skip to main | skip to sidebar
VINCE PALAMARA : SECRET SERVICE INFORMATION JFK+
Richly detailed, documented, and researched blogs and articles pertaining to the Secret Service during the FDR-Reagan era, with a special emphasis on the JFK/ LBJ years, by the leading civilian Secret Service expert, Vince Palamara NOTE: JFK WAS A VERY NICE MAN, VERY COOPERATIVE WITH THE SECRET SERVICE, & NEVER INTERFERED WITH THEIR ACTIONS AT ALL, AS SAIC BEHN, ASAIC BORING, ATSAIC GODFREY, & A CADRE OF OTHER FORMER AGENTS TOLD ME! ALSO: THE STAFF WAS NOT TO BLAME, EITHER
JFK/ LBJ SAIC Gerald A. "Jerry" Behn on What's My Line?" 12/27/59
Secret Service propaganda: blame the victim (JFK), blame the staff
Vince Palamara on television / The Secret Service White House Detail of JFK
President Kennedy's Secret Service White House Detail +
President Kennedy\
President Kennedy's Secret Service White House Detail + various other important/ temp/ PRS agents, as compiled from the massive collection of the leading authority on the Secret Service, especially during the JFK era: Vince Palamara
Secret Service JFK
Secret Service JFK
Various JFK era agents
Secret Service JFK
Secret Service, JFK, President Kennedy, James Rowley, Gerald Behn, Floyd Boring, Roy Kellerman, John Campion, William Greer, Forest Sorrels, Clint Hill, Winston Lawson, Emory Roberts, Sam Kinney, Paul Landis, John "Jack" Ready, William "Tim" McIntyre, Glenn Bennett, George Hickey, Rufus Youngblood, Warren "Woody" Taylor, Jerry Kivett, Lem Johns, John "Muggsy" O'Leary, Sam Sulliman, Ernest Olsson, Robert Steuart, Richard Johnsen, Stewart "Stu" Stout, Roger Warner, Henry "Hank" Rybka, Donald Lawton, Dennis Halterman, Walt Coughlin, Andy Berger, Ron Pontius, Bert de Freese, Jim Goodenough, Bill Duncan, Ned Hall II, Mike Howard, Art Godfrey, Gerald Blaine, Ken Giannoules, Paul Burns, Gerald O'Rourke, Robert Faison, David Grant, John Joe Howlett, Bill Payne, Robert Burke, Frank Yeager, Donald Bendickson, Gerald Bechtle, Howard Norton, Hamilton Brown, Toby Chandler, Chuck Zboril, Joe Paolella, Wade Rodham, Bob Foster, Lynn Meredith, Rad Jones, Thomas Wells, Charlie Kunkel, Stu Knight, Paul Rundle, Glen Weaver, Arnie Lau, Forrest Guthrie, Eve Dempsher, Bob Lilley, Ken Wiesman, Mike Mastrovito, Tony Sherman, Larry Newman, Morgan Gies, Tom Shipman, Ed Tucker, Harvey Henderson, Abe Bolden, Robert Kollar, Ed Mougin, Mac Sweazey, Horace "Harry" Gibbs, Tom Behl, Jim Cantrell, Bill Straughn, Tom Fridley, Mike Kelly, Joe Noonan, Gayle Dobish, Earl Moore, Arthur Blake, John Lardner, Milt Wilhite, Bill Skiles, Louis Mayo, Thomas Wooge, Milt Scheuerman, Talmadge Bailey, Bob Lapham, Bob Newbrand, Bernie Mullady, Jerry Dolan, Vince Mroz, William Bacherman, Howard Anderson, U.E. Baughman, Walt Blaschak, Robert Bouck, George Chaney, William Davis, Paul Doster, Dick Flohr, Jack Fox, John Giuffre, Jim Griffith, Jack Holtzhauer, Andy Hutch, Jim Jeffries, John Paul Jones, Kent Jordan, Dale Keaner, Brooks Keller, Thomas Kelley, Clarence Knetsch, Jackson Krill, Elmer Lawrence, Bill Livingood, J. Leroy Lewis, Dick Metzinger, Jerry McCann, John McCarthy, Ed Morey, Chester Miller, Roy "Gene" Nunn, Jack Parker, Paul Paterni, Burrill Peterson, Max Phillips, Walter Pine, Michael Shannon, Frank Stoner, Cecil Taylor, Charles Taylor, Bob Taylor, Elliot Thacker, Ken Thompson, Mike Torina, Jack Walsh, Jack Warner, Thomas White, Ed Wildy, Carroll Winslow, Dale Wunderlich, Walter Young, Winston Gintz, Bill Carter, C. Douglas Dillon, James Johnson, Larry Hess, Frank Farnsworth, Jim Giovanneti,Bob Gaugh,Don Brett, Jack Gleason, Bob Jamison, Gary Seale, Bill Sherlock, Bob Till, Doc Walters...President Kennedy was a very nice man and never interfered with the Secret Service! My name is Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert (as noted on The History Channel and in many books), and I base this on numerous interviews and correspondence with former JFK era agents from 1991-2009, as well as many years of research through files, films, photos, and other documentary evidence (my research materials are stored, by request under Deed of Gift from the U.S. Government, in the National Archives, as well as at the JFK Library. My work is duly noted in the U.S. Government's official report given to President Clinton, as well as to a host of other luminaries and the media, in 1998: "The Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board"). My book is entitled "Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the Failure to Protect the President" (1993/2006)
Search This Blog
powered by
This Blog
Linked From Here
The Web
This Blog
Linked From Here
The Web
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 17
Chapter 17
The Chicago Connection, Harvey Henderson, & Other Revelations
Note: For all sources and footnotes, see http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html
Abraham W. Bolden, Sr. (White House Detail and Chicago Office)
Major revelations came from Mr. Bolden, the first black member of the Secret Service White House Detail whose "appointment came at the very instigation of President John F. Kennedy when he appeared in Chicago at a fundraiser in 1961". Mr. Bolden was also, as Sam Kinney told the author, the first agent "dishonorably discharged", which took place not long after the Kennedy assassination. Kinney added: “We never got any bad publicity until Abe Bolden came along.” As Chief Rowley told the Warren Commission: “This is the first time I remember anything like this happening since I have been with the Secret Service.” Former agent and Chief of White House Signal Corps Col. George J. McNally wrote in his book: “The Secret Service for the first time in its long history had an agent indicted for attempting to sell a government investigative report to a defendant in a counterfeiting case.”
In Mr. Bolden's first of several letters to the author, the former agent pontificated about JFK ("a sincere, dedicated president who because of his long sufferings was able to feel the agony of others"), his treatment by his fellow agents ("I was personally told by SAIC Harvey Henderson, 'You're a nigger. You were born a nigger. You're going to die a nigger. So act like a nigger’"), and several other important details, many of which Bolden further elaborated upon:
"You may ask, why was I not present in Dallas on that fatal day of darkness. It is because the Secret Service White House Detail of the '60's was composed basically of new service recruits and entrenched senior agents, five of whom you named in your letter to me, who ran the Secret Service Detail, under James Rowley, as if their job was not to protect the President, but to 'look good' by putting up a front that protection was being afforded. The senior agents were "party people" (not so with Clint Hill, Ed Z. Tucker, or Bob Foster) who reported for assignment after consuming large quantities of alcohol, and attended lavish sex parties during off duty hours...agents in Hyannis Port drank heavily the night before, the morning of, and during their Presidential guard assignments with some agents carrying liquor in their tote bags and drinking on duty...Prior to May 21, 1964, no evidence or inquisitions had been made into the conduct of the Secret Service in Dallas on November 22, 1963. As I spoke with the newspaper writers and T. V. newsmen on May 20, 1964, I knew from experience that the lax attitude concerning protective assignments, the deep disrespect for Kennedy prevalent within the Service, and the propensity to consume hard liquor prior to assignment were the actual murderers of our president. Oswald did not kill Kennedy...the attitudinal violence of the Secret Service did! No one could have killed our President without the shots of omission fired by the Secret Service. Observe the feet of [four] Secret Service agents glued to the running boards of the follow-up car as bullets [sic?] pierce the brain of our President!!!"
“If any person had the ability, love, and compassion to better the condition of all peoples of America, it was John F. Kennedy. Oft times during my assignment at the White House, he would approach me and ask, “How are they treating you?” or “How do you like the detail?” He introduced me to every member of his cabinet saying, “This is Mr. Bolden. I brought him here to make history and to open a door for his people.”
"Before I left the White House Detail [June 1961], I sought an audience with the then Chief of the Secret Service [U.E. Baughman]. I told him, in no uncertain terms that (1) the Secret Service Detail was not protecting President Kennedy properly by agents reporting for work in a drunken condition and (2) when the President was assassinated it would be the direct result of laxity by agents around the President. The reply to my assertions…was that the Secret Service had not "lost" a President in over 20 years and that to a new agent (me) it might appear that security was lax, but everything was covered." In a follow-up letter, Bolden wrote: “ In November 1963, I was in Washington, D.C. on a super secret mission involving an Internal Revenue Investigation of members of the House of Representatives. My contact when I arrived was Mr. Joiner, Chief of Intelligence then for the I.R.S. I arrived in Washington on November 8, 1963, and left November 11, 1963, eleven days before Kennedy was assassinated. It was during this time that I discussed the breakdown in security with Chief Rowley in person and it was also at this time that I found out that Chief Rowley had written an article for Reader’s Digest [‘s] November issue stating and outlining how easy it would be to assassinate a President using a high powered rifle. Some of the copies of the Reader’s Digest had already been distributed when Kennedy was assassinated. After the assassination, all copies of that issue were withdrawn and new November issues were printed deleting the “essay” by Chief Rowley. In the essay, Chief Rowley contended that the weakness within the security of the President was “an assassin perched in the window firing a high powered rifle.” You can see how such an article was extremely detrimental to the safety of President Kennedy.”
Mr. Bolden, who was imprisoned on trumped-up charges by the Secret Service of trying to sell a government report on a counterfeiting case, is adamant that he was innocent and framed by the Secret Service. A fellow agent from the Chicago office, Conrad Cross, told the HSCA “he believes Bolden was set up” but did not know by whom. Bolden wrote: “…I surmised that the actual reason for my arrest was due to the fact that Kennedy was assassinated and that I could not be depended upon to keep quiet about my complaints [of laxity, etc.] regarding the Secret Service.” Keep in mind, the assassination was THE darkest day in Secret Service history and the agency was fearful of losing their position as protector of future presidents. In reference to Chief Rowley, Mr. Bolden told the author: "You know what I could never understand? I talked to Jim Rowley several times after I left Washington, D.C.; it always puzzled me as to why he let this thing happen to me in Chicago. That bothered me because he impressed me as a fairly decent guy, a fair man - it seemed... I just can't - I don't know if this thing that happened (to me) was over his head or he couldn't stop it or didn't want to stop it because he was the Chief of the Secret Service...I just can't believe that Chief Rowley would let this thing happen." Mr. Bolden also wished that his fellow agents would have either been at his trial or at least read the transcript. As it turns out, one agent WAS at Bolden’s trial (both of them, in fact)---Louis B. Sims, who, as we know from before, was later one of two agents in charge of maintaining the elaborate eavesdropping operation at the Nixon White House and changing the tapes.
Bolden was unaware that Rowley testified at some length about his case to the Warren Commission--- J. Lee Rankin asked Rowley, “Chief Rowley, have you had any other complaints similar to this in regard to the conduct of the Secret Service agents on the Presidential or White House detail?” Rowley responded: “We had one in the last month. We had charges leveled at us by an agent of the Secret Service---- Who is currently under indictment, and who will be brought to trial on criminal charges on the 29th of June. And, for that reason, while I have no reluctance to discuss it, I think we should go off the record, because I don't want to in any way prejudice the case…[Bolden] said he was framed. Now, he said he was framed because he was prepared to go before your Commission, sir, to testify about this thing that happened 3 years ago, and in the charges he said he advised me, as well as others, and nothing was done. He said he was framed for this reason… He had never made any complaint to me. It came as a complete surprise.” Considering the charges that were made in 1961 were addressed to then-Chief BAUGHMAN, it is easy to see why! Rowley makes no mention of Bolden’s claim to have spoken to him in early November 1963, either.
In any event, Rowley continued: “Now, in order to determine their ability and fitness for assignment, since some people are better criminal investigators than they are in protection work, we have an orientation program which includes duty on the White House detail. Mr. Bolden was one of the men selected to come in the summer of 1961. He was also a replacement for some regular agent on the detail who was on leave. It was a 30-day assignment. This afforded us an opportunity to observe him, determine whether he was equipped and so forth. And he was on the White House detail for this short period of time. The time that he describes was a 5-day weekend up in Hyannis Port… Before he left his detail assignment, you see, he alleges that he told me about the condition that was going on up in Hyannis… When he left to return to his office in Chicago… The fact is he never informed me. He never informed any of his supervisors or anyone on the detail… I found out there was no truth to the charges of misconduct. There were 11 charges lodged against us. One charge, the ninth charge, a part of it was true. The boys did contribute for food. In other words, up there in Hyannis, when they are up there for a week, or a weekend, they would be assigned to a house, which economically was beneficial to them. One shift, and some of the drivers would be in this house. This house was in a remote area from the shopping area and so forth. So they agreed when they arrived there to contribute, to buy food for breakfast, it being an 8 to 4 shift. Eight to four meant they would have breakfast there and dinner… One of the agents who enjoyed it as a hobby cooked the meals for them, while the others took care of the dishes… when they went shopping they bought two or three cases of beer which they had available in the icebox when the men came off duty in the evening.”
Both in his letters and in his interviews with the author, Mr. Bolden expressed much interest and suspicion in Harvey Henderson, his “boss” during his time on the White House Detail: "While in New York on a protective assignment, Harvey Henderson countermand a direct order from the President. This act occurred in September or October 1963 [Mr. Bolden may be mistaken : the time period may have been mid-November 1963, a mere week or so before Dallas]. The President subsequently had Henderson removed from the detail and this act by the President was very unpopular with Jerry Behn, Emory Roberts, and others on the detail."
Mr. Bolden elaborated during a telephone interview with the author: "Do you know what happened to Harvey Henderson? I heard that he had been relieved of his Detail by President Kennedy himself...Harvey had made some threats like, 'We'll get you'...I understand that he told the President "I'll get you, or something to that effect...(it was) no secret that Kennedy wanted him removed from the detail... Harvey was a quick-tempered guy who couldn't take the heat... Where is Harvey Henderson at? I think that you would do well if you could find out where Harvey Henderson was on November 22-can you track him down?" In reference to the elicit Secret Service credentials present in Dealey Plaza on 11/22/63, Mr. Bolden said, in reference to Harvey Henderson, "that's the first thing that crossed my mind - he would have the nerve, the guts, the anger, the craziness, the instability...I'm not saying he was in Dallas, but I'm saying that...it would be something to look at." Unfortunately, Henderson died in 1994 before the author could locate and contact him for comment. Interestingly, information regarding a plot to kill Martin Luther King was furnished to Henderson, the ASAIC of the Birmingham Secret Service office, on 3/11/65, over three years before MLK’s murder.
During interviews with two other agents, Maurice Martineau (Mr. Bolden's superior in Chicago) and Robert Lilley, the name Harvey Henderson struck a nerve. Mr. Martineau said nervously: "I knew him - not very well...I didn't have too much contact with him" (More on Martineau later on.) When asked when Mr. Henderson "left" the White House Detail, Lilley said he "would have left...(pause)...probably 1962."
For his part, former agent Walt Coughlin wrote: “Harvey (The Birmingham Baron) Henderson had left the Detail when I arrived [6/62] but I recall he was there thru most of the 1950’s.” Walt later added: “Harvey Henderson he [Bolden] is probably rite (sic) about.” (In contrast, former agent Gerald Blaine, who claims to have been on Bolden’s temporary shift at the White House, wrote the author on 6/12/05: “I don't remember anybody on the detail that was racist. Merit was perceived by a person’s actions, their demeanor, reliability, dependability and professional credibility-- not race! Harvey was not even on the shift that Bolden was during his thirty day stay. Even though Harvey Henderson was from Mississippi, I never heard of him discriminating nor demeaning anyone because of race.”)
Darwin Horn wrote: “Harvey Henderson was on the Detail from about 1952 to about 1960 and then went to Birmingham.” Finally, former V.P. LBJ agent Jerry Kivett wrote the author: “I knew Harvey Henderson but do not know when he served on the White House Detail. Probably late 50’s to early ‘60’s.”
Oliver Stone consultant Gus Russo told this author in 1992 that Mr. Bolden told him that Agent Robert Lilley "was either privy to the assassination or had foreknowledge." When the author asked Mr. Bolden if this was true, he equivocated nervously: "(pause)...I don't recall right at this moment...I don't recall right at this moment." (More on Lilley later on.)
Lawyers John Hosmer, Sherman Skolnick, Bernard Fensterwald, & Mark Lane were also convinced that Mr. Bolden was framed on wrongful charges. In addition, Senator Sam Ervin (later of Watergate fame), Senator Edward Long, Assistant Attorney General Fred Vinson, and United States Attorney Edward Hanrahan were involved in the Bolden case.
Mr. Bolden told the author, "The Secret Service office here in Chicago knows there was no crime committed - they absolutely know that there was no crime committed." Mr. Bolden's attorney from Springfield, Illinois, John Hosmer, believes that "his client was imprisoned as a result of information he has about the assassination." Mr. Bolden retained Attorney Hosmer because he "knew how the government worked." In a letter to Josiah Thompson dated 12/26/67, Attorney Hosmer outlined his case: "Some peculiar and remarkable things happened before and during the trial...three Secret Service informers were the witnesses against Bolden. One of whom, Joseph Spagnoli, later in his own trial, admitted perjury at the behest of the Government, and Bolden's alleged co-conspirator, a man he had arrested twice (Frank W. Jones), was never brought to trial...the 'shaft' was put to Bolden by the Secret Service and by my Government." In a prison letter dated 3/14/68, Mr. Bolden summed up the situation to Senator Long: "I was kidnapped, denied an attorney, convicted on perjured evidence devised and suborned by the government, convicted by methods used by the trial judge that suppressed evidence favorable to the defense, and perjury admitted during the trial by government witnesses was suppressed from the jury." Bolden further added: “U.S. District Judge J. Sam Perry instructed the jury, while that jury was in deliberation, that ‘In my opinion, the evidence shows the defendant to be guilty of counts 1,2, and 3 in the indictment.’ To give any personal opinion to a deliberating jury, by anyone, is clearly a violation of law called jury tampering. Yet, after a mistrial was declared in the 1rst trial, this same judge (with opinion intact) heard the 2nd trial. Moreover, he was upheld by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals who ruled that such opinions do not show prejudice on the part of the judge. Then what would he have to do to show prejudice? Lynch me? This charge by a judge has never been used by a Caucasian judge against a Caucasian defendant!”
Bolden further wrote: “Then how did the government case against me initiate? On or about May 11, 1964, Frank W. Jones, a counterfeiter of U.S. currency who had been twice arrested by me and who at that time had a case pending in Federal District Court due to my investigations, called J. Lloyd Stocks (Acting Assistant Special Agent In Charge of the Chicago office). Jones wanted to talk to an agent about information he had concerning another counterfeiting ring. According to Stocks, Jones was afraid of going to jail and wanted to cooperate with the Secret Service. Stocks called me into the office on May 11, 1964 and assigned me to interview Jones. I vigorously protested to Stocks because (1) I had arrested Jones and was to be chief witness against him as the counterfeiting plant was discovered by me in his home during a set raid; (2) Jones could be setting me up to be killed or otherwise harmed and (3) I was leaving for Secret Service School on May 16, 1964 and there was no time to develop Jones as an informant. Both Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Maurice G. Martineau and Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge J. Lloyd Stocks overruled my objections and I was told to meet with Jones or resign…I met Jones at his home at approximately 11:00 a.m. on May 11, 1964. Jones purported to have information concerning the “Dagos” (Joseph Spagnoli et. al. counterfeiting band case) who was arrested on or about May 6, 1964. I was one of the arresting officers in that case also.
After speaking with Jones for about ½ hour while parked in a Secret Service vehicle in front of Jones’ home, Jones and I went to a McDonald’s restaurant where I exited the car leaving Jones seated inside. Later, I dropped Jones off at home and drove back to the Secret Service office, 219 South Dearborn in Chicago. I reported the conversation with Jones to ASAIC Martineau. Mr. Martineau stated, over my objections for the same reasons listed above, that Jones should be developed as an informant and Mr. Martineau issued Jones an informant number by which he was to be referred in any subsequent reports.
Jones called me at my home on the night of May 11, 1964 and told me that he had met with some Dagos and that these Dagos dealt in “a lot of suits.” He stated that one of them, Joe, was to call him and that he would get a lot of good information from Joe.
The next day, May 12, 1964, I met Jones at his home about 10:00 a.m. Jones reiterated his confusing story stating that the counterfeiting plates for the $100.00 bonds were in the hands of “Slim” and we cold buy them for $50,000.
I immediately drove to the Secret Service office and told ASAIC Martineau what Jones said. I also took that opportunity to dictate my reports on this matter to June Marie Terpinas, secretary for the Secret Service. Mr. Martineau agreed that it appeared that Jones was leading us on a wild goose chase and interested only in helping himself. I was instructed to stay away from Jones and discontinue the operation.
Jones called me at the Secret Service office around 2:30 p.m. on May 12, 1964. I told Jones that “Spagnoli called the boss and stop all contacts with him.” Spagnoli was determined to be the “Joe” referred to by Jones as the Dago.
When the Secret Service arrested me and brought me to Chicago, they charged me with (1) Solicitation of a bribe; (2) Conspiracy; and (3) Obstruction of Justice based upon allegations that I sent Jones to Spagnoli to solicit a $50, 000 bribe. For this bribe, Spagnoli was to receive an onionskin copy of a Secret Service report detailing the government’s case against Spagnoli and 6 other defendants.
During the trial, it was brought out that I in fact was given an onionskin report to review and pass on to Agent Conrad Cross. Cross also worked on the Jones case with me. It was further affirmed that I in fact gave the Spagnoli onionskin report to Agent Cross while inside the Secret Service office on the morning of May 8, 1964. Cross further testified that he read and “lost” the onionskin report.
During the trial, no onionskin report was introduced into evidence. The only document introduced that pertained to the onionskin report was a passage from the report re-typed on bond paper. The name Vito Zaccagnini was misspelled (Zaggacnini) throughout the passage and this could have been the result of someone making a quick reading or writing of the paragraph and reproducing what he thought that he saw. According to Mr. Nason, who testified on behalf of the government concerning fingerprints lifted from the excerpt typed on bond paper, my fingerprints appeared nowhere on the paper. The fingerprints of both Jones and Spagnoli were clearly identified, but there was not one shred of evidence linking me to the excerpt introduced into evidence…except the testimony of Jones who testified “he removed the paper from his briefcase and handed it to me (on May 11,1964).” There is no documented testimony as to how the onion skin paper changed to bond paper or how I could insert a paper in a typewriter, type the excerpt, remove the excerpt from my briefcase and give it to Jones (while not wearing gloves) and not one hint of my fingerprints were anywhere on the paper.
After I was charged by the Secret Service and U.S. Government on May 18, 1964 and subsequently released on bail on May 19, 1964, I felt betrayed and angry. Since a warrant had been issued and the decision made that I had in fact committed a criminal act, I knew that the agency had abandoned me and that I had been set up either by Jones and Spagnoli or the Secret Service itself.
I recalled how I had openly derided the agency for blowing the Chicago investigation of an assassination plot against [the] President in November 1963, two weeks before he was shot in Dallas. I recalled that I had been coerced to meet Jones by the Secret Service and now they were acting as if this was a secret deal between Jones and me outside of the agency…On May 20, 1964, I decided to lash back at the Secret Service and hit back where it would hurt the most.
Shortly after November 22, 1963, rumors were circulating [which turned out to be true] within the agency that on the night before the assassination, agents of the detail were intoxicated in a teahouse [sic] in Dallas, Texas. Rumor was that a few agents became so intoxicated that one of them lost his U.S. Treasury Commission book. Stories within the agency persisted that the agency knew whose identification was lost or stolen but to admit that this occurred might place the agency in a bad predicament.
In August 1964, an all white jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts against me and on September 4, 1964 [shortly before the issuance of the Warren Report], I was sentenced to serve 6 years in federal custody.
In January, 1965, Joseph Spagnoli, the counterfeiter contacted by Frank Jones on May 11,1964, was on trial in the court of J. Sam Perry [,] the same judge who had heard both of my trials. This was the same judge who had interrupted the deliberation of the jury in my 1rst trial in order to coax that jury into returning a verdict of guilty.
During the examination of Joseph Spagnoli by his attorney Frank Oliver, Spagnoli admitted in open court that he had committed perjury in “the Bolden trial.” Spagnoli produced a yellow sheet of paper that he admitted stealing from the office of the U.S. Attorney during a pre-trial conference. Judge Perry asked Spagnoli if he understood that he was admitting to perjury to which Spagnoli replied, “Yes, sir.” He openly confessed that the government attorney Richard Sykes solicited the perjured testimony. The change of dates appearing on the stolen paper and the change of times of Jones’ contact with Spagnoli were all in the handwriting of Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard T. Sykes.
Efforts to get a hearing on the perjury matter before Judge Perry by my attorney Raymond Smith proved unsuccessful and the case went to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1965. During the argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals the issue of Spagnoli’s perjury was brought up. Judge Luther Swygert summoned Attorney Richard Sykes into the courtroom and point blank asked Sykes if he had solicited perjury in the Bolden trial. Sykes’ reply was, “Your honor, I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me.”
In June 1965, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction noting in a footnote that Spagnoli was “less than forthright in his testimony.”
In June 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant Certiarori and on June 26, 1966 I commenced to serve a 6 year sentence in custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons [in Springfield, Missouri].”
Interestingly, Richard Case Nagell, an intelligence agent who both knew Oswald and who had allegedly uncovered a plot to kill JFK in advance, was placed in a cell directly across from Bolden.
Surprisingly, former WHD and Chicago office agent Joseph E. Noonan, Jr. told the HSCA on 4/13/78 that “he briefly discussed the elements of the Spagnoli case and told us that there was no way that Bolden was going to be able to give Spagnoli files which would really help him with his case. He could only feed him office files and Spagnoli already knew that information. The Secret Service had “turned” Spagnoli’s girlfriend and she was the one who set him up. Bolden’s case was a sad chapter in the Chicago office of the Secret Service [,] according to Noonan. He felt that Bolden got a stiff rap from the judge (6 years) and part of the problem he felt related to Bolden’s personality. He talked a lot and angered many people in the Secret Service with allegations about laxity in their presidential protection functions.” Noonan also said: “Bolden was too gentle for this job. Abe never wanted to arrest anybody.” However, former agent Bob Lilley said Bolden was “a good street agent.”
The Washington News reported on 5/21/64: "Mr. Bolden who has graduated cum laude from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and won two commendations for cracking counterfeit rings after he joined the Secret Service, said the charge was a 'direct result' of his superiors' learning his intentions to testify before the Commission." Mr. Bolden had attempted to contact the Warren Commission's General Counsel, J. Lee Rankin, in May of 1964 from a White House phone during his stay in Washington to attend a special Secret Service school - the next day, Mr. Bolden was charged with attempting to sell a government report. He should have known better - his earlier talks with both Chief Baughman in 1961 and Chief Rowley in 1963 went unheeded, and he was transferred out of the White House Detail and out to the ordinary anti-counterfeiting duty in the Chicago office. This second request for an audience for his testimony was a bad mistake, but Mr. Bolden had information to tell the Commission far more important than laxity of duty and drinking by agents.
When JFK was scheduled to be in Chicago on 11/2/63 for the Army/Air Force game at Soldier Field, Mr. Bolden was a member of the Chicago office of the Secret Service handling security. As Warren Swindall noted, "The visit had political implications as JFK has 'stood up' Mayor Daley on a similar scheduled visit the previous year, and the President was most anxious to mend his fences before the next year's election."
The eleven-mile parade from O'Hare Airport to Soldier Field caused considerable misgivings to the Secret Service:
1. JFK's limousine "would pass through a warehouse district- which Secret Service advance men consider ten times more deadly than any building corridor."
2. Involve a "slow, difficult left-hand turn."
3. "A difficult 90 degree turn that would slow (JFK) to practically a standstill."
However, prior to the scheduled visit, Chief James J. Rowley himself phoned SAIC Maurice G. Martineau with word that, via J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, they had word of an assassination plot involving a four-man team of gunmen. According to Bernard Fensterwald's memo from his interview with Mr. Bolden, "Martineau called in all men in his charge in Chicago and told them of Rowley's call. He also informed them of the following as to this matter: (1) there were to be no written reports; any information was to be given to Martineau orally; (2) Nothing was to be sent by TWX (interoffice teletype); he (Martineau) was to report only by phone to Rowley, personally; (3) no file number was to be given to this case. All Secret Service agents in Chicago (including Bolden) were shown four photos of the men allegedly involved in the plot (of the four, Bolden remembers two names: Bradley and Gonzalez)".
Mr. Bolden named six other agents involved in the meeting with Martineau: James S. Griffiths, Joseph E. Noonan, Jr., Steven B. Maynard, Robert J. Motto, Thomas D. Strong, and J. Lloyd Stocks. Former agents Sam Kinney , Bill Greer , Robert Kollar , J. Lloyd Stocks , Gary M. McLeod , Robert J. Motto , Edward Tucker , David Grant , and James Griffiths , as well as Bolden & Martineau , told the HSCA that this 11/2/63 Chicago trip was cancelled at the last minute.
David Grant was the advance agent for the proposed 11/2/63 Chicago trip. Robert L. Kollar assisted Grant in the advance preparations, arriving in Chicago a week before the start of the trip. One of the Secret Service Shift Reports for 11/2/63 reads: “(Note: Above SA’s [ATSAIC/Shift Leader Emory P. Roberts, Lubert F. “Bert” deFreese, J. Frank Yeager , Donald J. Lawton, Charles T. Zboril, and William T. McIntyre] departed Wash., DC 8:40 a.m. via AAL enroute to Chicago-while in air approx. 20 minutes from Chicago, advised that Pres. cancelled trip-returned to Wash. DC 12:15 p.m.).” The report also notes that, in addition to Roberts, deFreese, Yeager, Lawton, Zboril, and McIntyre, ASAIC Floyd M. Boring and William R. Greer departed the White House with President Kennedy via two helicopters at 6:05 p.m. for Atoka, Middleburg, VA, the Kennedy residence, arriving at 6:40 p.m. Another Secret Service Shift Report notes that Samuel A. Kinney “arrived Wash. D.C. Andrews AFB 4:50 p.m. via USAF Plane C-130-2368 from Chicago, Ill.”
Bolden wrote to the author: “I do not believe Oswald acted alone because evidence is that there were at least 3 riflemen following the President just 3 weeks before he was assassinated in Dallas.”
Direct and indirect corroboration for Mr. Bolden's accounts of mortal threats to JFK’s life in Chicago, in general, and the 11/2/63 plot in Chicago to kill President Kennedy, in particular, comes from the following sources :
1. "Martineau [Martineau] said that he was in Chicago when President John F. Kennedy made a visit prior to November 1963. He could not recall the precise date. "We got a telephone threat. The caller was not identified, that Kennedy was going to be killed when he got to Jackson Street. We adjusted the routine to rely on the Chicago Police to cover the area. The threat did not materialize," he said...We asked Martineau about threats against JFK in [the] Chicago area [for] November 1963. Martineau visibly stiffened. "I can recall no threat that was significant enough to cause me to recollect it at this time" he said. In contrast to the wealth of detail which flooded his earlier recollections, his answers became vague and less responsive.”
2.Col. George J. McNally, WH Signal Corps (and former Secret Service agent): “"But during the Chicago visit [either 10/62 or, most likely, 3/23/63], the motorcade was slowed to the pace of a mounted Black Horse Troop, and the police got a warning of Puerto Rican snipers. Helicopters searched the roofs along the way, and no incidents occurred [emphasis added]."
3."A postcard was received in the Saturday morning mail of the Chicago office threatening the life of the President during the [3/23/63] motorcade from O'Hare Field to the Conrad Hilton Hotel."
4.FBI agent Thomas B. Coll: "I remember that case. Some people were picked up. And I'm telling you it wasn't ours. That was strictly a Secret Service affair. That whole Soldier Field matter was a Secret Service affair... You'll get no more out of me. I've said as much as I'm going to on that subject. Get the rest from the Secret Service [emphasis added]."
5.Captain Robert Linsky (the security liaison between the Chicago Police and the Secret Service) - remembered the Vallee arrest.
6. Lloyd Stocks: remembered "something about a guy called Vallee" - this was Thomas Arthur Vallee, a man arrested apart from the four-man team.
7.Sergeant Lawrence Coffey: "Naturally, I remember every detail...How often is anyone involved in a threat against the President's life?"
8.Thomas Arthur Vallee himself: "Soldiers Field. The plot against John F. Kennedy." Mr. Vallee claimed he was framed by someone with special knowledge about him, such as his "CIA assignment to train exiles to assassinate Castro.”[Emphasis added]
9.PRS Agent Glen A. Bennett: “…remembers the name Vallee, but does not recall why.”
10.Agent Joseph E. Noonan, Jr.: "participated directly in surveillance involving TOM MOSELY and HOMER ECHEVARRIA...he and [the] other agents were uneasy that the Cubans might have some ties to the CIA...a little later they received a call from Headquarters to DROP EVERYTHING ON MOSELY AND ECHEVARRIA AND SEND ALL MEMOS, FILES, AND THEIR NOTEBOOKS TO WASHINGTON AND NOT TO DISCUSS THE CASE WITH ANYONE [emphasis added].” Noonan also knew about the Vallee case.
11.Agent James S. Griffiths: “Griffith[s] stated that the name of THOMAS VALLEE was familiar and remembers a case concerning VALLEE, but does not remember any of the details.”
12.“Chicago’s American”, 11/26/63: “Daly Diary” by Maggie Daly: “The word is that the assassination of President Kennedy was planned at a meeting on Chicago’s west side in the early part of February…That a dissident Cuban group financed Lee Harvey Oswald and that he lived on occasional money from the members and occasional money from his mother.”
13.Agent Edward Z. Tucker: told the HSCA the details of his involvement in the Thomas Arthur Vallee investigation.
14.Agent Gary M. McLeod: told the HSCA that he did recall the name Thomas Arthur Vallee and that Agent Ed Tucker was assigned to the Vallee case that involved guns but does not remember any involvement with the Chicago Police (here, McLeod is dead wrong ).
15. HSCA Report: "One [unnamed] agent [Robert Motto] did state there had been a threat in Chicago during that period, but he was unable to recall details." Specifically, Robert J. Motto told the HSCA --- “The trip was cancelled. I think they told us at the [Air Force/ Army game at Soldier’s Field], but we decided to watch it anyway…When I got back to the office, someone said there had been threats… [Emphasis added]”
16.Agent Louis B. Sims: told the HSCA---“…he could not remember dates but he recalls it could have been any time up to a year prior to the assassination, he was assigned to conduct a surveillance on a subject that was either Puerto Rican or Cuban. He does not remember any specific details other than it involved gun running and it appeared to be a very sensitive investigation. He stated the names Echevarria and Manuel Rodriquez were familiar; but he couldn’t place them.”
(Note: Myron I. “Mike” Weinstein was mentioned in the 11/75 "Chicago Independent" article as having come from Minneapolis to help with the investigation of the Chicago plot 11/63. During the Ford era, Weinstein was the Assistant Director for Inspections. During the Carter era, he was also the Assistant Director for Inspections before moving on to become the Assistant Director for Protective Intelligence. Weinstein was then promoted to Deputy Director upon the retirement of Lilburn E. “Pat” Boggs. Finally, during the Reagan era, Weinstein became the Deputy Director. During the 1990’s, Weinstein served as Director of Corporate Security for Texas Instruments and, in this capacity, was also a member of the Overseas Security Advisory Council—OSAC---for the U.S. Department of State, along with fellow former agents’ Radford W. Jones, Manager of Security for the Ford Motor Company, Robert R. Burke, Director of Corporate Service and Security for the Monsanto Company, and Gerald S. Blaine, OSAC Private Sector Representative representing the IBM Corporation and, later, as the Director of International Security for the ARCO International Oil and Gas Company. Jones, Burke, and Blaine were former JFK WHD agents in November 1963 [In fact, Burke and Blaine were on the Austin leg of JFK’s doomed Texas trip]. Finally, former agent Charles W. “Chuck” Rochner, a member of the WHD from Nixon-Carter, served with OSAC in his capacity as Vice President of Corporate Security for Cox Enterprises, Inc.)
Furthermore, Mr. Bolden told the HSCA that Mr. Vallee was independent of the four-man team, and he told the author the same thing, adding that the confusion was "done intentionally by the government agencies."
Incredibly, David Grant, who did the advance for the 11/2/63 Chicago trip, conveyed to the HSCA that “…no information about a threat ever came to his attention from any source including PRS, the local Chicago SS office, and the Chicago P.D. Specifically, Mr. Grant was "not familiar" with the name of Thomas Arthur Vallee, a person who was suspected by the Chicago SS to be involved in a threat and who was detained by the SS. Nor could Mr. Grant "recall" in the context of this trip other instances of the investigation of a threat or the detention of a person [emphasis added].” Likewise, Robert Kollar, who assisted in the advance, also let it be known to the HSCA that “he has no recollection of any subject named Thomas Arthur Vallee nor does he remember ever being told of Thomas Arthur Vallee being considered a “threat” to the President or being told that Vallee had been taken into custody by the Chicago Police Department. He also stated that he had never heard of any other possible threat to the President in the Chicago area during his advance trip to Chicago [emphasis added].” Agent Louis B. Sims, while telling the HSCA about some tantalizing information regarding surveillance (see previous pages), also told them: “he had no recall of any threat relative to the Presidential visit to Chicago in April [sic: March] 1963.” However, nothing was said about the 11/2/63 trip.
Agent John Ready told the HSCA: “He stated that to his knowledge no trip had ever been cancelled because of a threat.” Recalling a 1972 trip with Dr. Henry Kissinger involving a threat, Ready stated: “the only thing changed was the route.” Likewise, Agent Gary McLeod told the HSCA that he has heard of trips being altered but has never heard of one being canceled because of a threat. However, as author Philip Melanson wrote, “[President] Nixon was scheduled to visit New Orleans in late August 1973, where he was planning to ride in an open car motorcade through the city’s French Quarter. The Service uncovered a purported assassination plot and asked Nixon to cancel the motorcade; reluctantly, Nixon did so, issuing the order personally.”
In any event, the motorcade was cancelled at the last minute, ostensibly for two different reasons: a cold (The same made-up alibi JFK gave to Salinger in reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis the year before in Chicago ) and the Diem assassination (although Salinger himself "announced at 9:30 a.m. that a special communications facility would be rush constructed under the Soldiers Field bleachers to keep the President informed on up-to-the-minute developments in coup-torn South Vietnam. He reiterated Kennedy would not cancel the trip". ) Since Mr. Vallee was arrested and off the streets, it appears obvious what the real reason was for the cancellation of the trip: the threat of the four-man team, two of which eluded surveillance and escaped! Mr. Bolden managed to get information about the plot out into the public domain: before any conspiracy book footnoted his tale, the New York Times of 12/6/67 documented it for the record.
Before concluding Mr. Bolden's plight, it is important to take a look at two agents mentioned earlier: Maurice G. Martineau and Robert E. Lilley.
Maurice G. Martineau was the SAIC of the Chicago field office, and as a member of the Secret Service from 1941 to 1972, served some 32 years with the agency. The agent was a member of the White House Detail during the FDR years, and on temporary assignments during the Eisenhower administration. Mr. Martineau stated, "Any time they [the White House Detail] came thru Chicago, [he] worked very close with the advance team from Washington."
Importantly, Mr. Martineau confirmed that the motorcade was cancelled "at the last minute - I was already out at the airport" to meet JFK's plane when this occurred, he said. Mr. Bolden was a touchy subject: "As far as Bolden is concerned, I'd rather not discuss it. He was a blight on the agency."
Interestingly, Mr. Martineau revealed that he "was subpoenaed to testify before" the HSCA, which he declared "a lot more valid than the Warren Commission." He believed "there was more than one assassin" on 11/22/63, stemming from the HSCA's report, his own role in the investigation, his extensive experience in firearms (agency and recreational), as well as his own gut feelings on 11/22/63: "As soon as I learned some of the details..." When the author conveyed to him Agent Kinney's own beliefs (see previous pages), including Agent Kinney's qualification that his own "outfit was clean," Mr. Martineau stated: "Well...ah...(long pause)...I've got some theories, too, but, ah...without any actual data to back them up, I think I'll keep them to myself."
Abraham Bolden was adamant that Mr. Martineau knew about both the plot to kill JFK on 11/2/63 and the internal "top secret" investigation of the Secret Service Commission books, one of which was "lost or stolen" in Dallas on the Texas trip of November, 1963: "I recalled that in January, 1964, the Secret Service recalled all commission books all over the United States. We were told they were to be redesigned...to me, the redesign of the commission books was for one purpose and that purpose was to render the lost or stolen commission book a counterfeit if and when the persons bearing the lost or stolen commission book were found.”
Mr. Bolden wrote the author: "when Inspector Kelley of the Secret Service came to Chicago in 1961, I discussed with him the fact that during a conversation between SAIC Maurice Martineau and two other agents who were discussing Kennedy's push for racial balance and equal justice in America, Mr. Martineau blurted out angrily, 'The bastard should be killed.' This coming from an agent was dangerous. The prevailing attitude of the Caucasian agents, the majority of whom were southern born, was that Kennedy was moving too fast on Civil Rights and in the Chicago office of the Secret Service, I heard the term 'nigger lover' applied to President Kennedy by more than one or two agents." Mr. Bolden added that "all of (this) information...was discussed with Inspector Kelley, John Hanley (SAIC), Harry Geghlein, and John [sic?] Burke (Assistant SAIC) in the Chicago office to no avail." (Regarding Inspector Kelley: ASAIC Martineau told the HSCA on 2/1/78: “He did remember SA Tom Kelley calling from Dallas-11/23/63-regarding Oswald’s rifle ordered from Klein’s in Chicago. He said in those days the Secret Service in Chicago was not open on weekends so Kelly [sic] called him at home. He then called SA Tom Strong and asked him to check Klein’s Sporting Goods for information on the rifle. Strong told him that the FBI had beaten them to Klein’s and got the records.” )
Mr. Bolden had more to say about Mr. Martineau: "My mind flashed back to the day Kennedy was assassinated whereupon returning to the Secret Service office, June Marie Terpinas (secretary) approached me with tears in her eyes. She had gone into the office of SAIC Maurice G. Martineau upon hearing a radio flash concerning the shooting of the President. She told me that upon hearing that the President was shot and relaying that report to Mr. Martineau, his reply was 'So what else is new?' I remembered rushing into Mr. Martineau's office and confronting him about his attitude and having been thrown out of his office with a warning to mind my own business."
Mr. Bolden told Bud Fensterwald that, after the assassination, both Mr. Martineau and Inspector Kelley (who came from Dallas) personally visited the north side landlady in Chicago with whom the four suspects stayed prior to 11/2/63. Also, "shortly after the assassination, Martineau called all agents into his office and showed them a memo from Washington to the effect that the Secret Service was to discuss no aspect of the assassination and investigation with anyone from any other federal agency now or any time in the future. Every agent, including Bolden, was made to initial this memo. Bolden believes this took place on Wednesday, November 27th (1963). When asked why: "FBI wanted to get role of Presidential protector away from Secret Service and thought this was [the] ideal opportunity..."
Robert E. “Bob” Lilley (White House Detail and Boston office) - In an exclusive interview conducted on 9/27/92, the author contacted Lilley, learning that the agent was gone from the White House Detail after October 1963. While revealing that Agent Kellerman was his shift leader (“He was a peach”), and that he "was quite close to Roy and June Kellerman", Lilley was unable to go into further discussion about the events of 11/22/63 at the time (For his part, Lilley garnered much respect from his former colleagues in correspondence with the author, notably, Don Lawton and Walt Coughlin).
During later interviews conducted on 9/21/93 and 6/7/96, the author brought up the cancelled motorcade of 11/2/63 - Lilley responded: "I don't know if he (JFK) would cancel a motorcade," adding further to the notion that the motorcade was cancelled by the Secret Service for JFK, due to mortal threats to his life. Interestingly, Mr. Lilley saw JFK October19, 1963 at the University of Maine and during the Harvard-Columbia football game, a little over a month before Dallas. In addition, Lilley had been on JFK’s 3/23/63 trip to Chicago, a model of proper security in sharp contrast to 11/22/63.
Returning to Bolden, the former agent also noted the following in his letter to Ohio Congressman Louis Stokes, formerly Chairman of the HSCA: “…who is John Heard? If the name John Heard (Hurd) has not been documented in the files of the Warren Commission then the files of the United States Congress are far from complete regarding the assassination of the President. Less than 24 hours after the assassination of the President and while Lee Harvey Oswald was still in custody prior to his own assassination by Jack Ruby, all Secret Service offices across the nation were instructed to determine the whereabouts of a John Heard and any name phonetically sounding like Heard whose name was in the Secret Service files. At a time when the nation’s attention was focused upon the name Lee Oswald, the Secret Service were investigating John Heard all across the nation.” Author Michael Benson wrote: “According to phone records, Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to make phone calls from the Dallas Police station following his arrest that are not mentioned in the Warren Report. Those records indicate that Oswald attempted to call (919) 834-7430 and (919) 833-1253. Both numbers are listed to John Hurt in Raleigh, North Carolina, at two separate addresses (415 New Bern Ave, and Old Wake Forest Road). The first was listed to a John D. Hurt and the second to John W. Hurt. A John D. Hurt from Raleigh, according to researcher Ira David Wood III, served with U.S. Military Intelligence during World War II. Wood contacted John David Hurt in Raleigh and discovered that he had been a U.S. Counterintelligence officer during World War II. Hurt said that he had worked as an insurance investigator ever since, employed by the state of North Carolina. He claimed to have no idea why Lee Harvey Oswald would have wanted to contact him from his jail cell.”
During a telephone conversation conducted on 4/10/94, Bolden told the author that the statement attributed to him by author Paris Flammonde in “The Kennedy Conspiracy”---that Oswald said “Ruby hired me!” and variations of the same---is not true; he never made such a statement.
However, Mr. Bolden did confirm statements made to Ian Calder in 1968 that his wife was harassed, a brick was thrown in his home, and that "a shot (was) fired in the house," as well as his captivity in the "snake pit," a room for "incurable psychotics...(they) have killed four or five people...multiple murderers." Bolden also confirmed to the author that Richard Case Nagell was in a cell close to him while in prison. Mr. Bolden has since "filed for a pardon in Washington three times," to no avail. Finally, Mr. Bolden had this to say: "I think you're right on target...I heard of these things when I was an agent of the Secret Service...I really hope you can straighten it out...because there's a whole lot more than meets the public's eye." Indeed.
A Postscript
Abraham Bolden wrote the author in September 2004 with the following information regarding
his arrest, the trumped up charges against him, and more: “[Agent Gary] McLeod lied about the
circumstances of my arrest. He was well aware of what was going on on May 18th while we
were in Washington, D.C. When I started to go to the White House to get some info. on the
Commission, McLeod was right on my heels, so much so that I had to change plans. He even
walked with me to an all black cafe on "P" Street. It was very unusual for a white man to be
seen in that part of town in a restaurant. When I went to a pay telephone to call my wife in
Chicago, McLeod entered the booth next to mine and pretended to make a call. The only
problem was that I listened for his coin deposit to drop and it never did.
Later during the night at about 2:00 A.M., I was awakened by a loud thump against the walls of
my room. I put a drinking glass up to the wall and placed my ear against it. There was a lot of
commotion inside of McLeod's room adjacent to my room. We shared a common wall.
I heard the sound of low voices and the movement of furniture but I could not make out what
was being said. Cross had been a friend as well as a fellow agent. The secret service put a lot of
pressure on him after I was arrested. He was under so much strain. He told a devastating lie
against me at the trial when he testified that we talked about $50,000 in a conversation. That was
the exact amount that the government charged that I was
soliciting as a bribe. That one lie coming from a Negro agent was one of the most damaging
statements made during the trial. And Vince, I tell you before God, and I am a very religious
man, that that conversation never took place. Agent Cross was the last person with the file that I
was charged with trying to sell. A part of the file ended up in the hands of Spagnoli. I think that
who ever set me up arranged it so that the file was stolen from Cross and used to implicate me.
That way, if Cross did not go along with the program, he could be included as a defendant in
the case.
The secret service is standing solidly behind their claim of a lack of knowledge about an
investigation of a Cuban assassination attempt around November 2, 1963. Not only was there
an investigation of a Cuban faction here in Chicago but after that, in Miami and Palm Beach
around November 18 the secret service used decoy aircraft because of a major threat against
the President there. They were afraid that a missile could be fired from Cuba into the United
States so they used two planes for Kennedy to throw the assassins off. The use of the two
planes is a matter of record.
How any agent could not recall the change of identification is far beyond me. The old
Commission Books had printed across the top "United States Treasury Department" The new
Books said "The United States Treasury Department." Also, all agents had to submit new
photographs for the books to Washington, D.C. The new Commission Books were engraved
by the Bureau of Printing and Engraving on special order. I had my new photograph made at a
passport processing studio across from the federal building on Jackson Blvd. Any agent that
says that he doesn't remember that should resign especially since it was done during a time when
it was alleged that a possible assassin on the grassy knoll showed a deputy sheriff a secret
service commission book.
As well as I like some of the agents and am glad that many of them are happily retired and are
living the 'good life', they are still stonewalling and being deceptive about what the truth is. After
seeing what happened to me, there is little doubt that some of the details they knew during that
time have been unconsciously repressed. What happened to me was a message to those who
entertained the same idea and believe me, they got the message.
Abraham” (Happily, Bolden found a major publisher for his forthcoming book, scheduled for release in 2007. In addition, due to the efforts of the present author, Bolden was featured in the book “Ultimate Sacrifice” by Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann in 2005, as well as, albeit briefly, on the Discovery Channel on 5/11/06, his first-ever tv appearance)
Secret Service SA Abraham Bolden TV
JFK assassination plot in Chicago
After 45 years,- Abraham Bolden the first African American presidential Secret Service agent (1/3)
Posted by Vince Palamara at 11:47 AM
Labels: Blaine, jerry behn, JFK, secret service, vince palamara
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Just some of JFK's White House Detail agents
Just some of JFK\
Kennedy era agents
Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert, on Technorati
Add to Technorati Favorites
Blog Archive
* ► 2010 (17)
o ► March (3)
+ Other JFK trips
+ “SURVIVOR’S GUILT: THE SECRET SERVICE & THE FAILUR...
+ Feb/ March 2010 JFK Secret Service Vince Palamara ...
o ► February (6)
+ Secret Service Agent Thomas Shipman: deceased 10/1...
+ Hillary Rodham Clinton's Secret Service Uncle Wade...
+ Boring Is Interesting
+ MY LATEST SECRET SERVICE & MEDICAL EVIDENCE VIDEOS...
+ Vince Palamara featured in major magazine Secret S...
+ Vince Palamara: leading civilian Secret Service (J...
o ► January (8)
+ SAIC Jerry Behn & Chief U.E. Baughman on "What's M...
+ The Kennedy Secret Service Detail: who is dead, wh...
+ Kenny O'Donnell & Dave Powers: the new scapegoats ...
+ The Dark Side of the Kennedy Detail
+ LBJ to the Secret Service: "Emory Roberts-he greet...
+ Secret Service Agent Jerry Blaine & The AFAUSSS
+ BEFORE Ken O'Donnell's death: blame JFK. AFTER Ken...
+ Secret Service propaganda: blame the victim (JFK),...
* ▼ 2009 (68)
o ▼ December (43)
+ Secret Service blog #100 :)
+ A message to a certain former agent and aspiring a...
+ My letter to Clint Hill
+ JFK Detail
+ JFK Secret Service
+ The Kennedy Detail: agents who have DIED long befo...
+ Vince Palamara review of Douglas P. Horne's new bo...
+ Vince Palamara: Secret Service expert (author/ res...
+ Vince Palamara Secret Service JFK & Reagan videos
+ Survivor's Guilt: Sources/ Footnotes
+ Surivor's Guilt: About The Author (2009+ 2006)+ Sp...
+ Survivor's Guilt: Bibliography
+ Survivor's Guilt: Appendix II-(Texas Trip) Secret ...
+ Survivor's Guilt: Appendix I- Definitive Secret Se...
+ Survivor's Guilt: List of author contacts & interv...
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 18
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 17
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 16
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 15
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 14
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 13
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 12
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 11
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 10
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 9
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 8
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 7
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 6
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 5
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 4
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 3
+ Surivor's Guilt: Chapter 2
+ Survivor's Guilt: Chapter 1
+ SURVIVOR’S GUILT: Table of Contents + Introduction...
+ “Survivor’s Guilt: The Secret Service & The Failur...
+ Secret Service JFK President Kennedy
+ Secret Service JFK President Kennedy
+ Jerry Blaine Secret Service MSN
+ Jerry Blaine Secret Service Google
+ Jerry Blaine Secret Service Yahoo
+ Jerry Blaine Secret Service
+ JFK Secret Service
+ "The Kennedy Detail" by Jerry Blaine & Lisa McCubb...
o ► November (3)
o ► October (1)
o ► August (1)
o ► June (1)
o ► April (1)
o ► March (3)
o ► February (4)
o ► January (11)
* ► 2008 (19)
o ► December (2)
o ► November (2)
o ► August (1)
o ► March (13)
o ► February (1)
* ► 2007 (13)
o ► November (1)
o ► August (1)
o ► July (11)
About Me
My Photo
Vince Palamara
South Park/ Bethel Park, PA, United States
I am regarded as THE leading civilian authority on the United States Secret Service, especially with regard to the JFK/ LBJ years (I have interviewed and corresponded with over 70 former agents and family members, a world's record! The Warren Commission: 12). I have appeared on the History Channel, in the ARRB's Final Report, on radio, in newspapers, in over 50 other author's books (notably, 'Murder In Dealey Plaza' by Prof. James Fetzer & 'The Secret Service' by Prof. Phil Melanson), and all over the internet. My own book *****'Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service & The Failure To Protect The President'*** IS OUT NOW ---- http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v4n1.html *****JUST PUT MY NAME "VINCE PALAMARA" INTO ANY MAJOR SEARCH ENGINE AND TONS OF SECRET SERVICE/ JFK RESEARCH, AS WELL AS A FAIR AMOUNT OF MUSIC-RELATED MATERIALS, WILL APPEAR!:) DO NOT BELIEVE ANY SELF-SERVING, CYA BOOKS THAT ATTEMPT TO BLAME JFK FOR HIS OWN DEATH: PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS A VERY NICE MAN AND, AS MANY AGENTS TOLD ME (IN WRITING AND ON TAPE), HE *NEVER* INTERFERED WITH THEIR ACTIONS!
View my complete profile
Secret Service Agent Thomas Shipman: deceased 10/14/63
Hillary Rodham Clinton's Secret Service Uncle Wade!
BORING IS INTERESTING
SAIC of PPD Robert Lee "Bobby D" DeProspero
SAIC of PPD Robert Lee "Bobby D" DeProspero
Very rare internal article on DeProspero's retirement, along with a very cool pic of one of my favorite agents!
THE VINCE PALAMARA WEBPAGES
THE VINCE PALAMARA WEBPAGES
JUST CLICK ON THE BANNER
THE VINCE PALAMARA WEBPAGES
THE VINCE PALAMARA WEBPAGES
JUST CLICK ON THE BANNER
Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert
Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert
Vince Palamara, Secret Service expert
Secret Service Chief U.E. Baughman on "What's My Line?" 11/27/55
Compilation: SAIC Behn, ASAIC Boring, SA Sam Kinney, & SA Don Lawton
The Secret Service from Wilson to Obama
The Secret Service from Wilson to Obama
The Secret Service from Wilson to Obama
Unique Secret Service montage (mostly JFK era)
Unique Secret Service montage (mostly JFK era)
Unique Secret Service montage (mostly JFK era), from the vast Vince Palamara collection
Secret Service agent Lynn Meredith
Secret Service agent Lynn Meredith
Out of a list of 10 reasons that most contributed to JFK's death, Meredith listed as #1: "No Secret Service agents riding on the rear of the limousine." He also stated that "I do not know first hand if President Kennedy ordered agents off the back end of his limousine"
Secret Service agent Win Lawson, Lead Advance Agent for JFK's ill-fated Dallas stop 11/22/63
Secret Service agent Win Lawson, Lead Advance Agent for JFK\
"I do not know of any standing orders for the agents to stay off the back of the car...it never came to my attention as such [!]...Jerry Behn...would have been privy to that type of info more than I [Behn told me "I don't remember Kennedy ever saying that he didn't want anybody riding on the back of his car"!] I am certain that agents were on the back on certain occasions"
Secret Service agent Gerald O'Rourke, on JFKs Texas trip
Secret Service agent Gerald O\
"President Kennedy never ordered us to leave the limo"; "President Kennedy was easy to protect as he completely trusted the agents of the Secret Service"
Secret Service agent Frank Yeager, on JFK's Texas trip
Secret Service agent Frank Yeager, on JFK\
JFK "easy to get along with"; "I know of no "order" directly from President Kennedy...I do not know who actually made the final decision, but we did not have agents on the rear of (JFK's) car in Dallas"
Secret Service agent Jim Goodenough, on JFK's Texas trip
Secret Service agent Jim Goodenough, on JFK\
"President Kennedy was a pleasant and cooperative person to work for"
Secret Service agent Radford Jones
Secret Service agent Radford Jones
"JFK was an easy President to protect"
Secret Service agent Darwin Horn
Secret Service agent Darwin Horn
"Never heard him (JFK) tell the agents to get off the car"; "(Art) Godfrey would have been perfect (to talk to)"-see below!
Secret Service agent Walt Coughlin, on the Texas trip
Secret Service agent Walt Coughlin, on the Texas trip
"In almost all parade situations that I was involved w/ we rode or walked the limo"; JFK "Very funny and very friendly. Knew all the agents by first name"
AP photographer Henry Burroughs, rode in the 11/22/63 motorcade
AP photographer Henry Burroughs, rode in the 11/22/63 motorcade
Press/ photographers put out of position
DMN reporter Kent Biffle, rode in the 11/22/63 motorcade
DMN reporter Kent Biffle, rode in the 11/22/63 motorcade
The missing flatbed truck
Just some of the books and DVDs I am featured in!
Just some of the books and DVDs I am featured in!
Vince Palamara: in over 50 books to date, History Channel/ DVD, etc.
Texas trip VP LBJ Agent Jerry Bechtle passes me on to Secret Service HQ to "help"...
Texas trip VP LBJ Agent Jerry Bechtle passes me on to Secret Service HQ to "help"...
...and the Asst. Director, Terry Samway, says the Secret Service "does not feel it is appropriate" to talk about JFK's protection
Roy Kellerman's widow June & Floyd Boring both confirm my research!
Roy Kellerman's widow June & Floyd Boring both confirm my research!
JFK was NOT difficult to protect, was very cooperative with the Secret Service, and was a very congenial man
Several very interesting security related items
Several very interesting security related items
motorcycles moved away from JFK, press/ photographers moved away, etc.
Agent Jerry Kivett, in the Dallas motorcade, confirms my work
Agent Jerry Kivett, in the Dallas motorcade, confirms my work
Agent Jerry Kivett, in the Dallas motorcade, confirms my work
“I rode with Kennedy every time he rode. I heard no such order.
“I rode with Kennedy every time he rode. I heard no such order.
As I remember it the agents rode on the rear bumper all the way. Sam Gibbons.”
Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden confirms my work
Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden confirms my work
Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden confirms my work
Cecil Stoughton, White House photographer, confirms my findings
Cecil Stoughton, White House photographer, confirms my findings
Cecil Stoughton, White House photographer, confirms my findings
Dave Powers, JFK aide on all motorcades: Secret Service NEVER told by JFK to get off limo!
Dave Powers, JFK aide on all motorcades: Secret Service NEVER told by JFK to get off limo!
Dave Powers, JFK aide on all motorcades: Secret Service NEVER told by JFK to get off limo!
ATSAIC Art Godfrey, on the Texas trip: JFK NEVER TOLD HIM TO HAVE THE AGENTS REMOVED FROM THE LIMO!
ATSAIC Art Godfrey, on the Texas trip: JFK NEVER TOLD HIM TO HAVE THE AGENTS REMOVED FROM THE LIMO!
ATSAIC Art Godfrey, on the Texas trip: JFK NEVER TOLD HIM TO HAVE THE AGENTS REMOVED FROM THE LIMO!
Agents drank in the morning hours of 11/22/63
Agents drank in the morning hours of 11/22/63
Clint Hill, John Ready, and others were involved
1963 security...pre Dallas
1963 security...pre Dallas
Agents on/ near rear of limo, motorcycles, partial bubbletop, etc.
11/18/63: Good, normal security...before Dallas
11/18/63: Good, normal security...before Dallas
4 days before JFK's death, security was tight
Vince Palamara on the History Channel/ DVD 2003
This program aired 4 times to huge ratings and was the biggest selling DVD in the history of The History Channel (50,000+ copies sold). The program was available from November 2003 until April 2004, when former Presidents Ford and Carter, as well as Lady Bird Johnson, Jack Valenti, and several other LBJ aides, succeeded in burying the show, largely if not exclusively due to the controversial episode # 9. The program continues to thrive online and on the collector's circuit, not to mention the many millions of people who saw the program originally and either bought the dvd or taped it.
A History of the Secret Service from FDR to Obama
The Secret Service White House Detail of President John F. Kennedy
Just some of JFK's White House Detail
Just some of JFK\
Just some of JFK's White House Detail
