Leo Cherne

[James Richards]

I have just discovered that Tommy Corcoran helped establish the Citizens' Committee for a Free Cuba on 6th May, 1963. Others involved in this project was Clare Boothe Luce, Edward Teller, Leo Cherne, Christopher Emmet, General S. L. A. Marshall, JosephBeirne, Irving Brown, Jay Lovestone, Ernest Cuneoand Dr. Buell Gallagher. (John Simkin)

So not to divert the 'Tommy Corcoran' thread, I have taken the liberty to start a new one regarding Leo Cherne, who in my opinion is a very interesting character.

Amongst other things, Cherne was a member of a 17 person body known as the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. In 1976, President Ford named John Connally and Melvin Laird as part of its make-up which also included, Robert E. Murphy, Steven Ailes, George Anderson Jr., Lyman Lemnitzer, Edward Bennett Williams, Leslie Arends, William J. Casey, Gordon Gray, William O. Baker, John S. Foster, Robert W. Galvin, Edward H. Land, Clare Booth Luce and Edward Teller.

Cherne also had a very chummy relationship with journalist Dickey Chapelle who was one to get right amongst the action. She went on an anti-Castro mission with Felipe Vidal Santiago and Roy Hargraves during the late summer of 1963. There was an alleged interview she had with Vidal post assassination that has never seen the light of day. Obviously that is something one would like to get their hands on. Speculation is that Vidal was not amused with government policy toward Cuba and expressed his views.

Vidal was executed in 1964 after being captured on a raid into Cuba and Chapelle stepped on a land-mine while on patrol with some Marines in Vietnam during 1965.

Chapelle and Leo Cherne below.

James

Edited May 5, 2006 by James Richards

[William Kelly]

James,

Leo Cherne is the founder of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which used it's humanitarian relief effort to further the CIA's Operation Wringer, which debriefed refugees from Communist countries, especially Korea, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and Cuba.

Cherne was real pals with William Buckely, Jr.

The Leo Cherne papers, for those inclined to read them, are located at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Michigan.

Among those papers are three letters from Lee Harvey Oswald from Russia, requesting assistance in returning to USA. It would be interesting to know who told LHO about Cherne and the IRC.

Cherne was alive and living in New York City in the late 80s, as I found his phone number in the book talked with him briefly on the phone. He was a nice chap, but very old then, and now most certainly RIP.

BK

Edited May 5, 2006 by William Kelly

[John Simkin]

Cherne was alive and living in New York City in the late 80s, as I found his phone number in the book talked with him briefly on the phone. He was a nice chap, but very old then, and now most certainly RIP.

Cherne died in January 1999.

http://ria.thomson.com/70years/cherne.asp

[James Richards]

James,

Leo Cherne is the founder of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), which used it's humanitarian relief effort to further the CIA's Operation Wringer, which debriefed refugees from Communist countries, especially Korea, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and Cuba.

Cherne was real pals with William Buckely, Jr.

The Leo Cherne papers, for those inclined to read them, are located at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Michigan.

Among those papers are three letters from Lee Harvey Oswald from Russia, requesting assistance in returning to USA. It would be interesting to know who told LHO about Cherne and the IRC.

Cherne was alive and living in New York City in the late 80s, as I found his phone number in the book talked with him briefly on the phone. He was a nice chap, but very old then, and now most certainly RIP.

BK

Thanks, Bill.

Interesting regarding Oswald's letters.

James

[James Richards]

The following is from the A.J. Weberman Nodules.

James

On March 26, 1959, Leo Cherne, Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee, told Rudolph E. Gomez, Acting Chief, W/H Division, that "he had been in Cuba about a week before...While in Varadero he met a Mr. William Fidelston, (phonetic), a New York lawyer and a friend of his who was in Cuba on business. He told Fidelston that he would like to see Fidel Castro and Fidelston said that a friend of his, Commandante William Alexander Morgan [could help]...Upon his return to Havana Cherne saw Morgan at the Hotel Capri where Morgan is staying. Mr. Cherne said that Morgan was a most impressive person...Morgan claims 2,000 of his former troops are now in the Cuban Army and still loyal to him. Ché Guevara is very envious of Morgan, and had instructed Cienfuegos to have Morgan liquidated. Cienfuegos sent a person whose name began with 'B' and who was his second in command to liquidate Morgan. However, Morgan found out about the plot, was going to kill 'B,' but was stopped from doing so by Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, who said he did not approve of killing a rebel. Morgan then came to Havana and met an American from Cleveland, Dominick Bartone, who is a well-to-do American businessman and who is trying to sell some Globemasters to Fidel Castro. Dominick Bartone befriended Morgan, and was paying for his room at the Capri. Cherne felt Morgan could be very valuable as he is on excellent terms with Fidel Castro. He knows something about the plans Fidel Castro has to invade Panama, and is willing to give information in return for advice regarding how his status will affect his American citizenship...Morgan told Cherne that he wanted to do something to help the 3,000 families in the Escambray Mountains who have been bombed out. Cherne says it would cost about $600,000 to rehabilitate these people and probably the IRC could provide quite a bit of this money. Also, that in his opinion, whatever committee undertook this enterprise could gain access to and probably develop Castro with the objective of eventually putting it in the position that it could influence Castro...Cherne said that Morgan had given him a recognition signal which is a Cuban five cent piece dated 1946 with an indenture on the edge of the coin. That anyone who presented this coin to Morgan would know that he was a person in whom Cherne had confidence and his would establish his bone fides."

Edited May 5, 2006 by James Richards

[William Kelly]

Look what happened to William Morgan and what happened to A.J. ?

BK

[Thomas Graves]

On 5/4/2006 at 2:16 PM, James Richards said:

I have just discovered that Tommy Corcoran helped establish the Citizens' Committee for a Free Cuba on 6th May, 1963. Others involved in this project was Clare Boothe Luce, Edward Teller, Leo Cherne, Christopher Emmet, General S. L. A. Marshall, JosephBeirne, Irving Brown, Jay Lovestone, Ernest Cuneoand Dr. Buell Gallagher. (John Simkin)

So not to divert the 'Tommy Corcoran' thread, I have taken the liberty to start a new one regarding Leo Cherne, who in my opinion is a very interesting character.

Amongst other things, Cherne was a member of a 17 person body known as the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. In 1976, President Ford named John Connally and Melvin Laird as part of its make-up which also included, Robert E. Murphy, Steven Ailes, George Anderson Jr., Lyman Lemnitzer, Edward Bennett Williams, Leslie Arends, William J. Casey, Gordon Gray, William O. Baker, John S. Foster, Robert W. Galvin, Edward H. Land, Clare Booth Luce and Edward Teller.

Cherne also had a very chummy relationship with journalist Dickey Chapelle who was one to get right amongst the action. She went on an anti-Castro mission with Felipe Vidal Santiago and Roy Hargraves during the late summer of 1963. There was an alleged interview she had with Vidal post assassination that has never seen the light of day. Obviously that is something one would like to get their hands on. Speculation is that Vidal was not amused with government policy toward Cuba and expressed his views.

Vidal was executed in 1964 after being captured on a raid into Cuba and Chapelle stepped on a land-mine while on patrol with some Marines in Vietnam during 1965.

Chapelle and Leo Cherne below.

James

I'm bumping this thread because it ties in with the "Tom Dooley" thread.

--  Tommy