How widespread was this knowledge about the association of Oswald, Banister, and Ferrie in the summer of 1963? The Church Committee did a limited investigation of the performance of the intelligence community for the Warren Commission. One of the agencies they consulted with was the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New Orleans. In 1975, the committee conducted interviews with two INS agents, Wendell Roache and Ron Smith. They discovered that one of the functions the INS performed was to track Cuban refugees to see if they were in the USA legally. One of the people they ended up keeping files on in foreign nationals tracking was David Ferrie, since he was with the Cubans so often. They ended up discovering Ferrie working out of Guy Banister’s office at 544 Camp Street. But they also discovered Oswald was there that summer too. Further—and corroborating Roberts, her daughter, and Jack Martin—they learned that Oswald had his own room at the building. These INS reports were quite extensive. The INS had dossiers on Ferrie’s problems with his former employer Eastern Air Lines and also his proclivity for young boys. Both Roache and Smith concluded that, from what they could see, Jim Garrison had good intelligence sources and very good eyes and ears in the French Quarter.76 After the assassination, Smith was transferred to Uruguay and Roache to Puerto Rico. When Roache finally testified before the Church Committee he said, “I’ve been waiting 12 years to talk to someone about this.”77
Sam Newman, the owner of the building, was rather inconsistent in his stories to the FBI and the New Orleans Police. In a report of November 25, he told the Bureau that he rented space to the CRC in approximately March of 1963. He had seen these Cubans around Guy Banister’s office previously. He thought one was Sergio Arcacha Smith. The CRC was there for only three to four months. Yet, two days later, to the New Orleans Police, he said that he rented space to these Cubans around fifteen months previous. They were there for only four to five months. They fell behind in their rent so he evicted them. From other evidence, it appears that the CRC was not located at 544 Camp while Oswald was working under Banister. But Arcacha Smith was in close contact with his old friends that summer.
In his testimony before Gary Cornwell, Deputy Director of the HSCA, Newman was a bit more candid, but still dissembled. When Cornwell asked him about Oswald being in his building, Newman acted like this was the first time he ever heard of it, which could not be true since he was interviewed by Jim Garrison about that subject.78 When Cornwell told him that several people saw Oswald there, Newman now said that, if so, he had never rented any space to him. He then said he had a lot of people in and out, and he was not around there very much. In other words, since he was not there a lot, he could have missed him in the rush. Cornwell then asked Newman if he was aware of Oswald being arrested that summer while he was passing out pro-Castro literature. Newman replied in an interesting way. He said he knew that the address 544 Camp Street was on at least one piece of literature Oswald had upon his arrest. He said that this showed Oswald had to have been associated with the Cubans. When Cornwell delved into this further, Newman admitted that Banister had asked him to rent space to the anti-Castro Cubans. Cornwell then asked why would Newman assume that Oswald, who was pro-Castro, be associated with the anti-Castro Cubans in his building? Newman now said that Oswald could also have been in league with Banister—because Banister was such an odd bird, you never knew what he was up to. When Cornwell asked Newman how Banister reacted to Oswald placing the address on his literature, Newman said he was not aware of his reaction. He then said something contradictory: “Jack Martin can tell you about that. He was in Banister’s office 90 percent of the time; every day almost.”79 Question: How could Newman know that Martin was there almost every day if, as he said previously, he was not there that much? The indications are that Newman knew more than he was admitting. And unlike Roberts, he never told the whole truthful story. We know this through the interview Roberts did with the HSCA. As we saw, she said that when Banister learned Oswald had used the Camp Street address on his literature, he got extremely upset—in the presence of custodian James Arthus and Newman.80
When the CIA—through Dulles and Hunt—blamed Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs failure, those involved in the operation had nothing but resentment for the man they were told had blown it all. Ferrie had piloted many missions to Cuba prior to the Bay of Pigs. Sometimes they were bombing missions; sometimes they were extractions of anti-Castro Cubans. Many of them were done on orders of Eladio Del Valle, a former Cuban congressman who was in league with the CIA and Senator George Smathers of Florida to dislodge Castro.81 Now convinced that Kennedy had sold out his dream of walking into a liberated Cuba as a hero, Ferrie began to lash out at the president. In a speech before the Military Order of World Wars, he ranted on so disjointedly about how Kennedy had double-crossed the Cuban brigade that people walked out and he had to be escorted off the podium. He also sketched on a blackboard the mistakes that had led to the defeat of the invasion.82 To others, Ferrie “became obsessed with the idea of Kennedy and what he was doing with Cuba.”83
This antipathy toward Kennedy was something that Eastern Air Lines used in Ferrie’s dismissal proceedings. Guy Banister, his loyal friend, showed up to testify on Ferrie’s behalf. Banister knew about this problem Ferrie had about berating Kennedy in public. Therefore, he tried to dissemble and say that the target of Ferrie’s tirades was President Eisenhower. But when he was alerted to the date of the Military Order of World Wars meeting, he admitted it was July of 1961. The following colloquy then ensued:
Q: The Commander in Chief on that date was whom?
A: It was President Kennedy wasn’t it?84
Needless to say, Banister’s efforts were not successful. Ferrie was terminated. He then went to work for Banister and moonlighted as an investigator for Carlos Marcello’s local attorney G. Wray Gill. He also worked for the CIA as part of Mongoose.
When Operation Mongoose began, Ferrie let it slip that he was a part of “Operation Mosquito.” Clearly a miscommunication, Ferrie meant Mongoose.85 And there is no doubt that he was a part of this effort. The supposedly secret training camps for the operation included sites in Louisiana. One was at Lacombe, across from Lake Pontchartrain, directly northwest of New Orleans. Banister visited this camp. And he helped finance it.86 It was on land owned by Bill McLaney, an old business friend of Jack Ruby’s. Ferrie had been an instructor at the camp. His interests and talents fit right in there.87 According to Anthony Summers, some claim that Ferrie brought Oswald to this camp. On July 31, 1963, the FBI raided a cottage near the Lake Pontchartrain site. There they confiscated a broad array of munitions: dynamite, bomb casings, fuses, and fuel explosives. McLaney, the camp’s owner, planned to bomb oil refineries in Cuba. The FBI had been tipped off to this violation of the Neutrality Act and proceeded on the President’s orders. They also captured some key players in the movement but, oddly, released them without filing charges.88 As we saw previously, this was part of Kennedy’s program of curtailing any renegade attacks against Cuba from American soil. As some authors have noted, as the White House severely cut back on these camps and attacks after the Missile Crisis, the Cubans and people like Ferrie began to accept funds from the radical right and the Mafia. This particular camp also supplied trainees for Manuel Artime’s CIA-backed operation in Guatemala. There is evidence that one of the financial backers of the Lacombe site was Texas multi-millionaire H. L. Hunt, and the go-between may have been David Phillips.89 The fact that these men were not charged encouraged them to repeat the action later. According to historian Michael Kurtz, there was a sighting of Ferrie, the Cubans, and Oswald at another camp in early September of 1963. They were dressed in military fatigues and carrying automatic rifles. They were conducting what looked like a military maneuver. This episode took place in a swampy area of Bedico Creek; which, in 1963, was an undeveloped area with an inland body of water in Tangipahoa Parish, about fifty miles north of New Orleans.90
These are not the only references to Oswald being with David Ferrie at a post–Bay
of Pigs Cuban training site. Delphine Roberts has said that Ferrie took Oswald on at least one visit to an anti-Castro training camp outside of New Orleans.91 And, in fact, INS agent Wendell Roache stated that Ferrie took films of one of these exile training camps.92 This may be a film that House Select Committee Deputy Counsel Robert Tanenbaum saw and talked about in an interview for Probe Magazine.93 Tanenbaum stated that, “To the best of my recollection, we found that movie somewhere in the Georgetown Library archives.” Tanenbaum, an experienced prosecutor, brought in witnesses to identify people he thought were Phillips, Oswald, and Banister.94 This was confirmed upon multiple witness viewings. Or as he told the author, “Oh, yeah. Absolutely. They’re all in the film.” Since Phillips and Oswald were there, this is very likely the Lacombe camp.
As Mongoose began to dwindle down, Ferrie, and others, now grew even more resentful of Kennedy. For the first time, Ferrie mentioned to a young protégé a design to do away with JFK. But he never included himself in the plans. He talked about it in the second or third person.95 Sometimes he went further and said that Kennedy “ought to be shot.”96 This was also echoed by Guy Banister who had been a CIA conduit of funds for the training camps.97 In 1963, Banister bitterly commented to a colleague that “someone should do away with Kennedy.”98 Banister’s fascist ideology was conducive to such things. He once pulled out his handgun and shouted, “There comes a time when the world’s problems can be better solved with the bullet than the ballot.”99
Considering the above, it is not at all surprising that in the newly discovered records of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, there are memoranda saying that custodian James Arthus suggested to Guy Banister that they send a dead pigeon to the White House.100
CHAPTER SEVEN
On Instructions from
His Government
“Any attempt to explain what happened in Dallas must explain Lee Harvey Oswald …. He is not, to put it in simple words, an easy man to explain.”
—Robert Blakey, Frontline, 1993
If Oswald was being manipulated by Banister, Ferrie, and Shaw, then was he a true Marxist? Or, to look at it the other way, if Oswald were a true believer in the communist cause, why would he be associating with rightwing extremists?
Of course, it would not be necessary for Oswald to be a right winger in order to be useful to these men. In fact, who would expect them to be associated with a crazed Marxist? But at this point in his life—the summer of 1963—was Oswald a true Marxist and did his psychology fit into the profile of an assassin?
Of course, since he was killed by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Department, Oswald never had the opportunity to argue his case in court. The media and the Warren Report then seized on some of the facts of his life and some statements to prove the case against him. These included conversations with friends in the service, his alleged defection to Russia, his mailings for communist literature, his aforementioned distribution of pro-Cuba flyers, and the ensuing radio debate in New Orleans in which he defended Marxism. But does this collection of exhibits add up to a convincing indictment? Does it encompass all pertinent details and exclude other alternatives? For as we will see, the Warren Commission never mentioned any of Oswald’s activities in New Orleans, which we have discussed in the previous two chapters. In the 888 page report, you will not see any mention of Guy Banister, Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, Oscar Deslatte, the Friends of Democratic Cuba, the Clinton-Jackson incident, or anything about the entire Bolton Ford episode. You will see a mention of 544 Camp Street, but this is only to say that the address appeared on a flyer Oswald was passing out when he was arrested. And this mention appears to have been done only to brand Oswald a liar. For the report then immediately says, “investigation has indicated that neither the Fair Play for Cuba Committee nor Lee Harvey Oswald ever maintained an office at that address.”1 This spurious statement is then repeated in Chapter 7, on page 408. The Warren Report deals with Oswald in New Orleans in three places: Chapter 6 (3 pages), Chapter 7 (6 pages), and in its Appendix 13 (5 pages).
It is interesting to look at how the Commission managed to keep Oswald out of 544 Camp Street. When one looks at the references for this statement, the reader will see a Secret Service report, an FBI report, and a local police report. The closest thing to actual pertinent evidence is an interview with Sam Newman. Who, as we have seen, never was really candid with anyone, and gave inconsistent stories. In other words, there was no real and rigorous attempt by the Commission to interview anyone who was at the location in the summer of 1963 on this key point. And, in fact, to support its negative argument, the Commission never asks the obvious question: If Oswald was never at 544 Camp Street, then why did he rubber stamp the address on this pamphlet in his possession entitled “The Crime Against Cuba”? For the address was stamped on the inside back cover. As noted above, unlike the Warren Commission, both Jim Garrison and the HSCA uncovered evidence that did place Oswald at 544 Camp Street.
To see just how valid the Warren Commission’s inquiry was, let us consider some of the statements included in its negative argument. In one supporting document, Cuban exile Frank Bartes tells the FBI that Oswald was unknown to him.2 This is bad even for the Commission. For as John Newman notes, Frank Bartes appeared in court with Oswald on August 12, 1963. This was at a hearing which resulted because of Oswald’s fracas with Carlos Bringuier over leaflets he was passing out on Canal Street.3 Bartes said he was in court in support of Bringuier. After Oswald pleaded guilty, the press started to ask him questions. Bartes got angry with the media and Oswald because the Cubans were not allowed to present their views. Bartes then warned an FBI agent that Oswald was a dangerous man. Bartes was not just an FBI informant, but he went on to work for the CIA.4 Any serious inquiry would have shown that Bartes was lying to the FBI about not knowing Oswald. Yet both the Bureau and the Commission accepted his lie.
In another dubious statement, the report states that, “The FBI has advised the Commission that its information on undercover Cuban activities in the New Orleans area reveals no knowledge of Oswald before the assassination.”5 Again, this is not supported by the facts we have just seen. Several Cubans knew about Oswald in New Orleans that summer. In another supporting document quoted by the Commission—an FBI interview with Sam Newman—he states that it was Jack Martin who brought him Sergio Arcacha Smith as a renter.6 Yet, as we have just seen, Sam Newman told Gary Cornwell of the HSCA that it was Banister who brought him Arcacha. Another source that the Commission used to keep Oswald out of 544 Camp Street was a Secret Service report with James Arthus. As we have seen, this is the man who kidded Banister about Oswald being in the same building with him.7 In a transparent attempt to keep Oswald out of 544 Camp Street when the Cubans were there, a footnote says that although the CRC was located at Camp Street, it moved out in early 1962, before Oswald’s return from Russia.8 As we have seen, Sam Newman did not tell the FBI or the police the CRC moved out that early. This particular falsehood appears to be simply manufactured.
This kind of performance shows one of the main weaknesses of the Commission: their reliance on the FBI as an investigating arm. But it also shows a related failing: The Commission’s inability to then follow through and conduct a real investigation of its own. But the point is, almost the entire Warren Report biography of Oswald is constructed like this. That is, it is entirely superficial. It accepts certain events in passing, which any normal investigation would stop and ask questions about. It then avoids certain circumstances and relationships—like Clinton-Jackson, 544 Camp Street, and the association with Ferrie—which will seriously dislodge the simple story that the Commission and the FBI wants so badly to maintain. But as we shall see, Oswald’s life, which ended at age twenty-four, is anything but simple. In fact, one can argue that he was one of the most complex twenty-four-year-olds to enter the annals of history. With the releases of the Assassination Records Review Board, we can now begin to tell the story the Warren Commission could not.
&nbs
p; A Fatherless Child
He was born in New Orleans in 1939 to one Marguerite Claverie. He had two brothers. One of them, John Pic, was from his mother’s previous marriage to Edward Pic in 1929. This marriage only lasted two years; but the divorce took almost a year and half to complete.9 Afterwards, Marguerite Claverie began seeing an insurance collector named Robert Lee Oswald. Three weeks after her divorce from Pic was finalized in 1933, they were married at a church in New Orleans. A year later, Robert Oswald Jr. was born.10
For the next few years, the Oswalds lived in different residences in New Orleans. But then, in August of 1939, Robert Oswald Sr. died of a heart attack.11 Two months later, in October of 1939, the fatherless Lee Harvey Oswald was born. Marguerite got a five-thousand dollar death benefit. But she was now responsible for three children, with no husband and without a steady income. Finding it difficult to support the three boys, she occasionally placed them in nearby orphanages, or left Lee with his aunt, Lillian Murret.12 While working at a hosiery shop in the summer of 1943, Marguerite met Edwin Ekdahl. Edwin was an electrical engineer originally from Boston. Recovering from a heart condition, Marguerite took care of him, and they decided to marry. Edwin expected a change in his job location, so Marguerite moved to Dallas with her sons. After some hesitation, she married Ekdahl in May of 1945.13
Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, & the Garrison Case Page 18