[Leslie Sharp]

1 hour ago, Robert Montenegro said:

 

Uhh, Leslie, the "...whom..." that you are, for some strange reason cannot bring yourself to fathom, responsible of the "...swamp groups..." is, in fact, mentioned in the datebook: 

 

COL. Samuel Goodhue Kail, who was literally the CIA task-force commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station, overseeing the spotting, recruiting, training, interrogation, integration, and resettlement of thousands of displaced Cuban expats—along with his immediate counterparts at CAC:

 

George E. Aurell (CIA Defector Coordinator, Interagency Defector Committee/ commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

Dorothe Kerans Matlack (CIA Interagency Defector Committee/ commander, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

David Sánchez Morales (Chief of Foreign Intelligence, CIA Counterintelligence Staff, Western Hemisphere Division, Cuban Operations/ CIA liaison, Caribbean Admissions Center, Opa-Locka Air Station)

 

Not to mention that COL. Kail was the United States Army liaison to the entire CIA Cuban Operations Task Force, operating under 4th US Army Operations Group—US Army Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Pentagon, which just so happened to include:

George Efythron Joannides, JMWAVE Chief of Psychological Warfare and JMWAVE Deputy Director of Covert Operations.

 

Just because that mass-murdering, narco-terrorist, fascist, psychopath Lafitte, didn't mention it in his datebook, doesn't mean it isn't crucial or not intrinsic, to the factual historical narrative of what happened on 22 November 1963!

 

 

And I cannot believe you mentioned the pigpen cypher I identified.

 

We literally talked about that yesterday evening, and you agreed it would never be mentioned until WE, as a TEAM, could verify bonafides on what it represents.

 

I think I'm done here.

 

Adiós Ed Forum, like Pontius Pilatus, I wash my hands.

@Robert Montenegro Monté, check the date of my  post ... it was published prior to our convo last night.

All Non-Discloure Agreements related to the Lafitte material and Hank's investigative material yet to be published remain in place.

My concern (as I think I've shared) is that you're describing a full blown Military Coup. That spectacular assertion simply is not supported by the information found in the Lafitte datebook, nor does it comport with Coup in Dallas. THE Military will end up the patsy, and those functioning outside the hierarchy outlined in the glossary will get away AGAIN, scot free.  Not on my watch.

There is no evidence in the datebook that Kail is actively directing the "swamp groups" nor is David Sanchez Morales mentioned.  That does not suggest they weren't, as you aptly note. But if we employ the Lafitte datebook in this exercise, we do it the way Hank intended with me acting as proxy.  Building blocks, step by step. Otherwise we'll be blathering about — metaphorically speaking —The Three Tramps, for another decade. Too much air in the balloon too quickly will destroy Hank's investigation.

For us, this was always a cold case a murder investigation, based on the clues left by Pierre Lafitte, similar to his investigation into who killed Frank Olson.

As you know, I've been a proponent of propinquity for decades, tilling the soil of corporate genealogy and the Industrial leg of the Military-Industrial Complex in a similar fashion as your pursuit of military documents, so I process the data through that lens as well.  

Those twenty-five years of research prepared me in the event something like the datebook might finally surface.  When it did, through Hank's gumshoe detective work, I knew after our first phone call in late July 2017, that my intuition in 1993  was premonition. I would be directly involved in helping solve this case. Or as Hank repeatedly said,  High Strangeness and Synchronicity brought him together with the right people at the right time.

Let's chill, and get this case solved.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

ON THE QUESTION OF CUBANS EMPLOYED IN DIRECT CAPACITIES IN SKORZENY'S STRATEGY FOR DALLAS:

@Robert Montenegro @Paul Brancato@Ron Bulman
Following is an exchange between Hank Albarelli, Leslie Sharp and Alan Kent, January 16, 2019, 6 weeks after Hank had taken physical possession of the datebook to initiate authentication; 48 hours before he fell seriously ill which incapacitated him for a month; and 4 months before the strokes that would end his life on this planet: 
 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli Wed, Jan 16, 2019, 5:07 AM     to me, Alan FYI  Begin forwarded message: From: Hank Albarelli   Date: January 16, 2019 at 7:06:54 AM EST To: dickr Subject: Note to Angleton There's a very interesting post-assassination note to Angleton from Lafitte (this from [you] the Angleton family member) that points up two things: there was an assassin referred to as "Ostrich" that Lafitte agrees w/Angleton as being very good (but seemingly not used in Dallas) and Lafitte agrees w/Angleton on the merits of having not used cubans in "direct capacities." I'm pretty certain I knoqw who Ostrich is/was but will only say once I'm absolutely there.

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 11:20 AM
to me, Hank

Lafitte's comment regarding "Cubans in direct capacities" is huge.

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp17	Jan 16, 2019, 11:47 AM
to Alan, Hank

It is indeed.  I wonder if the comment warrants a prominent place - perhaps very early in the book.

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 11:56 AM
to Hank, me

I don't know where it ideally belongs, but it would be a very effective answer to the inevitable questions about the Cuban shooters who populate a great many scenarios. And "direct capacities" implies to me that Cubans may have been utilized in "other capacities," which I believe that a small number were. 

 

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp17	Jan 16, 2019, 12:14 PM
to Alan, Hank

Hank and I had a similar discussion by phone this morning.  

But I don't know that we can leap from "having no direct capacities"  to "may have been utilized in 'other capacities,'" at least not if we are relying on evidence from Lafitte and or Angleton.  The Cubans were working for the CIA, no doubt, but does that mean they were involved in the assassination of Kennedy.  I realize that tomes have been written on the topic, which makes this exchange between Lafitte and Angleton all the more explosive ... ergo a fairly prominent place in the book.    

I have frequently argued that in the end, the Cubans were used as patsies. Hank makes a strong argument that Cubans could not be trusted.   

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:23 PM
to Alan, me

Why?

 

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 12:29 PM
to Hank, me

Why what?

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:30 PM
to me, Alan

When I worked at the White House I was told by a Cuban “leader” to never trust a Cuban with anything you don’t want known or much else. Filed it away in my head. Andreas hated JFK as he blamed him for having killed his parents. 

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:31 PM
to Alan, me

Why huge?

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp	Jan 16, 2019, 1:37 PM
to Hank, Alan

I said 'huge', because it indicates to me at least that Cubans were hardly instrumental in the assassination, contrary to what many researchers have argued.  It is also huge if it can be determined that Lafitte / Angleton did not the employ any Cubans - at all - in any capacity - in the operation.  

 

Alan makes a sound argument that Cubans may have been used in 'other capacities' in his monograph about Umbrella Man and Radio Guy, among others, but if those characters haven't surfaced in any Lafitte material, the claim that Cubans were on the ground will need to come from other sources.  Alan, I haven't read your work in that area for a month or so.  I'll revisit it in light of this new development.  I do remember being impressed by the logic and by the conclusions, but now I have to ask, why didn't those characters surface in Lafitte's writings, particularly when he actually referenced 'Cubans' not being utilized in a 'direct capacity'?  Could it be he wasn't privy to them being used?

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 2:41 PM
to me, Alan

I think it’s important to consider that Lafitte, Angleton, and Harvey shared a cultural bias against Cubans... obviously they stuck with “their own” — Americans, French, Italian, Jews/Israelis, a few others. QJ/WIN no Cubans... worth thinking about... 

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 3:18 PM
to Hank, me

I think that point is important - and the ethnic bias in favor of "their own" plays into this. They believed that the Cubans talked too much, and probably that half of the radical Cuban community was infiltrated by Castro's G-2. Another, complementary point, is that using Cubans as gunmen in Dallas would have been far more dangerous than using white men who spoke multiple languages. A greater chance that a person of color would be noticeable at that time and place.

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli@icloud.com>	Jan 16, 2019, 5:06 PM
to Alan, me

Great points! 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

22 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Hi Leslie. Between your post above and those below in this thread and Roberts post below about possible participants in the organization aspect of the assassination, and, his post in another thread about potential assassins, it got me to thinking.

The teams part is what really got me going.  I've read speculative comments by others and maybe somewhere in a book or two about thoughts of teams being used.  You mention those of Souetre, Canon and Morales.  Robert mentions up to five teams.  Something along these lines has seemed the most logical way it happened to me for a few years now.  I do think the efforts of the teams were coordinated.

If we consider the work of Dr's Mantik and Chesser examining and evaluating the x-rays in the National archives, then JFK was hit in the hairline above the right eye and in the right temple hairline.  In addition, I believe there is evidence of an entry wound in the back along the edge of the blow out.  First, we have a throat shot, then (?) something at T-3 in the back, then, Dan Rather, Cartha DeLoach (? - of Hoovers top 3-4-5) and someone else saying the first version of the Zapruder film they saw violently forward, last we have the version we've all seen, back and to the left.  Take with a grain of salt, shake it up, I'm not saying that Is the way it happened.  Just the way I've interpreted what I've seen and read over the years.

One point I'm getting at is I think the shots were synchronized.  I'd come to think of the teams as a shooter, a spotter - for longer shots with binoculars to observe close up the actions of JFK and those immediately around him while the shooter focuses on the target, and, possibly rear observer/guard to keep anyone from wandering too close.  Given the time frame of what I at least think may have been three shots hitting JFK in the head in 1-2 seconds they virtually had to be simultaneous.  Coordinated by radio instruction from an on site in Dealy Plaza or near the edge of it.

Once upon a time I thought this might have been Morales as the dark skinned guy in a (?) brown sports coat or White dress shirt seen on the sixth floor by a witness on the ground.  Not so much anymore, though he was quite likely somewhere around.

As a result of Coup, your and Roberts comments and those of others I've come to wonder if this might have been Souetre.  If he was Skorzeny's most trusted or one of his most trusted assassins and trainers at his three training facilities around Madrid might he have been even more valuable in the on site set up and execution of the operation than just one of the assassins.  Coup claims he was possibly in Florida, New Orleans, Dallas and more in the months before meeting with others involved, then in Mexico City ten days before the assassination, doing things just an assassin probably wouldn't.

I've thought for some time the operation was planned out and set up well in advance.  Some one or two maybe three walked Dealy Plaza, probably more than once.  They had access to the TSBD and Dal-Tex.  They timed the run from the last shot on the sixth floor to the elevator and how long it took to get to the ground, along with other escape routes.  Where to hide/get weapons out. Weeks if not a month-two-three in advance.

I could see Soutre and say Morales working together on this given their backgrounds???

Food for thought.

@Ron Bulman I've read and re-read your valuable analysis. And, by chance conversed with a researcher yesterday who has walked the scene numerous times with an expert in such matters; together they are convinced that the South underpass is one sniper location.  I also shared with him that "grate + span" appear in Lafitte's November 17 entry. He said, "makes sense. Thanks for the corroboration." and talked me through why it "makes sense."

 Coup claims he was possibly in Florida, New Orleans, Dallas and more in the months before meeting with others involved, then in Mexico City ten days before the assassination, doing things just an assassin probably wouldn't.

Hank obviously placed faith in the assertions of an SAC agent who laid out Souetre's trip in early 1963. He wouldn't have included it without nailing down a second source.  Then to his surprise, Lafitte corroborates it  when he writes on May 9, Souetre and Davis in April Here. [Hotel] — Shaw Where? This may be an aide memoire jotted after the fact, but either way, it proves that Lafitte knew Souetre had been in New Orleans in the Spring. Your argument that Souetre was an actual shooter comports with my own. although I've received pushback from gunmen and members of working groups who strongly suspect Jean led a team that fired on Kennedy but didn't fire himself.

As far as I know, we only have Jean Souetre's word that he wasn't in Dealey. I've never seen the alleged affidavits including one from his commanding officer, an OAS general. 

If we consider the work of Dr's Mantik and Chesser examining and evaluating the x-rays in the National archives, then JFK was hit in the hairline above the right eye and in the right temple hairline.  In addition, I believe there is evidence of an entry wound in the back along the edge of the blow out.  First, we have a throat shot, then (?) something at T-3 in the back, then, Dan Rather, Cartha DeLoach (? - of Hoovers top 3-4-5) and someone else saying the first version of the Zapruder film they saw violently forward, last we have the version we've all seen, back and to the left. 

Ron, your approach — integrating Mantick and Chesser's conclusions with known characteristics and weapon preferences of the alleged shooters — is solid "gumshoe" detective work in my view.  I've even asked Dr. Chesser if there is any way to determine that a predominately left-hand shooter ("Boots" Askins)  fired a shot that hit Kennedy. The  answer (paraphrasing) was, "unfortunately, no ".

In early 2019, Hank said that given the time constraint we were under to publish in fall of 2019, we would have to discontinue that analysis and leave the shooters where they were prior to taking positions in Dealey.  

I've thought for some time the operation was planned out and set up well in advance.  Some one or two maybe three walked Dealy Plaza, probably more than once. 

As you no doubt know, Lafitte leaves clues that Oswald was involved in the shooting at the Walker house in April; the incident coincides with Alan Kent's argument that a key date in the evolution of the decision to assassinate Kennedy in the near future was the Al Thomas dinner held early that month (as I recall). I factor in the "official" invitation for the President to visit Texas issued by the Knights of the Order of San Jacinto as another datapoint, and have spent considerable time trying to nail down the signatures on that invitation.  I was told that Jay Harrison had a copy of the original  stored on his DAT that he updated (near) daily; I had that DAT in my possession in search of a technician who could transcribe the photo images Jay preserved but fell ill; eventually it ended up in the hands of a researcher in North Carolina.  Presumably it remains stored in a safe.

I digress, but I think this history explains to some degree the conclusions drawn by Hank and his team that the possibility of eliminating Kennedy permanently originated long before spring of 1963 but (according to Lafitte and his interactions with Angleton) things began to take shape around the time Oswald landed in New Orleans.  Conjecture, but backed up with notes maintained by the eventual project manager of Lancelot Project.

 

Hope you'll continue this dialogue.  

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Ron Bulman]

3 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

ON THE QUESTION OF CUBANS EMPLOYED IN DIRECT CAPACITIES IN SKORZENY'S STRATEGY FOR DALLAS:

@Robert Montenegro @Paul Brancato@Ron Bulman
Following is an exchange between Hank Albarelli, Leslie Sharp and Alan Kent, January 16, 2019, 6 weeks after Hank had taken physical possession of the datebook to initiate authentication; 48 hours before he fell seriously ill which incapacitated him for a month; and 4 months before the strokes that would end his life on this planet: 
 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli Wed, Jan 16, 2019, 5:07 AM     to me, Alan FYI  Begin forwarded message: From: Hank Albarelli   Date: January 16, 2019 at 7:06:54 AM EST To: dickr Subject: Note to Angleton There's a very interesting post-assassination note to Angleton from Lafitte (this from [you] the Angleton family member) that points up two things: there was an assassin referred to as "Ostrich" that Lafitte agrees w/Angleton as being very good (but seemingly not used in Dallas) and Lafitte agrees w/Angleton on the merits of having not used cubans in "direct capacities." I'm pretty certain I knoqw who Ostrich is/was but will only say once I'm absolutely there.

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 11:20 AM
to me, Hank

Lafitte's comment regarding "Cubans in direct capacities" is huge.

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp17	Jan 16, 2019, 11:47 AM
to Alan, Hank

It is indeed.  I wonder if the comment warrants a prominent place - perhaps very early in the book.

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 11:56 AM
to Hank, me

I don't know where it ideally belongs, but it would be a very effective answer to the inevitable questions about the Cuban shooters who populate a great many scenarios. And "direct capacities" implies to me that Cubans may have been utilized in "other capacities," which I believe that a small number were. 

 

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp17	Jan 16, 2019, 12:14 PM
to Alan, Hank

Hank and I had a similar discussion by phone this morning.  

But I don't know that we can leap from "having no direct capacities"  to "may have been utilized in 'other capacities,'" at least not if we are relying on evidence from Lafitte and or Angleton.  The Cubans were working for the CIA, no doubt, but does that mean they were involved in the assassination of Kennedy.  I realize that tomes have been written on the topic, which makes this exchange between Lafitte and Angleton all the more explosive ... ergo a fairly prominent place in the book.    

I have frequently argued that in the end, the Cubans were used as patsies. Hank makes a strong argument that Cubans could not be trusted.   

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:23 PM
to Alan, me

Why?

 

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 12:29 PM
to Hank, me

Why what?

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:30 PM
to me, Alan

When I worked at the White House I was told by a Cuban “leader” to never trust a Cuban with anything you don’t want known or much else. Filed it away in my head. Andreas hated JFK as he blamed him for having killed his parents. 

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 12:31 PM
to Alan, me

Why huge?

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

 

leslie sharp <lesliemsharp	Jan 16, 2019, 1:37 PM
to Hank, Alan

I said 'huge', because it indicates to me at least that Cubans were hardly instrumental in the assassination, contrary to what many researchers have argued.  It is also huge if it can be determined that Lafitte / Angleton did not the employ any Cubans - at all - in any capacity - in the operation.  

 

Alan makes a sound argument that Cubans may have been used in 'other capacities' in his monograph about Umbrella Man and Radio Guy, among others, but if those characters haven't surfaced in any Lafitte material, the claim that Cubans were on the ground will need to come from other sources.  Alan, I haven't read your work in that area for a month or so.  I'll revisit it in light of this new development.  I do remember being impressed by the logic and by the conclusions, but now I have to ask, why didn't those characters surface in Lafitte's writings, particularly when he actually referenced 'Cubans' not being utilized in a 'direct capacity'?  Could it be he wasn't privy to them being used?

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli	Jan 16, 2019, 2:41 PM
to me, Alan

I think it’s important to consider that Lafitte, Angleton, and Harvey shared a cultural bias against Cubans... obviously they stuck with “their own” — Americans, French, Italian, Jews/Israelis, a few others. QJ/WIN no Cubans... worth thinking about... 

Sent from my iPhone

 

 

Alan Kent <alanlkent	Jan 16, 2019, 3:18 PM
to Hank, me

I think that point is important - and the ethnic bias in favor of "their own" plays into this. They believed that the Cubans talked too much, and probably that half of the radical Cuban community was infiltrated by Castro's G-2. Another, complementary point, is that using Cubans as gunmen in Dallas would have been far more dangerous than using white men who spoke multiple languages. A greater chance that a person of color would be noticeable at that time and place.

 

 

Hank Albarelli <hankalbarelli@icloud.com>	Jan 16, 2019, 5:06 PM
to Alan, me

Great points! 

 

 

 

 

This is interesting.  No Cubans used as shooters?  Makes sense per Harvey's notes about using foreign assassins.  The Cubans that might have been used, from Operation 40 were at that time Cuban refugee's, residing in the United States.  Some of the groups of them were known for their independence, taking the CIA's money but not following orders well.  E.G. the need for Joannadies being put in place to calm them down/straighten them up.  Other stuff.

I had never read of Hank working in the Whitehouse.  I wondered what administration, in what capacity?  I found his obituary. It said he was 72 when he passed, doing the math he would have been 16 in 1963.  Reading on it mentions him working in the Carter Whitehouse, but not what he did.