Bradley E Ayers : March 07, 1935 - February 10, 2017

[Peter Lemkin]

Brad Ayers, who I knew and with whom I had several meetings and more - perhaps I'll mention some of them on this thread later - died four weeks ago. I only heard about it today.

Ayers, Bradley E., age 81, of Frederic, Wisconsin, passed away on Friday, February 10, 2017 at his cabin home on Somers Lake.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 7, 1935, he was the son of Earl and Josephine Ayers. He was raised in Stillwater, Minnesota and graduated from Stillwater High School in 1953, where he was a three sport letterman. During high school, Bradley worked for the Stillwater Gazette as a reporter. Following graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served as an Airborne Ranger and was promoted through the ranks from private to captain. In early 1963, he was temporarily assigned to the CIA to train anti-Castro exiles in South Florida. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1964. He graduated from Metro State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Individualized Studies.

Over the course of his lifetime, Bradley had a fascinating and varied career. During the 1980s, he worked as an undercover operative with the DEA's South Florida Task Force. He also worked as a licensed commercial pilot and flight instructor, a private investigator, a real estate broker and journalist. He published two books: "The War that Never Was" and "Zenith Secret," and wrote a number of articles on a variety of topics for local and national publications. Brad had a passion for Native American Culture, the environment, and family history. He loved adventure (made his 301st parachute jump at age 79) and always made a home for stray cats and dogs.

Bradley was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, David Ayers, and nephew, Doug Ayers.

He is survived by his brothers, Mike and Joe, sons Dan, Brad and Steven, and several grandchildren, great grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

The 'CIA stint' was not quite as brief as the obit implies. He was often at JM/WAVE as they were preparing for the hit on JFK and working against Cuba/Castro. He regularly saw John Rosselli come into the main gate, be saluted by the guards and called Col. Ralston [he was never in the US Military, only in the Mafia and the CIA]. He showed me photos of JM/WAVE long before any were publicly available. He worked briefly for me as a P.I. on the JFK case.