My new book, "Into the Nightmare"

[Charles Drago]

Joseph,

I have read and considered with the utmost care your argument that the so-called Badge Man figure firing at JFK could very well be J. D. Tippit.

Here is a splendid case-in-point in which the application of a refined and encompassing conspiracy model informed by not just the facts of the assassination as we know them, but also by a broad and deep understanding of deep political systems and methodologies, can lead us to valuable insight.

Has your unarguably valuable research uncovered evidence of Tippit possessing world-class marksmanship skills of the sort associated with snipers firing at moving targets while operating as part of a military style, two- or three-person team?

Here's why I ask: I'm not alone in having concluded that the conspirators (at the Sponsor and Facilitator levels, at least) understood that, once initiated, the attack on JFK must succeed if their own security and that of the institutions they represented were to be preserved.

Accordingly, only the most accomplished snipers in the world would have been entrusted with the assignment of fatally wounding the president.

If it can be documented that Tippit possessed such rare skills, then you're on to something.

If not, then Tippit-as-Badge-Man either was shooting blanks (perhaps as a diversionary tactic) or was servicing an as yet poorly understood aspect of the ambush.

To put it another way: Absent proof of Tippit's sniping prowess, identifying him as one of the JFK shooters is as foolhardy as naming the likes of Johnny Roselli, Charles Nicoletti, James Files, and Lee Harvey Oswald.

Thank you, Charles. I'm not sure why you wonder
if there is proof of Tippit's shooting prowess in the book, because there is.
See the references to J. D. Tippit's
marksmanship, including the story told me by his father about
his son's uncanny skill in hitting a small target at a long distance. The
retaining wall where Badge Man was firing was relatively close to the position of the limousine. Kennedy was
hit at least twice from the Grassy Knoll. There probably were two
shooters there. That too is covered extensively in the book.

I understand.

But I was not asking after Tippit's skills relating to "hitting a small target at a long distance."

Rather, I specifically referenced "world-class marksmanship skills of the sort associated with snipers firing at moving targets while operating as part of a military style, two- or three-person team."

A world of difference.

Charles, I find it hard to argue about whether or not topics are discussed
in my book when in fact I do discuss a subject at different points in the book; I mentioned one such piece of information. Please look up the references to this
subject in my book.

Your presumption that I have not "looked up" the relevant "references" in your book is falsified by the simple fact that I have read -- more than once -- the claims made by Tippit the elder regarding the marksmanship of Tippit the younger.

You seem to resort to the following default position: If one challenges you on your conclusions, then by definition the challenger has not read your work.

Again, I'm utterly disinterested in Tippit's skills relating to "hitting a small target at a long distance."

As you should be.

Rather, and for the third time, I ask if you have discovered proof that Tippit possessed "world-class marksmanship skills of the sort associated with snipers firing at moving targets while operating as part of a military style, two- or three-person team."

WHY do I press this issue?

Because we don't need to put Tippit on the GK as a shooter to prove conspiracy. And because your wholly unconvincing efforts to do so likely will prove damaging to the prosecution of our case -- if it ever is meaningfully prosecuted.