23-02-2016, 06:42 PM
Drew Phipps Wrote:Here is my long overdue review of Harry's manuscript "Crosstrails":
Harry Dean's "Crosstrails"
Harry Dean's "Crosstrails" is an unpublished manuscript with a kaleidoscopic view of the author's life. The manuscript contains tales of his childhood, young adult life, and his adult life, mixed with Harry's original poetry, family history (back beyond the American Revolution), newspaper clippings, and most poignantly, scrapbook photographs and vignettes about the tragedy of his son York's death, and the struggle of his family to come to terms with that event. I am supposing that the manuscript is written primarily for his family; and, perhaps, is Harry's way of having a permanent presence in his sundered childrens' and grandchildrens' lives. I am neither competent nor interested in evaluating the poetry he writes, other than to say that every verse seems heartfelt and intensely personal.
The portion of the manuscript which seems of most interest to the readers of this forum concerns events of American history in which Harry himself played a role, namely, Cuba and the JFK assassination. Harry was a card-carrying member of the 26[SUP]th[/SUP] of June Movement (supporting Castro's revolution) when he was approached by the "US National Security Intelligence" (I am unaware of any organization with that name, but perhaps I am reading Harry too literally here) to infiltrate that Cuban organization, and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. It is documented from declassified CIA and FBI files (available on the internet) that Harry did, in fact, "infiltrate" and inform on those organizations (becoming the Secretary of the Chicago branch of the FPCC), though the alphabet organizations in question suggest that Harry was volunteering his services and information. They even go so far as to say that he was discouraged in this pursuit. Harry disagrees.
Harry claims to have gone to Cuba in June 1960 and met with Castro, and his manuscript contains copies of documents that support a Cuba visit. While he was in Cuba he was both imprisoned and also received a permit to travel across Cuba, though he does not discuss where in Cuba he went in the manuscript. Harry claims, after his return to the USA, responsibility both for saving the lives of American "raiders" Leonard Schmidt and 2 others, by way of persuading Havana to spare them (though Morgan was subsequently killed by Castro), and sole responsibility for the sabotaging of Kennedy's post-BOP 35 million dollar "tractors-for-prisoners" proposed exchange. How he accomplished these feats is not described in the manuscript, however, Harry tells me that it was through his contacts with the FPCC and the 26[SUP]th[/SUP] of June Movement. He also claims, upon his return to the USA, to have told the CIA/FBI that the people of Cuba would not support an uprising against Castro; sadly, such a warning went unheeded. Harry has been reticent to speak in detail about his exit from a Cuban prison or the manner of his return to the US, and no further details are made available in the manuscript.
Harry's letter of 11/17/63 to J. Edgar Hoover, has been touted by others in the past as Harry's attempt to warn the FBI of the coming assassination attempt. Crosstrails contains a partially redacted copy of that letter, but upon close reading, appears to be more of a complaint to Hoover, that Harry was "outed" as an officer of the FPCC in the government published records of the Eastland FPCC hearings in 1963, and the dire peril in which Harry felt he was exposed by the official publication, than any sort of warning about the assassination. Perhaps an unredacted copy of that letter would prove me wrong.
Harry was also briefly a suspect in the assassination, quickly cleared by the FBI. (They initially suspected that it was Harry Dean that was photographed leaving the Russian and Cuban Embassies in Mexico City, but agents that knew Harry put that suspicion to rest.) But, a careful reading of Harry's manuscript suggest that the FBI may have been a bit hasty in dismissing him; or perhaps the FBI had other reasons to close the book on Harry. Harry claims in his manuscript, and also during his unaired TV special, that he reported the scarce details that he knew to the FBI. (Such information, however, is not contained in the declassified FBI and CIA files.) However, Harry claims that the other conspirators divulged mis-information about the timing and location of the attack to him and others, which mis-information caused the FBI and Secret Service to concentrate "350 agents" at the Trade Mart, as opposed to along the motorcade route. Subsequent and thorough investigations over the last 50 years have failed to uncover even a rumor of such a Trade Mart warning, nor did the FBI and SS pack the Trade Mart with their agents.
Harry further writes that he was part of a group of people that knew in advance of the President's assassination, and even knew that Oswald had been selected as the patsy: "None of us objected, and found it humorous to frame a communist. I quietly considered it as goofy as the weird, but hazy, arrangements to kill the President." Harry also claims to have gone to a meeting with the prime organizer of the plot to pick up money for the operation. If all this material in the manuscript is true, his level of participation in the plot would certainly be considered part of a murder conspiracy, and probably treason. Harry, however, feels compelled to speak out, as the unfortunate tragedy of his son York's death and the subsequent failure of the California authorities to adequately investigate it, have impelled him to bring forth his information.
Harry's theory, in short, is that the John Birch Society is the political arm of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and was responsible for ordering and carrying out the assassination of JFK. Harry names Guy "Gabby" Gabaldon as the prime organizer of the event, and Gen. Edwin Walker as both the selector of Oswald as the patsy, and the supplier of riflemen from his former command, the 24[SUP]th[/SUP] Infantry from Germany (though it might be noted that Caulfield in "General Walker" says that Walker would have had access to both the Minutemen and paramilitary types from the American Volunteer Service). Congressman John Rousselot is said to have provided funds to Gabaldon. John Howard and Loran Hall are said to have driven Oswald to Mexico City to meet first with Gabaldon, who posed as a CIA agent to obtain Oswald's unwitting cooperation in a fake "CIA operation," and later to Sylvia Ortiz's apartment in Dallas (Howard and Hall deny travelling with Oswald and claim their companion in Dallas was William Seymour). The Mexico City part of Harry's theory pre-dates by a decade, but fits in nicely with, recent skepticism about the evidence connected with Oswald's alleged bus ride to Mexico, but the manuscript lacks any independent documentation.
It is certainly true that the John Birch Society contained prominent Mormons in its early stages, notably Ezra Taft Benson, and Robert Welch. Welch made it clear that, in the JBS, he wanted a "secret, monolithic organization" that would "operate under completely authoritative control at all levels". Harry quotes Robert Welch post-assassination from Dec. 1963, "We have become very much a part of the cast, therefore, in the final act of this gory performance." However, the John Birch Society also contained any other number of right wing fanatics, including Fred Koch, an American businessman that built factories for the Nazis (and, yes, the father of THOSE Kochs), Gen. Edwin Walker (who lost his command for indoctrinating his troops with Bircher literature), H.L. Hunt, C. Murchison (who both stood to lose millions of dollars annually if JFK removed the federal oil-depletion-allowance tax credit), and many others. In Dallas, JD Tippet worked weekends at the Dallas restaurant "Austin's Barbecue" frequently used for JBS meetings. Jon Thomas Masen was a JBS member who was one of two Dallas gunsmiths that carried 6.5 mm Western Cartridge ammunition for the Carcano, and indeed (according to the FBI) the only Dallas gunsmith that could custom make non-full-metal-jacketed rounds for the Carcano rifle. The "Welcome to Dallas" ad was a work partly created by Joseph Grinnan, a JBS member, and the "Wanted for Treason" posters made by Robert Surrey, a close associate of Edwin Walker's. It is therefore my strong suspicion that, assuming the JBS was involved, that the Church of Latter Day Saints itself was not the driving force behind these other interested parties.
Harry Dean has been the subject of researchers for 50 years. Author W.R. Morris discovered Harry in the 70's, after he heard the tale of a man who laid flowers at Oswald's grave every year. Morris got a TV interview for Harry with Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" show in New York City, where Harry (who wore a mask to the interview) blames the Birchers. The interview did not go well, with Morris attempting to interject his own research, and the show was never aired. Harry and Morris subsequently had a falling out over Morris' attempt to commercialize Harry's story, and Morris wound up writing some sort of wildly exaggerated short work called "The Secret Papers of Harry Dean," which, despite being silly, pretty much permanently ruined Harry's reputation as a source of information for serous researchers. However, recently, Caulfield devotes most of a chapter to Harry in his opus "General Edwin Walker," which, despite its size and repetition, I suggest reading to anyone who believes that right-wingers may have been involved in the assassination.
I am also intrigued about Harry's assertion that the delay of the United States's entry into WW2 was not motivated by isolationism or lack of public support, but by a Machiavellian calculation that it would be in the US' interest to allow the British Empire to crumble, clearing the way for the US to assume Britain's role in the post-war world. Harry provides no evidence, but I am certain that other authors might have trod this particular path.
It is my conclusion that Harry Dean has played more than an insignificant role in these events; however, it is also my opinion that the mighty currents of history that have swirled around him in his life, have not in fact been directed by him, nor impeded by his presence, in any way other than to simply affect the lives of him and his family. Nor do I agree with his conclusion that the Church of Latter Day Saints is either involved with the assassination, nor is it the prime mover in the "deep state" or the "secret government." For one thing, we do not live in a "Handmaiden's Tale"-esque society. Much of our recent history is incompatible with the Mormon Church like gay marriage, legalized marijuana, etc. We had a chance at a Mormon President three years ago and Romney failed. Harry says that Dick Cheney is a Mormon, too, so maybe we got a little too close to having one in 2001. No state, not even Utah, has re-legalized polygamy. Based on active public litigation, Mormons do seem to attempt total control over their communities, but even then, apparently, fail to control access to the judicial system. (In two recent lawsuits it is alleged that two Mormon communities denied water, utility hookups, and police protection, to non-Mormons. The rest of America seems free of that stultifying practice, but maybe the Mormon communities are simply too small to attract much attention.)
I think it would be a mistake, however, to discount the John Birch Society as an active player in the assassination. There are far too many players active in that Society with suspect motives, and indeed too many Dallas John Birch members whose lives and stories intersect the death of JFK for us to discount their involvement. I won't belabor the point with a long list, but, as Harry notes in his manuscript, even Jack Ruby, when sworn in before the Chief Justice of the United States, claimed their involvement, even though such a claim was completely inconsistent with his trial defense.
Crosstrails is more about the journey of a man who has lead a fascinating life, than a well-documented look into the JFK assassination. Sailor, militiaman, deserter, pilot, husband, rebel, publisher, prisoner, sherriff, revolutionary, UFO witness, friend of a grieving mother, informant, saboteur, diplomat, spy, traitor, poet, widower, and father, Harry Dean has been blessed, or cursed, with a very interesting life. His revelations seem sincere, although I can't be sure his conclusions are correct. I'm going to leave you with one of Harry's poems, as it seems fitting:
Life seized by mortality
Is but fabled glory
An error in disguise
Of infinite reality
Escape this dark deceiver
Of false and mortal fate
Claim the great redeemer
In this life eternal.
*******
Thank you Harry, for sending me your manuscript and giving me your permission to review it. I hope that folks will express an interest in your story and attempt to cross reference it with other researchers such as Brussels, Caulfield, and others.
Drew, thank you for your review and observations of the 1990 manuscript/book CROSSTRAILS. It also reaches into and exposes the who and why plans for the ongoing middle east horrors that affect us all.
Harry