Harry Dean in Mexico City?

John Arvidson, of the American Vets Against Communism suspects Harry Dean is the Mystery Man in Mexico City.

Missing Church Committee Testimony

From: Steven D. Tilly
JFK Liaison
Textual Reference Division
NARA

April 17, 1995

Charles Battaglia
Staff Director
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
211 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Battaglia:

It has come to my attention that certain transcripts of testimony given before the Select Committee To Study Governmental Operations With Respect To Intelligence Activities may not be among the records transferred to the National Archives for inclusion in the JFK Collection. I discussed this matter with Ms. Judy Hodgson on April 13, and she suggested that I inform you in writing about this matter.

Early last week, I received a phone call from a researcher who has spent considerable time reviewing the Church Committee records. The researcher informed me that he had been reviewing again Book V of the Committee’s final report which is entitled “The Investigation Of The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Performance of Intelligence Agencies.” The researcher directed me to page 42 of the report where testimony by the “FBI supervisor,” dated April 8, 1976, was referenced in footnote 113. The researcher stated that he did not remember seeing this transcript during his research and asked if I could locate it.

Due to the intense interest in the Church Committee records, I had a member of my staff create a folder title list for the records so we would have a finding aid for the records. A finding aid was needed since we have not received the data disk for these records. I instructed the individual making the list to be as precise as possible in describing each folder and to specifically list each transcript of testimony by name of witness and date. I am enclosing a copy of this list for your information.

In response to the researcher’s inquiry, I learned that the testimony of the “FBI supervisor” was not among the records in our custody. I began to read other footnotes in the report and realized that other transcripts of testimony were referenced that I had not seen on our list. I decided to review every footnote in the report and compiled of (sic a) list of transcripts of testimony, summaries of interviews, and affidavits described in the footnotes that are not among our holdings. I have also enclosed a copy of this list for your use. I call your attention to the fact that most of these transcripts are dated in 1976. A review of our folder title list shows that most of the transcripts in the records in our custody are dated in 1975. It goes without saying that the individuals who gave this testimony, whether identified by name or title, are very significant persons in the history of the assassination.

While compiling this list, I remembered other testimony that was supposedly taken from the Church Committee but not among these records. One researcher has informed me that John Rosselli testified before the Committee on June 24, 1975, and April 23, 1976. The only transcripts we have for Rosselli are September 22, and September 23, 1975. Another researcher has informed me that Evelyn Lincoln, President Kennedy’s secretary, testified or was interviewed by the Committee staff. We have been unable to locate any documents relating to this issue.

I am also enclosing a copy of a document created by the Committee staff, apparently around the middle of August 1975, entitled “Assassination Testimony File.” This document was located by the individual who compiled the folder title list. I have compared this document with the folder title list and highlighted in yellow the transcripts that we located while compiling the folder title list. While this document only lists testimony taken early in the Committee’s history, there still appears to be significant documents from 1975 that are also not in our holdings. I realize that some of these individuals may have testified about other events under investigation by the Committee. However, some of the documents listed are clearly assassination related, such as Rosselli’s testimony of June 24, 1975, and Richard Helm’s testimony of June 13, 1975.

Ms. Hodgson informed me that the records of the Church Committee are stored in the National Archives Building in downtown Washington, D.C. If you decide to search the Committee’s records again for these documents, I would be pleased to assist your staff in conducting that search if that would facilitate this matter. I will also be pleased to arrange assistance from the staff of our Center for Legislative Archives if you wish.

Please contact me on (301) 713-6620 if you wish to discuss this matter. As I informed Ms. Hodgson, I have informed the Assassinations Records Review Board about this issue.

Sincerely,

Signed
STEVEN D. TILLEY
JFK Liaisoin
Textual Reference Division
(NARA)

Enclosures

Cc: Dr. David Marwell
Executive Director
Assassinations Records Review Board.

LIST OF MISSING CHURCH COMMITTEE TESTIMONY
(Includes some interviews and summaries)

1. FBI Supervisor, 4/8/76 (Footnote 113, page 42)
2. Chief, SAS/CI, 5/10/76 (Footnote 32, page 17)
3. Western Hemisphere Division Desk Officer, 5/7/76 (Footnote 12, page 25)
4. Thomas Karamessines, 4/18/76 (Footnote 13, page 25)
5. Amlash Case Officer, 2/11/76 (Footnote 31, page 17)
6. Executive Officer, 4/22/76 (Footnote 32, page 17)
7. Section Chief, 5/11/76 (Footnote 7, page 11)
8. Chief JMWAVE, 5/6/76 and/or 5/16/76 (Footnote) 8, page 11, and footnote 19, page 14)
9. Intelligence Officer, 5/10/76 (Footnote 13, page 13)
10. Richard Helms, 6/13/75 (Footnote 33, page 18)
11. CIA Liaison Officer, 5/7/76 (Footnote 52, page 30)
12. Staff Interview of CIA Analyst, 3/15/76 (Footnote 62, page 31)
13. Staff Interview of William C. Sullivan, 4/21/76 (Footnote 70, page 34)
14. Alex Rosen, 4/30/76 (Footnote 76, page 35)
15. FBI Supervisor I, 4/27/76 (Footnote 78, page 35)
16. FBI Supervisor II, 2/27/76 (Footnote 78, page 35)
17. FBI Supervisor III, 4/29/76 (Footnote 78, page 35)
18. General Investigative Division Supervisor, 3/31/76 (Footnote 80, page 36 and footnote 27, page 81)
19. Soviet Section Supervisor, 4/23/76 (Footnote 86, page 36)
20. Former Section Chief, 5/11/76 (Footnote 89, page 37) This may be the same person as item #7.
21. Supervisor, 5/5/76 (Footnote 90, page 37)
22. Mexico City Legat, 2/4/76 (Footnote 100, page 40)
23. FBI Special Agent, 12/5/76 (Footnote 34, page 52)
24. SAC, 12/20/76 (Footnote 36, page 52)
25. Staff Interview of FBI Inspector, 3/20/76 (Footnote 54, page 56)
26. Staff Discussion with Ambassador John Sherman Cooper, 5/24/76 (Footnote 120, page 67)
27. James Angleton, 2/6/76 (Footnote 134, page 69)
28. James J. Rowley, 2/13/76 (Footnote 21, page 80)
29. FBI Agent I, 5/3/76 (Footnote 44, page 83)
30. FBI Agent II, 4/13/76 (Footnote 44, page 83)
31. Washington Lawyer, 3/17/76 (Footnote 45, page 83)
32. Supervisor, 3/31/76 (Footnote 53, page 85) This may be the same person as item #18.
33. Client No. 1, 4/23/76 (Footnote 55, page 85)
34. Client No. 2, 4/28/76 (Footnote 55, page 85)
35. James Hosty, 12/12/75 (Footnote 6, page 87)
36. Staff summary with former FBI Headquarters Supervisor, 1/16/76 (Footnote 15, page 89)
37. FBI Headquarters Supervisor, 3/15/76 (Footnote 15, page 89) This may be the same individual as item #36.
38. James Hosty, 12/13/75 (Footnote 17, page 89)
39. INS Inspector, 12/19/75 (Footnote 1, page 95)
40. J. Gordon Shanklin, 12/19/75 (Footnote 1, page 95)
41. Affidavits of various FBI personnel, pages 96-97

Aspillaga at Lourdes?

The original cover story for the Dealey Plaza Operation was a Northwoods type plan to blame the assassination on Castro and the Cubans, and the fact that this cover story is still being promoted by the same people today is clear evidence the intelligence network that killed President Kennedy is still functioning today.

If the Cuban government had anything to do with the assassination then the US government was complied in covering up the fact, but it is much more clear that those who attempt to blame Castro for the assassination are closer to the culprits themselves.

About the Author - BRIAN LATELL began tracking Cuba for the CIA in the early 1960s. Today, as Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami,[BK Notes: aka JMWAVE] he continues as one of the most distinguished and frequently quoted experts. For a quarter century he taught Cuba and Latin America as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. A former National Intelligence Officer for Latin America and Director of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence, he has written for the Washington Post, Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, Time, and many other American and international publications. His After Fidel has been published in eight languages.

Since he is the resident University of Miami scholar on Cuban and JFK assassination matters, I publicly ask him to please tell us about any records there are at the University archives about the Conference of Cuban Journalist that was held there over a six week period during the summer of 1963, and why there is no information about this conference available at all?

In addition, beside these plugs from other previously exposed CIA assets, I'd also like to call attention to the fact that Lattell's primary source - Aspillaga, may be able to lead us to a Cuban/Soviet copy of the Air Force One radio transmission tapes that our government has apparently lost.

At Salon.com, Jeff Morley wrote: “Latell’s most intriguing contribution is the testimony of Florentino Aspillaga, a career General Directorate of Intelligence officer who defected to the United States in 1987. Latell interviewed him extensively in 2007 and 2008, and found him unusually credible on the workings of the Cuban security forces. Aspillaga told Latell that on Nov. 22, 1963, he was manning a Cuban radio monitoring station that usually focused on Miami or Langley. His bosses, he said, made an unusual request that day: monitor the airwaves in Texas. Soon came the shocking news that JFK had been killed in Dallas.”

“Castro knew,” Aspillaga is quoted as saying. “They knew Kennedy would be killed.”
If Castro knew JFK would be killed, he could have learned of the plot from the anti-Castro groups that his G2 had penetrated, but knowing JFK was visiting Texas and asking COMIT agents to focus on Texas is not expressing foreknowledge of the assassination, only that JFK was there. So Aspillaga’s conclusion is off, and intentionally misinterpreted by the CIA disinformation agent – Latell, but it is important nonetheless in that it indicates they were intentionally targeting the Texas communications, as we are just beginning to study in depth today.

I’d like to know – did Aspillaga work at the Cuban radio communications facility at Lourdes?
If Castro learned of the assassination from radio communications, and he had instructed his radio operators to listen specifically to Texas broadcasts, perhaps the Cubans have a copy of the Air Force One radio transmissions that our government has apparently lost.

If Latell’s primary source – Aspillaga did work at a Cuban radio base station that attempted to intercept American radio communications, then he probably worked at Lourdes radio communications intercept center, which was set up by the Soviets and used the state-of-the-art equipment the Russians had developed.

I had previously considered the idea that this Cuban facility listened in and probably recorded the Air Force One radio communications, and wondered if it was feasible to ask the Cubans for their copy of the AF1 radio communications they taped. Towards that end I exchanged emails with Dave Emery, an American radio communications specialist who had written a research article on the Cuban radio intercept station at Lourdes.

I told Emery about the missing Air Force One radio transmission tapes and asked him if the NSA or the Cubans at Lourdes would likely have a copy.

He responded: I find it rather surprising, even amazing, that the NSA would admit to having ever had a copy of that traffic. I believe they no doubt did (have it), but there I quite a bit of sensitivity to a US government agency intercepting high level US traffic, and it is not clear to me under what operational directive they ran such a Mystic Star monitoring operation.

Back then it would have actually taken an operator or two dialing in frequencies on the R-390As and recording everything on tape – and I am most intrigued if you got them to admit to having assigned such to Mystic Star in November 1963.

One supposes that once the news of the assassination became known within NSA (ASA/AFSS/NSG etc.) monitoring facilities some of the operators looked for the Mystic Star traffic and listened to it (military discipline aside, I am sure there were people curious enough to break the rules under the circumstances). And given that the intercept positions had tape gear, probably there were tapes made on the QT. But for anyone to admit to their existence is quite another matter.

I do know that continuous Crown patches on the AF-1 primary and secondary hi frequencies were almost certainly recorded by WHCA at the White House com center and probably also at Andrews com center Mystic Star operators.

It seems inconceivable that these tapes weren’t carefully saved, and probably played over by insiders many times. Of course considering the various conspiracy theories (and remotely possible also the presence of a real conspiracy) it follows that these tapes may have been edited or deliberately destroyed, or locked up under seal for another 50 years or whatever.

I have almost total certainty that WHCA and or the 89th SAM com operators had such tapes from the actual radios used to communicate with the plane – I would not consider it even remotely conceivable they weren’t routinely taping the lines.

While I know that I unlikely, I’ve considered the possibly that the Cubans/Russians picked it up and may have intercepted the traffic. Whether this was done from Cuba at Lourdes or from the Soviet Embassy in Washington (or both) is less clear. Frankly considering what sometimes was said over Mystic Star in the clear in that era, it seems beyond doubt that the Soviets would have found it worthwhile to assign operators to routinely monitor the traffic and almost certainly record what they intercepted on tape for later translation, playing for leadership and whatever. The recent Mitroysin Archive book specifically mentions Soviet monitoring of VIP communications from aircraft, including such monitoring from the Soviet diplomatic facilities in the DC and NY areas.

And whilst the Russians were sometimes slow on the uptake and the Mitroshin stuff mentions the Kissinger era, I find it rather hard to believe that they didn’t know about and follow Mysitc Star practically from its inception.

G. Robert Blakey: "I no longer believe that we were able to conduct an appropriate investigation of the [Central Intelligence] Agency and its relationship to Oswald.... I do not believe any denial offered by the Agency on any point. The law has long followed the rule that if a person lies to you on one point, you may reject all of his testimony.... We now know that the Agency withheld from the Warren Commission the CIA-Mafia plots to kill Castro. Had the commission known of the plots, it would have followed a different path in its investigation.... We also now know that the Agency set up a process that could only have been designed to frustrate the ability of the committee in 1976-79 to obtain any information that might adversely affect the Agency. Many have told me that the culture of the Agency is one of prevarication and dissimulation and that you cannot trust it or its people. Period. End of story. I am now in that camp." --Robert Blakey, staff director and chief counsel for the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, statement from 2003

Richard Sprague: "If he had it to do over again, he would begin his investigation of the Kennedy assassination by probing 'Oswald's ties to the Central Intelligence Agency.'" --Richard Sprague, first staff director and chief counsel to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, statement to Sam Anson of New Times magazine, cited by Gaeton Fonzi, The Last Investigation


Editorial Reviews
Review

“An insider's look at Castro's Cuba, and its tortured relationship with America, from one of the most knowledgeable Cuba experts around. Brian Latell draws on exclusive interviews with Cuban spies and troves of declassified documents to provide the most authoritative account yet of the decades-long U.S. Cuba intelligence war.”--Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight: JFK, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War

“I have been waiting more than 35 years for this book. Since my service as a member of the Senate’s Church committee I have never believed Fidel Castro’s denials of prior knowledge of the Kennedy assassination. Brian Latell has performed a national service by writing a book that lays bare the duplicity of the Cuban government.”--Robert Morgan, former US Senator

"No one knows more about Cuban intelligence than Brian Latell. In this page-turner, he not only tells compelling stories that reveal the strength of Cuban actions in Le Carre's world of spy vs. spy but raises unsettling questions about Lee Harvey Oswald's Cuban connections. By the end, the reader is asking, What did Fidel know and when did he know it?"--Timothy Naftali, Blind Spot: The Secret History of American Counterterrorism

"A remarkable look at Fidel Castro's intelligence machine. This is a must read for anyone curious about the long history of Fidel Castro's intelligence preoccupation with the U.S. "--Frederick P. Hitz, former Inspector General of CIA and author of The Great Game

“Castro’s Secrets is a must read for anyone who cares about how JFK died, how Fidel Castro lied to a congressional investigating committee, and whether the CIA is still covering up crucial knowledge.”--G. Robert Blakey, Former Chief Counsel and Staff Director to the House Select Committee on Assassinations

"In this provocative book, Brian Latell brings to bear all his experience and knowledge as a former intelligence analyst on Cuba for the CIA. This is a book that should be read, regardless of whether one agrees with Latell about Castro’s complicity in JFK’s assassination."-- Max Holland, author of The Kennedy Assassination Tapes

Outstanding Lines of Inquiry

Outstanding - LINES OF INQUIRY still Outstanding. Want to pitch in and find out?

1) Collins Hanger, Redbird Airport 1951 – 1963 “With increasing military orders Collins was urged by the Defense Department to consider further decentralization of its facilities for security reasons. Management began studies of a number of communities,…and announced in May, 1951 an expansion program to build a $1 million plant near Dallas, Texas suburb of Richardson….Collins also announced plans to lease a hanger at nearby Redbird Airport to install and repair airborne equipment. James Flynn, Jr. from American Airlines, was named general manager, W. G. Pappenfus director of manufacturing, Harold Moss manger of test and inspection and Arthur Luebs was named senior buyer for the Texas division. “Our decision to locate in Texas is in line with the current practice of separating production plants geographically for security reasons,” Arthur Collins explained. “So long as we are locating another plant away from our main operation, we picked a place close to the heart of the aviation industry and where the weather would give us more uniform test flight conditions. We found exactly the conditions we were looking for in Texas.”

In 1952 Collins installed an experimental communications link between its Cedar Rapids Airport laboratory and its new Dallas laboratory …
[BK: Did this link still exist in 1963?)

2) Feather Ridge Studies by Dr. Dale McCoy and C. M. Hepperle Led to construction by Collins of a giant aluminum dish antenna for the Naval Laboratory at Anacostia, DC in 1950.
[What were the Feather Rdige Studies and can we get a copies of their reports?]

3) Operation Vagabond – “was a facet of the ‘ring plan’ designed to ring all of the world’s critical areas with extremely high-powered communications facilities,…” Collins Radio –
[Are the documents on Vagabond unclassified? This would include Vietnam and Caribbean]

4) Radio Ship “Courier” - Voice of America? Collins Radio.
[I’ve heard of a lot of communications ships – Pueblo, Rex, Rev. Carl McIntyre had one, but the “Courier” is new to me.]

5) “Speckled Trout” – Communications and Command Plane LeMay frequently used, but not on 11/22/63. C-135 aircraft transport senior military leaders such as the Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Command; Commander, Pacific Air Forces; and other high-ranking dignitaries. The C-135C Speckled Trout communications aircraft, operated by the Edwards-based 412th Flight Test Squadron, is a modified C-135 that serves as a test bed for emerging technologies…..
[Is the C-135 a military modified 707/?]

6) Cedar Rapids, Iowa Mayor Robert M.L. Johnson January 4, 1965 wrote LBJ a letter: “As one who read and believed the Warren Report on the assassination of President Kennedy, I am disturbed and chagrined that…you would permit a 750year cloak of sececy to fall over the facts May I suggest that if there is true justification for withholding from the public the facts of one of the most tragic events of our time, it is also incumbent upon our national leadership to make it clear why…”
[Can we get a full copy of this letter?] Got It. Thanks Rx

7) Igor “the Turk” Vaganov. Few individuals stand out as suspects and have such an intriguing background as Igor Vaganov. John Berendt wrote about him in the August 1967 issue of Esquire. I was always intrigued by the Philadelphia connection.
[Is Vaganov still alive? Does anybody have a copy of the Esquire magazine about him? It is very long and detailed, and can his story be summarized in one or two paragraphs?]

8) Brandywine. Carl Mather said he worked on AF2 at Andrews for Collins and was quartered at “Brandywine,” and Brandywine is also the location of one of the Mystic Star – Presidential Communications stations, support stations. (See: Carl Mather, Brandywine & Mystic Star) [I think the Mystic Star Presidential Communications System links not only to AF1 and Special Air Missions (SAM) but to Speckled Trout and Looking Glass as well as remote control and command facilities that can survived nuclear attacks – there were at least six of them and I think Brandywine is near Camp David, one of them.]

9) BIRDCALL In 1954 LeMay invited Arthur Collins to attend a meeting of business executives at Offut, AFB in Nebraska. While there Collins met officials of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Collins also informed LeMay of advances in single-sideband radio, an area that the Air Force was looking to develop and improve on. LeMay's collaboration with Arthur Collins eventually led to something called BIRDCALL, an "air-to-ground and point-to-point SSB communication system." Further testing on this communications system continued throughout 1956.
[There must be more on Birdcall. The Collins Radio company files are in a special Collins collection at the Iowa State U. They are probably a treasure trove of information about the Collins/USAF connections]

10) FOUR LEAVES – Executive Order signed by JFK on Sept. 23/4 1963 regarding special project FOUR LEAVES. What the hells is it?
[ I wonder if these Collins links have anything to do with Project FOUR LEAVES – the title of the project JFK approved by executive order – This is also the day (or within a day) of the signing of the limited nuke test ban treaty, and the day Oz leaves the Big Easy for Mexico and the JCS meet the same day. See: JCS MEMO – the Read Only message – what was it? And is there any way of learning?]

Four Leaves

10) FOUR LEAVES – Executive Order signed by JFK on Sept. 23/4 1963 regarding special project FOUR LEAVES. What the hells is it?
[ I wonder if these Collins links have anything to do with Project FOUR LEAVES – the title of the project JFK approved by executive order – This is also the day (or within a day) of the signing of the limited nuke test ban treaty, and the day Oz leaves the Big Easy for Mexico and the JCS meet the same day. See: JCS MEMO – the Read Only message – what was it? And is there any way of learning?]

Speckled Trout

5) “Speckled Trout” – Communications and Command Plane LeMay frequently used, but not on 11/22/63. C-135 aircraft transport senior military leaders such as the Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Command; Commander, Pacific Air Forces; and other high-ranking dignitaries. The C-135C Speckled Trout communications aircraft, operated by the Edwards-based 412th Flight Test Squadron, is a modified C-135 that serves as a test bed for emerging technologies…..
[Is the C-135 a military modified 707/?]

Radio Ship "Courier"

4) Radio Ship “Courier” - Voice of America? Collins Radio.
[I’ve heard of a lot of communications ships – Pueblo, Rex, Rev. Carl McIntyre had one, but the “Courier” is new to me.]

Operation Vagabond

3) Operation Vagabond – “was a facet of the ‘ring plan’ designed to ring all of the world’s critical areas with extremely high-powered communications facilities,…” Collins Radio –
[Are the documents on Vagabond unclassified? This would include Vietnam and Caribbean]

Feather Ridge Studies - Collins

) Feather Ridge Studies by Dr. Dale McCoy and C. M. Hepperle Led to construction by Collins of a giant aluminum dish antenna for the Naval Laboratory at Anacostia, DC in 1950.
[What were the Feather Rdige Studies and can we get a copies of their reports?]

Collins Redbird

1) Collins Hanger, Redbird Airport 1951 – 1963 “With increasing military orders Collins was urged by the Defense Department to consider further decentralization of its facilities for security reasons. Management began studies of a number of communities,…and announced in May, 1951 an expansion program to build a $1 million plant near Dallas, Texas suburb of Richardson….Collins also announced plans to lease a hanger at nearby Redbird Airport to install and repair airborne equipment. James Flynn, Jr. from American Airlines, was named general manager, W. G. Pappenfus director of manufacturing, Harold Moss manger of test and inspection and Arthur Luebs was named senior buyer for the Texas division. “Our decision to locate in Texas is in line with the current practice of separating production plants geographically for security reasons,” Arthur Collins explained. “So long as we are locating another plant away from our main operation, we picked a place close to the heart of the aviation industry and where the weather would give us more uniform test flight conditions. We found exactly the conditions we were looking for in Texas.”

In 1952 Collins installed an experimental communications link between its Cedar Rapids Airport laboratory and its new Dallas laboratory …
[BK: Did this link still exist in 1963?)

KW-7

“During return flight of AF-1 from Dallas, we were working the aircraft via KW-7. The operator aboard the aircraft was so busy that he could not attend the ckt.”

SFC Carriger


The Orestes cryptosystem employed the KW-7. It was an on-line, send/receive crypto unit installed in shore stations and aboard ships. In one application, it was used for ship to shore and for intership radioteletype communications. To send messages over a secure UHF teletype circuit, a model 28 Teletype or reader (T-D) sent the prepared message to the KW-7 which in turn keyed a UHF transmitter in the AM mode. Note, that the KW-7 was not a totally synchronous unit, therefore, it required a phasing signal to be sent in order to attain a lock on the received signal. top. The circuitry was all solid-state and fit in a fairly rugged housing that featured a Tempest-sealed lid on top, removable for servicing. The KW-7 was also used aboard aircraft such as EC/RC-135's.

SETTING THE DAILY KEY
THE WIRE CORD VERSION

The original KW-7 had 30 fixed wires coming out of the bottom half of the key area. Using a daily key list, the operator plugged the wires into the top half a flat block. Many operators joked that part of the KW-7 course consisted of basket weaving since that seemed to be a prerequisite skill for this task. The task of coding the plugblocks was sometimes referred to as knitting. The wires were about 14 to 18 inches long and it took forever to get them all plugged in and still be able to close the door over top of them. There were metal loops provided to help shorten the slack but it was still difficult to get them packed in.

Many a time, a KW-7 used in flying command posts for TTY traffic would be pulled in for maintenance only to discover there were little black loops of wire hanging outside of the edge of the locked door because it was such a tight fit inside. This was frowned on since the purpose of the gasket was to reduce Tempest.

http://jproc.ca/crypto/kw7.html

KWX-7 Front View. (Photo via E-bay)

This is the cockpit remote control unit which could operate the KW-7. It was made by Collins. The Orestes system, used in strategic and tactical environments, was not limited to ships and land based systems but also used in aircraft. The panel has 16 Clare Pendar switches: they are a combination of DPST, 4PST, latching, momentary and all are illuminated. Face plate is backlit as evidenced in the right photo. Switches have the following labels, TTY / KEY, KW-7, MODEM TEST, POWER, KW-7, 700B-2 1, KW-7 2, 700B-2 2, 700B-4, TE-204, KW-7 1, 700B-2 1, 700B-4, TE-204, KW-7 2 .
Dick Morris adds. "The Collins remote unit depicted above was actually part of the USAF ARA-60 system along with the TE-204A-2 synchronous modem. This system was on the airborne command post aircraft. The code name for the planes that I worked on at RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. was Silk Purse. Similar planes at Offut AFB were code named Looking Glass.

When new, these machines cost around $4,500 a piece and required 6 to 8 weeks of training in order to maintain them. KW-7's were also used in U.S. military radio shelters like the TRC-136, the GRC-122 and the GRC-142. The GRC-142 or GRC-122 used one or two KW-7s in a simplex or full-duplex HF radio link In either case they would have been attached to a GRC-106 radio set. Early shelter versions use Kleinschmidt teletypes and later versions use UGC-74 teleprinters. The KW-7 was self-synchronizing to the extent that whenever the other fellow stops sending, you push a button which sends out an initialization sequence to the other end to put it in sync.

KW-7 (Orestes)

KW-7's saw service in three variants. The original version used wire cords to set the daily key. Next, the plugblock version was introduced while the last variant used a paper card reader. Externally, one could tell the machines apart by the front covers. The original version of the machine had a flat, front cover. When the plugblock version was introduced the cover had a small square bulge. When card readers were introduced, the cover shape changed to a large rectangular bulge.

Brandywine - Mystic Star

SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSSASSINATIONS
Carl Amos Mather 3/20/78
Interview: Carl A. Mather & wife Mrs. Barbara Mather
Jack Morarity HSCA Interview Report:

“…Not that Carl isn’t used to being interviewed by government agents; he has a security clearance – and he has had since he started traveling with his company – he’s been with them for 21 years now. Has traveled overseas. His specific function deals with the installation of special electronics gear in aircraft. One such assignment caused him to be quartered in Brandywine, Maryland as he worked for some period of time at Andrews Air Force Base working on ‘Air Force Two’ – Vice President Johnson’s plane at the time.”

Mystic Star
The Mystic Star high-frequency single-side-band [SSB] communications system is installed at about 10-15 Air Force bases around the world, with remote transceivers controlled via telephone voice channels from Andrews AFB. This system is used for telephone traffic when Air Force One is out of range of other UHF links, but at least two SSB voice frequencies (and a full duplex 75 baud secure teletype channel called "India Oscar" which use a special anti-multipath modem) are maintained continuously and used for coordination of other communications links. Frequencies are chosen from a list of about 150 scattered throughout the available HF spectrum and are designated by "fox" code numbers which change from time to time.

Satellite communications are provided through Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Remote Switching Units (RSUs). The RSU is a UHF radio satellite ground entry point (GEP) station for the MSCMS. There are four RSU sites that provide the Mystic Star system with global UHF satellite coverage.

The four dedicated UHF stations: Brandywine, MD, San Vito, IT, Clark, RP, Wahiawa, HI. Each of these stations, except for Brandywine, has four dedicated radio levels; two wideband channels and two narrowband channels. The Brandywine station has six dedicated radio levels; four wideband channels and four narrowband channels for Mystic Star support. Satellite communications are under the control of the Master Control Center (MCC) at Offutt AFB, NE. The MCC has delegated its controlling authority to several Primary Control Centers (PCCs). Working within the Mystic Star system, and coordinated with the PCCs located at Brandywine, March AFB, CA; and Kadena AB, Japan. Brandywine is the PCC for the 23-degree west and Lincoln Experimental Satellite (LES). Brandywine 23W/100W…

Igor Vaganov

Igor Vaganov.

I think Gaeton Fonzi wrote about Vaganov in Greater Philadelphia Magazine, which later became Philadelphia Magazine (Owned by the same company that owns Boston Mag.). Fonzi wrote for Philly Mag when it was edited by the late Alan Halpern, who mentored Fonzi and secured the publication of his story in Washingtonian Magazine that became The Last Investigation.

While I haven’t seen the early articles Fonzi is said to have written about Vaganov, I did read the lengthly article later published in Esquire Magazine (May, 1968) which details Vaganov’s strange and suspicious movements.

A Latavian émigré who lived in Germany during WWII and came to America at the age of nine, Igor Vaganov was a credit manager for General Electric for two years, had served in the Navy, spoke four languages, had been in jail in California, and before moving to Dallas he lived in Philadelphia where he hung out at McMullin’s Bar in Upper Darby.

Vaganov is reported to have used the alias of John Nicholson, Kurt Kullaway, Vince Carson and Igor Baganov. He owned a high powered rifle and liked to hunt. One friend, Doc Ornasteen said he thought Vaganov had suicidal tendencies, about which Vaganov said, “I don’t have any, but many think I should.”

On November 5, Vaganov suddenly walked off his job, and showed up in Dallas with his rifle in his red Ford Thunderbird. On November 12 he was living on Sunset Manor, Oak Cliff, possibly with a girlfriend. He knew “Mike,” a short stocky man “from the CIA,” and worked for a plumbing supply company and for a day and a half at Texas Consumer Finance Corp., which had offices next to the Carousel Club.

On November 21, Joan Anthis cried hysterically and said, “Turk is going to do something terrible tomorrow.”

On November 22, Vaganov said he slept in his Oak Cliff apartment until noon, and left near 1 pm, went to bank and somehow got tied up as a suspect in the Tippit shooting.

Some six months after the assassination the FBI found a bundle of his clothes in a Dallas telephone booth.

While little, if any of the information collected about Igor Vaganov makes much sense, I think its important to try to figure out what this guy was really up to, and wanted to see if anyone had anything else on this guy.

Hi Bill. That is a new one for me. Is that documented?

I think there are a few pieces you are missing - one had to do with a background in electronics I thought [going from memory here]? Another was that on the morning of 11/22, I thought that he came downstairs in his pajamas and was witnessed by his landlords or something at 1:00pm? Last was that there was a scrap of paper in his pocket with code words on it - which I pasted someplace here before.


John Berendt ( Author: Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil) wrote the article on Igor (Turk) Vaganov
which was published in the August 1967 issue of Esquire Magazine. The Esquire archive located in New York no longer has a copy of the article, but I was able to find a copy at a local library.

According to the article, Vaganov was first married to an Atlanta lady called Martha, whose father was a 'sea
captain'. No mention of her surname occurs in the article,...... but wouldn't it be really interesting if it was
'Davison'.

Vaganov's girlfriend was Anne Dullin. They were married in South Carolina on their way to Dallas. Her sister , Mrs. Joan Anthis lived in Garland , Texas, and it was she who called the FBI immediately after hearing the news of the assassination. Anne had phoned her the night before, and cryingly told her about
Turk going to do something terrible the following day.

Birdcall Collins, LeMay & USAF SAC

BIRDCALL

In 1954 LeMay had invited via "special invitation," Arthur Collins to attend a meeting of business executives at Offut, AFB in Nebraska. While there Collins hobnobbed with officials of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. While there, Collins also informed LeMay of advances his company had made in single-sideband radio, an area that the Air Force was looking to develop and improve on. What LeMay's collaboration with Arthur Collins eventually led to, was something called BIRDCALL, an "air-to-ground and point-to-point SSB communication system." Further testing on this communications system continued throughout 1956

Another Look at CE 567

Re: Warren Commission Exhibit WC CE 567 – Bullet fragment found under the front seat of limo.
In an article A New Look at CE 567, (From http://jfklancer.com/fragtest.html)
20 April 1999©Joseph Backes

Joe Backes wrote: “...someone brought to the attention of Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995 that this fragment may have embedded in it tiny strands of fiber that this unknown writer believed came from President Kennedy's shirt collar. In January 1996, John Keeney, Acting Assistant Attorney General, wrote to FBI Director Louis Freeh requesting that the FBI "Initiate an inquiry into specific aspects of the assassination theory related to collected bullet fragments and residues now in the possession of the federal government."7 - 7.) Assassination Records Review Board Final Report p. 127

Joe Backs wrote: “Who made this request to Janet Reno is unknown to this author.”

Hey Joe, I’ve learned the identity of this guy - John T. Orr, Jr., former U.S. Anti-Trust Division Attorney Atlanta, Ga., who apparently, on his own time, studied the hard ballistic evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy and discovered the possibility that CE 567 contained fiber reside that if fiber could negate the single bullet theory and increase the odds a second gun was involved.

According to the reports I’ve read that refer to him, Orr noticed that the HSCA Firearms panel had recommended the Justice Dept. conduct further tests on CE 567 to determine if the residue on the bullet head fragment is fiber or human tissue because if it is fiber, then the single-bullet theory is positively proven wrong and there were probably two gunman.

In addition, Orr suggested that the bullet that hit the President in the head and shattered, was not the same composition as the full-metal copper jacketed bullet like CE 399, found nearly intact on a stretcher at Parkland and deemed the bullet that did all of the non-fatal wounds in both JFK and Connally.

DOJ Memo Jan. 4, 1996 from Acting Chief of Gen. Litigation and Legal Advice Section to John C. Keeney, Acting Asst. Attorney Gen. Criminal Division

“John T. Orr, Jr., Chief of the Antitrust Division’s Atlanta Field Office, wrote to the Attorney General in April t advise her of his conclusions that President Kennedy was killed by a second gunman acting in concert with Lee Harvey Oswald. John Hogan, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Attorney General, referred Mr. Orr’s submission, which Mr. Orr indicated was the result of research conducted during non-duty hours, to the Criminal Division for review.”

“We met with Mr. Orr, while he was in Washington to receive a Distinguished Service Award from the Attorney General, and we have since reviewed the report which he prepared. It is our opinion that Mr. Orr’s observations justify the performance of certain modest preliminary investigative measures to test the foundation of his assassination conspiracy theory.”

“Jurisdiction. Federal criminal statutes covering the assassination of the President and assaults against federal officials generally were enacted after 1963. Accordingly, the criminal statutes of Texas represent the best, and probably only viable, mechanism for prosecution of any living person determined to have been involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. Despite the lack of apparent federal prosecutorial jurisdiction over the November 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Congress and the Executive Branch have historically recognized Department of Justice investigative jurisdiction over the matter, concurrent with Texas investigative jurisdiction. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been deemed the appropriate federal investigative agency for this matter, partly in recognition of the potential appearance of a conflict of interest which the Secret Service, as the protective force at the time of the assassination, would confront.”

“...It is our view that the Department has retained investigative jurisdiction over the assassination, though such investigation is restricted to activities which are not based upon the expectation of an eventual federal prosecution. Thus, the examination of evidence in federal possession is seemingly appropriate, which obtaining evidence by grand jury subpoena would like be inappropriate. This position was adopted by the Division and endorsed b the Office of the Deputy Attorney General when we declined to seek a court order for exhumation of former Governor Connally’s body following allegations that bullet fragments remaining in his body from the incident would reveal, by weight or composition, the existence of additional bullets.”

“Mr. Orr’s Theory. Mr. Orr has challenged the Warren Commission and House Select Committee trajectory findings. It is his view that Mr. Oswald and a conspirator fired two distinctly different types of ammunition from different locations in a coordinated attack. He believes that Oswald shot both the President and Governor Connally, while a marksman shot the President once in the center of the back of the head, actually causing the President’s death.”

“Mr. Orr believes that the second gunman assassinated the President with a single shot to the President’s head, fired after Oswald’s second shot. He believes that the ammunition used was very different from Oswald’s – a soft-nose or hollow-point bullet very different from the military style full-metal-jacket bullets which have been attributed to Oswald. He believes that the trajectory and impact of this “third shot” proves conclusively that neither Oswald’s ammunition nor Oswald’s location could have been the source of that fatal shot. Mr. Orr cites the fragment pattern documented by x-rays, in general, and the presence of fragments (visible in x-rays), outside the skull next to the entry would, or a type associated with soft-nose ammunition.”

“While Mr. Orr has suggested rather complex measures, such as computer recreation of the assassination, to confirm his theory, he has also proposed certain investigative tasks which are relatively simple and inexpensive but which have the potential of confirming or refuting the foundation of his theory.”

“…We endorse Mr. Orr’s proposal that a complete study of the bullet and bullet fragments housed at the National Archives be conducted, to include their color, texgture, density, and shape, and the presence of any foreign matter contamination. Alleged fiber evidence embedded in the bullet nose recovered from the front seat of the limousine should have characteristics consistent with the President’s shirt collar, tie, and tie liner – thus establishing a different trajectory than that previously identified.”

“A comparison of suspected pieces of the same round should be conducted. If Mr. Orr’s theory is correct, evaluation of identified wounds and bullet fragments should confirm the use of two very different types of ammunition, suggesting but not proving the involvement of two shooters....”

“...If the fabric evidence confirms Mr. Orr’s view of the likely trajectory of the ‘first shot’ and the ammunition ‘footprint’ and residue confirm that the ‘third bullet’ was very different in composition from the others, we believe that there will then be a sufficient basis to further test Mr. Orr’s theory.”



Joe's article:
http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/issues_and_evidence/ce_567/new_look_at_ce567--backes/new_look.html

Recently, Warren Commission Exhibit 567 has become a very interesting piece of evidence in the JFK assassination. What is CE 567? CE 567 is a bullet fragment.

CE 567 is a plastic envelope marked "C2" and numerous other containers, along with one 6.5 mm caliber nose portion of a metal jacketed bullet, and one small metal fragment. The exhibit was reportedly found on the right side of the front seat by the Secret Service upon their examination of the limousine on November 22, 1963 (WC H, Vol. 3, p 415)

CE 569 is a plastic evelope marked "C14A", a manila envelope and metal box, containing one 6.5 mm caliber base portion of a metal jacket bullet. the exhibit was reportedly found on the floor beside the right side of the front seat by the Secret Service upon their examination of the limousine on November 22, 1963. (WC H, Vol. 5, pg 67)

It was found in the presidential limousine after an inspection of that vehicle by Assistant Special Agent In-Charge (ASAIC) of the White House Detail Floyd Boring and Deputy Chief of the Secret Service Mr. Paul J. Paterni.1 This inspection occurred in the White House garage on the night of the assassination, beginning at 10:10 p.m. and lasting until 12:01 a.m. Nov. 22, 1963. Boring and Paterni brought this bullet fragment to the attention of SS liaison officer with the FBI, Orin Bartlet, who personally brought it to the FBI lab delivering it to FBI agent Robert Frazier.2 This inspection occurred after the car was at least partially cleaned and washed up while parked at the Parkland emergency entrance.3

Prior to Boring and Paterni's inspection, SS agent Sam Kiney examined the limousine while onboard a C-130 transport that was taking the presidential vehicle back to D.C. And Boring's inspection occurred prior to an official FBI inspection which started at 1:00 a.m. Nov. 23, 1963.

According to the Warren Commission's version of the assassination there were three shots: One missed all occupants of the presidential limousine and the limousine itself, one became the highly controversial CE 399, the magic bullet, inflicting all the non fatal wounds in President Kennedy and Connally, and the third and final shot hitting President Kennedy in the head and killing him. This bullet fragment is believed to be from the bullet that hit JFK in the head.

Supposedly, this bullet fragmented when it hit President Kennedy in the head. This in itself is odd as the bullets were supposedly all copper jacketed lead core military type ammunition designed not to fragment. And "officially" CE 399 hit hard bone in Governor Connally, striking his 5th rib, breaking off a five inch piece, then continued on and hit his wrist --yet did not fragment at all.
FBI agent Robert Frazier testified to the Warren Commission that CE 567, "consists of a piece of the jacket portion of a bullet from the nose area and a piece of the lead core from under the jacket."4 Frazier based his conclusion that this is from the nose area of a bullet based on "the fact that the bullet has a rounded contour to it which has not been mutilated."5

Interestingly, Frazier himself mentions seeing substances on both front seat fragments (CE 567 and CE 569) in his Warren Commission testimony:
Mr. EISENBERG. Getting back to the two bullet fragments mentioned, Mr. Frazier, did you alter them in any way after they had been received in the laboratory, by way of cleaning or otherwise?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir; there was a very slight residue of blood or some other material adhering, but it did not interfere with the examination. It was wiped off to clean up the bullet for examination, but it actually would not have been necessary.
Mr. EISENBERG. Is that true on both fragments?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. EISENBERG. You also mentioned there was blood or some other substance on the bullet marked 399. Is this an off-hand determination, or was there a test to determine what the substance was?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, there was no test made of the materials.6
It's possible that the material Frazier refers to as having been wiped of CE 567 was kept with the bullet fragment, all of which being considered CE 567.

Ignoring its history for the moment, someone brought to the attention of Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995 that this fragment may have embedded in it tiny strands of fiber that this unknown writer believed came from President Kennedy's shirt collar.

In January 1996, John Keeney, Acting Assistant Attorney General, wrote to FBI Director Louis Freeh requesting that the FBI "Initiate an inquiry into specific aspects of the assassination theory related to collected bullet fragments and residues now in the possession of the federal government."7

Who made this request to Janet Reno is unknown to this author. What -- if anything -- was done by the FBI or if this was handled, or was attempted to be handled separate from the activities of the Assassination Record Review Board (ARRB), is unknown to this author.

At some point the ARRB, per its congressional mandate to open up the Kennedy assassination files, found that the Firearms Examination Panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, a Congressional committee that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy as well as Dr. King's assassination in the 1970's, recommended analysis of CE 567 19 years ago. "For unknown reasons the Panel's recommendation did not appear in the HSCA's March 1979 final report."8

The ARRB investigated by contacting former HSCA staff members to determine why this recommendation was deleted from the report. No one knew why the recommendation was deleted.

According to Joe Freeman, an ARRB staffer who located the HSCA Firearms Panel members, no one could remember seeing residue, or they didn't think it was important at the time. The member who made the recommendation, John Bates, remembered only after Freeman refreshed his memory. No follow-up on the testing recommendation was done as far as any of them knew.9

In March 1996, the ARRB, the FBI, the Dept. of Justice and NARA began a series of meetings to discuss re-examination of the ballistic evidence. In June of 1996, the FBI provided a report to the Board stating that an analysis could be conducted on the fibers adhering to CE 567 and the materials composing the shirt and tie the president wore when assassinated.

The ARRB's Final Report is kind to NARA, but after more than two years of obstruction NARA finally agreed to limited testing of CE 567 to complete the earlier HSCA recommendation. NARA appears to have decided what to test and how. Of note is NARA's determination to also study CE 567 for "suspected biological tissue and/or organic material, the presence of which was noted by the HSCA in 1978 and by the FBI in 1996."10

The Archives issued a press release announcing that CE 567 would be tested on August 13th, 1998. They describe CE 567 as five fragments -- one large copper and lead fragment and four smaller pieces of possibly organic material. They stated that the bullet fragment still has "fibrous/plant debris adhering to it. The NARA press release stresses that the testing will be done on the fibrous material on the bullet fragment, not the fragment itself, and on the four small pieces of possibly organic material.

This press release quotes Archivist of the United States, John Carlin, "Although NARA initially was reluctant to engage in any testing that might alter an evidence item I was persuaded to the contrary by the Review Board's finding that the testing of the fiber was recommended by the Firearms Examination Panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1979. This recommendation was not in the published Final Report of the Committee and thus the testing was never done. I agree with the Board that conducting limited testing to complete this unfinished business, is in the public interest."11

It only took two years to get Carlin to allow the testing to take place.
The release goes on to state that the material in question might be from clothing the president was wearing or it might be from material the bullet fragment was wrapped in, or the tests may prove inconclusive.

I found this line troubling, "NARA choose the FBI laboratories for the analysis as the best equipped and most expertly staffed for the purpose." The FBI lab is not accredited with any institution and has been heavily criticized lately.

The ARRB was to select one or more independent observers to verify the appropriateness of the procedure and to be present throughout the testing, each phrase of which will be thoroughly documented.

According to Doug Horne, former ARRB Senior Staffer, one observer was Tracy Shycoff, the former Deputy Director was selected for this duty, along with Freeman who attended the preliminary examination by the FBI. These two ARRB staffers are hardly qualified to "verify the appropriateness of the procedure," nor were they "present throughout the testing," as testing continued with the AFIP after the FBI's testing.

I would like to see the documentation of the testing. It begs the question where would one get it from? I would hope such material would be classified as assassination records and placed in the collection. But it is unknown if this was done.

The ARRB's Final Report shows a black and white photograph of CE 567. No photo accompanied the NARA press release.

The very issue of this ongoing testing may be one of several reasons why both Mr. Carlin and Mr. Steve Tilley suddenly left the room (in the original archives) during the ARRB's press conference once handed a copy of the ARRB's Final Report and did not take any questions.

I was unaware of the exact nature of what was being tested, foolishly relying on the poorly reproduced photo in the ARRB's Final Report. Imagine my shock when researcher Vern Pascall provided me with color copies of photographs of CE 567 he ordered from the Archives. We are not merely talking about fibers adhering to CE 567, nor tiny microscopic particles embedded in CE 567. There are four large particles of organic material with the bullet fragment in the pictures of CE 567! I say again, FOUR LARGE PARTICLES! They are separate and distinct from the bullet fragment, and appear to be separate from each other. The four large particles are almost the size of the bullet fragment itself.

These four particles appear to adhere to each other slightly. There appears to be cotton wadding fiber attached to this material. The fibers are attached to them, not CE 567. If any fibers are attached to the bullet fragment they were not readily apparent to this author viewing the color photos.

What is this material and where did it come from? There is no mention of such organic material being part of CE 567 in the Warren Commission volumes. Whatever was in the HSCA was buried and may only now be available. I don't know of any RIF document numbers that might pertain to CE 567. I look forward to seeing the exact documentation of the HSCA's original recommendations.

The ARRB closed up shop September 30th, 1998.

On February 19th, 1999 NARA announced a statement on the status of the lab testing on CE 567. "Examination of four small pieces of possibly organic material showed that the material consisted of human tissue in varying states of preservation. Samples were taken of each of the four pieces and were submitted to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory for mitochondrial DNA analysis. The initial tests were inconclusive, so additional samples were submitted for analysis. NARA has monitored the testing and awaits the final results of the tests.Results of these tests may be compared to DNA samples from other Warren Commission exhibits."12

It needs to be stressed that each of the four "possible organic fragments had samples removed from them twice. Once for the FBI test, and now once for the Air Force DNA ID lab.

On February 20th, Michael Dorman, staff writer for Newsday wrote an article on this which rather sensationalized the story and added some confusion. Dorman wrote that federal officials "may soon ask blood relatives of President John F. Kennedy and the late Texas Gov. John Connally to submit body tissue samples for DNA tests aimed at resolving lingering questions about the Kennedy assassination."13

To date it is unknown if any federal officials have asked for such samples from blood relatives of either President Kennedy or Governor Connally.

Dorman quotes Steve Tilley, the archivist in charge of the JFK Records Collection, who despite NARA's own statement that the material is human states, "The FBI laboratory was unable to identify the material. We know the material is organic - but that's about it. The next step is for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology to conduct DNA tests."14Thus, downplaying and casting doubt that the material is human.

Dorman then raises the key issue: Could this bullet fragment prove the existence of a fourth shot, and thus, finally a conspiracy?

Remember, officially, there were three shots, one missed, two becomes CE 399, the magic bullet, inflicting all the non-fatal wound in JFK and Connally, and three hits JFK in the head killing him. This head shot fragmented, so officially CE567 must be from the head shot, as CE 399 did not fragment.

Dorman consults with Secret Service agent Lem Johns. As there is some kind of fiber attached to the bullet fragment, and the organic particles, and there is a nick in the tie JFK was wearing when assassinated Johns believes the fragment may have been a bullet that hit the tie. Since CE 399 did not fragment, and as the Warren Commission postulated, passed through JFK's neck, we would have another shot to the neck area, thus a fourth shot.

However, Johns' statement ignores some solid facts. Harold Weisberg proves in his book Post Mortem that the tie was nicked not by a bullet but by a scalpel as the clothes were cut away in order to expedite resuscitative measures at Parkland hospital. In addition, the collar -- which some mistakenly believe the bullet also passed through as it then went on to braise the knot in the necktie -- likewise does not contain holes. These are slits and they do not match up or correspond with each other indicating the path of one item through the collar.

And of more importance is the fact that Dr. Kemp Clark repeatedly stated in a press conference at Parkland hospital that the neck wound was one of entrance.15 He was by no means alone in that assessment.

However, the possibility remains that CE 567's organic materials could prove a fourth shot. As previously stated CE 567 is believed to be from the head shot. Therefore, it is inconceivable for any Connally material to be adhering to CE 567. As all of Connally's wounds are attributed to CE 399, if this organic material comes from Connally then we have a whole new ballgame.

Endnotes
1.) ARRB interview with Floyd Boring by ARRB staffers Dr. Joan Zimmerman and Doug Horne, September 18th, 1996. See MD # 259 in ARRB medical materials released to the public July 31,1998. BACK
2.) 3H 435 BACK
3.) See LIFE magazine November 1983 p. 56-57 wherein a previously unpublished photograph clearly shows a metal bucket by the foot of a motorcycle policeman. Another unidentified man is leaning half into the car apparently cleaning the limousine. BACK
4.) 3H p. 432-436 BACK
5.) IBID BACK
6.) 3H p. 437 BACK
7.) Assassination Records Review Board Final Report p. 127 BACK
8.) IBID BACK
9.) Interview of Joe Freeman by Debra Conway, March 23, 1999. BACK
10.) ARRB Final Report p. 128 BACK
11.) NARA press release August 13, 1998 "Lab Test on Kennedy Assassination Evidence Announced by National Archives and Records Administration. BACK
12.) National Archives Statement on Status of Lab Test on Kennedy Assassination Evidence dated February 19, 1999. BACK
13.) "DNA Tests On A JFK Bullet? / Relatives may give samples Newsday 2/21/99 BACK
14.) IBID BACK
15.) See Press Conference 1327-C, from the traveling White House. This is the first press conference of the LBJ Administration and is available from the LBJ Library. BACK
CE 567 is pictured in WC Volume 17 p. 256.
Back to CE 567
Back to Issues and Evidence
Back to Intro to PSC482G
NARA's Internal Notice of the Report

NARA2000-075
NOTICE
Expiration Date: 01/21/2001
Lab tests on JFK assassination evidence now complete
All employees

We are releasing today a report on laboratory analyses of evidence from the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.

The evidence analyzed was Warren Commission Exhibit (CE) #567 containing the nose portion of a bullet recovered from the limousine in which the President was riding. The exhibit, which has been in NARA custody since 1966, consisted of five fragments: one copper and lead fragment with adhering fibrous debris, and four smaller pieces of organic material. Tests were made of the debris and the organic material to determine their composition for possible relevance to the Commission's conclusion that alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

In requesting such tests, the Department of Justice said that if "alleged fiber evidence embedded in the bullet nose recovered from the front seat of the limousine" was "consistent with the President's shirt collar, tie, and tie liner," then there might have been a "different trajectory than that previously identified" by the Warren Commission. Scientists concluded from the test that the fibers were of non-textile origin and did not come from the clothing of John F. Kennedy, nor of John B. Connally. The Department of Justice also had speculated that the organic fragments might shed light on the assassination, but DNA analysis of them proved inconclusive.

Most of the analysis was accomplished on site at NARA. Instrumental analysis of a portion of the fibrous material was undertaken at the FBI Laboratory (Washington, DC); histological preparations of samples taken from the four organic fragments were processed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Walter Reed Complex); and mitochondrial DNA examinations of samples taken from the four organic fragments were conducted at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (Rockville, MD).

The final report on the investigation, entitled "Further Scientific Examination of JFK Assassination Evidence," describes the scientific decision-making process, summarizes the findings, and appends the individual laboratory reports. The three investigative agencies that cooperated on the project were the FBI Laboratory, The Armed Forces Medical Examiner, and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the Maimonides Medical Center and the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education supplied independent participants in the testing.

For work on this matter, I wish to express particular appreciation to Margaret Kelly (NWTD), who coauthored the summary report, and Steven Tilley (NWCTF).

For questions regarding this notice, please contact Jerry George (NCOM) in room 4400, AII; on 301-713-7360, ext. 264; by fax on 301-713-7344; or by email.
JOHN W. CARLIN
Archivist

[ If anyone knows a contact number for former DOD attorney John T. Orr, Jr., I'd like to talk to him - Bill Kelly billkelly3@gmail.com ]

I will post some of the original documents below:

LeMay & Zuckert

From The Pentagon – Politics, Profits and Plunder by Clark R. Mollenhoff. (Pinnacle Books, NY, 1967)

In January, President Eisenhower had submitted a proposed Defense Department budge for fiscal 1962 of $41.8 billion. Within two months, President Kennedy and McNamara had added nearly $2 billion to the request to provide more money for Polaris-armed submarines, increase research in nonnuclear weapons for limited wars and boost personnel in the Army. General Maxwell Taylor became the special military representative of the President, and took part in planning the defense budge, which soon jumped to $46.7 billion – nearly $5 billion over President Eisenhower’s initial request for fiscal 1962.

While much of the activity was aimed at budge boosting, some budget slicing was taking place. McNamara ended the nuclear plane program, and moved into a highly sensitive area by recommending that the development funds for the B-70 be cut from $358 million to $220 million.

The controversy this created with General Curtis E. LeMay, the Air Force Chief of Staff, was only a forerunner of the long and bitter dispute that was to surround the manned bomber. In that first year of McNamara’s reign as Defense chief, the House took the suggestion of general LeMay and boosted the B-70 funds from $220 million to $525 million. And when the whole defense appropriations was passed by Congress, it included $400 million for the B-70 program, and $515 more for the B-58 and B-52 programs.

McNamara retaliated by declaring he would defy the wishes of Congress and not spend the additional funds; it was his first real clash with the Air Force enthusiasts in Congress and with General LeMay.

If Robert S. McNamara was lacking in political knowledge, the same could not have been said about the man President Kennedy named as Deputy Defense Secretary. The man was Roswell Leavitt Gilpatrick, a suave New York lawyer with an Ivy League background and years of experience in dealing with the military-industrial complex. Like McNamara, he was graduated Phi Beta Kappa, but unlike McNamara, he was schooled in the operations and politics of government.

Following graduation from Yale College in 1928 and Yale Law School in 1931, Gilpatrick became a partner in the eminent New York law firm of Cravath, de Gersdorff, Swaine & Wood. He left the first briefly to serve, from 1951 to 1953, as Under Secretary of the Air Force. He returned to law practice in 1953, represented many big defense contractors, became active in Democratic politics, and served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Aerospace Corporation established by the Air Force during the Eisenhower Administration to conduct studies in connection with the major missile programs.

Gilpatrick’s Washington connections served him well. In 1958, one of his former Washington associates, Frank Pace, asked him to handle some rather extensive legal work for the General Dynamics Corporation, which Pace then headed. Pace had served as Secretary of the Army in the Truman Administration, and had moved out of high government office into a lucrative job with this large defense contractor. His experience as a lawyer for general Dynamics from 1958 to 1961 was only one segment of the background that made Gilpatrick an important senior partner in the law firm that by 1961 had become Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

When Gilpatrick became the number two man in the Defense Department in January, 1961, he was regarded as the perfect type to team with McNamara. Smooth and knowledgeable in the ways of the big defense contractors, he knew the men in Congress who counted where Defense Department problems were concerned. The “Bob and Roz” team appeared to be one of the most effective combinations created by the Kennedy administration. If McNamara dealt abrasively with the ordinary Senator or Congressman, Roz Gilpatrick with his persuasive manner could smooth things over. He and his attractive wife gave wonderful parties to cultivate members of the Armed Services and Appropriations committees of the Senate and House. He also made an effort to keep a close relationship with his old friend Senator Stuart Symington, the Missourian who had been the first Air Force Secretary and who held an important post as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Other members of the top-level Pentagon team appointed by President Kennedy were Elvis J. Stahr, Jr., Secretary of the Army; John B. Connally, Jr., Secretary of the Navy; Eugene M. Zuckert, Secretary of the Air Force; General Lyman Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Curtis LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff; and Admiral George Anderson, Chief of Naval Operations. Probably the most significant appointment was that of General Maxwell D. Taylor as a special military representative of the President at the White House – a prelude to moving him to the Pentagon as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Taylor, strong dissenter from the massive-retaliation theories of the Eisenhower Administration, was to be a major figure in new shifts in defense posture.

Stahr, a Rhodes Scholar and lawyer with a distinguished record in the infantry during World War II, seemed most in line with the Kennedy pattern….

The name of John Connally was associated closely with that of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and there was no doubt the Fort Worth lawyer owed his appointment as Navy Secretary to his Texas political connection with Johnson. The handsome Texan had been linked with the Johnson political fortunes from the earliest days, and had even risked infuriating the Kennedys at the 1960 Democratic National convention by enthusiastically pushing Johnson’s nomination. He further roused their ire by questioning the physical condition of the then-candidate John Kennedy. Representing the big oil interests of Texas millionaire Sid Richardson had mad Connally a wealthy man, but he possessed the flexibility to adapt to the pattern of the Ivy League or the Boston Irish.

From the start the McNamara Pentagon was stacked with Johnson men. Cyrus R. Vance, a long-time Johnson protégé, served as general counsel for the Department, later became Secretary of the Army and finally was named Deputy Defense Secretary. Solis Horwitz, another Johnson man, was director of organizational and management planning in the Defense Department general counsel’s office and was later elevated to the job of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Administration. The Assistant Secretary of Navy was Kenneth E. BeLieu, who had been staff director of Johnson’s Senate Preparedness Subcommittee a few years earlier.

When Connally resigned as Navy Secretary to run his successful campaign for Governor of Texas, another Johnson man moved into the Navy Secretary post – Fred Korth, a Fort Worth bank president who had been deputy counselor and Assistant Secretary of the Army during the last two years of the Truman Administration.

Air Force Secretary Zuckert, a graduate of the Yale Law School, had been an assistant professor and assistant dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Business administration when McNamara served on the faculty. Zuckert had used his talents in law and business administration on a number of government jobs, including a term as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1952, and as a Truman appointee to the Atomic Energy Commission in a term that ran from 1952 to 1054.

General Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a holdover, as was General Decker, the Army Chief of Staff. The new man on the Joint Chiefs of Staff were General LeMay, who had succeeded General Thomas D. White as Air Force Chief of Staff, and Admiral Anderson, who succeeded Admiral Arleigh Burke as Chief of Naval Operations. General LeMay and Admiral Anderson were expected to be McNamara team men, who would be placated by bigger Defense Department budgets planned by the Kennedy Administration.

Chapter 28 - The Manned Bomber Fuss

General Curtis LeMay and other top Air Force generals accepted the fact that the ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads would eventually replace the manned bomber as the major deterrent to Communist aggression. But in the early 1960’s, the Air Force Chief of Staff and his supporters in the Pentagon and in Congress were not willing to accept the view that the missiles could be accepted as the ultimate weapons system, and that it was safe to start a phase out the manned bombers. Major controversy was to rage for years over the cuts that Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara insisted in making in the manned-bomber program.

Defense Secretary McNamara’s dispute with General LeMay and Congress centered on two major areas. First, he wanted to cut back the budget for new B-52 and B-58 manned bombers by as much as $500,000,000 a year on the theory that the Strategic Air Command was strong enough to serve as a deterrent force until the missiles could take their place. Second, he was highly skeptical of the need for proceeding with plans for the expensive 2000-miles-an hour B-70, which was planned as the follow-up bomber to take the place of the B-52 and the B-58. He saw no sense in proceeding with the B-70, and in his first year proposed cutting the B-70 funds from $385 million to $220 million….

The investigation of the Aerospace Corporation demonstrated that the establishment of a nonprofit corporation to handle research and management jobs for the Pentagon could result in some of the same abuses that had been found to exist when big business corporations were given too free a hand with the tax money….

General LeMay, as the Air Force Chief of Staff, was the leading opponent of McNamara’s plans to phase out manned bombers and he had the prestige with Congress to make his views count….A bomber could perform many missions a guided missile could not….(He) declared that even if the missile was the ultimate weapon of the future, it was still far from fully developed. He declared it was just plain foolhardy to base national defense plans on a system that had not been fully tested….

The House committee declared that the purpose of the extensive report was to make it clear exactly what it meant authorizing $491 million for the RS-70 system.

“The Secretary of the Air Force (Zuckert), as an official of the executive branch, is directed, ordered, mandated, and required to utilize the full amount of the $491 million,” the House members declared…The brave position of the House Armed Services Committee did not last for long. President Kennedy asked Chairman Vinson to come to the White House, and prevailed upon the aging committee chairman to drop the word “direct” and to substitute “authorize.” In exchange, President Kennedy promised that the Defense Department would “restudy” the whole program of the RS-70….

…Secretary of Defense McNamara, by persistent rejection of the RS-70 program, managed to downgrade it and kill it off in the face of the most stubborn opposition from General LeMay…President Johnson extended General LeMay’s term as Air Force Chief of Staff for another year, which prevented the blunt-talking champion of the manned bomber from becoming involved in the 1964 political campaign. When LeMay retired as Air Force Chief of Staff in January, 1965, he had been unable to change McNamara’s plans to phase out the manned bombers….The Defense Secretary gave the military men no choice; they accepted the FB-111 bomber as better than no follow-on bomber at all.

The FB-111, a bomber version of the controversial TFX fighter, had never been intended to be used as a long-range bomber. It lacked range, load carrying capacity and general performance characteristics needed in any follow-on replacement for the B-58 bombers…

Chapter 29 – THE CONTROVERSIAL TFX

The multibillion dollar TFB warplane contract was the most coveted prize the Pentagon ever dangled before bidders. Government spending, it was estimated, would exceed $6.5 billion – the largest contract for military planes in the nation’s history. The program was planned to include more than 1,700 planes for the Navy and Air Force. Such a contract could mean prosperity for an entire state, and the competition was intense.

Early in 1962, the rivalry for the TFX contract narrowed down to two major firms. The Boeing Company with headquarters in Seatle, Washington, proposed to build the plane at its plant in Wichita, Kansas. The General Dynamics Corporation’s Convair Division, in Fort Worth, Texas, cooperating with the Grumman Engineering Company of Bethpage, New York, planned to build the Air Force version in Texas and the Navy version in New York…Politically the Texas-New York combination backing General Dynamics and Grumman had a distinct advantage. Texas electoral votes (24) and New York electoral votes (45) went to Kennedy in 1960, while Washington’s nine electoral votes and the eight Kansas votes had gone to Republican candidate, Richard Nixon.

Late in the summer of 1962, persistent rumors of Texas political pressure on the TFX contract came to Senator Jackson. Calling Deputy Defense Secretary Roswell Gilpatrick, he told him he had heard General Dynamics was certain to receive the contract. Gilpatrick assured him there was nothing to it and that the decision would be made “strictly on the merits.”

…On November 24, 1962, the blow fell with the Pentagon’s announcement that the TFX contract would be awarded to General Dynamics…Scoop Jackson rejected the report that cost-conscious McNamara would take the second-best plane and pay more for it. He asked Sen. John L. McClellan, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to examine the TFX contract.

The McClellan subcommittee investigators questioned witnesses, examined documents and established: 1) The four service evaluation did favor to Boeing, 2) The Boeing price was $100 million lower on the first phase of the contract, and it might be $415 million lower on the total job, 3) The Pentagon Source Selection Board, composed of top generals and admirals, was unanimous in its finding that the Boeing plane would be cheaper and better, 4) The only document at the Pentagon that supported the General Dynamics plane was a five-page memorandum of justification, dated November 21, 1062. It was signed by McNamara; Eugene Zuckert, Secretary of the Air Force; and Fred Korth, Secretary of the Navy. (Gilpatrick also agreed with the award, but his signature was not necessary because McNamara had signed.)

This document was loaded with errors, according to the investigators from the McClellan subcommittee…It was appalling to learn that McNamara’s decision to award the contract to General Dynamics could result in wasting $100 million to $415 million on a second-best plane. Republicans derisively dubbed the plane the “LBJ” sine it appeared to have been peremptorily awarded to Texas….

General Curtis E. LeMay, the Air Force Chief of Staff, testified that he was not consulted prior to McNamara’s decision to overrule the Source Selection Board.

“I thought we had such a clear cut and unanimous opinion all up and down the line that I was completely surprised at the decision,” the Air Force Chief declared.

“Did any group, any authority at any level from you down to the evaluation group ever recommend the General Dynamics plane?” McClellan asked.

“No, sir,” LeMay answered. In all his experience he was unable to recall a single instance where the decision of the service selection board had been rejected by a civilian secretary….

In the Pentagon, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatrick was given the job of implementing the new, tough code of ethics….Ironically, Deputy Defense Secretary Gilpatrick was the first high-ranking Administration official to come under sharp congressional criticism in connection with the new code of ethics. The TFX warplane contract investigation raised questions of the “conflicts of interest” problem against Gilpatrick and also against Navy Secretary Fred Korth…

From 1958 to January, 1961 Gilpatrick was a lawyer for the General Dynamics Corporation…New money was needed to keep General Dynamics moving, and Roswell Gilpatrick had a major role in the merger between General Dynamics and Material Services Corporation, a Chicago construction firm controlled by Colonel Henry Crown, an influential Democratic political figure. Frank Pace and other high officials were Gilpatrick’s personal friends, and the New York lawyer had an office in the General Dynamic’s headquarters….

The difficulty of Gilpatrick’s personal role in the TFX affair certainly made it unlikely that he would be enforcing the new code of ethics on such others as Navy Secretary Fred Korth, who had a similar problem.

Korth, a Fort Worth attorney and bank president, became Navy Secretary in January, 1962. He succeeded John Connally, another Fort Worth lawyer who resigned to seek the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Texas. Fred Korth was an enthusiastic booster of his home town and of the General Dynamics firm, which had the huge Convair plant in Fort Worth….and the General Dynamics Corporation was one of the best customers of Kroth’s Continental National Bank of Fort Worth.

Only three months before Korth became Navy secretary, he had given his personal approval to a $400,000 loan from the Continental National Bank to the General Dynamics Corporation….When it came time for Korth to make a decision on the TFX contract, the Navy Secretary overruled the recommendations of the top admirals and suggested the Defense Secretary aware the contact to General Dynamics….

Sunshine Week 2012

Sunshine Week and JFK Assassination Records

If Sunshine Week is when we take time to recognize that a democracy requires an open and transparent form of government in which information is shared equally among the citizens and those civil servants elected to run the machinery of power, then it is also a time when we should look more closely at the government’s records on the assassination of President Kennedy.

While there is a need for secrets, there is no need to keep any government records on the assassination of the President secret fifty years after his murder other than to protect those responsible for the crime and cover-up.

As Thomas Jefferson said, “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.”

President Kennedy himself said, “The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open public and we are, as a free people, inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.”

And one of those traditions of an open society is an open and transparent government whose records belong to the people who paid for them, and cannot be owned, censored or destroyed by those public servants who created them while employed by the government.

In response to the reluctance of government employees to make critical information available to the public, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the course of the post-Watergate era, but in doing so, the Representatives of the people in the legislative branch exempted themselves from having to comply with the law.

The public’s distrust of the government didn’t begin with Watergate however, as the Pew Public opinion poll has shown the public’s trust in their government was at its highest in 1963, and began to decline with the assassination of President Kennedy and the issuing of the Warren Report, whose conclusion that the President was murdered by a lone assassin is disbelieved by 80% of the people.

The root of this distrust led Congress to establish the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), which issued two reports that concluded there is evidence of conspiracy in both the assassinations of President Kennedy and that of Martin Luther King, but as with all Congressional records, their investigative files were sealed for 50 years and were not subject to the FOIA.

Then 20 years ago, Oliver Stone’s popular movie “JFK” sparked public interest in the sealed records. At the end of the film Stone noted that: “A Congressional Investigation from 1976 - 1979 found a ‘probable conspiracy’ in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and recommended the Justice Department investigate further. As of 1991, the Justice Department has done nothing. The files of the House Select Committee on Assassinations are locked away until the year 2029.”

In response to the public outcry against the secret files Congress passed the JFK Act of 1992 that required all government agencies to relinquish their records on the assassination of President Kennedy to the Assassinations Records Review Board (ARRB) for screening to be made available to the public subsequently through the JFK Assassination Records Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Congress refused however, to include the HSCA records on the assassination of Martin Luther King, which prompted Oliver Stone to ask if he had to make a movie about King’s murder before they would release those records. Apparently so, because they remain sealed.

While the ARRB reviewed and released many millions of pages of documents and other records, many thousands or more were kept sealed until 2017, when the relevant agencies could request the President to continue keeping these records from public scrutiny, requests that could keep them from the public forever, or at least for our lifetime.

Among the JFK assassination records the CIA refuses to make public are the George Joannides files that document the CIA’s relationship to the Cuban DRE group that the accused assassin associated with in New Orleans. They were not included among the records of the JFK Act, but are however, the subject of an ongoing FOIA suit (Morley v. CIA). After overseeing the CIA’s relationship with the Cubans, Joanides was called out of retirement to keep a lid on the HSCA investigation. Besides the Joannides files, the CIA has withheld over 50,000 pages of JFK assassination related records.

In addition, the FBI, Secret Service, the Army, Air Force and Office of Naval Intelligence have intentionally destroyed or attempted to destroy assassination records that they never wanted to reach the public eye.

Other significant records, such as the unedited tapes of Air Force One radio communications and the complete office files of Admiral Rufus Taylor, the Director of Naval Intelligence (ONI), have completely disappeared from the archives of the government.

Most disheartening is the bipartisan refusal of the House Oversight Committee to hold public hearings on these issues, determine how many assassination records remain sealed, what became of the missing records and who was responsible for the destruction of so many significant historic documents and evidence in the murder of the president.

While Sunshine Week may rightly call attention to the need for local and state governments to open their meetings and accounting records to the public, and for the federal government to keep the public informed, there is no other issue more important than the release of the JFK assassination records to the public.

The 1963 assassination of the President sparked the public’s distrust in the government, the Warren Report began the official whitewash of the crime, and the sealing of the assassination records from public scrutiny ensures today that the total truth will remain hidden and that justice will never be served.

If any relevant open government issue is to be discussed because of Sunshine Week, the acceleration of the release of the JFK Assassination records should take a priority, and the strong public support for the JFK Act nearly 20 years ago should now be rallied once again to require the release of the remaining government records on the assassination before the 50th anniversary on November 2013.

As Leonard Bernstein noted there is strong institutional resistance to this when he said, “We don’t dare confront the implications. I think we’ve all agreed there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy, and we just don’t want to know the complete truth. It involves such powerful forces in what we call high places that if we do know, everything might fall apart.”

But there are strong enough reasons to open the records. On the day before he was assassinated, Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Geradi Conedera said, "The root of humanity's downfall and disgrace comes from the deliberate opposition to truth. To open ourselves to the truth and to bring ourselves face to face with our personal and collective reality is not an option that can be accepted or rejected - it is an undeniable requirement of all people and all societies that seek to humanize themselves and to be free...Truth is the primary word, the serious and mature action that makes it possible for us to break the cycle of death and violence and open ourselves to a future of hope and light for all…Discovering the truth is painful, but it is without a doubt a healthy and liberating action."