General Edwin "Ted" Walker

[Drew Phipps]

An interesting excerpt from an article about Gen. Walker:

...."Readers also need to keep in mind that Ted Walker was involved with the recruiting and training of the Special Forces. When Max Taylor, with Jack Kennedy's okay, officially recognized the Green Berets as a unit, the ceremony commenced with the passing of the colors of the First Special Services Force to the newly formed Green Berets, God only knows how Walker felt being passed over for that command, and then adding insult to injury, being accused of being too anti-communist, which in Walker's mind must have felt like being told he was too damn patriotic.

Well before Korea and even before WWII, the story of Walker's meteoric rise in rank is intriguing in that it doesn't fit quite right with a traditional military career. Rather, his rapid advances are more indicative of a man rewarded for his leadership skills in clandestine activities, counter intelligence work and covert operations. Imagine for a moment the humiliation he must have also felt over the order from the "control apparatus" for his arrest on the four federal charges? (concerning anti-segregationalist activity in Georgia) First insubordination, then insurrection, whatever regrets Walker might have had about his career choices was nothing compared to a new emotion for him, rage. Rage over being removed from command and forced into retirement by the Kennedy administration.

A decade or so later, Harry J. Dean, an FBI informant whod infiltrated Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr's John Birch Society reported that by 1962 an "arrogant and explosive" Walker had recruited loyal "extremist veteran rifle men" who'd served under him in Europe to JBS membership.".....

here is the article https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/...dO1CnOnK6g

[Jim Hargrove]

Well, well, well....

Another likely U.S. Intel link to the Oswald Saga. If we weren't all the trusting types, someone might begin to smell a rat!

[Drew Phipps]

It looks to be contested whether of not Harry Dean was a "real" FBI informant, or a volunteer snitch, or mental patient. It looks to me like in the post-McCarthy years, there may have been quite a few Americans (other than Oswald) "playing" at being anti-commie spies. At any rate, there ARE FBI records of Dean's (apparently volunteer) "infiltration" of the FPCC (of which he claimed to have been elected to Secretary of one chapter), and other groups.

There is also a letter that Dean wrote to J. Edgar Hoover, on 11/19/63, which prompted headquarters to make inquiries about Dean. Unforrtunately, the copy of the letter on the intrnet is unreadable, at least in jpg format, so I won't post it here. Anyone know what it contains?

[Jim Hargrove]

It looks to me like in the post-McCarthy years, there may have been quite a few Americans (other than Oswald) "playing" at being anti-commie spies.

Playing????

Earl Warren said full disclosure was impossible because of National Security because Oswald was "playing" at being a spy????

CIA Accountant James Wilcott swore he was told by CIA personnel that checks he issued to an encrypted account were for "Oswald or the Oswald project," and this payment was for Oswald playing games????

Robert Tanenbaum swore to the AARB that he read Warren Commission executive transcripts indicating high ranking officials told Earl Warren in early 1964 that "information from unimpeachable sources" indicated "that Lee Harvey Oswald was a contract employee of the CIA and the FBI," and this meant that Oswald was playing games?

Oswald was in the U2 radar bubble at Atsugi, then defected to the Soviet Union, told our embassy in Moscow that he'd tell the Soviets everything he knew, and then was loaned money by State and allowed to return to the U.S. without prosecution, and then, just a few years later, was granted permission to travel to Communist Cuba? And this was all because he was playing a game????

Just asking....

[Drew Phipps]

I personally lean towards the idea that Oswald was being used as a "dangle" for counterintelligence purposes. The "Oswald Project" may have been well funded, but Oswald himself didn't seem to be possessed of the funds that one might expect from a government backed spy. (But perhaps he did, and that might explain the source of some of the "sympathy donations" that made Marina wealthy after his death.) It does appear that he had no problem reporting to the FBI (in New Orleans) about his activities. He appears to pretty much be a one man show there.

If Oswald was a "dangle," then some of the obstacles he otherwise would have faced might have been removed from his path, without a request from him, in order to make him look more important, to whomever the "dangle" might have been targeted. The existence of a "dangle" program might itself raise national security issues preventing full disclosure. I have read what Tannenbaum said, but to him that information would be third- or fourth-hand, and hard to swallow on his ten-year-delayed bald assertion alone. Marguerite, at least, would have agreed with Tannenbaum. In 2017 perhaps we'll hear more.

Another possibility is that the national security issues involved were basically how bad our counter-intelligence agencies were actually at finding bad guys, and how the fact of at least 3 separate secretive agencies, each equipped with secrets and confidential assets, was actually interfering with the process of defending our country. If you believe in the official narrative of 9/11, you have to admit that not much had changed in 40 years.

Another possibility is that the cloak of "national security" is just too convenient to pass up in a pinch. It certainly seems to be bandied about a lot lately.

[Jim Hargrove]

Hi, Drew,

You can speculate, or you can chose to believe the sworn testimony of the Chief Counsel of the HSCA's JFK Assassination subcommittee that the Texas Attorney General, and Dallas DA Henry Wade, and the Texas AG's counsel Leon Jaworsky all told Earl Warren in a WC secret session transcript that "Lee Harvey Oswald was a contract employee of the CIA and the FBI."

Since for a time, at least, he collected USG paychecks, wouldn't Tanenbaum's words be classified as an "admission against self-interest" or something like that and given added legal credence? Considering where we are even today, can you imagine the courage it took CIA accountant James Wilcott to say in 1978 that he paid "Oswald or the Oswald project."

Just my opinion, of course, but it sure seems obvious to me that "Lee Harvey Oswald" was most likely just another American spy trying to get info on the Soviet Menace. No big deal, at least not until November 22, 1963, when it all became a Very Big Deal indeed!!!!

[Drew Phipps]

None of those three guys worked (at that time) for either the FBI or the CIA. Wade at least was a former FBI guy. So again, we have information that is being relayed word of mouth third hand or worse, from unnamed "unimpeachable" sources, which source may, or may not, have some agenda for relaying such seemingly classified information, which relay would be a treasonous act itself.

I'm more inclined to actively disbelieve the FBI and CIA's denial of association with Oswald, simply on general principle and reputation, and assume that there was some sort of association. I'm unwilling to jump from there, to "full time accredited spy," unless I can follow the money. I like and believe Wilcott, but his information isn't really specific to the level of Oswald's knowledge and participation.

[Jim Hargrove]

I'm unwilling to jump from there, to "full time accredited spy," unless I can follow the money.

OK, let's follow the money all the way to Moscow!

The WC told us Oswald saved the money to pay for his travels from his military pay in Japan and California, but failed to tell us that the bulk of that pay--from Japan--was non-convertible military scrip, spendable only at the base commissary, leaving roughly $1100 total pay from his time California to save for the "defection." However much he managed to save from his USMC pay, $200 of that total went to open a bank account in Fort Worth on 12/8/58.

With the remainder, he did the following:

He traveled from Santa Ana, California to Ft Worth, then to New Orleans, where he boarded the ship to Le Havre, France before moving on to London. Then he flew to Helsinki and stayed two nights at the expensive Torni Hotel before moving to the only slightly less expensive Klaus Kurki Hotel. As luck would have it, Oswald just happened to go to the only Russian embassy in all of Europe that could arrange a visa in hours rather than days. What foresight! He got a visa and booked a multi-day first-class private tour of Moscow with the Intourist organization.

He then travels by train to Moscow, stays at first at the Hotel Berlin, and then things start to get weird.

No doubt we're talking about 1958 dollars, but do you really think our boy saved enough from his California service to do all that? Rather than setting up all this elaborate "spy in his on mind" stuff, isn't far more logical to assume he was just a run-of-the-mill spy, involved in a false defection scheme that ultimately failed to fool the Russkies?

[Magda Hassan]

An interesting excerpt from an article about Gen. Walker:

...."Readers also need to keep in mind that Ted Walker was involved with the recruiting and training of the Special Forces. When Max Taylor, with Jack Kennedy's okay, officially recognized the Green Berets as a unit, the ceremony commenced with the passing of the colors of the First Special Services Force to the newly formed Green Berets, God only knows how Walker felt being passed over for that command, and then adding insult to injury, being accused of being too anti-communist, which in Walker's mind must have felt like being told he was too damn patriotic.

Well before Korea and even before WWII, the story of Walker's meteoric rise in rank is intriguing in that it doesn't fit quite right with a traditional military career. Rather, his rapid advances are more indicative of a man rewarded for his leadership skills in clandestine activities, counter intelligence work and covert operations. Imagine for a moment the humiliation he must have also felt over the order from the "control apparatus" for his arrest on the four federal charges? (concerning anti-segregationalist activity in Georgia) First insubordination, then insurrection, whatever regrets Walker might have had about his career choices was nothing compared to a new emotion for him, rage. Rage over being removed from command and forced into retirement by the Kennedy administration.

A decade or so later, Harry J. Dean, an FBI informant whod infiltrated Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr's John Birch Society reported that by 1962 an "arrogant and explosive" Walker had recruited loyal "extremist veteran rifle men" who'd served under him in Europe to JBS membership.".....

here is the article https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/...dO1CnOnK6g

Harry Dean is a member here and posts sometimes. If he spots this he may care to comment?

[Drew Phipps]

By an inflation calculator (the first one I googled), $900 in 1958 is worth just shy of $7400 today. That seems to me to be enough for a one way ticket to Russia. The calculation just takes inflation into account, the relative prices of stuff like boat rides and plane rides is another matter. Back in the day, it was also possible to work off part, or all, of your passage on a slow boat. No idea what kind of passage Oswald bought. If I recall correctly, all tourists were required to buy Intourist "packages" in order to enter the USSR.

It's true that Oswald's knowledge of the fastest way to get into Russia was via Helsinki seems a tad out of his pay grade. I suspect that the word was out on the street about Helsinki. (As an example of how an arcane immigration policy becomes widely known, witness the 2014 influx of tens of thousands of un-accompanied non-english-speaking minors crossing the Rio Grande, and then throwing themselves into the arms of immigration authorities, and asking for a ride to a relative.)

I hope Mr. Dean does reply to this thread. I would love to hear what he wrote in his (unsolicited?) letter to Hoover three days before the assassination...since the image on the internet is unreadable. Be nice to get a first hand account. For a change.