Admiral Rufus Taylor, Director ONI

 ADMIRAL RUFUS TAYLOR – DIRECTOR OFFICE NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

The footnote in Chapter 6 of the Final Report of the ARRB notes that, “One of the officers who called Mr. Reeves (to initiate the post-defection inquiry into Oswald) was Rufus Taylor, who was Director of Naval Intelligence in 1964…”

Taylor, Adml. Rufus – Director ONI

In a March 4 1997 – Meeting Report – Topic – Disposition of ONI, NCIS Records 5.  AARC staff member (Tim) Wray “provided extract from HSCA Staff Report regarding alleged Marine Corps CID post-assassination investigation into activities of Lee Harvey Oswald [aka Huff Report], and asked for any advice or assistance they might be able to provide regarding where such records might presently be stored, if they exist. Best recommendation: personal papers of the Marine Corps Commandant, Marine Corps CID records. Subject investigation, if authentic, may have been handled outside normal investigative channels.” 

It not such a wild idea that the pre-assassination investigation into Oswald the defector and post assassination investigation of Oswald the assassin were ordered and “handled outside normal investigative channels” by those at the very top - the Commandant of the Marine Corp and Director of Office of Naval Intelligence.

Taylor is recognized as the first real intelligence officer to hold the office of Director of Office of Naval Intelligence. Here’s what researcher Mae Brussell has to say about Rufus Taylor in a radio broadcast: “….Taylor just died last week. He was a very important witness who died a week before Helms was to testify. Rufus Taylor, Annapolis graduate, studied in Japan from 1938 to 1941, was a native of St. Louise, Missouri, and was with General Macarthur after the war in Japan. Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the entire Pacific fleet, he was in Japan from 1941 to 1959 and in Navy Intelligence at the time that Lee Oswald was over there in 1959 in the Philippines, at the Atsugi Air bases and was involved with the U2. Oswald served in the Marines with top secret security clearance at the time that Rufus was Pacific Intelligence Chief. Oswald went to the Soviet Union and Rufus went to Washington, D.C. Oswald said, "I'm going to give away radar secrets." Rufus then became the Director for Foreign Intelligence in the Soviet Union. Rufus was the Director of Navy Intelligence in 1963 up until the time Kennedy was killed - from 1963 to 1966. During 1967 through 1969, Rufus became the Deputy Director of the CIA--the number two post under Helms….When Richard Helms, former CIA chief, was questioned about Oswald's intelligence work, he said, ‘Why ask me? Call Navy Intelligence.’”

ONI Director Taylor took personal interest in the Dallas ONI office, which may have operated out of two offices – one on Commerce Street (which Mary Ferrell references) and another in the Post Office (Annex?) on the South Side of Dealey Plaza, that Steel mentions. It is possible one of these offices was the regular ONI office and the other a Navy Criminal Investigative Service (CIS) office.

THE TAYLOR MEMO

To: Admiral McDonald 27 Nov. 1963

From: Rear Admiral Taylor

Oswald Killing

1.Information from our Dallas office provides names of several persons connected with Ruby and Oswald. Robert Kermit Patterson, admitted 6J (homosexual), contacted resident agent Dallas about 1330 CST yesterday and said he had information in regard assassination of President Kennedy. Patterson said he and one Donald C. Stuart operated Contract Electronics, 2533 Elm Street, Dallas. About two weeks ago, Jack Ruby/aka/Rubenstein and subject Oswald visited Contract Electronics and wanted work done on a microphones at Ruby Carousel Night Club, Dallas. On this occasion ruby told Oswald to write names of Patterson and Stuart in Carousel guest book. Contract Electronics did the requested mike work at the Carousel and were paid by Negro employee. The Senior Resident Agent at Dallas has taken Patterson to the FBI Dallas for further interrogation. Neither Stuart nor Patterson has discussed above information with anyone else, according to Patterson. The files at DIO 8ND are negative on Stuart.

2.In this office we have a file on Patterson and another person not mentioned in the above message by the name of Tracy Thurio Pope. Pope is the one that first pointed out Patterson. Patterson was in the Navy and is now out. Pope was in the Navy and is out, Service No. 599 29 44, AA, USN. There is no Navy record on Stuart. This morning we had a meeting here to make sure that everybody is informed and that the FBI is getting everything it needs.

3.The above information certainly raises questions as to Ruby’s real motives in killing Oswald. We have all been interested in what seemed to us to be a look of recognition on Oswald’s fact when he spotted Ruby.

4.BuPers is being kept currently informed of information of the sort contained in paragraph 1 and 2 above.

Very respectfully, Rufus L. Taylor 

Copy to: REVIWED BY NCIS (ONI) JFK TASK FORCE
On 12-17-93  

RELEASE IN FULL 

Taylor Memo Nov. 27, 1963

PATTERSON – UNDERCOVER HOMOSEXUAL ONI INFORMANT

It is interesting that it is noted that the ONI’s informant Robert K. Patterson was a homosexual, especially in light of what we know from Donald Norton – that the military targeted homosexuals and got them to inform on other homosexuals in the service, especially officers and those with access to special information. The case of defectors Martin and Mitchell also comes to mind, as it was suspected that the former Navy officers and National Security Agency (NSA) defectors to the Soviet Union were homosexuals (even though it later was determined that they were not.)

Patterson – Homosexual

Most interesting is the way Martin and Mitchell made their escape from the United States to Mexico City to Havana and Moscow, exactly the route that Lee Harvey Oswald tried to replicate in September 1963.

A subsequent FBI investigation of the Patterson allegation, determined that it was not Oswald who visited the electronics shop with Ruby, but one Lavern “Larry” Crafard, an ex-serviceman and Texas State Fair carnival roustabout who Ruby had employed. There are at least three incidents in which Crafard was mistaken for Oswald, one in which he possibly did so intentionally.

Patterson – Oswald – Crafard

The ARRB notes that this Taylor memo was not found among the records of ONI but came from another agency, though it is possible that it was furnished to the Warren Commission and released as an FOIA request as early as 1967 (Hoch).

In any case, this Taylor document strongly indicates that Rufus Taylor, the Director of ONI took keen and active interest in the information coming from the Dallas ONI office, and confirms Fred Reeves’ statement that it was ONI director Taylor himself who called him from Washington to order him to investigate Oswald the defector. It is likely that both investigative documents and the “119 Reports” at one time rested in the office of the Director of Naval Intelligence Rufus Taylor, and are among the records known to be associated with that office that are inexplicitly missing today.