tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86369623015403435172024-03-18T12:07:22.609-07:00CONELRAD AdjacentAtomic Secrets, Missing Persons and General Cold War Strangeness from the obsessives next door at CONELRAD.comKen Sitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07506210028171866801noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-62788798201751345862016-12-30T07:55:00.001-08:002016-12-30T12:53:50.399-08:00ONWARD TO 2017!<p>The image below is of a high speed document scanner we purchased a few weeks ago. We’ve been busily scanning interesting Cold War documents from our many Freedom of Information Act victories. 2017 will not be another ‘lost’ year for the blog. We promise.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CtRRE5GxLQ8/WGaDZOwS3PI/AAAAAAAAEOw/W8kicfM7j2M/s1600-h/Scanner.jpg-large4.jpg"><img title="Scanner.jpg large" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Scanner.jpg large" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eNLr8lxZ2HI/WGaDaqMPCiI/AAAAAAAAEO0/ao4oKgtMOeI/Scanner.jpg-large_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="284" height="502" /></a></p>Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com279tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-87026368950900145682015-08-06T03:19:00.001-07:002015-08-06T08:06:43.613-07:00A DIABOLICAL THING: Anne Ford’s Atomic Protest Letter<p>In anticipation of the 70<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we recently spent a week in Independence, Missouri at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. Our research goal was to find letters reflecting the immediate public reaction to the Bomb. We expected to find a mountain of material, but instead came across only a small file of <a href="https://www.scribd.com/collections/14460119/Atomic-Bomb-Reaction">letters</a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftn1_9446" name="_ftnref1_9446">[1]</a> Thankfully, though, there are a few gems in this slim collection.</p> <p>One such gem is an impassioned note from a publishing executive named Anne Ford. Ms. Ford, who was then the Publicity Director for Little, Brown and Company, minced no words in her August 9, 1945 broadside against the bombing of Hiroshima. Indeed, she emphatically told President Truman that she thought it was “a disgrace that America should be involved in such a diabolical thing…” She described herself as “stunned and sick at heart” for “Japan and her people – thousands of them innocent.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftn2_9446" name="_ftnref2_9446">[2]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qp1tRb73C6g/VcM0gKomuiI/AAAAAAAAELM/ndzVNidkmQQ/s1600-h/Little%252520Brown%252520Complaint_02_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Little Brown Complaint_02_Lo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Little Brown Complaint_02_Lo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K4uLAQiq02A/VcM0glxRQMI/AAAAAAAAELQ/M4fEcTx-e3k/Little%252520Brown%252520Complaint_02_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="534" /></a></p> <p>But Ms. Ford also couldn’t help viewing the aftermath of the first use of the Bomb as the veteran publicist she was. In a paragraph on how poorly the post-atomic news had been handled, she singled out a strange image of the wife of the Enola Gay pilot with their young children. Amidst all the tabloidy hoopla over Hiroshima, the wire photograph of Lucy Wingate Tibbets (1906-1985) and her two sons had appeared in newspapers across the country on August 8 and August 9, 1945.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftn3_9446" name="_ftnref3_9446">[3]</a> A caption accompanying the photo stated that Mrs. Tibbets had received calls of congratulation for her husband’s successful mission. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WtuhAYdNR-U/VcM0hE7frmI/AAAAAAAAELY/V6VcPI2KPuE/s1600-h/Mrs%252520Lucy%252520Tibbets_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Mrs Lucy Tibbets_Lo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Mrs Lucy Tibbets_Lo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Eiq-U_MyOfE/VcM0hpY2r5I/AAAAAAAAELg/RMpd-kyRcfQ/Mrs%252520Lucy%252520Tibbets_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="433" /></a></p> <p>Ms. Ford supported her brief critique of the media to Truman by writing: “The picture of Tibbets [sic] wife, for instance, with her innocent babies in her lap receiving congratulations over the telephone for this ghastly thing…”</p> <p>Ms. Ford concluded her letter by writing that she would “force” herself to tune in to the President’s 10:00 p.m. <a href="http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/?pid=104">radio address</a> that evening. Given that news of the second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki, was already being reported in the evening newspapers, Ms. Ford may have skipped the speech.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VPoOg7L0dyo/VcM0h91ii-I/AAAAAAAAELs/ZIq7sriELb4/s1600-h/Truman%252520Radio%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Truman Radio" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Truman Radio" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jAl7ZCkoZ2w/VcM0inz8RaI/AAAAAAAAEL0/uNaEdDkUJiI/Truman%252520Radio_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="321" /></a></p> <p>There is no evidence that Truman or his staff ever replied to Ms. Ford’s damning message. She had tried to get it in front of the President by routing it through his appointments secretary, Michael J. Connelly (1907-1976). But obviously someone in the Truman White House thought enough of Anne Ford’s letter to file it away for future generations to hold and to read. </p> <p>At this point you may be wondering whether there is more to know about Anne Ford. There is. CONELRAD researched Ms. Ford’s biography and we are happy to share what we found.</p> <p>Anne Adelaide Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 12, 1901. She grew up in Brookline in a house not far from John F. Kennedy’s birthplace. Ms. Ford, a lifelong Catholic, would later teach the future President in prayer class at St. Aidan’s Church. She graduated from Brookline High School in approximately 1918 and Boston University four years later. </p> <p>When she was just 21 Ms. Ford landed a job as assistant to the prominent music and drama critic Philip Hale (1854-1934) at the <i>Boston Herald</i>. She performed editing tasks and filled in as an alternate critic which afforded her the opportunity to interview some of the top entertainers of the era. Ms. Ford soon moved on to become an advance woman for the Theatre Guild where she met stars like Helen Hayes, Alfred Lunt, George M. Cohan and Lynn Fontaine. One of Ms. Ford’s jobs with the Guild was to promote plays adapted from novels which allowed her to develop contacts in the publishing industry. She became Director of Publicity at Little, Brown and Company in 1938. In 1949 she was promoted to the position of Manager of Public Relations for the company.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eZIU7RccQkw/VcM0jO_8NQI/AAAAAAAAEL4/KStgOFqfRCo/s1600-h/Anne%252520Ford_1941_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Anne Ford_1941_Lo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Anne Ford_1941_Lo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sK3Xsdznm1E/VcM0jpKuKWI/AAAAAAAAEMA/F08uw3O3J2M/Anne%252520Ford_1941_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="347" /></a></p> <p>During her tenure at Little, Brown Ms. Ford was profiled in a <i>Boston Globe</i> column that focused on women in the workplace. The columnist marveled at how Ms. Ford got to travel to New York City and hobnob with authors like John Marquand, A.J. Cronin, James Hilton and C.S. Forrester. The column was accompanied by a photograph of Ms. Ford at her office desk where she may have written her letter to President Truman in 1945.</p> <p>Ms. Ford became Publicity Director for Harcourt Brace after her long stint at Little, Brown. At Harcourt she helped promote the works of T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton and others. She concluded her career in publishing as Director of Publicity for Houghton Mifflin Company in 1970. Concurrent to her retirement, she was contributing an occasional column to the <i>Boston Globe</i> called “Anne Ford Remembers.” In one column, she mentioned that her friend actor James Cagney offered some advice on the next phase of her life: “Start rehearsing, kid. You’ve got to rehearse for retirement.” </p> <p>Unlike Mr. Cagney, though, it does not appear that Ms. Ford ever came out of retirement. Her step-nephew, Dr. James M. Kieran who is 95 years old, told CONELRAD in a telephone interview that he isn’t sure what Ms. Ford did after 1970. He told us that she had lots of friends because “she was outgoing and easy to get along with.” He added that she was “very intelligent and sophisticated,” but in response to another question said that she never talked fast like Rosalind Russell in <i>His Girl Friday</i> (as we had imagined). Dr. Kieran told us that he remembered his step-aunt supporting her former pupil John F. Kennedy for President in 1960, but was not sure if she remained a Democrat for her entire life. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y7tkHIs1pGs/VcM0kK2pIWI/AAAAAAAAEMM/z-zZJsKhF2Q/s1600-h/Anne%252520Ford_1970%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Anne Ford_1970 copy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Anne Ford_1970 copy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W6uchRdwAXs/VcM0kkqUxvI/AAAAAAAAEMU/1Wwo8L5flzY/Anne%252520Ford_1970%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="381" /></a></p> <p>Anne Ford died on November 16, 1993 in Rockport, Massachusetts. She had never married and had no children. Her younger sister, Margaret Ford Kieran survived her, but passed away ten years later. Ms. Ford is buried at the Beech Grove Cemetery in Rockport. Her anguished and insightful letter about America’s atomic debut lives on.</p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View Anne Ford's Atomic Protest Letter on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/273702919/Anne-Ford-s-Atomic-Protest-Letter">Anne Ford's Atomic Protest Letter</a> by <a title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script><iframe id="doc_84852" class="scribd_iframe_embed" style="height: 184px; width: 401px" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/273702919/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-oalVISxyDQVWgezk2Lyk&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.7535505430242272" data-auto-height="true"></iframe> <p><strong>BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES</strong> </p> <p>Dr. James M. Kieran, telephone interviews with Bill Geerhart, August 3 and 5, 2015.</p> <p>“Anne Ford, 92 Was Critic, Literary Agent,” <i>Boston Globe</i>, November 18, 1993, 63.</p> <p>Anne Ford, “Anne Ford Remembers” column, Boston Globe, June 10, 1970, 19. </p> <p>Anne Ford, “Anne Ford Remembers” column, <i>Boston Globe</i>, February 24, 1970, 19.</p> <p>Anne Ford promotion announcement, <i>Publishers Weekly</i>, 1949.</p> <p>Nell Giles, “Smooth Susan at Work Interviews Anne Ford of Little Brown & Co.,” <i>Boston Globe</i>, October 6, 1941, 15.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftnref1_9446" name="_ftn1_9446">[1]</a> After we were unable to find what we thought would be a huge collection of public opinion mail regarding the first use of atomic weapons, we consulted with historian D.M. Giangreco, the co-author of the 500+ page book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Harry-Trumans-Mailroom-1945-1953/dp/0811704823">Dear Harry: Truman’s Mailroom, 1945-1953</a> (Stackpole, 1999). Mr. Giangreco confirmed in an August 4, 2015 telephone conversation that there is only a small number of letters reflecting the immediate public reaction to the atomic bomb. There are many more letters from the public regarding the 1946 atomic tests conducted during Operation Crossroads. There is an even larger volume of citizen mail concerning the possible use of atomic weapons during the Korean War (1950-1953). CONELRAD will be presenting some of these letters in future posts.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftnref2_9446" name="_ftn2_9446">[2]</a> Anne Ford to Michael J. Connelly and Harry S. Truman, August 9, 1945. White House Central Files: Official File: 692; Box 1686; Folder: Miscellaneous April – October 1945; Truman Papers, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/__Anne Ford Article/#_ftnref3_9446" name="_ftn3_9446">[3]</a> Jesse Helms, “Columbus Woman’s Husband Pilot of First Plane to Drop Atomic Bomb,” <i>Columbus </i>(Georgia)<i> Enquirer</i>, August 8, 1945, 1. The same wire photo of Mrs. Tibbets also appeared on page 2 of the <i>New York Daily Mirror</i> on August 9, 1945. It also appeared on page 2 of the <i>New York Daily News</i> on August 9, 1945.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com128tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-14932854933522956282015-08-06T02:57:00.001-07:002015-08-06T02:59:50.831-07:00Kudos on the Atomic Bombs<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aXUlIXCI8WQ/VcMvYYb3bqI/AAAAAAAAEKU/R3Ini6vdLa4/s1600-h/Truman_Burton%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="Truman_Burton" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Truman_Burton" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u47VgyIhCgA/VcMvY8M9v_I/AAAAAAAAEKY/c_rSOgxXEMM/Truman_Burton_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="537" /></a></p> <p>Surprisingly, there are only a handful of letters at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library that capture the first public reaction to the atomic bomb. We know this because last month we went to the Library in Independence, Missouri and searched with the help of an archivist.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/Sen-Justice Burton Letter/#_ftn1_6100" name="_ftnref1_6100">[1]</a> And of these few Bomb <a href="https://www.scribd.com/collections/14460119/Atomic-Bomb-Reaction">letters</a> from August of 1945, only one is unreservedly positive in its praise for the Commander in Chief. The handwritten missive came not from a citizen, but from an old friend of the President’s and a Republican to boot! Indeed, Ohio <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-H-Burton">Senator Harold Hitz Burton</a>’s short note is dated August 9, 1945 and offers congratulations to Truman for his role in the “winning of the war and the saving of the lives of many American soldiers and sailors.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/Truman Trip_July 2015/Truman Library Scans/Papers of HST_OF 692_Box 1686/Folder_Misc Apr-Oct 1945/Sen-Justice Burton Letter/#_ftn2_6100" name="_ftnref2_6100">[2]</a></p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View Senator Burton Atomic Kudos on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/273535835/Senator-Burton-Atomic-Kudos">Senator Burton Atomic Kudos</a> by <a title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_21940" class="scribd_iframe_embed" style="height: 181px; width: 405px" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/273535835/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-FCDvGHSzS2OFI4XMkPb1&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.8517469310670444"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script> <p>It is interesting to see how the Senator made some last minute edits to reflect the news of Fat Man, the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan. Burton may have been perusing the Washington <i>Evening Star</i> headline (“Second Atom Raid Brings ‘Good Results”) for August 9<sup>th</sup> when he crossed out “by” and replaced it with the word “with” and added an “s” to what was “bomb.” The new, pluralized line read:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Even your old battery would find it hard to match what you have done with the atomic bombs…”</p> </blockquote> <p>President Truman was so pleased by the fan letter that he replied on August 11th, “I certainly appreciated your note of the ninth more than any I received.” A little more than a month later Truman, in his first <a href="http://supremecourthistory.org/timeline_burton.html">Supreme Court nomination</a>, picked Senator Burton to fill the vacancy left by the retiring Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts. The nomination of a Republican to the bench after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s three and a half terms and <a href="http://supreme-court-justices.insidegov.com/d/d/Franklin-D.-Roosevelt">eight Supreme Court appointees</a> (seven of whom were Democrats) sent a clear signal that Truman was his own man. He also got a new Democratic Senator out of the deal in James Wylie Huffman. Huffman was appointed by Ohio Governor Frank Lausche to finish Burton’s term when he was confirmed to the Supreme Court on September 19, 1945.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PZ_YJOyjD5c/VcMvZYboVpI/AAAAAAAAEKk/Y3Kdkin8X88/s1600-h/Justice_burton%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Justice_burton" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Justice_burton" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KhQvSLXEJVE/VcMvZ_rPDZI/AAAAAAAAEKs/E4LuYLmLKAw/Justice_burton_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="520" /></a></p> <p>In a Cold War coda of sorts, it was Justice Burton who reviewed the 1955 Letter of Understanding with the Grove Park Inn of Asheville, North Carolina to serve as an <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-resort-of-their-own-supreme-courts.html">emergency relocation site</a> for the Court in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. “Dear Chief,” Burton wrote to Earl Warren, “I have examined the attached material and believe it presents a reasonable solution on its face.” The tone was certainly different from the congratulatory letter to a President ten years earlier. But times had changed. </p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wRIDuY2WhUw/VcMvaleRIXI/AAAAAAAAEK0/ETW9pOKrp68/s1600-h/Burton%252520Approval%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Burton Approval copy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Burton Approval copy" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CZ6oI2-9elE/VcMva6XeBiI/AAAAAAAAEK4/TBIuHNjnjTs/Burton%252520Approval%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="306" /></a></p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-91597157017785990552015-06-06T08:17:00.001-07:002015-06-07T04:46:13.523-07:00MOUNT WEATHER WITNESS: Jack Rosenthal<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7lqat-dI1cM/VXMPAQXURZI/AAAAAAAAEI8/7mLy_O2TGGI/s1600-h/Jack%252520Rosenthal_1960s_Hi%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Jack Rosenthal_1960s_Hi" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Jack Rosenthal_1960s_Hi" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q576ZRderf0/VXMPA-m48FI/AAAAAAAAEJE/MDhXaZN7KqA/Jack%252520Rosenthal_1960s_Hi_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="241" /></a></p> <p>As faithful readers are well aware, CONELRAD has long been fascinated by Cold War government relocation sites. And, as far as we know, there is no site more intriguing than Mount Weather, a facility that has outlived the Soviet Union and remains operational and at the service of the President of the United States to this day. Ironically, over the course of its half century-plus existence the “top secret” <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/09/mount-weather-documents-before-and.html" target="_blank">installation</a> near Berryville, Virginia has burrowed its way into the <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/09/mount-weather-random-and-incomplete.html">public consciousness</a>. But few visitors have ever talked openly about what the place is really like. So when we had the opportunity to speak with someone who had spent time at the site during the Cuban missile crisis, we basically hopped on the next train to New York City for an interview. </p> <p>Jack Rosenthal, the current Interim Director of Roosevelt House, the Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, was the Assistant Director of Public Information in the Justice Department in 1962. At the height of the missile crisis he was temporarily transferred to the White House to work on their emergency information planning in the event of an attack on the United States. We spoke with Mr. Rosenthal over lunch at the charming <a href="http://www.match65.com/">Match 65 Brasserie</a> at 29 East 65<sup>th</sup> Street on January 16, 2015.</p> <p>We hope that you find the conversation illuminating. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EtCfEwu50Wg/VXMPBRjU0NI/AAAAAAAAEJM/mZFdHipRKB0/s1600-h/Match%25252065_lo%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Match 65_lo" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Match 65_lo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x6oobJy1gZg/VXMPCMOc-PI/AAAAAAAAEJQ/-7X6ns6PCDI/Match%25252065_lo_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="497" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD: Do you recall if you read <a href="http://amzn.com/B00I8X5ZZQ"><i>Seven Days in May</i></a> before the Cuban missile crisis?</p> <p>JACK ROSENTHAL: I may very well have because I knew [co-author Charles W.] Bailey [1929-2012] fairly well. I'm sure I did because it had such wonderful word of mouth and reviews. </p> <p>CONELRAD: You mention the book in your 2004 <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKOH-JCR-01.aspx">oral history interview</a> for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and the fact that the authors used a different name for Mount Weather.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Right, Mount Thunder, I remember that.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jNMnuA555zg/VXMPCVcgNbI/AAAAAAAAEJY/p7kG6xD4XKA/s1600-h/Mount%252520Thunder%252520Excerpt_lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Mount Thunder Excerpt_lo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Mount Thunder Excerpt_lo" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KZgKyiK9kK0/VXMPCnEpt6I/AAAAAAAAEJg/8rrYQ5fgvlM/Mount%252520Thunder%252520Excerpt_lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="67" /></a> </p> <p>CONELRAD: So I guess the question is, do you remember hearing about Mount Weather before you were formally told about it?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No. I'm sure I assumed there were such places, but I had no reason to know about it.  </p> <p>CONELRAD: Could you briefly describe the circumstances that led you to being detailed from your post as Assistant Director of Public Information at the Justice Department to the White House to work on updating emergency planning?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: My boss was Ed Guthman [1919-2008] who was the director of public affairs and was a very close aide to Robert Kennedy [1925-1968]. I was a kid, assistant director of public affairs. It was an exalted title - number two man in a two man office. But, as you know, RFK was deeply engaged in the missile crisis and I had had frequent dealings with the White House. For example, each cabinet department was responsible to provide a weekly report of interesting activities that might come up at the President's weekly press conference. That was my responsibility each week to draft the Justice Department's report to the White House. I'd known Pierre Salinger [1925-2004]. He'd once been the press aide to RFK when Kennedy was the head of the rackets committee investigation [the United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management AKA the McClellan Committee]. Anyway, Pierre, with Andy Hatcher [1923-1990], the deputy press secretary, were obviously up to their ears in dealing with all manner of press inquiries about the actual events [of the Cuban missile crisis] and about the noise stirring around Washington. Anyway, they were vastly overworked and I think Bobby [Kennedy] suggested that I be sent to the White House to help.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Was this after the missiles had been discovered on Cuba?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I don't remember.</p> <p>CONELRAD: But it was in that general time period.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: It had to have been. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Could you briefly describe what your assignment was?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Sure. I was given an office which later became famous. It was Room 1 in the Executive Office Building. The fact that it had only a single digit meant that it was in the basement. The door was like a safe - there was no door handle, there was a combination. It was pretty workman-like space, but I remember being kind of thrilled to be able to say I had an office at the White House.</p> <p>CONELRAD: And who later occupied that space?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: It became famous during Watergate. I guess one of the leaders of the Watergate break-in...</p> <p>CONELRAD: E. Howard Hunt [1918-2007]?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yes. He was the occupant. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So that space was the headquarters for the Plumbers unit? </p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Uh-huh. [Editor’s note: Nixon administration speechwriter William Safire remembered the Plumbers office number as 16 in a 1989 New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/14/opinion/essay-the-disappearance-of-room-16.html">column</a>; several prominent Watergate books, including Stanley Kutler’s <i>The Wars of Watergate</i>, cite the office number as 16]. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So what were you actually tasked with doing on this assignment?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: There had been a lot of papers developed, long before, in the abstract of what to do in the case of emergencies. And it was tiered, so if you got to DEFCON 5 [editor’s note: Rosenthal meant to refer to DEFCON 1] which is the most dangerous level with the whole country on alert, these were the things that had to be done. Well, Pierre and Andy Hatcher had never been confronted with this before. Nobody had ever thought to bring it up to date. It had probably been written five years before. So, as I recall, they said 'here, figure it out.' </p> <p>CONELRAD: And were these contingency plans for the dissemination of news? Or was it more broad than that?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I am sure there were aspects of it that went way beyond news, on things like how do you get members of Congress out of the city. But my piece of it was limited to dissemination of news. I started with which journalists would be saved. As I recall, I was told there was room for fifty. That was TV and print. Of course, there was no online then. It included photographers and tech people, not just actual writers and editors. So the first thing I had to figure out was who. I think that was probably one of the reasons I was chosen. Because at the Justice Department we dealt with maybe two hundred press inquiries a day.</p> <p>CONELRAD: So you knew all the journalists...</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Right. Anybody who covered the Justice Department was somebody I knew. So I remember painfully going over a list of people and wondering how do you balance a columnist I didn't think very much of as opposed to a reporter who I thought really did work. And that was really hard. In retrospect I think that was the hardest part of the job. But that was just the beginning because very hard questions then arose - tangible practical ones, like how do you get...Do you let these people know in advance? Do you get them issued passes to get in? How do you get word to them to go where when an evacuation is to take place? Where will the helicopters land to take you to the site? I remember the questions, but I don't remember the answers.</p> <p>CONELRAD: But something was arrived at?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Must have been. By the time we got to that level of detail, the crisis was already easing enough so that things were suspended. But the next thing was for me to go see the site. I guess my first briefing was with Ed McDermott [1920-1999] who was head of the Office of Emergency Planning or Preparedness. He issued me my pass.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Could you describe that pass?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yes. I was thrilled to get it because it was so James Bond-like. All government I.D. at that point was black and white. My official government I.D. was in a leather case with "Department of Justice" on the outside in gold and on the inside [was] a black and white picture of me with my I.D. Well this was, for God's sake, in color. A color photo of me in a laminated plastic card. And not just color, but woven gold threads across the face of the picture to make it impossible to counterfeit. And it had some numbers on it, but very little writing. As I recall, all it said was "If found, return to G.P.O such and such, Washington, D.C. What was interesting about the card is not just that it was hard to duplicate, but unless there was an identical one in the box at the guard gate at the site, you couldn't get in. McDermott told me the story about how he'd gone to the Supreme Court to give Chief Justice [Earl] Warren [1891-1974] his card. And he briefed the Chief Justice about what the site was and here's his pass. And the chief looked at it and he smiled benignly and he said "I just had a question: where's the pass for Mrs. Warren?" And McDermott mumbled something about how we only have room for the 2,100 most important people in government. And the chief gently pushed the pass back to him and said, "Here, you'll have room for 2,101." He obviously wasn't going to go without his wife.</p> <p>CONELRAD: When did he tell you that story? Was it years later or at the time of the Cuban missile crisis?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No, at the time.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Was he dismayed? Did he want to convince the Chief Justice to go to Mount Weather?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No, I think he kind of admired it in a way. [Editor’s note: At the time of the Cuban missile crisis, Warren’s Supreme Court had a long standing <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-resort-of-their-own-supreme-courts.html">contract</a> with the Grove Park Inn of Asheville, North Carolina to serve as a relocation site. Mr. McDermott was aware of this fact, but he still wanted the Justices to relocate to Mount Weather].</p> <p>CONELRAD: So please go on with your account of visiting Mount Weather.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: So McDermott turns me over to his assistant, maybe his deputy - a man named Frank Muckenhaupt [1922-1992] who escorted me to the site. [Editor’s note: McDermott’s Deputy at O.E.P. was Colonel Justice M. Chambers. Muckenhaupt was worked in various roles in disaster recovery and public affairs during his 20 year government career].</p> <p>CONELRAD: And was that via helicopter?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No. We were met on 18th Street, outside the E.O.B., by a government van. I think probably the van was a regular shuttle back and forth to the site. It was a tan van. It was a cloudy, kind of gray day in October. On the way up Frank briefed me on what the site was all about. I'm guessing it took the better part of an hour to get there. We wound around a circular road, two lane road - leading up. We got one full view of all of Mount Weather with the blast doors showing. But as we climbed, we sort of lost track of which side of the mountain we were on. We drove past the weather station on top of the mountain and I remember seeing cyclone fence and weather towers and we came down the other side. It was probably the southwest side where the blast doors were. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Could you describe your reaction to the blast doors?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I guess I was astonished by the size of it. It was like a great slice of the mountain had been cut away and replaced by huge sheets of steel studded with bolts and painted in a beige color more or less to match the surrounding environment. So we got to the regular door where the guard station was and showed our passes and then I'm sure we walked in, but they must have opened a door to let the van inside. And then I was taken a tour of the facility.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Did Frank Muckenhaupt give you that tour?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: We were met by someone assigned to the site [who gave the tour]. I'm not sure I can reconstruct the tour for you in order, but I will tell you scenes that stick inside my mind. So, several distinct impressions: one was we walked down a long corridor, like a tunnel, and then through some doors into what looked like a hallway at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. There were fluorescent lights, a series of doors, just as they would be at a government department building. There were blue placards with white writing on them, just as you would have in a government department. But instead of being sub-offices, they were whole departments. So the department of HEW occupied part of a corridor and then you kept on walking and there was the Department of the Interior all of a sudden. And if you looked in any of the offices, except for the fact that were no windows, they looked just like they would have on Independence Avenue in Washington. Another scene: I guess you would call the control room. A very large room, very high ceiling, of the kind you've often seen in movies since then or in pictures from NASA. I had never seen anything like that at that earlier juncture. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So it was like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/?ref_=nv_sr_1"><i>Dr. Strangelove</i></a>? Or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058576/?ref_=nv_sr_1"><i>Seven Days in May</i></a>?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Big screens, maps. I hope I'm not misremembering, but I believe the wall screens were in fact like big color TVs. They weren't computer screens. But there were a lot of desks arranged near the screens. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So it was Strangelovian?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yes. And the man who showed it to us was very proud of how elaborate and modern and space age the technology was. The next scene: the press room, a not very large room like all the others with a series of wooden desks and typewriters and that's all I remember of that. </p> <p>CONELRAD: OK. </p> <p>ROSENTHAL: One room that left a real impression felt like it was low ceiling, but it was large. With row after row after row of three-tiered bunks. Not bunks exactly - hammocks. Blue hammocks. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Like something you would see in the Navy?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Maybe a little firmer than that. The idea was, if I remember correctly, they said there were 900 bunks. But there were some 2000 people there, so people would sleep in shifts.</p> <p>CONELRAD: And this was in a very large room?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: With an almost oppressively low ceiling. And I guess I wondered who you'd have to be to get one of the lower bunks.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Did you see where Robert Kennedy would have slept?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Probably, but I don't remember.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Were there special quarters for higher ranking people?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: There was an area set aside for the President, but it was said at the time that it was highly unlikely that he would come there. Because the safest place for him was in Air Force One flying somewhere. And there was another special presidential hideaway - I don't know where. I guess if I were to guess, somewhere near Camp David. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So did your tour take you anywhere else?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No, I think we had lunch in the cafeteria. Again, it was like being in a government cafeteria except no windows. </p> <p>CONELRAD: I think in your <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKOH-JCR-01.aspx">oral history interview</a> you mentioned that they had paper roses or flowers on the tables.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Could be, I don't recall it anymore. </p> <p>CONELRAD: How long did you stay at Mount Weather that day?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Well, I am thinking it was dark by the time we got back, so probably at least a couple of hours. I remember at some subsequent point about being anxious about giving away the real name. I couldn't remember which was Thunder and which was Weather.</p> <p>CONELRAD: How many times did you go to Mount Weather?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Certainly once, maybe a second time.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Were there any sections of Mount Weather that were stated as being off limits to you?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: The only thing I can think of was - I don't know if it was off limits - but we did not go into the space set aside for the President. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Did you generate a lot of paperwork when you were working at the Executive Office Building on these plans?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Well, I don't remember. You sent me a memo that I wrote and that's all that I remember. I was surprised at how much detail went into it. [Editor’s note: There are two Jack Rosenthal memos related to his work for the White House Emergency Information Program in 1962. They can be found <a href="https://www.scribd.com/collections/14189698/Jack-Rosenthal-Kennedy-Administration-Memos">here</a>].</p> <p>CONELRAD: Were there any pre-positioned messages at Mount Weather by Arthur Godfrey or Edward R. Murrow to be played in the event of an attack?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I have no recollection of anything like that. Doesn't mean it wasn't so. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Is it possible there was a vault at Mount Weather containing audio and film to be played over the Emergency Broadcast System?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Sure, but I have no recollection of it. </p> <p>CONELRAD: Was there a broadcast operation at Mount Weather?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I'm sure there was. I have a dim recollection of a little TV studio. But that's all I can say - a dim recollection.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Did Robert Kennedy ever talk with you about whether he would have actually gone to Mount Weather in the event of an attack?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Not that I recall. </p> <p>CONELRAD: What was Ed McDermott like? Do you remember much about him?</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hBsBTCBPnbc/VXMPEJfIbaI/AAAAAAAAEJs/HaKbMPIXFL8/s1600-h/Edward%252520A.%252520McDermott_Sworn%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Edward A. McDermott_Sworn" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Edward A. McDermott_Sworn" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UW9b8DgTOdo/VXMPEi0x0FI/AAAAAAAAEJw/T0Yg8A0yuCI/Edward%252520A.%252520McDermott_Sworn_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="319" /></a></p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Somewhat tall. Somewhat dark haired. Very businesslike, but would occasionally let a sense of humor show through. But it would be irresponsible to say anything more, because I hardly knew him.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Was there any place to get an alcoholic beverage at Mount Weather in 1962?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Not that I know of.</p> <p>CONELRAD: You might be interested to know that since your time there, they have added a saloon called the Balloon Shed.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Oh? [Laughs].</p> <p>CONELRAD: Was it difficult not discussing Mount Weather with anyone else?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Probably no more so than not talking about other classified things that I came in contact with regularly.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Was your time working on these contingency plans more or less restricted to the Cuban missile crisis period?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yes.</p> <p>CONELRAD: So you went back to your regular job after the crisis ended?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yes. Early in November.</p> <p>CONELRAD: When you were working on these contingency plans, did you become aware of the Congressional bunker at the <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/groundzero/greenbrier.html">Greenbrier</a> resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: I knew there was such a thing. In fact, at the time I learned about Mount Weather, the question came up about where would Congress go? I was told there was a huge elaborate thing at the Greenbrier, but they had a bitch of a time getting congressmen to agree to go even to go see what it was like. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So they told you where it was and what it was for?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Well, let me back up. I don't know if I knew it was the Greenbrier as opposed to White Sulphur Springs, but it had to be one of the two. </p> <p>CONELRAD: So you were told the site was either the Greenbrier or White Sulphur Springs?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Well, I was told they're located in some resort type of place and I probably understood that there were only two possibilities.</p> <p>CONELRAD: In that area?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Yeah.</p> <p>CONELRAD: So you being a Washingtonian I am sure you were aware of the Greenbrier.</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: And White Sulphur Springs, also.</p> <p>CONELRAD: And there's really only one thing in White Sulphur Springs of any note.  </p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Right [laughs].</p> <p>CONELRAD: Have you ever taken a tour of the <a href="http://www.greenbrier.com/activitiesgroupon/The-Bunker/Bunker-Tours">Greenbrier bunker</a>?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No. Could I go back to Mount Weather?</p> <p>CONELRAD: I don't know. Would you like to?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Not enough to make a special trip.    </p> <p>CONELRAD: Do you still have your Mount Weather ID card?</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: No. I left the government [in 1967], it was taken back.</p> <p>CONELRAD: Thank you for your time!</p> <p>ROSENTHAL: Thank you for lunch.</p> <p>The preceding Interview with Jack Rosenthal was conducted by Bill Geerhart on January 16, 2015 in New York City. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. </p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com110tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-50095154310238496522014-12-20T12:52:00.001-08:002014-12-21T04:46:37.796-08:00THE ENVELOPE PLEASE! APPENDIX 25 REVEALED<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bqdSHFGStnM/VJXhS3aCrkI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/CECrI0RM3p4/s1600-h/Secret%252520Envelope%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Secret Envelope" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Secret Envelope" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JobWzntuC4k/VJXherJVHnI/AAAAAAAAEGY/B9ru-soy4hg/Secret%252520Envelope_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="187" /></a></p> <p>Back in 2013 we posted an <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/10/paper-chase-fbis-greenbrier-bunker.html">article</a> that detailed how members of the United States Congress would be notified of their post-apocalyptic accommodations in the event of a national emergency. To summarize this protocol we’ll quote from a February 10, 1961 FBI <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390040/1961-Draft-Letter-RE-Congressional-Relocation-Site">memo</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>“All FBI offices, day-to-day and emergency, should be supplied in advance and on a secret basis, with the location of the Congressional relocation site and with instructions that in the event of a Presidential proclamation calling upon the Congress to convene at the Congressional relocation site, the FBI should inform members of Congress so presenting themselves and so establishing their identity, of the location of the Congressional relocation site.” </p> </blockquote> <p>The delivery system for this top secret information was decidedly low-tech. Indeed, once the lawmaker had identified him or herself to the satisfaction of the FBI field officer, he or she was to be handed a sealed business envelope that contained the location of the Congressional relocation site.</p> <p>This procedure, which was approved by the Office of Civil Defense Mobilization (OCDM), was put into place shortly after the issuance of the above quoted document. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QIJF84s3ddM/VJYB93NV0hI/AAAAAAAAEHY/5uRTjfg0RYE/s1600-h/FBI%252520Header%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="FBI Header" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="FBI Header" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-00XqSXPVLAc/VJYB-cDuvUI/AAAAAAAAEHc/T_6SbGN-mUw/FBI%252520Header_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="217" /></a></p> <p>On March 7, 1961 another memo was sent out to the Albany, New York FBI office along with the sealed envelopes for distribution to each field office. </p> <p>Once received, the envelope was to be filed in each office’s defense plan documentation as “Appendix 25.” As a reminder, the memo cautioned: “these envelopes should not be opened, except in the event the condition cited previously exists…”</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Du6ISTezWHo/VJYB-xZ4UkI/AAAAAAAAEHk/81knaK9bpAk/s1600-h/Appendix%25252025%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Appendix 25 copy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Appendix 25 copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CUcbOmzllTE/VJYB_Qw4tjI/AAAAAAAAEHw/mL5ItWQKACg/Appendix%25252025%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="114" /></a></p> <p>As mentioned in our previous <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/10/paper-chase-fbis-greenbrier-bunker.html">post</a>, this plan was in effect through at least 1977 when the Director of the FBI ordered an inventory of all the envelopes to make sure that they were still in place and sealed (miraculously, most were). During the course of our research we found no evidence to suggest that the original notification protocol was ever changed during the life of the bunker. As most readers know, the relocation site’s covert existence at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia was exposed in 1992 by the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm"><i>Washington Post</i></a>.</p> <p>When we were examining the FBI War Plans on <a href="http://www.governmentattic.org/">Government Attic</a> for our original post we were surprised to see that “Appendix 25” was specifically mentioned and explained, but not yet declassified. This seemed especially odd given that public tours have been running through the Greenbrier bunker since 1995. So on October 21, 2013 we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FBI for a complete copy of file number 66-17388 captioned “Defense Plans – Bureau Assistance for Members of Congress in the Event of Emergency” including the contents of Appendix 25. We even asked for a photocopy of the envelope. 425 days later, on December 19, 2014, we received precisely what we asked for.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-doqkZkKMEqE/VJXhheM8gWI/AAAAAAAAEG8/55JIHxRjNJU/s1600-h/Envelope%252520Contents%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Envelope Contents" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Envelope Contents" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-R1agOEvib0I/VJXhhh7n_WI/AAAAAAAAEHE/zuy-IPXgIbI/Envelope%252520Contents_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="442" /></a></p> <p>Even though we knew what was in the envelope, it is still interesting to see <em>exactly</em> what a member of congress would have seen if, say, the Cuban missile crisis had taken a turn for the worse. What would his or her reaction have been upon tearing open the envelope? Confusion? Amused surprise? No FOIA response will ever be able to answer that question.</p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View FBI_Location of Congressional Bunker on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/250641859/FBI-Location-of-Congressional-Bunker">FBI_Location of Congressional Bunker</a></p> <iframe id="doc_1661" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/250641859/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>Source of Document:</p> <p>Federal Bureau of Investigation <br />FOI/PA Request <br />Record/Information Dissemination Section <br />170 Marcel Drive <br />Winchester, VA 22602-4843</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com403tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-56085417272018762672014-11-06T13:38:00.001-08:002014-11-06T13:52:36.054-08:00MOUNT WEATHER MEMOS: PART 3<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-m3xadaTPyHM/VFvpx2-cXCI/AAAAAAAAEB0/q0PDVVspHqU/s1600-h/Mount%252520Weather%252520Minutes_Header%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Mount Weather Minutes_Header" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Mount Weather Minutes_Header" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-LAMiG6Vgl6c/VFvpyj2HkDI/AAAAAAAAEB4/OrFNrRcODLA/Mount%252520Weather%252520Minutes_Header_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="103" /></a></p> <p>As we mentioned in <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/11/mount-weather-memos-part-1.html">Part One</a> and <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/11/mount-weather-memos-part-2.html">Part Two</a> of our series, the Cold War era meeting minutes from the top secret government relocation site known as Mount Weather (aka The Special Facility, aka High Point, aka the Classified Location) are not what the average person would consider interesting. But when you stop to remind yourself every few pages that the notes were produced by men in a Stranglovian underground office park, they suddenly become fascinating in their utter banality. Here are the highlights from the minutes issued in 1966.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ddEldjnI_00/VFvpy9w-FKI/AAAAAAAAECE/CFDjiEDBU54/s1600-h/01131966_Bunk%252520Beds_Aspirin%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="01131966_Bunk Beds_Aspirin" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="01131966_Bunk Beds_Aspirin" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8ERAiBWkpaU/VFvpznv9NYI/AAAAAAAAECI/86vl6MSpklg/01131966_Bunk%252520Beds_Aspirin_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="88" /></a></p> <p>The year began with a request about bunk beds and a suspicious increase in requests for aspirin.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wKnObc_IjAI/VFvpz80EmJI/AAAAAAAAECQ/nwzguOCQbmU/s1600-h/01201966_Nuclear%252520Accident%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="01201966_Nuclear Accident" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="01201966_Nuclear Accident" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lrIoGByx5Ko/VFvqGYR0Q3I/AAAAAAAAECc/Nmskeu-hjsg/01201966_Nuclear%252520Accident_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="86" /></a>  <br />The January 20, 1966 meeting began with an apparent reference to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash">major broken arrow incident</a> over Palomares, Spain that had occurred just three days earlier. We’re not sure why the state of Florida is cited here unless it was a mistake on the part of the recording secretary. In view of the seriousness of the Palomares event which involved four hydrogen bombs, it is hard to imagine that the Special Facilities team would have been discussing any <i>other</i> nuclear accident.</p> <p>With the near apocalypse of Palomares barely behind them on January 27, 1966, the issue of whether people should be allowed to sleep in the executive suites during inclement weather was discussed. This request was vetoed.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-DDsUY8-lbNk/VFvqGxxXdFI/AAAAAAAAECk/Rk_ERup3fLg/s1600-h/01271966_Executive%252520Suites%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="01271966_Executive Suites" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="01271966_Executive Suites" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-G-uPz3DoLQU/VFvqHfTfEbI/AAAAAAAAECo/QyMrMEiz5iQ/01271966_Executive%252520Suites_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="57" /></a></p> <p>On February 3, 1966 the persistent rumors of snow removal favoritism on the part of Loudoun County for the Special Facility was brought up.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PlBFyCd6vEw/VFvqH3YydpI/AAAAAAAAECw/1e0FP4dUXho/s1600-h/02031966_Snow%252520Rumors%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="02031966_Snow Rumors" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="02031966_Snow Rumors" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hYJ461V3QB8/VFvqIs8lswI/AAAAAAAAEC4/1R4wJMv3PjM/02031966_Snow%252520Rumors_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="89" /></a></p> <p>On March 17, 1966 the Chairman discussed the second, less well known outbreak of rioting in the Watts section of Los Angeles. Per the front page of the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> on March 16, 1966, two people were killed and 25 were injured on March 15. This excerpt also mentions Farris Bryant being nominated to head the Office of Emergency Planning – the agency that had oversight over Mount Weather. Bryant’s predecessor was Buford Ellington.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-M7HO52_gHFs/VFvqL3QfSfI/AAAAAAAAEDE/tACMbatYdKY/s1600-h/03171966_Watts%252520Riots%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="03171966_Watts Riots" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="03171966_Watts Riots" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Job3bPQn80A/VFvqMeKplZI/AAAAAAAAEDI/Ap7xpTDmPEQ/03171966_Watts%252520Riots_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="79" /></a></p> <p>On April 21, 1966 the issue of the Russians renting property near Mount Weather was discussed. CONELRAD was able to find a number of news clips from the local Berryville, Virginia newspaper as well articles in larger circulation papers. The Soviet Embassy had rented a Virginia estate known as Spout Run Farm (formerly known as Heartsease) near Berryville to use as a children’s summer camp. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-btV4Kyb8p0I/VFvqM5kiluI/AAAAAAAAEDQ/JcEhhDYxePg/s1600-h/04211966_Russian%252520Embassy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="04211966_Russian Embassy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="04211966_Russian Embassy" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tofE4Fxopqg/VFvqNWEa1ZI/AAAAAAAAEDY/n8GYFiovIBY/04211966_Russian%252520Embassy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="30" /></a></p> <p>The Associated Press dutifully quoted “State Department officials” as saying “the Defense Department had been informed of the proposed lease on the Clarke County property to the Russians and that the Pentagon had not reported any sensitive U.S. installations being in the area.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftn1_9285" name="_ftnref1_9285">[1]</a></p> <p>The local paper was more honest about the worst kept secret in Berryville. In an editorial published in the <em>Clarke Courier</em> on April 28, 1966: “…somebody should have thought this thing out more clearly before allowing the Soviet Embassy to establish a summer camp and recreation area within a short distance of an apparent vital installation such as Mt. Weather.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftn2_9285" name="_ftnref2_9285">[2]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QMPcMuNlG7Y/VFvqNyGmEsI/AAAAAAAAEDk/bf6YDXhl-qM/s1600-h/Spout%252520Run%252520Editorial%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Spout Run Editorial" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Spout Run Editorial" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pXVTUsfSdXM/VFvqOFw53tI/AAAAAAAAEDo/bfzcMcjstUg/Spout%252520Run%252520Editorial_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="899" /></a></p> <p>On May 5, 1966 there was another cryptic mention of local “publicity.” This was apparently a reference to a front page article in the <i>Clarke Courier</i> newspaper on the Soviet summer camp complete with photo of the property.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftn3_9285" name="_ftnref3_9285">[3]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0DtGI8rIH4U/VFvqPBdTAlI/AAAAAAAAEDw/ZFVX9Z0TaxY/s1600-h/Spout%252520Run_Leased%252520by%252520Russians%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Spout Run_Leased by Russians" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Spout Run_Leased by Russians" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3YjAHUYQKlM/VFvqPaJ98hI/AAAAAAAAED0/-L97NFLq5gU/Spout%252520Run_Leased%252520by%252520Russians_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="341" /></a></p> <p>Without the full transcripts of these meetings, it is hard to know exactly what the senior staff at the Special Facility thought of the Russians moving in next door. They almost certainly believed that the Soviets knew about the Special Facility and its purpose. Indeed, in the first comprehensive news story on Mount Weather in <i>Time</i> magazine in 1991, Ted Gup wrote: “…it is assumed that all along the Soviets have known both its precise location and its mission.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftn4_9285" name="_ftnref4_9285">[4]</a> The meeting minutes strongly suggest that the attendees were more concerned with <i>local</i> media attention to the site than they were about Soviet spying. </p> <p>The June 9, 1966 notes highlighted a problem with Western Union not delivering to relocation sites.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4v7exz4P-Vg/VFvqQL-15iI/AAAAAAAAED8/d9EJZVUai3Q/s1600-h/06091966_Western%252520Union%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="06091966_Western Union" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="06091966_Western Union" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4r1T7zpMNLk/VFvqQkzP95I/AAAAAAAAEEI/XISt5THsapU/06091966_Western%252520Union_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="59" /></a></p> <p>The June 23, 1966 minutes provide a push for the FARs (Federal Agency Representatives at Mount Weather) to participate in the company picnic.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DHkUSz-Jgyw/VFvqQ6luA3I/AAAAAAAAEEQ/UtLvS6DU7NI/s1600-h/06231966_Picnic%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="06231966_Picnic" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="06231966_Picnic" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QBtRBFYcOw0/VFvqRPaTdCI/AAAAAAAAEEc/av86w37tZS4/06231966_Picnic_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="33" /></a></p> <p>In July, the Chairman attempted to cut down on the frequency of meetings during the summer months. This was not approved.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-I-9rhEQxGpI/VFvqRtdouOI/AAAAAAAAEEk/_MbHFdfyVg0/s1600-h/07071966_Change%252520in%252520Meeting%252520Schedulue%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="07071966_Change in Meeting Schedulue" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="07071966_Change in Meeting Schedulue" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Hqb5CrGPS1M/VFvqUVk6JQI/AAAAAAAAEEs/GLTxDujbDXk/07071966_Change%252520in%252520Meeting%252520Schedulue_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="45" /></a></p> <p>On July 14, 1966 and August 4, 1966 there was more discussion about the publicity over the Soviet summer camp at Spout Run Farm. CONELRAD was unable to find these particular news clips.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jiAJQiG9CgQ/VFvqVJxFgcI/AAAAAAAAEEw/G9jdEKMvlWo/s1600-h/07141966_Soviet%252520Publicity%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="07141966_Soviet Publicity" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="07141966_Soviet Publicity" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-syT5IC0zgwY/VFvqVlQmxxI/AAAAAAAAEE4/G2zG8h_DtuE/07141966_Soviet%252520Publicity_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="45" /></a></p> <p>Before their meeting on September 15, 1966 the FARs (Federal Agency Representatives) watched on “TV receivers” the landing of the manned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_11">Gemini 11</a> spacecraft. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xUaNE4F9KF4/VFvqV9yju0I/AAAAAAAAEFE/gJNMfl3an3s/s1600-h/09151966_Gemini%25252011%252520Landing%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="09151966_Gemini 11 Landing" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="09151966_Gemini 11 Landing" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ma-v1UQSg7Q/VFvqWelVa4I/AAAAAAAAEFI/UtCq4h9bFlk/09151966_Gemini%25252011%252520Landing_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="18" /></a></p> <p>On October 27, 1966 the chairman previewed what was expected to be an unpopular decision regarding bus service to and from the Special Facility.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wP_7jS2kzoM/VFvqW9vh4sI/AAAAAAAAEFQ/cRpPiXKYKvU/s1600-h/10271966_Bus%252520Rumor%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="10271966_Bus Rumor" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="10271966_Bus Rumor" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-THLcP9QD8jo/VFvqXWAapkI/AAAAAAAAEFY/3Iww3S7FqLo/10271966_Bus%252520Rumor_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="36" /></a></p> <p>On November 17, 1966 Mount Weather employees were complaining about the “curtailment” in bus service.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BCJWD64B0Dw/VFvqXx1fUwI/AAAAAAAAEFk/XPN3RXJ_ef0/s1600-h/11171966_Bus%252520Complaints%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="11171966_Bus Complaints" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="11171966_Bus Complaints" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-X7Oc_mlYtuM/VFvqYsarQCI/AAAAAAAAEFo/FYGvINfhFMc/11171966_Bus%252520Complaints_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="35" /></a></p> <p>On December 15, 1966 there were announcements about the holiday meeting schedule and “the nuclear war plan.” Just in time for Christmas!</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wDhkqMlKqQ8/VFvqZrVRKeI/AAAAAAAAEF0/HSijE-rktLk/s1600-h/12151966_Holidays_Nuclear%252520War%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="12151966_Holidays_Nuclear War" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="12151966_Holidays_Nuclear War" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RWSft7Cbs9s/VFvqaRxAP7I/AAAAAAAAEF4/5xRniLQYgaM/12151966_Holidays_Nuclear%252520War_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="108" /></a></p> <p>Read the whole document here:</p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1966 on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/245767526/Mount-Weather-Meeting-Minutes-1966">Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1966</a></p> <iframe id="doc_2832" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/245767526/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p> </p> <p>SOURCE</p> <p>Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library <br />Federal Records: Office of Emergency Planning <br />Box 10 <br />Folder: Minutes of Special Facilities Meetings, 01/13/66-12/15/66</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref1_9285" name="_ftn1_9285">[1]</a> “Soviet Summer Camp,” <i>Washington Post</i> via <i>Associated Press</i>, April 23, 1966, B5.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref2_9285" name="_ftn2_9285">[2]</a> “Heartsease or Heartaches,” <i>Clarke Courier</i>, April 28, 1966, 4. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref3_9285" name="_ftn3_9285">[3]</a> “Soviet Embassy Plans Summer Camp,” <i>Clarke Courier</i>, April 28, 1966, 1.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/LBJ Library Files/1966 Special Facility Minutes/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref4_9285" name="_ftn4_9285">[4]</a> Ted Gup, “Doomsday Hideaway,” <i>Time</i>, December 9, 1991, 26. </p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-12168442443431246702014-10-27T00:31:00.001-07:002014-10-27T13:03:16.488-07:00A TIME FOR CREDIT: The Men Who Put Reagan on the Air in ‘64<blockquote> <p>“There was a job to be done and like many others I tried to help. I thought Ron was the ideal man to do the speech.”</p> <p>John B. Kilroy to CONELRAD<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn1_4836" name="_ftnref1_4836">[1]</a></p> </blockquote> <p><b></b></p> <p><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p> <p>To many conservatives young and old Ronald Reagan’s October 27, 1964 televised address <i>A Time for Choosing</i> is the moment that the modern incarnation of their movement was born. Over the course of fifty years “The Speech,” as it has been dubbed, has spawned its own mythology in books, articles, documentaries and even a <a href="http://vimeo.com/22198190">made-for-TV movie</a>. Indeed, the story of citizen Reagan’s nationally broadcast star turn on behalf of doomed GOP nominee Senator Barry Goldwater has become a hallowed chapter in the late president’s biography. And yet, even after half a century, precious few details of how the speech was produced and put on the air have ever been published. This excerpt, derived from a much longer examination of the speech, seeks to address these information gaps and recognize the unsung men who made Reagan’s historic political debut possible. A more exhaustive history of <i>A Time for Choosing</i> will be posted here in the near future. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-22Fpbe8wzLg/VE30YlkaovI/AAAAAAAAD5Q/0Pg7VtWKIww/s1600-h/TFC_014.jpg"><img title="TFC_01" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="TFC_01" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-60LOLmfdzeo/VE30Y8xf4zI/AAAAAAAAD5U/Gru6900910A/TFC_01_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="375" height="484" /></a></p> <p><b>“SURE, IF YOU THINK IT WOULD DO ANY GOOD”</b></p> <p>Most Reagan biographies cite a more or less identical confluence of events that resulted in the future president’s appearing on national television on October 27, 1964. Ronald Reagan himself confirms most of the oft-repeated chronology in his 1990 autobiography, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00BQ1SLEE"><i>An American Life</i></a>. The catalyst for his speech being selected for national exposure was, as Reagan recounts in his book, a $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinner for “about 800 Republicans” at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during the “late summer.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn2_4836" name="_ftnref2_4836">[2]</a> According to two contemporaneous articles from the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, the pricey fundraiser occurred on October 1, 1964 and it accommodated between 400 and 500 guests.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn3_4836" name="_ftnref3_4836">[3]</a> Reagan was to be the star attraction of the evening while Goldwater, who was campaigning elsewhere, was scheduled to address the crowd briefly on film.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn4_4836" name="_ftnref4_4836">[4]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gD1w58jh4Ew/VE4Ru2h0yuI/AAAAAAAAEBI/KnShXxCv434/s1600-h/Cocoanut%252520Grove-Postcard.jpg"><img title="Cocoanut Grove-Postcard" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Cocoanut Grove-Postcard" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--xC4vM8uSTw/VE30Z-D1rbI/AAAAAAAAEBQ/TJERJINaYeI/Cocoanut%252520Grove-Postcard_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="409" height="267" /></a></p> <p>Author Curtis Patrick, who at the time was a young advance man and personal assistant to Senator Goldwater, attended the event and discusses it in his book <a href="http://amzn.com/B00513MOG4"><i>Reagan: What Was He Really Like? Volume 1</i></a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn5_4836" name="_ftnref5_4836">[5]</a> Patrick told CONELRAD in an interview that he escorted the candidate’s wife to the venue. When asked how many people might have been at the club, he replied: "My memory of the Cocoanut Grove is [that it was] small and so I would say 500 might be more accurate." As for the speech itself, Patrick remembered it vividly perhaps because it was the first time he had ever seen the actor speak live and in person. He recalled that when Reagan had finished that night’s iteration of The Speech, “Mrs. Goldwater turned to me and asked me 'what did you think?' I said [it was] stunning.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn6_4836" name="_ftnref6_4836">[6]</a> <br /> <br />Reagan, at the time, was the statewide co-chairman of Citizens for Goldwater-Miller and his duties consisted primarily of touring California making speeches supporting the ticket.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn7_4836" name="_ftnref7_4836">[7]</a> This event was, for all practical purposes, just another night on the circuit for him.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yujsL7CqrKc/VE30aBq9MaI/AAAAAAAAD5s/U6ItPXZ0HgI/s1600-h/Fundraiser-Headline4.jpg"><img title="Fundraiser Headline" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Fundraiser Headline" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pKL1g2dk_bA/VE30aucXJTI/AAAAAAAAD50/0tNPVc9-IWQ/Fundraiser-Headline_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="252" /></a></p> <p>Among the well-heeled donors in attendance that evening was a group of influential California millionaires and powerbrokers who were bowled over by the fading film and TV star’s stirring Cold War oratory. Reagan doesn’t name names in his book, but various other accounts have claimed that oil company magnate Henry Salvatori and automobile sales king Holmes Tuttle were at the function. And since they were the two people who organized the dinner it would make sense that they were present. According to Reagan, after the dinner he was asked by five or six people to join them at their table at the now “almost empty” Cocoanut Grove. These people, whom Reagan writes he later learned included major state GOP donors, asked him if he would be willing to film his speech for television. “Sure,” the Gipper replied, “if you think it would do any good.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn8_4836" name="_ftnref8_4836">[8]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7XwXUJgvlrc/VE30bLOoTPI/AAAAAAAAD58/EGpHuUZYbmM/s1600-h/Reagan-Goldwater-645.jpg"><img title="Reagan-Goldwater-64" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Reagan-Goldwater-64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHgp356kT7RaQ77F8zb1tjXCp0M71hAEY8t_SbHsbhorMJo5yykmF5eFWEVf_VnmYYl0u_9Vf-3ZhAffaMgndQocUTpnuJXINgk6fuwmtjKmgQUG-ZK4T9IdGzxF3CF9IexTc0Fjsy6E/?imgmax=800" width="304" height="322" /></a></p> <p>So how did an informal agreement at an L.A. nightclub evolve into a polished, independently funded network TV special in a matter of weeks? Based on CONELRAD’s extensive research on the history of <i>A Time for Choosing</i>, a small team of California Republicans led by a driven, self-made businessman made it all happen.</p> <p><b>KILROY WAS THERE</b></p> <p>Despite the fact that Southern California real estate developer John B. Kilroy speaks at the end of Reagan’s famous October 27, 1964 taped television broadcast, his name is not commonly linked to <i>A Time for Choosing</i>. </p> <iframe height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HLCr8Urx-0M?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ" frameborder="0" width="400" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <p>There are a few magazine and newspaper articles from the mid-1960s that directly credit Kilroy (and TV producer Robert B. Raisbeck) for the production of the broadcast, but the only book that mentions him (aside from Kilroy’s own 2012 autobiography) as having anything to do with the speech is Kurt Schuparra’s <a href="http://amzn.com/0765602776"><i>Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Movement, 1945-1966</i></a>. However, Schuparra relegates Kilroy to a somewhat skeptical endnote that cites an <a href="http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/oral-history/pdf/johnson.pdf">oral history interview</a> of prominent California Republican Gardiner Johnson who was active in the ’64 Goldwater campaign. Johnson’s belief in Kilroy’s key part in <i>A Time for Choosing</i> is quite a bit stronger than Schuparra’s.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn9_4836" name="_ftnref9_4836">[9]</a> Johnson, it turns out, was right but he was nearly alone in his conviction. </p> <p>Kilroy, who clearly prefers <a href="http://www.kialoa-us1.com/Pages/default.aspx">yacht racing</a> to defending his own political accomplishments, was perhaps the person most responsible for getting Ronald Reagan on the air on October 27, 1964. The staunchly anti-communist businessman’s role in what Reagan would later call “one of the most important milestones of my life” began when a friend made him aware of the speech.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn10_4836" name="_ftnref10_4836">[10]</a> Reagan had been giving variations of “The Speech” for years beginning in the 1950s when he began touring the country as a corporate goodwill ambassador for General Electric. He, of course, also hosted G.E. Theater on television from 1954 to 1962.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn11_4836" name="_ftnref11_4836">[11]</a> </p> <p>In an interview with CONELRAD in 2011 Kilroy, who was then 88-years-old and extremely lucid, told us, “[Robert B.] Raisbeck had heard it and recommended that I hear it,” adding that Raisbeck may have had an audio tape of the speech. Kilroy confirmed in his interview that he was not at the Cocoanut Grove on October 1<sup>st</sup>. However, both he and Raisbeck knew Henry Salvatori.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn12_4836" name="_ftnref12_4836">[12]</a> In any case, Kilroy said that hearing Reagan speak out on the issues was one of the sparks that inspired him and his team to want to adapt the speech for television.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn13_4836" name="_ftnref13_4836">[13]</a></p> <p>According to Kilroy’s book, <a href="http://amzn.com/0983062250"><i>Kialoa US-1: Dare to Win in Business, in Sailing, in Life</i></a>, his next move after confirming Reagan’s willingness to participate on the project, was to fly to Washington, D.C. and meet with Dean Burch, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Ralph Cordiner, the RNC finance chairman (and Reagan’s former boss at G.E.). With their agreement on the plan to put Reagan’s speech on television, a new committee was launched called “TV for Goldwater-Miller” with Kilroy as national chairman.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn14_4836" name="_ftnref14_4836">[14]</a></p> <p>On September 14, 1964 Kilroy and committee co-chairman, Schick Safety Razor company owner Patrick J. Frawley, Jr. (who later helped sponsor <a href="http://youtu.be/v5lkKQUp81Y">Up with People!</a>), sent out a fundraising letter declaring their overarching goal for the campaign:</p> <p>“The principle obstacle to his [Goldwater’s] election is the tremendous distortion of his message by all communications media. To offset this, we must keep Barry Goldwater on television constantly between now and November 3<sup>rd</sup>…”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn15_4836" name="_ftnref15_4836">[15]</a></p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View TV for Goldwater Fundraising Letter on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/244555662/TV-for-Goldwater-Fundraising-Letter">TV for Goldwater Fundraising Letter</a></p> <iframe id="doc_957" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/244555662/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p><b></b></p> <p><b>THE TEAM </b></p> <p>Kilroy explained to CONELRAD that he first met the creative team that would produce Reagan’s <i>A Time for Choosing</i> well before the Goldwater presidential campaign. In fact, Kilroy said that they had become acquainted with one another through their affiliation with the controversial anti-communist activist <a href="http://vault.fbi.gov/willard-skousen">W. Cleon Skousen</a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn16_4836" name="_ftnref16_4836">[16]</a> Skousen, a former FBI agent and future muse to radio and television personality Glenn Beck, also had public ties to Reagan.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn17_4836" name="_ftnref17_4836">[17]</a> Both Skousen and Reagan had made joint appearances at rallies for Fred Schwarz’s Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (CACC) in the early 1960s.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn18_4836" name="_ftnref18_4836">[18]</a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Z93KeLX8fKM/VE30b-Dv1pI/AAAAAAAAD6Q/o2Z0vTG7g9M/s1600-h/adsep1965-skousentourguide4.jpg"><img title="adsep1965-skousentourguide" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="adsep1965-skousentourguide" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-V5ObzXUhYgk/VE30cvxbBXI/AAAAAAAAD6U/poATSOK7f-g/adsep1965-skousentourguide_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="339" /></a></p> <p>In addition to Kilroy, the team included the previously mentioned producer and advertising man Robert B. Raisbeck, Jr. and veteran television and radio director Robert “Doc” Livingston.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn19_4836" name="_ftnref19_4836">[19]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-EkQFijmTEww/VE30c02SuSI/AAAAAAAAD6c/g3YWSX80xsU/s1600-h/Robert-Raisbeck-1971-723.jpg"><img title="Robert Raisbeck-1971-72" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Robert Raisbeck-1971-72" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--YrbUJqUjWM/VE30dZp04aI/AAAAAAAAD6k/UeC4tc2ah_Y/Robert-Raisbeck-1971-72_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="289" /></a></p> <p>Raisbeck’s surviving son, Peter Raisbeck, confirmed to CONELRAD that it was Kilroy who recruited the team to work for Goldwater and Reagan and that his father would occasionally reminisce with the family about his work on <i>A Time for Choosing</i>. The younger Raisbeck also confirmed his father’s association with Skousen: “Dad did know and work with Cleon Skousen on his anti-communist activities for several years.” </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qSPf42z1asU/VE30d_8CTlI/AAAAAAAAD6w/fsKE2Osl1OE/s1600-h/Reagans-Anti-Communism-Rally4.jpg"><img title="Reagans-Anti-Communism Rally" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Reagans-Anti-Communism Rally" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-L32NfqtRb9c/VE30epuV7pI/AAAAAAAAD60/aDnYaEd9n90/Reagans-Anti-Communism-Rally_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="319" /></a></p> <p>Robert “Doc” Livingston, who died in 2003, left no survivors that we know of.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn20_4836" name="_ftnref20_4836">[20]</a> We were, however, able to find a colleague of Livingston’s from his long tenure as a staff director at KNBC in Los Angeles. The Reverend Doctor Thandeka (formerly known as Sue Booker) was a writer and producer at the station and worked frequently with Livingston in the 1970s and ‘80s. When asked if she was aware of his role in <i>A Time for Choosing</i> or his political leanings, Thandeka expressed surprise: “I always assumed he was liberal, but we never talked about politics, just show business.” Since we could find no photographs of Livingston, we asked Thandeka to describe him. Without missing a beat, she said “Like Will Geer, but taller and thinner.” She added that he was like a “favorite uncle” who “always smiled” and who was not “easily ruffled.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn21_4836" name="_ftnref21_4836">[21]</a></p> <p>Long before the ’64 campaign Raisbeck and Livingston collaborated on the early local TV program <i>Television Talent Time</i> in Los Angeles.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn22_4836" name="_ftnref22_4836">[22]</a></p> <p><b>SEED MONEY, PRODUCTION AND LOCAL BROADCASTS </b></p> <p>According to Kilroy, Henry Salvatori, the co-organizer of the Cocoanut Grove fundraiser, became a “50/50” partner with him in providing the “seed money” to produce <i>A Time for Choosing</i> and get it on the air locally. When asked where the speech was taped, he told CONELRAD: “At one of the one of the Los Angeles studios…where all the facilities are there – the lighting, etcetera.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn23_4836" name="_ftnref23_4836">[23]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-B_f9zidGZB0/VE30e4tHjWI/AAAAAAAAD68/nx3wX-EoDAY/s1600-h/Reagan-Podium-Side-Shot-53.jpg"><img title="Reagan-Podium-Side Shot-5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Reagan-Podium-Side Shot-5" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-O9Gg34JmEVQ/VE30fQBeZpI/AAAAAAAAD7E/80TRQ4KckkE/Reagan-Podium-Side-Shot-5_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD reached out to R. Duke Blackwood, the Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/">Ronald Reagan Presidential Library</a> about the particulars of the venue and the date of the taping of <i>A Time for Choosing</i>. He conveyed to us that the person who has custody of the original videotape states that the recording date was October 12, 1964 from 10:15 to 10:45 (whether AM or PM was unknown by the source) and that the site of the taping was a television studio at NBC in Burbank, California.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn24_4836" name="_ftnref24_4836">[24]</a> This date conforms to the tentative shooting schedule mentioned in an October 5, 1964 advertising agency memo: “Mr. Raisbeck plans to film a half-hour Ronald Reagan speech on or about October 10.” The memo also mentions that the Reagan film and another TV Committee project were “out of the agency’s purlieu [sic]” or purview.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn25_4836" name="_ftnref25_4836">[25]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3Jp0Ooyg5Mc/VE30f1CTh_I/AAAAAAAAD7M/YWz8NVK8-4k/s1600-h/TFC_In-Color4.jpg"><img title="TFC_In Color" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="TFC_In Color" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tpVPEOLCnhQ/VE30gJ9MakI/AAAAAAAAD7U/Xa0AAavjIGw/TFC_In-Color_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="186" height="484" /></a></p> <p>The speech was videotaped using RCA color cameras, but the version that the <a href="http://www.reaganfoundation.org/">Reagan Foundation</a> features on their <a href="http://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY">YouTube channel</a> (and supplied by the Reagan Library) is a black and white kinescope. Per Mr. Blackwood, the Reagan Library recently found what they thought was an original color copy of the tape, but someone had taped over it. The Library is still trying to obtain a color version of the speech.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn26_4836" name="_ftnref26_4836">[26]</a> There is, incidentally, some evidence that <i>A Time for Choosing</i> was broadcast in color in 1964. An October 27, 1964 <i>Albuquerque Journal</i> newspaper ad promotes the speech as being “In Color.” Of course, this could also just be a mistake.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn27_4836" name="_ftnref27_4836">[27]</a></p> <p>After the taping was completed, Kilroy told us that he and a couple others worked on editing it because their star had gone long by a few minutes.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn28_4836" name="_ftnref28_4836">[28]</a> There is just one obvious edit in the tape and it occurs near the end of the speech exactly as Reagan concludes his famous “thousand years of darkness” line.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn29_4836" name="_ftnref29_4836">[29]</a></p> <iframe height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/D0Zwa-yPKQk" frameborder="0" width="400" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <p>The finished product was not your average “TV talker” featuring a bland politician reciting a stump speech into a static camera in an empty room. From the first overhead camera shot slowly tracking in on Reagan speaking at the podium in the studio dressed to look like a rally hall, the viewer knows that this is going to be different. By most accounts, including his own, Reagan insisted on bringing in an audience and it was this decision that made all the difference.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn30_4836" name="_ftnref30_4836">[30]</a> The enthusiastic reaction shots of a mostly youthful audience packed with Goldwater Girls provide what appears to be a palpable energy to the speaker. By the time Reagan wraps up his address to a standing ovation, it is clear that the definitive version of “The Speech” has just been delivered.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8s9BCRNK5J4/VE30hrTnhaI/AAAAAAAAD7w/-BVuKtTCPJg/s1600-h/Standing-O-23.jpg"><img title="Standing O-2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Standing O-2" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9hYZg_ngItE/VE30iVO3RmI/AAAAAAAAD74/vCvJpVLtnz4/Standing-O-2_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a> </p> <p>Kilroy’s next task was to get Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s approval of his cut of the tape. The Reagans, according to Kilroy, were initially against the campaign contribution plea at the end of the broadcast. “The money pitch was a hard thing to do,” he told us. “Ron and Nancy didn’t like it, so we convinced them. Nancy was the hardest to convince.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn31_4836" name="_ftnref31_4836">[31]</a> The reluctance on the part of the Reagans to solicit donations may seem quaint in today’s world of billion dollar presidential campaigns, but in 1964 fundraising from televised political ads was unprecedented.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn32_4836" name="_ftnref32_4836">[32]</a> And it was an innovation that did not always sit well with Goldwater’s high command. Campaign manager Denison Kitchel vetoed an appended appeal for donations at the end of the stolid half-hour campaign film <i>Conversations at Gettysburg</i> that featured Goldwater talking to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower on his Pennsylvania farm. Kitchel was concerned about cheapening the dignity of the presidency when he should have been worried about producing a boring advertisement.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn33_4836" name="_ftnref33_4836">[33]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3P9rqeUJtkw/VE30i3W_WVI/AAAAAAAAD8A/oCKUcjK6mSc/s1600-h/Consternation-at-Gettysburg5.jpg"><img title="Consternation at Gettysburg" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Consternation at Gettysburg" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SwCGoCqRgbU/VE30jcvVjmI/AAAAAAAAD8E/HewAXiHwRsI/Consternation-at-Gettysburg_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="287" /></a></p> <p>Kilroy told CONELRAD that <i>A Time for Choosing</i> was broadcast in local markets around California “several times” before its nationwide network debut.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn34_4836" name="_ftnref34_4836">[34]</a> CONELRAD was only able to find one example of a local broadcast: October 23, 1964 on KNBC in the Los Angeles market. It was advertised in local newspapers without a title, but with the promotional line of “Ronald Reagan speaking out on the important issues of this campaign.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn35_4836" name="_ftnref35_4836">[35]</a> Kilroy recalled that “the response was tremendous wherever it played.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn36_4836" name="_ftnref36_4836">[36]</a> According to the campaign’s advertising agency documents reviewed by CONELRAD, the network time for the October 27<sup>th</sup> airing of the speech was purchased on October 22<sup>nd</sup> - the day before the local broadcast of the speech.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn37_4836" name="_ftnref37_4836">[37]</a> Therefore, the money used to buy the network time must have come from appeals for donations from other TV for Goldwater-Miller Committee programs such as the “Captive Nations Rally telethon” that aired on October 18th<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn38_4836" name="_ftnref38_4836">[38]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-L6ImX4APUq4/VE30jxyDc7I/AAAAAAAAD8Q/rrPMFFdCyMk/s1600-h/Captive-Nations-Rally-Ad4.jpg"><img title="Captive Nations Rally Ad" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Captive Nations Rally Ad" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dos7zRbkkDg/VE30kae5UsI/AAAAAAAAD8U/wghdv3Pq7OI/Captive-Nations-Rally-Ad_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="276" height="484" /></a></p> <p>A claim that has been made in at least two books holds that a group called “Brothers for Goldwater” of Greenwich, Connecticut chaired by movie star John Wayne contributed the funds necessary to get Reagan on the air in 1964.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn39_4836" name="_ftnref39_4836">[39]</a> The story, the source of which is a 1984 letter from former General Electric employee J.J. Wuerthner, Jr. to Michael Deaver at the White House, is that the Brothers presented Goldwater with a check for $60,000 at his Madison Square Garden rally on October 20, 1964. Wuerthner goes on to state in his letter that his G.E. boss, Lemuel Boulware, asked Goldwater to “earmark the money for a nationwide Reagan radio and TV broadcast on October 27<sup>th</sup>.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn40_4836" name="_ftnref40_4836">[40]</a> There are three problems with this claim: 1.) The Goldwater rally was held on October 26, 1964, not October 20<sup>th</sup>. 2.) The airtime was bought from NBC on October 22<sup>nd</sup> – <i>before</i> the Madison Square Garden rally and 3.) A report on 1964 campaign spending published by <i>Congressional Quarterly</i> reflects that the total receipts and expenditures for the Brothers group during the period of September 1, 1964 through December 31, 1964 was only $26,317.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn41_4836" name="_ftnref41_4836">[41]</a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_CD_OMvOcpA/VE4Rvx9pHOI/AAAAAAAAEBY/HU7QS0ZW0pM/s1600-h/Goldwater%252520Victory%252520Rally_Poster_lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Goldwater Victory Rally_Poster_lo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Goldwater Victory Rally_Poster_lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yue2lDDL7ns/VE4RweQRWMI/AAAAAAAAEBc/99qn24kXHxE/Goldwater%252520Victory%252520Rally_Poster_lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="653" /></a></p> <p>Could some of that money have found its way into the collection plate for Reagan’s airtime? Maybe, but even if all of it was used for the Reagan speech it would have covered little more than the “preemption” fee charged by the network (see next section). The likelier explanation, and one supported by the contemporaneous advertising agency documents, is that the funding came from the contributions brought in by the televised appeals.</p> <p><b>MAD MEN </b></p> <p>According to the records of the Republican National Committee’s official advertising agency, Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan (EWR & R), not everyone was thrilled with the idea of using network time during the closing week of the campaign to feature someone other than the candidate. EWR & R’s account executive for the RNC, Albert Tilt, noted in his October 23rd meeting summary that such a plan was “strategic suicide” and that the agency “strongly protested the use of these funds at the expense of a last week of spots.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn42_4836" name="_ftnref42_4836">[42]</a> The agency produced spots to which Tilt refers include <a href="http://youtu.be/k3t6aptzn2A?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ">one</a> in which Goldwater defends himself against being labeled as “imprudent and impulsive.” In <a href="http://youtu.be/jjHQxV4HBzk?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ">another</a>, the candidate answers a tea-sipping housewife’s concerns about communism. And there was even a twenty second version of <a href="http://youtu.be/Lly3jANwMZM?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ"><i>Conversation at Gettysburg</i></a> featuring Eisenhower saying the word “tommyrot.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn43_4836" name="_ftnref43_4836">[43]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GUBB4Hi9b5w/VE30k5XBmEI/AAAAAAAAD8c/wMSajKZxu9s/s1600-h/EWRR_Logo4.jpg"><img title="EWRR_Logo" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="EWRR_Logo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Svg-7f_EI1E/VE30lCr3a7I/AAAAAAAAD8k/7G0jozElU9U/EWRR_Logo_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="294" /></a></p> <p>How much money did it cost to put Ronald Reagan in prime time on NBC for a half hour in 1964? According to Tilt’s memo, the final charge was $115,236 which included a “preemption” charge of $22,300 presumably for knocking David Frost’s <i>That Was the Week</i> That Was off the air for another week.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn44_4836" name="_ftnref44_4836">[44]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UM9Mzijf6gI/VE30ll6Jx7I/AAAAAAAAD_k/Wk9A82j-ljc/s1600-h/Reagan%252520Show.jpg"><img title="Reagan Show" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Reagan Show" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MQ8e75cZDv0/VE30mICR_NI/AAAAAAAAD_s/hlJbR7NuKRQ/Reagan%252520Show_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="94" /></a></p> <p>On October 25<sup>th</sup>, campaign manager Denison Kitchel and self-appointed guru William Baroody tried to have <i>A Time for Choosing</i> withdrawn from the network schedule and replaced by an agency produced Goldwater program. Accounts of this showdown have been published in slightly altered versions many times before, but Kitchel and Baroody ostensibly objected to a passage in the speech about Social Security and prevailed upon Goldwater to call Reagan in order to have the speech pulled. Reagan first asked Goldwater if he had heard the program and then explained to him that the time was not his to give up. The end result, according to most versions of this tug of war, was that Goldwater heard the audio of the speech and asked his advisers “What the hell’s wrong with that?” The decision to proceed had apparently been made by the candidate himself.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn45_4836" name="_ftnref45_4836">[45]</a></p> <p>But Kitchel and Baroody would not give up so easily. In his inside account of the 1964 election, <a href="http://amzn.com/0465045731"><i>A Glorious Disaster</i></a>, campaign treasurer J. William Middendorf II reveals that the duo was trying to “substitute a Goldwater re-run” three hours before the Reagan broadcast was set to air.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn46_4836" name="_ftnref46_4836">[46]</a> Kilroy backed up Middendorf’s recollection and told CONELRAD that TV for Goldwater-Miller was a separate entity from the campaign advertising arm and he was resolved not to surrender the air time that had been purchased specifically for Reagan. “We weren’t in the business to finance a Barry speech,” an emphatic Kilroy told us. “Our responsibility was to Reagan. We told them no. I told Dean Burch that if Goldwater doesn’t want the speech to run to call me. Barry liked the speech. The problem was with his advisers.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn47_4836" name="_ftnref47_4836">[47]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-il1VkAhCbBQ/VE30mkXMPCI/AAAAAAAAD88/rl-OfsIhr3k/s1600-h/Kitchel_Baroody3.jpg"><img title="Kitchel_Baroody" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Kitchel_Baroody" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sRhwYonbUVY/VE30nL-fuUI/AAAAAAAAD9E/MO0yNDKebcI/Kitchel_Baroody_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="224" /></a></p> <p>In his book Middendorf speculates that Kitchel and Baroody may have been “goaded” by EWR & R to take action because the agency stood to lose a significant amount of commission money on the airing of the independently produced and sponsored Reagan speech. Middendorf recounts in his memoir that he had already heard the agency’s complaints directly.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn48_4836" name="_ftnref48_4836">[48]</a></p> <p>EWR & R’s meeting summary memos written by the aforementioned Albert Tilt provide a fascinating window into the efforts to diminish and then outright replace <i>A Time for Choosing</i>. The following are excerpts from the memos that deal directly with <i>A Time for Choosing</i>.</p> <p>October 19, 1964 EWR & R Report # 42 to the RNC:</p> <p>Ronald Reagan Speech – This would appear useful only in its full length as a half-hour for local use.</p> <p>October 22, 1964 EWR & R Report # 45 to the RNC:</p> <p>It was noted that the TV Committee had purchased 9:30-10 on NBC Tuesday, October 27 direct. Agency questioned running of Ronald Reagan film. It was suggested that the Madison Square Garden rally be taped for possible use on this date or that the October 21 show be repeated. </p> <p>October 24 & 25, 1964 EWR & R Report # 47 to the RNC:</p> <p>Agency was asked to set up a screening of “Brunch with Barry” as a possible re-run for October 27 half-hour purchased by the TV Committee.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fm572JdecuY/VE30nibPdwI/AAAAAAAAD_0/iRywFAGwzEQ/s1600-h/BrunchwithBarry-Screenshot.jpg"><img title="BrunchwithBarry-Screenshot" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="BrunchwithBarry-Screenshot" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qOMO-U2UFmI/VE30oKRA5LI/AAAAAAAAD_8/OfQPl6ZkVGw/BrunchwithBarry-Screenshot_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="244" /></a></p> <p>It should be noted that Tilt’s summary memos repeatedly mention the TV Committee and their representative, Robert Raisbeck, beginning with the September 3, 1964 issuance. In fact, Raisbeck and the TV Committee, headed by Kilroy, are the only entities referenced in connection to the Reagan program. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn49_4836" name="_ftnref49_4836">[49]</a></p> <p><b>SHOWTIME: RONALD REAGAN VERSUS MIA FARROW</b></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-57Ro0BjwUf4/VE30oRyWhoI/AAAAAAAAEAk/wYy2AXDlluE/s1600-h/Reagan_Farrow%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Reagan_Farrow" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Reagan_Farrow" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5pvIYndRWTY/VE30o9LlsWI/AAAAAAAAEAs/2chwMn8Ybkc/Reagan_Farrow_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="209" /></a></p> <p>At exactly 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 1964 voice actor <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/arts/television/03gilmore.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Art Gilmore</a> introduced <i>A Time for Choosing</i> and launched Ronald Reagan into history.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn50_4836" name="_ftnref50_4836">[50]</a> The speech ran against ABC’s hugely popular nighttime soap opera featuring Mia Farrow, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0951026/?ref_=ttep_ep13"><i>Peyton Place</i></a>, and CBS’s rural sitcom <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0673887/?ref_=ttep_ep28"><i>Petticoat Junction</i></a>. Ironically, this pivotal and triumphant moment in Reagan’s political evolution came in dead last in the ratings. It earned an 18.0 share of the audience in the Arbitron rankings compared to <i>Peyton Place</i> which won the time period with a 42.0 share.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn51_4836" name="_ftnref51_4836">[51]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CUsDpx8pn9Y/VE30pr1M5kI/AAAAAAAAD9w/k0UnjKnnQK8/s1600-h/Ratings4.jpg"><img title="Ratings" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Ratings" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-waw07ODEOzA/VE30qvv3ASI/AAAAAAAAD94/KKchzDWlgsI/Ratings_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="368" /></a></p> <p>But based on the reaction at Republican field offices, RNC headquarters and Western Union, the core Republican audience that night was watching Reagan, not Farrow.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn52_4836" name="_ftnref52_4836">[52]</a> Lucille Boston, who was in charge of the Westwood Goldwater for President Headquarters (in Los Angeles) and who was a personal assistant to Reagan for a period during the campaign, told CONELRAD in an email: </p> <blockquote> <p>What I remember the most vividly was that just after the speech, the phone board in the headquarters lit up like Times Square and we could not handle all the calls coming in. All said, “Reagan is fabulous. We need to have him run for office.” The people were ecstatic and there is no question but that the speech propelled Reagan into the forefront.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn53_4836" name="_ftnref53_4836">[53]</a></p> </blockquote> <p>F. Clifton White, the architect of the Draft Goldwater movement and the Director of Citizens for Goldwater-Miller, sent Reagan a telegram from RNC headquarters the following day congratulating him on the telecast and noting that the “phones are ringing off the hook here.” White was just one of hundreds of people who shared their sentiments about the speech via telegram, letter or phone call. The legendary film director John Ford was another: “GREAT RONNIE GREAT,” was the succinct review he transmitted from Honolulu. And Wilma Batz of Peoria, Illinois asked Reagan via telegram: “I know you’re an actor, but are you running for president?” The Reagan Library has a comparatively small sampling of the telegrams some of which can be viewed <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/244542703/Telegrams-Reacting-to-A-Time-for-Choosing">here</a>. The <a href="http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/burch.xml">Dean Burch Papers</a> at Arizona State University in Tempe contain a much larger cache of fan mail which CONELRAD has perused.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn54_4836" name="_ftnref54_4836">[54]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-T7I0Uayq7dY/VE30rAkd1KI/AAAAAAAAD98/wLNUzwH04gQ/s1600-h/Lo-Batz-Reagan-Telegram4.jpg"><img title="Lo-Batz-Reagan-Telegram" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Lo-Batz-Reagan-Telegram" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1WRZr0Wa0sE/VE30rtpb_qI/AAAAAAAAD-E/a62xlYLs17A/Lo-Batz-Reagan-Telegram_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="424" height="284" /></a></p> <p>Many of these communications from the public and regional Republican officials begged for a re-run of <i>A Time for Choosing</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn55_4836" name="_ftnref55_4836">[55]</a> They got their wish on Halloween when the speech was broadcast nationally for a second time on NBC in prime time. It was paired with a separate half-hour campaign plea for Goldwater starring John Wayne entitled <i>A Time for Courage</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn56_4836" name="_ftnref56_4836">[56]</a> The Reagan speech went on to be run repeatedly on local television stations.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn57_4836" name="_ftnref57_4836">[57]</a></p> <p><b>P.O. BOX 80: FOLLOW THE MONEY</b></p> <p>Of course, in addition to the letters and telegrams praising Reagan’s speech, checks came pouring into berry king Walter Knott’s P.O. Box 80 at the Terminal Annex Post Office in downtown Los Angeles. Kilroy confirmed to CONELRAD that the P.O. Box screen seen at the end of <i>A Time for Choosing</i> belonged to Knott, an arch conservative who was also chairman of the Citizens for Goldwater-Miller Committee of Orange County.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn58_4836" name="_ftnref58_4836">[58]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cFpndZh7NN8/VE30sM4ciVI/AAAAAAAAD-M/y5paKdeXoEg/s1600-h/End-Title3.jpg"><img title="End Title" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="End Title" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-q7ET9uiCcLY/VE30saAPrSI/AAAAAAAAD-U/ne0WnNe_PTo/End-Title_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p>The donations were processed by Security First National Bank which charged a fifty cent fee per contribution to provide a “Thank You” note to each contributor and to provide financial reporting to the Congressional Oversight Group, the Republican Party and the TV for Goldwater-Miller Committee.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn59_4836" name="_ftnref59_4836">[59]</a></p> <p>In the many campaign memoirs and autobiographies that have been published since 1964, there have been a wide variety of claims concerning how much money Reagan raised with his televised speech. Reagan’s own figure in his 1990 book may be the highest estimate at $8 million. On the lower end of the spectrum, Stephen Hess and David S. Broder guessed $600,000 in their 1968 book <a href="http://amzn.com/0060118776"><i>The Republican Establishment</i></a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn60_4836" name="_ftnref60_4836">[60]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-RPUyBpG8Fwg/VE30s_SeqJI/AAAAAAAAD-c/D0JPc3hMUdI/s1600-h/End-Title-23.jpg"><img title="End Title-2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="End Title-2" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3dqOZRRDb9g/VE30tWXtKOI/AAAAAAAAD-k/AJzMjKaNvj4/End-Title-2_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p><i>Congressional Quarterly</i> published the most extensive accounting of 1964 campaign finances in a special report published in their January 21, 1966 issue. According to <i>CQ</i>, during the last six days of the campaign—the period that Reagan’s speech would have had its biggest impact among contributors—a total of $2,800,000 was raised. But this figure includes all campaign appeals not just Reagan’s. However, <i>CQ</i> singled out Reagan’s “direct television appeal” (a.k.a. <i>A Time for Choosing</i>) and appeals by actor Raymond Massey and RNC head Dean Burch in their tabulation. <i>CQ</i> also reported that “at the end of the calendar year 1964, with all but a few campaign debts paid, the Republican National Committee had a surplus of $314,000; Citizens for Goldwater-Miller $309,006; and the National TV Committee for Goldwater-Miller $506,534.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn61_4836" name="_ftnref61_4836">[61]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-i1juoLehvbU/VE30ttfdDNI/AAAAAAAAD-s/pxHVBhXl7dU/s1600-h/Goldwater_7-Up_Lo-Res4.jpg"><img title="Goldwater_7-Up_Lo Res" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Goldwater_7-Up_Lo Res" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OA9395tTa74/VE30uOSDU-I/AAAAAAAAD-0/7XYVYUfYAhk/Goldwater_7-Up_Lo-Res_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="424" height="347" /></a></p> <p><b>CONCLUSION</b></p> <p>The internecine bickering over the unused GOP funds and the bitter debates over the party’s future in the wake of Goldwater’s staggering loss to President Lyndon Johnson was still playing out as Ronald Reagan <a href="http://youtu.be/0VNUOO7POXs">announced his candidacy for governor</a> of California on January 4, 1966.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn62_4836" name="_ftnref62_4836">[62]</a> Reagan’s long, occasionally bumpy ascent to the White House was officially underway. And with his election to the presidency in 1980, <i>A Time for Choosing</i> became an even more important event in his life and career. Had he lost, of course, the title of the speech would by now be the answer to a particularly difficult trivia question. But because Reagan was victorious, the then sixteen-year-old broadcast was prominently mentioned in <i>Time</i> magazine’s Man of the Year issue and other effusive profiles on the new President-elect.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn63_4836" name="_ftnref63_4836">[63]</a> And it is because Ronald Reagan eventually became president of the United States that the 1964 election will forever be remembered for two remarkable television advertising events, not just <a href="http://conelrad.com/daisy/index.php">one</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6cVOyQ_4Urs/VE30uvGXbII/AAAAAAAAEA0/rT0nNo0zqXs/s1600-h/Daisy_Reagan_64%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Daisy_Reagan_64" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Daisy_Reagan_64" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Svlb4lR3Y7o/VE30vE9XgvI/AAAAAAAAEA8/HmIVHVhsSg8/Daisy_Reagan_64_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="209" /></a></p> <p><b>POSTSCRIPT</b></p> <p>John B. Kilroy, who once memorably described himself to <i>Newsweek</i> magazine as a “damned capitalist,” retired from his company, Kilroy Realty Corp. at the age of 90 in 2013. He had started the companies that ultimately became Kilroy Realty in 1947.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftn64_4836" name="_ftnref64_4836">[64]</a> The former surfer and all-around modern Renaissance man is currently enjoying life with his wife Nelly and tending to his various philanthropic missions. You can watch a series of biographical videos of Kilroy <a href="http://www.kialoa-us1.com/Pages/contactus.aspx">here</a>, but don’t expect to hear him talk about <i>A Time for Choosing</i>. He’s moved on. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rmI_CQ1oum4/VE30vh_101I/AAAAAAAAD_M/VYVoyhSUz5w/s1600-h/Kilroy-Smiling%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Kilroy-Smiling" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Kilroy-Smiling" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3KRshnNJ8iM/VE30v33904I/AAAAAAAAD_U/vS4-ZHks4-c/Kilroy-Smiling_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p><b>BIBLIOGRAPHY</b></p> <p>Blumenthal, Sidney. <i>The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: The Conservative Ascent to Political Power</i>. New York: Times Books, 1986.</p> <p>Boyarsky, Bill. <i>The Rise of Ronald Reagan</i>. New York: Random House, 1968.</p> <p>Buckley Jr., William F. <i>Flying High: Remembering Barry Goldwater</i>. New York: Basic Books, 2008.</p> <p>Cannon, Lou. <i>Ronnie and Jesse: A Political Odyssey</i>. New York: Doubleday, 1969.</p> <p>Cannon, Lou. <i>Reagan</i>. New York: Putnam, 1982.</p> <p>Cannon, Lou. <i>Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power</i>. New York: Public Affairs, 2003.</p> <p>Colacello, Bob. <i>Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House, 1911 to 1980</i>. New York: Warner Books, 2004.</p> <p>Dallek, Matthew. <i>The Right Movement: Ronald Reagan’s First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics</i>. New York: Free Press, 2000.</p> <p>Davis, Patti. <i>The Way I See It: An Autobiography</i>. New York: Putnam, 1992.</p> <p>Darman, Jonathan. <i>Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America</i>. New York: Random House, 2014.</p> <p>Edgington, Steven D., and Lawrence Brooks De Graaf. <i>The "Kitchen Cabinet": four California citizen advisers of Ronald Reagan : Interviews</i>. [Fullerton]: Oral History Program, California State University, Fullerton, 1983.</p> <p>Edwards, Anne. <i>Early Reagan</i>. New York: Morrow, 1987.</p> <p>Edwards, Lee. <i>Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution</i>. Washinton, D.C.: Regnery, 1995.</p> <p>Eliot, Marc. <i>Reagan: The Hollywood Years</i>. New York: Harmony Books, 2008.</p> <p>Evans, Thomas W. <i>The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism</i>. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.</p> <p>Goldwater, Barry with Jack Casserly. <i>Goldwater</i>. New York: Doubleday, 1988.</p> <p>Hess, Stephen and David S. Broder. <i>The Republican Establishment</i>. New York: Harper and Row, 1967.</p> <p>Hoplin, Nicole and Ron Robinson. <i>Funding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement</i>. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2008.</p> <p>Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. <i>Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Campaign Advertising</i>. Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.</p> <p>Kelley, Kitty. <i>Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography</i>. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.</p> <p>Kilroy, Jim. <i>Kialoa US-1: Dare to Win : In Business, In Sailing, In Life</i>. [S.l.]: Smith Kerr Assoc., 2012</p> <p>McGirr, Lisa. <i>Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.</p> <p>Middendorf II, J. William. <i>A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater’s Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement</i>. New York: Basic Books, 2006.</p> <p>Morrell, Margot. <i>Reagan’s Journey: Lessons from a Remarkable Career</i>. New York: Threshold Editions, 2011.</p> <p>Morris, Edmund. <i>Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan</i>. New York: Random House, 1999.</p> <p>Nofziger, Lyn. <i>Nofziger</i>. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1992.</p> <p>Patrick, Curtis. <i>Reagan: What Was He Really Like? Volume 1</i> (ebook edition). New York: Morgan James Publishing, 2011.</p> <p>Perlstein, Rick. <i>Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus</i>. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.</p> <p>Reagan, Nancy with William Novak. <i>My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan</i>. New York: Random House, 1989.</p> <p>Reagan, Ronald and Richard G. Hubler. <i>Where’s the Rest of Me? The Ronald Reagan Story</i>. New York: Van Rees Press, 1965.</p> <p>Reagan, Ronald. <i>Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches</i>. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.</p> <p>Reagan, Ronald. <i>An American Life</i>. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990.</p> <p>Reagan, Ronald, Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Graebner Anderson, and Martin Anderson. <i>Reagan: A Life in Letters</i>. New York: Free Press, 2003. </p> <p>Reagan, Ronald, and Douglas Brinkley. <i>The notes: Ronald Reagan's private collection of stories and wisdom</i>. New York: Harper, 2011.</p> <p>Ritter, Kurt W. and David Henry. <i>Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator</i>. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992.</p> <p>Schoenwald, Jonathan M. <i>A time for choosing: the rise of modern american conservatism</i>. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.</p> <p>Schuparra, Kurt. <i>Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966</i>. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1998.</p> <p>Shadegg, Stephen. <i>What Happened to Goldwater? The Inside Story of the 1964 Republican Campaign</i>. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.</p> <p>White, F. Clifton and William J. Gill. <i>Suite 3505: The Story of the Draft Goldwater Movement</i>. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1967.</p> <p>White, F. Clifton and William J. Gill. <i>Why Reagan Won: A Narrative History of the Conservative Movement, 1964-1981</i>. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1981.</p> <p>Wills, Gary. <i>Reagan’s America: Innocents at Home</i>. New York: Doubleday, 1987.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref1_4836" name="_ftn1_4836">[1]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref2_4836" name="_ftn2_4836">[2]</a> Ronald Reagan, <i>An American Life</i> (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 139-140. For other books dealing with the 1964 election, see the Bibliography Section in this post.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref3_4836" name="_ftn3_4836">[3]</a> Carl Greenburg, “GOP Planning $1,000-a-Plate Dinner Series, <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, September 2, 1964, 3. </p> <p>“Miller Slated to Talk Here on Thursday,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, September 30, 1964, 7.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref4_4836" name="_ftn4_4836">[4]</a> Steven D. Edgington and Lawrence Brooks De Graaf. <i>The "Kitchen Cabinet": four California citizen advisers of Ronald Reagan: Interviews</i> (Oral History Program, California State University, Fullerton, 1983), 114. “Miller Slated to Talk Here on Thursday,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, September 30, 1964, 7.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref5_4836" name="_ftn5_4836">[5]</a> Curtis Patrick, <i>Reagan: What Was He Really Like? Volume 1</i> (Kindle edition) (New York: Morgan James Publishing, 2011), 302.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref6_4836" name="_ftn6_4836">[6]</a> Curtis Patrick, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, September 26, 2014.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref7_4836" name="_ftn7_4836">[7]</a> Carl Greenberg, “Goldwater to Kick Off State Drive Sept 8,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, August 23, 1964, D1. For Reagan’s campaign duties see: Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 139.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref8_4836" name="_ftn8_4836">[8]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 139-140.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref9_4836" name="_ftn9_4836">[9]</a> Reagan Foundation YouTube video of <i>A Time for Choosing</i>: <a href="http://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY">http://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY</a>. </p> <p>Articles mentioning John B. Kilroy: “Where the Money Is,” <i>Newsweek</i>, May 17, 1965, 39-40. David S. Broder, “G.O.P. Film Lacks a G.O.P. Sponsor, <i>New York Times</i>, July 2, 1965. Walter Pincus, “Goldwater Funds Still Used,” <i>Washington Evening Star</i>, September 15, 1965, A-5.</p> <p>Kurt Schuparra, <i>Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966</i> (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1998), 184.</p> <p>Interview of Gardiner Johnson, California State Archives, Oral History Program, 1973; 1983, 212-215. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref10_4836" name="_ftn10_4836">[10]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 143. John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref11_4836" name="_ftn11_4836">[11]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 126-130; 137.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref12_4836" name="_ftn12_4836">[12]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011. Peter Raisbeck, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, March 6, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref13_4836" name="_ftn13_4836">[13]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref14_4836" name="_ftn14_4836">[14]</a> Jim Kilroy, <i>Kialoa US-1: Dare to Win: In Business, In Sailing, In Life</i> (Kittery, Maine: Smith Kerr Assoc., 2012), 78.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref15_4836" name="_ftn15_4836">[15]</a> Fundraising letter, John B. Kilroy and Patrick J. Frawley, Jr., September 14, 1964, T 36, TV for Goldwater-Miller, Right Wing Collection, University of Iowa.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref16_4836" name="_ftn16_4836">[16]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, May 15, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref17_4836" name="_ftn17_4836">[17]</a> Alexander Zaitchik, “Meet the Man Who Changed Glenn Beck’s Life,” accessed October 26, 2014, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/">http://www.salon.com/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/</a></p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref18_4836" name="_ftn18_4836">[18]</a> “Anti-Red Youth Program,” <i>Press-Telegram</i> (Long Beach, CA), August 31, 1961, A-7. Display advertisement, “Hollywood’s Answer to Communism,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, October 16, 1961, B6. Display advertisement, “Anti-Communism Rally,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, December 10, 1962, 13. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref19_4836" name="_ftn19_4836">[19]</a> Peter Raisbeck, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, March 6, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref20_4836" name="_ftn20_4836">[20]</a> “In Memoriam,” <i>SAG / AFTRA</i>, Spring 2013, Volume 2, No. 1, 50.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref21_4836" name="_ftn21_4836">[21]</a> Reverend Doctor Thandeka, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, September 25, 2014.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref22_4836" name="_ftn22_4836">[22]</a> “Radio and Television Program Reviews,” <i>The Billboard</i>, November 13, 1948, 12.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref23_4836" name="_ftn23_4836">[23]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref24_4836" name="_ftn24_4836">[24]</a> R. Duke Blackwood, e-mail message to Bill Geerhart, September 19, 2014.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref25_4836" name="_ftn25_4836">[25]</a> EWR & R Conference Report # 31, October 5, 1964, Box 3H514, Goldwater Advertising: Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan Ad Agency, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection, 1949-1956, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref26_4836" name="_ftn26_4836">[26]</a> R. Duke Blackwood, e-mail message to Bill Geerhart, October 24, 2014.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref27_4836" name="_ftn27_4836">[27]</a> Advertisement, <i>Albuquerque Journal</i>, October 27, 1964, A-5.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref28_4836" name="_ftn28_4836">[28]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref29_4836" name="_ftn29_4836">[29]</a> Reagan Foundation YouTube video of <i>A Time for Choosing</i>: <a href="http://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY">http://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY</a></p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref30_4836" name="_ftn30_4836">[30]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 140. Edmund Morris, <i>Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan</i> (New York: Random House, 1999), 331. Lee Edwards, <i>Goldwater: The Man Who Made a Revolution</i> (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1995), 334. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref31_4836" name="_ftn31_4836">[31]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref32_4836" name="_ftn32_4836">[32]</a> Rick Perlstein, <i>Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus</i> (New York: Hill and Wang, 2001), 441.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref33_4836" name="_ftn33_4836">[33]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref34_4836" name="_ftn34_4836">[34]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref35_4836" name="_ftn35_4836">[35]</a> Display Advertisement, <i>The</i> <i>Independent</i> (Pasadena, CA), October 23, 1964. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref36_4836" name="_ftn36_4836">[36]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref37_4836" name="_ftn37_4836">[37]</a> EWR & R Conference Report # 45, October 22, 1964, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref38_4836" name="_ftn38_4836">[38]</a> EWR & R Conference Report # 46, October 23, 1964, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref39_4836" name="_ftn39_4836">[39]</a> Thomas Evans, <i>The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism</i> (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), 168-169. Marc Eliot, Reagan: The Hollywood Years (New York: Harmony Books, 2008), 333-334. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref40_4836" name="_ftn40_4836">[40]</a> Letter from J.J. Wuerthner, Jr. to Michael Deaver, May 4, 1984, Lemuel R. Boulware Papers, University of Pennsylvania.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref41_4836" name="_ftn41_4836">[41]</a> Peter Kihss, “Goldwater Exhorts 18,000 in Garden ‘Victory’ Rally,” <i>New York Times</i>, October 27, 1964. EWR & R Conference Report # 45, October 22, 1964, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection. “1964 Campaign Receipts and Spending Reported by 164 Groups,” <i>Congressional Quarterly</i>, January 21, 1964, 72.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref42_4836" name="_ftn42_4836">[42]</a> EWR & R Conference Report # 46, October 23, 1964, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref43_4836" name="_ftn43_4836">[43]</a> Goldwater Spot on being Imprudent and Impulsive: <a href="http://youtu.be/k3t6aptzn2A">http://youtu.be/k3t6aptzn2A</a>; Goldwater Spot on Communism: <a href="http://youtu.be/Uyzg0pPkFNc?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ">http://youtu.be/Uyzg0pPkFNc?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ</a>; Conversation at Gettysburg Spot: <a href="http://youtu.be/Lly3jANwMZM?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ">http://youtu.be/Lly3jANwMZM?list=UUuOUjQf3K8r6XmDhPBGiTJQ</a>. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref44_4836" name="_ftn44_4836">[44]</a> EWR & R Conference Report # 46, October 23, 1964, Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection. Val Adams, “G.O.P. Pre-Empts ‘T.W.3’ A 4<sup>th</sup> Time,” <i>New York Times</i>, October 24, 1964. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref45_4836" name="_ftn45_4836">[45]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 141. Edwards, <i>Goldwater</i>, 335. Perlstein, <i>Before the Storm</i>, 500.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref46_4836" name="_ftn46_4836">[46]</a> J. William Middendorf II, <i>A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater’s Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement</i> (New York: Basic Books, 2006), 207. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref47_4836" name="_ftn47_4836">[47]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref48_4836" name="_ftn48_4836">[48]</a> Middendorf, <i>A Glorious Disaster</i>, 207.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref49_4836" name="_ftn49_4836">[49]</a> Review of all EWR & R Conference Reports in Stephen Shadegg / Barry Goldwater Collection.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref50_4836" name="_ftn50_4836">[50]</a> Bruce Weber, “Art Gilmore, the Voice of Coming Attractions, Dies at 98,” <i>New York Times</i>, October 2, 2010.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref51_4836" name="_ftn51_4836">[51]</a> Arbitron Ratings, <i>Broadcasting</i>, November 2, 1964, 59. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref52_4836" name="_ftn52_4836">[52]</a> Accounts of the reaction and CONELRAD’s examination of telegrams and letters.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref53_4836" name="_ftn53_4836">[53]</a> Lucille Boston, e-mail message to Bill Geerhart, April 9, 2011.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref54_4836" name="_ftn54_4836">[54]</a> Telegrams, Box C35, Folder “66: ‘The Speech’ 1964 (Telegrams in Response)” 1-3, Ronald Reagan Governor’s Papers. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Telegrams, letters, phone call notes, Boxes 12-13, “TV, Ronald Reagan Speech for Senator Goldwater,” Dean Burch Papers, Arizona State University, Tempe.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref55_4836" name="_ftn55_4836">[55]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref56_4836" name="_ftn56_4836">[56]</a> Display advertisement, <i>Washington Evening Star</i>, October 31, 1964, A-7. “A Time for Courage,” John Wayne final dialogue script, Folder 7, Box 23, Barry Goldwater Collection, Arizona Historical Society.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref57_4836" name="_ftn57_4836">[57]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 143.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref58_4836" name="_ftn58_4836">[58]</a> John B. Kilroy, telephone interview with Bill Geerhart, February 12, 2011; Perlstein, <i>Before the Storm</i>, 500.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref59_4836" name="_ftn59_4836">[59]</a> Kilroy, <i>Kialoa US-1</i>, 79. Note: Kilroy refers to the bank that processed the contributions as the “Security Pacific National Bank.” Per “Committee Expenditures,” <i>Congressional Quarterly</i>, January 21, 1966, 47, the bank was Security First National Bank. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref60_4836" name="_ftn60_4836">[60]</a> Reagan, <i>An American Life</i>, 143. Stephen Hess and David S. Broder, <i>The Republican Establishment</i> (New York: Harper and Row), 253.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref61_4836" name="_ftn61_4836">[61]</a> “Record $47.8 Million Reported Spent in 1964 Elections,” <i>Congressional Quarterly</i>, January 21, 1966, 57-58. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref62_4836" name="_ftn62_4836">[62]</a> Walter Pincus, “Goldwater Funds Still Used,” Washington Evening Star, September 15, 1965, A-5. Carl Greenberg, Reagan Announces He’s Candidate for Governor,” <i>Los Angeles Times</i>, January 5, 1966, 3.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref63_4836" name="_ftn63_4836">[63]</a> “Man of the Year,” <i>Time</i>, January 5, 1981, 11. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Reagan-Timeforchoosing/___Excerpt Article/#_ftnref64_4836" name="_ftn64_4836">[64]</a> “Where the Money Is,” <i>Newsweek</i>, May 17, 1965, 39. “Founder, chairman of Kilroy Realty Retires,” Associated Press via Yahoo News, February 28, 2013.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com157tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-7462021843924052722013-12-08T06:48:00.001-08:002013-12-08T06:49:56.724-08:00“Ready for Occupancy”: The Greenbrier Bunker<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-AMNq_g0-thU/UqSGxO4qLQI/AAAAAAAAD2Y/x1niI9OzGVQ/s1600-h/LBJ%252520Letter%252520Heading_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="LBJ Letter Heading_Lo" border="0" alt="LBJ Letter Heading_Lo" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qTmc06sBpvE/UqSGx1YWuOI/AAAAAAAAD2c/40hgHkrHSxQ/LBJ%252520Letter%252520Heading_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="231" /></a></p> <p>Just a couple of weeks before the Cuban missile crisis, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson updated President John F. Kennedy on the status of Project CASPER - the top secret program to provide Congress with a five star emergency <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/groundzero/greenbrier.html" target="_blank">relocation facility</a> under the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The massive facility, in short, was “ready for occupancy.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gvLaqLq0e3c/UqSGyS1934I/AAAAAAAAD2o/jk2GvCXb0TE/s1600-h/Food%252520Rotation_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Food Rotation_Lo" border="0" alt="Food Rotation_Lo" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NibPn4P_QrE/UqSGy2oawtI/AAAAAAAAD2s/PYKzt94-FHA/Food%252520Rotation_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="61" /></a></p> <p>It is hard to imagine JFK being too concerned with the “rotation of food stocks” and the “stockage of office supplies,” but we were delighted to find that such minutiae were included in the Vice President’s report.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oGGcM9oSD4k/UqSGzf3p6MI/AAAAAAAAD24/Z9ED6kvJsFg/s1600-h/Greenbrier%252520Rations%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Greenbrier Rations" border="0" alt="Greenbrier Rations" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3ahQg53HyIo/UqSGz5nVapI/AAAAAAAAD28/GZXB3ERnGoY/Greenbrier%252520Rations_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="326" /></a></p> <p>Though he is not named,  the “project coordinator,” mentioned in the letter is Fred C. Hicks, Jr. (1920-1971) pictured below. We will be presenting a biography of Mr. Hicks soon.         </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nP5Jts6ldbU/UqSG0a-9mPI/AAAAAAAAD3E/8BX_-q8OKjU/s1600-h/Cigarette_Lo%252520Res%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Cigarette_Lo Res" border="0" alt="Cigarette_Lo Res" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WgNOo-26V0k/UqSG0-DCf9I/AAAAAAAAD3M/N_ahDJjeYY0/Cigarette_Lo%252520Res_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="296" /></a></p> <p>Read the full letter below.</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View LBJ Casper Status Report: 10/2/62 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/190238312/LBJ-Casper-Status-Report-10-2-62">LBJ Casper Status Report: 10/2/62</a></p> <iframe id="doc_97531" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/190238312/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined"></iframe> <p>Source:</p> <p>Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library <br />National Security File, Files of C.V. Clifton <br />Box No. 2 <br />Folder: Project Casper <br />Document: Vice President Johnson to President Kennedy, October 2, 1962</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-7623344617279657612013-12-05T06:50:00.001-08:002013-12-05T07:32:48.401-08:00UNDELIVERED: The LBJ Austin Speech, 11-22-63<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EMrCSxznpco/UqCSv9Ey_kI/AAAAAAAAD1M/Fgfd6O7Z6YI/s1600-h/Speech%252520Header%252520copy%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Speech Header copy" border="0" alt="Speech Header copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WuQCNMCZ-vg/UqCSwXvsW7I/AAAAAAAAD1Q/CK_7VH4zPLM/Speech%252520Header%252520copy_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="419" height="75" /></a></p> <p>Last month, as the fervor over the fiftieth anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination built and then peaked on November 22<sup>nd</sup>, there were fleeting references to a speech that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson never got to deliver.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn1_9693" name="_ftnref1_9693">[1]</a> The tantalizing story goes that if the campaign stop in Dallas, Texas had simply been an uneventful visit instead of a national tragedy, LBJ would have introduced the President at a banquet hall in Austin that evening. The shocking punch line to this anecdote is that Johnson supposedly included a joke at the expense of Big D in his prepared remarks. Specifically, the published accounts of this undelivered speech state that LBJ was to have said, “And thank God, Mr. President, you came out of Dallas alive.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn2_9693" name="_ftnref2_9693">[2]</a> We were intrigued by this line because it sounds entirely too good to be true. So we looked into the matter and the following is what we discovered.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-v0IixC6L5dg/UqCSw110VkI/AAAAAAAAD1c/32SysRzQv2k/s1600-h/Austin%252520Hall_LBJ%252520Library%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Austin Hall_LBJ Library" border="0" alt="Austin Hall_LBJ Library" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dQY9XExskvo/UqCSxY5wEDI/AAAAAAAAD1g/Ev4aHIPp1RE/Austin%252520Hall_LBJ%252520Library_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="266" /></a></p> <p>There was, indeed, a <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/11/20/jfk_assassination_the_banquet_set_up_in_austin_for_the_night_of_november.html">fundraising event</a> planned for the evening of November 22<sup>nd</sup> at Austin’s Municipal Auditorium.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn3_9693" name="_ftnref3_9693">[3]</a> And there was a speech that the Vice President was scheduled to deliver. When we telephoned and asked an archivist at the <a href="http://www.lbjlibrary.org/">Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library</a> if she had ever heard of the supposed Dallas joke, she answered no and then consulted with a colleague. The colleague stated that the remark in question is <i>not</i> in the prepared Austin speech for that day.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn4_9693" name="_ftnref4_9693">[4]</a> We promptly requested a copy of the text.</p> <p>We have now confirmed, to our deep disappointment, that the speech contains no deliciously ironic jabs at Dallas. It does, however, feature shout-outs to the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, the Aggies of Texas A & M and, of course, a nod to the beloved University of Texas Longhorns. It is, in short, boilerplate Vice Presidential patter barely passable for what was, after all, a $100-a-plate function.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Hf7QGNH3_qU/UqCSxxOUu-I/AAAAAAAAD1o/I2a3xzKNMzc/s1600-h/Horned%252520Frog%252520Mascot_1965%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Horned Frog Mascot_1965" border="0" alt="Horned Frog Mascot_1965" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yzS8yL-_xIU/UqCSyPDYv3I/AAAAAAAAD1s/6vkPvaCfLJo/Horned%252520Frog%252520Mascot_1965_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="303" /></a></p> <p>How did this apocryphal story become an entrenched footnote in JFK assassination lore? Apparently, it started with Stanley Marcus’s (of Neiman Marcus fame) 1974 memoir <i>Minding the Store</i>. On page 255 of this book, Marcus, who was a Dallas native and celebrity, offered a slightly different version of events. He stated that the dinner for the Kennedy campaign was to be held on November 23<sup>rd</sup>, not the fateful day of the 22<sup>nd</sup>. He then wrote that Johnson “reportedly ended his proposed but canceled speech with, ‘And thank God, Mr. President, that you came out of Dallas alive.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn5_9693" name="_ftnref5_9693">[5]</a> It is this passage that is used as one of the sources for the recently published book <i>Dallas 1963</i> by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn6_9693" name="_ftnref6_9693">[6]</a></p> <p>Garrett M. Graff uses the “Dallas alive” quote as the dramatic opening to his November <i>Washingtonian</i> magazine article <a href="http://www.washingtonian.com/projects/JFK-AF1/layout1.html">“Angel Is Airborne,”</a> but adds the detail “The joke was prepared, the words typed, ready to place on the Vice President’s lectern in Austin, Texas, later that evening.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn7_9693" name="_ftnref7_9693">[7]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Pj9sA64RyyU/UqCSygE8r1I/AAAAAAAAD18/nXGU5NZuZ08/s1600-h/LBJ_Oath_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="LBJ_Oath_Lo" border="0" alt="LBJ_Oath_Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-r83AOlUDAyQ/UqCSzWe7MlI/AAAAAAAAD2A/w70cOkp1hFI/LBJ_Oath_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="242" /></a></p> <p>The macabre-in-retrospect Dallas gag is a lot more interesting than a hat tip to the Horned Frogs of TCU, but a fictional story presented as historical fact has to stop somewhere. Below is the complete speech for the benefit of future historians.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftn8_9693" name="_ftnref8_9693">[8]</a></p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Undelivered LBJ Austin Speech November 22 1963 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/189569823/Undelivered-LBJ-Austin-Speech-November-22-1963">Undelivered LBJ Austin Speech November 22 1963</a></p> <iframe id="doc_83106" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/189569823/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined"></iframe> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref1_9693" name="_ftn1_9693">[1]</a> Two of the most recent accounts of the alleged Dallas joke contained in the LBJ Austin speech are from the following sources:</p> <p>Garrett M. Graff, <a href="http://www.washingtonian.com/projects/JFK-AF1/layout1.html">“Angel Is Airborne”</a> <br />Washingtonian, Volume 49, Number 2 <br />November 2013, p. 81 </p> <p>Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis <br />Dallas 1963 <br />(Twelve, 2013), p. 262 </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref2_9693" name="_ftn2_9693">[2]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref3_9693" name="_ftn3_9693">[3]</a> Rebecca Onion, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/11/20/jfk_assassination_the_banquet_set_up_in_austin_for_the_night_of_november.html">“In Austin, ‘The Welcome JFK!’ Banquet That Never Happened”</a> <br />Slate.com, The Vault <br />November 20, 2013</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref4_9693" name="_ftn4_9693">[4]</a> Telephone conversation with LBJ Library archivist Barbara Cline on November 22, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref5_9693" name="_ftn5_9693">[5]</a> Stanley Marcus <br />Minding the Store: A Memoir <br />(Little, Brown, 1974), p. 255</p> <p>For Marcus’s status in Dallas see Eric Pace, “Stanley Marcus, the Retailer From Dallas, Is Dead at 96,” <br />New York Times, January 23, 2002</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref6_9693" name="_ftn6_9693">[6]</a> Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis <br />Dallas 1963 <br />(Twelve, 2013), p. 262, footnote 29 </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref7_9693" name="_ftn7_9693">[7]</a> Garrett M. Graff, <a href="http://www.washingtonian.com/projects/JFK-AF1/layout1.html">“Angel Is Airborne”</a> <br />Washingtonian, Volume 49, Number 2 <br />November 2013, p. 81 </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/LBJ Austin Speech_11221963/#_ftnref8_9693" name="_ftn8_9693">[8]</a> Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library <br />Collection: Statements of Lyndon B. Johnson <br />Box Number 89 <br />11/22/63 Remarks by Vice President, Austin, Texas [Undelivered]</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-85537484064392652172013-11-16T08:47:00.001-08:002013-11-16T09:01:10.792-08:00MOUNT WEATHER MEMOS: PART 2<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4-zGjPiR2Sw/UoehZ9R_JHI/AAAAAAAADxU/09RKetxBCU0/s1600-h/Header%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Header" border="0" alt="Header" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4LUHYfpClEg/UoehaVuQHwI/AAAAAAAADxY/m4TKJt8yel8/Header_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="177" /></a></p> <p>As we mentioned in <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/11/mount-weather-memos-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a> of our series, the Cold War era meeting minutes from the top secret government relocation site known as Mount Weather (aka The Special Facility, aka High Point, aka the Classified Location) are mind-numbingly routine. Indeed, these notes are probably as stultifying as your last corporate conference call. In short, when we happened upon these documents at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, we were hoping for <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058576/" target="_blank">Seven Days in May</a></em> but what we got was <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Office Space</a></em>. And just as we did in Part 1, we have combed through the bureaucratic dross to find a few noteworthy highlights. In other words, we read the entire document so you wouldn’t have to. It is, however, embedded at the end of this post in case you want to read the whole thing. So without further delay, here are the gems.</p> <p>The year began with the promise of more dining options.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3hc3Nwp0hts/Uoeha1FgmrI/AAAAAAAADxg/_WmNz3fBXc0/s1600-h/Cafeteria%252520News_02121965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Cafeteria News_02121965" border="0" alt="Cafeteria News_02121965" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NaLF4MrFO5I/UoehbEg_lVI/AAAAAAAADxs/ZZ3j0FkR5-w/Cafeteria%252520News_02121965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="52" /></a></p> <p>In the minutes for the February 12, 1965 meeting, it was announced that the phrase “DEFCON 4” would not be used at the facility, but rather the less alarming advisory to “monitor news broadcasts/telecasts” would be deployed. Note: FAR stands for Federal Agency Representatives (i.e. the people attending the weekly meeting at the Special Facility) and CINCONAD stands for Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DKQyYLPO1p4/UoehbyzmXsI/AAAAAAAADxw/lAAaR5xdejc/s1600-h/Defcon_02121965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Defcon_02121965" border="0" alt="Defcon_02121965" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QHPL9Qne-iE/UoehcQQRqWI/AAAAAAAADx8/SeTKmE6WkIc/Defcon_02121965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="91" /></a></p> <p>The February 12th minutes also featured an inside (?) joke about syndicated newspaper columnist Drew Pearson and rabbits. Hmmm.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yLar4DM9u2o/UoehdpG3p9I/AAAAAAAADyE/9JlDckcsL9c/s1600-h/Pearson_Rabbits_02121965%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Pearson_Rabbits_02121965" border="0" alt="Pearson_Rabbits_02121965" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pruStJRDZeE/Uoehd2S1nXI/AAAAAAAADyI/Prv6FEfJE1g/Pearson_Rabbits_02121965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="32" /></a> </p> <p>March brought news of an exciting new training tape about brainwashing in Korea.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_ESdmJZaUbY/UoeheWg6Z5I/AAAAAAAADyU/DOpRW8ELaHk/s1600-h/Brainwashing_03121965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Brainwashing_03121965" border="0" alt="Brainwashing_03121965" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XQRFS2IZylM/Uoehe9a-tSI/AAAAAAAADyY/8et1DgcRuo0/Brainwashing_03121965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="29" /></a></p> <p>The April 16th notes revealed that Mount Weather has a firing range…</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-G9W7oj-1MfA/UoehfcYnGII/AAAAAAAADyg/vW15plA32kI/s1600-h/Firing%252520Range_04161965%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Firing Range_04161965" border="0" alt="Firing Range_04161965" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Tn-Z7FxVGG4/UoehflkiRcI/AAAAAAAADyo/4AdKXoHL4n0/Firing%252520Range_04161965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="32" /></a></p> <p>…And that food services had attained “a very high level of compliance with regulations.” Leftover business from 1964 regarding a site barbershop was also raised.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-y3SDdL6ASOg/UoehgH3vukI/AAAAAAAADy0/2OIUvgG4mPw/s1600-h/Food%252520Service_Barber_0416165%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Food Service_Barber_0416165" border="0" alt="Food Service_Barber_0416165" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JzuEfjUsSqE/UoehguRCMoI/AAAAAAAADy8/jT-B2vORsfQ/Food%252520Service_Barber_0416165_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="79" /></a> </p> <p>The June 18th minutes announced a dance at the American Legion hall in Berryville, Virginia.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yBVaVDiyeAw/UoehhLz6klI/AAAAAAAADzE/OYFBPRJqZhY/s1600-h/Dance_06181965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Dance_06181965" border="0" alt="Dance_06181965" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zJ7SMyjEMGo/UoehhkjXNlI/AAAAAAAADzI/UH5dRxHNBuI/Dance_06181965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="86" /></a></p> <p>The July 2nd notes previewed an upcoming briefing on “Censorship Plans.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1RNS4nh5is8/UoehiAVNJ1I/AAAAAAAADzQ/NqT1BDjkAgk/s1600-h/Censorship_07021965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Censorship_07021965" border="0" alt="Censorship_07021965" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-96TluxsRdhE/UoehidSgySI/AAAAAAAADzY/6K-De2tmC7U/Censorship_07021965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="61" /></a></p> <p>The July 23rd minutes announced, among other things, a farewell party for U.S. Army Interagency Communications Agency (USAICA) official Colonel Bruce Caron. The party was to be broadcast live over the facility’s closed circuit channel 2. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-wyPom2ieeLY/Uoehi2eyigI/AAAAAAAADzg/ilL2Q7IICp4/s1600-h/EBS_Pass_Party_07231965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="EBS_Pass_Party_07231965" border="0" alt="EBS_Pass_Party_07231965" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zM5VDEMOZBI/UoehjaChM4I/AAAAAAAADzo/oCzx9OPWiAs/EBS_Pass_Party_07231965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="121" /></a></p> <p>The August 6th minutes included mention of “emergency Chaplain replacement.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-eT5V9cimf7s/Uoehj6VF42I/AAAAAAAADzw/5GQmMbFTFos/s1600-h/Chaplain%252520Replacement_08061965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Chaplain Replacement_08061965" border="0" alt="Chaplain Replacement_08061965" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vQ_quvtvrCg/UoehkIWiNLI/AAAAAAAADz4/ZSIOu9Fq-y8/Chaplain%252520Replacement_08061965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="57" /></a></p> <p>The August 20th notes promised an investigation into the matter of “speeding carts” in the corridors of the Special Facility.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-J3k2ZqmXdh8/Uoehkish6JI/AAAAAAAAD0A/cXmCPZKZJ3E/s1600-h/Cart%252520Speeding_08201965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Cart Speeding_08201965" border="0" alt="Cart Speeding_08201965" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GJPsZzszxtI/UoehlOi6OxI/AAAAAAAAD0I/UHU4x3doP38/Cart%252520Speeding_08201965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="51" /></a> </p> <p>The August 27th minutes announced the company picnic (?).</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-C2xfnKfwwgo/UoehlUM3dnI/AAAAAAAAD0U/JPFcREINXDk/s1600-h/Picnic_08271965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Picnic_08271965" border="0" alt="Picnic_08271965" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tuZRt1hWB6k/Uoehl9A2b6I/AAAAAAAAD0c/6QbDopdyJkg/Picnic_08271965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="36" /></a></p> <p>October brought “constructive” criticism of the cafeteria.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-c2661NGz7R8/UoehmeVoIVI/AAAAAAAAD0g/yTlotP5LfOo/s1600-h/Cafeteria%252520Criticism_10221965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Cafeteria Criticism_10221965" border="0" alt="Cafeteria Criticism_10221965" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VIjINzmSDN0/Uoehm2Tvv1I/AAAAAAAAD0s/ttMRwf_L2X4/Cafeteria%252520Criticism_10221965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="36" /></a></p> <p>The year ended on a high note with congratulations to the Mount Weather team for their handling of the Northeast Blackout of November 9th. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0OvVHtoz-Xw/UoehncMPt7I/AAAAAAAAD00/c3O47fMwz7g/s1600-h/Blackout%252520Congrats_11191965%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Blackout Congrats_11191965" border="0" alt="Blackout Congrats_11191965" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--K_mVQYiiUw/Uoehn0V4l1I/AAAAAAAAD04/NOACJ0xJPAg/Blackout%252520Congrats_11191965_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="129" /></a></p> <p>To read the letter referenced in the minutes excerpt above click on this <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/182823344/Mount-Weather-Northeast-Blackout-Documents" target="_blank">link</a>.</p> <p>And, finally, the Special Facility Meeting Minutes in their entirety…</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1965 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/184548266/Mount-Weather-Meeting-Minutes-1965">Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1965</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_57293" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/184548266/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-1cb7rzz62ewtgzlqa4da&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.776247848537005" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>Stay tuned for Part 3.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-28782155004385432712013-11-04T05:58:00.001-08:002013-11-04T06:12:26.717-08:00MOUNT WEATHER MEMOS: PART 1<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XQHAeG9ggdw/UnenwoJVgXI/AAAAAAAADuE/zNzpTASIBH4/s1600-h/Meeting%252520Minutes%252520Header_Hi%252520Res%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Meeting Minutes Header_Hi Res" border="0" alt="Meeting Minutes Header_Hi Res" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-a-y_nf4DjLc/UnenxJH8umI/AAAAAAAADuI/Nmijy0qjRP0/Meeting%252520Minutes%252520Header_Hi%252520Res_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="179" /></a></p> <p>Since at least 1962 (when authors Fletcher Nebel and Charles W. Bailey II described a presidential refuge called Mount Thunder in their bestselling political thriller <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-May-F-Knebel/dp/0060124369">Seven Days in May</a>), the public has speculated about the activities inside a government super bunker known as Mount Weather (aka High Point, the Special Facility, the Classified Location). Mount Weather has proven to be such an irresistible and mysterious symbol of state secrecy over the years that it has served as the location of dramatic scenes in fictional entertainments like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_%28The_X-Files%29">last episode</a> of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106179/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The X-Files</a></i>, the 2002 motion picture <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164184/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Sum of All Fears</a></i> and the 2008 remake of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970416/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Day the Earth Stood Still</a></i>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WJ2knjuMqdM/UnenxU4KP5I/AAAAAAAADuU/PBbHwF4v-SE/s1600-h/Mulder-MountWeather-2%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Mulder-MountWeather-2 copy" border="0" alt="Mulder-MountWeather-2 copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0BRKYapR3Xk/Unenx3zx-KI/AAAAAAAADuY/LGBagZr7Tr4/Mulder-MountWeather-2%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="229" /></a></p> <p>But what is Mount Weather really like? Could it possibly live up to its paranoia-inspiring legend? The short answer is no – at least as far as its 1960s heyday is concerned (we’ll leave it to future researchers to examine the more modern history of the place). How can we answer our own question with such confidence? We recently stumbled upon hundreds of pages of declassified Cold War era Mount Weather meeting notes and other memoranda at the <a href="http://www.lbjlibrary.org/">Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library</a>. These documents, which we will be presenting as a series of posts on this blog, paint a picture of life at the “Special Facility” that is not so special. The meeting minutes, in particular, reveal the site to be less like the science fiction and action films mentioned above and more like the workplace satire <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/?ref_=nv_sr_1"><i>Office Space</i></a>. Indeed, anyone who has ever had to sit through weekly conference calls for their job will look at these documents and nod in pained recognition of the tedious bureaucracy. It is all here: the parking space notices, key card photograph reminders, retirement announcements, company picnics, flu shot reminders, and the list goes on.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oKk8-7eLHDI/UnenyXnmeAI/AAAAAAAADug/bx4sz4doW0s/s1600-h/officespace-birthday%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="officespace-birthday" border="0" alt="officespace-birthday" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FId4hrfKTLE/UnenynWIe4I/AAAAAAAADuk/zZiqWqxz_-Y/officespace-birthday_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="232" /></a></p> <p>This first installment in our series will focus on the weekly minutes of the “Federal Representatives Meeting, Special Facility Branch” for the year 1964. Subsequent years will be featured in future posts. If there is anyone out there reading these documents who participated in these meetings, we would love to <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/about/faces.php?faces=07">hear from you</a>. </p> <p>The following are some excerpts from the text that struck as being notable. Of course, you can also simply skip right to the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/181386550/Mount-Weather-Meeting-Minutes-1964" target="_blank">full document</a> and be bored silly. </p> <p>The January 17, 1964 minutes addressed the possibility of opening a barbershop on the site.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vMrrLv3Qkbw/UnenzLK-tII/AAAAAAAADus/5BC1VX3wqjM/s1600-h/Barbershop4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Barbershop" border="0" alt="Barbershop" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Iia-P21iRzc/Unen0ILGooI/AAAAAAAADu8/oREyDsVMWiE/Barbershop_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="96" /></a></p> <p>A couple of weeks later, in the January 31 notes, it was determined that the barbershop issue required “further study.” Spoiler alert: the barbershop conundrum is revisited in our next Mount Weather Memos post.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-45wprQyvkPg/Unen0hL4c8I/AAAAAAAADvA/Ci6Yp9RrA3k/s1600-h/Barbershop_Further-Study4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Barbershop_Further Study" border="0" alt="Barbershop_Further Study" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TntvFMSp7DE/Unen06mV1XI/AAAAAAAADvI/M0GfYb49sik/Barbershop_Further-Study_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="46" /></a></p> <p>In the January 24th minutes, the issue of reserved parking was raised – a recurring theme in 1964. In this instance the unauthorized parking was blamed on “shift workers.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zBiQ12prpMo/Unen1bxCWII/AAAAAAAADvQ/3kM84e3Kn1M/s1600-h/Reserved%252520Parking%252520Complaint%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Reserved Parking Complaint" border="0" alt="Reserved Parking Complaint" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KZHiOi8c5EA/Unen15j-XyI/AAAAAAAADvY/aaEQJRQQ5zM/Reserved%252520Parking%252520Complaint_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="71" /></a></p> <p>Speaking of “shift workers,” the November 13, 1964 notes include a reminder that the Mount Weather cafeteria closes at 3:00 p.m. so that the “limited staff can clean the tables.” Throughout the documents that we found, the subject of the cafeteria comes up almost as frequently as the status of various civil defense test exercises. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pyJ6BeQ7sR8/Unen2MH4TlI/AAAAAAAADvg/iU4X2ue8Zrw/s1600-h/Cafeteria%252520Hours%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Cafeteria Hours" border="0" alt="Cafeteria Hours" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_J6tGXjNEzY/Unen2gDAnbI/AAAAAAAADvo/PbUf2BhvCsA/Cafeteria%252520Hours_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="52" /></a></p> <p>On March 27th the staff was warned about a “rabies problem.” A rabid fox had been killed on the site and, in a  line that recalls the feverish paranoia of the red scare, everyone was warned “to take due caution of animals showing aggressive, erratic or purposeless behavior.”</p> <p>Another running controversy throughout these memos is the usually poor ratings scored during staff telephone tree tests - something that the world’s greatest continuity of government site should, ideally, have covered. Here is an example of the problem from the June 5th minutes:</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dP4m3fdqf7o/Unen3OhTh9I/AAAAAAAADvw/jDXkom5ZRek/s1600-h/Telephone%252520Tree%252520Test%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Telephone Tree Test" border="0" alt="Telephone Tree Test" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8NFL7hdYHB8/Unen3XZkIoI/AAAAAAAADv4/RRQ2o03zacQ/Telephone%252520Tree%252520Test_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="101" /></a> </p> <p>On June 19th it was announced that an in-house closed circuit (channel 2) television news broadcast called “Noon Report” would premiere on June 22nd. The response was tepid and the program was later bumped to 3:00 p.m.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TdGTdCLfgtk/Unen4Q5xhzI/AAAAAAAADwE/PxIFrz1r3Zw/s1600-h/Noon%252520Report%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Noon Report" border="0" alt="Noon Report" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jF_6RPJ6SCM/Unen4n-xHnI/AAAAAAAADwI/Sg6W5K_rjW0/Noon%252520Report_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="92" /></a> </p> <p>The minutes from October 23rd bring us a snapshot from the pre-voicemail era of office technology. These notes prove that even at one of the most technologically sophisticated offices in the world, it was once extremely expensive and cumbersome to dodge a phone call from a supervisor.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-I47GAcOBlyg/Unen5G41UGI/AAAAAAAADwU/XS14VCB8zTs/s1600-h/Primitive%252520and%252520Expensive%252520Voicemail%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Primitive and Expensive Voicemail" border="0" alt="Primitive and Expensive Voicemail" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CkTXVbvYHeM/Unen5lJC6tI/AAAAAAAADwc/nVKFAXwb6cU/Primitive%252520and%252520Expensive%252520Voicemail_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="96" /></a></p> <p>We will conclude this installment of Mount Weather Memos with a warning about snake dangers…</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QpJWE08kCfQ/Unen6H_IGPI/AAAAAAAADwg/yxsGMLCiHq4/s1600-h/Snake%252520Dangers%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Snake Dangers" border="0" alt="Snake Dangers" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qNpEEwIGNwM/Unen6TY2e5I/AAAAAAAADwo/7iky1pQbem8/Snake%252520Dangers_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="147" /></a></p> <p>Read the full document:</p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1964 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/181386550/Mount-Weather-Meeting-Minutes-1964">Mount Weather Meeting Minutes: 1964</a></p> <iframe id="doc_6984" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/181386550/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p> </p> <p>SOURCE</p> <p>Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library <br />Federal Records: Office of Emergency Planning <br />Box 10 <br />Folder: Minutes of Special Facilities Meetings, 01/10/64-12/16/65</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-24312033914664388732013-10-23T12:37:00.001-07:002013-10-23T14:11:24.173-07:00PAPER CHASE: THE FBI’S GREENBRIER BUNKER NOTIFICATION DUTY<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-y1jI4V5yFrA/UmglNIgkMlI/AAAAAAAADoY/Blwgx6sVqvU/s1600-h/Congressional%252520Rubble%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Congressional Rubble" border="0" alt="Congressional Rubble" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-toEiZWNmHKc/UmglN_cdaZI/AAAAAAAADoc/v9aVRofWUbk/Congressional%252520Rubble_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="229" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>“All FBI offices, day-to-day and emergency, should be supplied in advance and on a secret basis, with the location of the Congressional relocation site and with instructions that in the event of a Presidential proclamation calling upon the Congress to convene at the Congressional relocation site, the FBI should inform members of Congress so presenting themselves and so establishing their identity, of the location of the Congressional relocation site.”</p> <p>- Text from a February 10, 1961 FBI <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390040/1961-Draft-Letter-RE-Congressional-Relocation-Site">memo</a> recommending the protocol for notifying members of the United States Congress of their emergency relocation site</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cHTcJeu_ZJk/UmglOEx8SlI/AAAAAAAADok/RiAx87J4MfY/s1600-h/1961%252520FBI%252520Text%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="1961 FBI Text" border="0" alt="1961 FBI Text" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7MCTGovEh3Y/UmglOpfDfFI/AAAAAAAADos/WjMJTpkHhg0/1961%252520FBI%252520Text_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="86" /></a></p> <p>Thanks to investigative journalist Ted Gup we all know that the super bunker at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia was intended for use by the Congress in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. He revealed its unlikely existence on May 31, 1992 in a <i>Washington Post</i> magazine <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm">cover story</a>. Not included in Mr. Gup’s very detailed exposé is the procedure by which rank and file members of Congress would have been made aware of the bunker. This post will fill in that small gap in the Greenbrier bunker knowledge base.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rd7l6y4stdY/UmglPBk0NvI/AAAAAAAADo4/wef0HQaX-CY/s1600-h/Greenbrier-False-Front%252520Door%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Greenbrier-False-Front Door" border="0" alt="Greenbrier-False-Front Door" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ss9lGHIj0-o/UmglPzJVOyI/AAAAAAAADo8/MHRHCf8Z6jI/Greenbrier-False-Front%252520Door_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="292" /></a>  <br />Earlier in the year we published a <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/03/greenbrier-bunker-notification-pros-and.html">post</a> about government correspondence concerning the sensitive task of notifying members of Congress of their <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/groundzero/greenbrier.html">top secret relocation site</a> in the event of a national emergency during the Cold War.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftn1_6018" name="_ftnref1_6018">[1]</a> The author of the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/130754034/Henry-R-McPhee-Memo-RE-Congressional-Notification-of-Bunker">document</a> that we presented in our previous story suggested several options to his addressee on how to handle this apocalyptic chore. One possibility included saddling the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the notification duty. The reasoning behind this particular choice was the concern that the security of the site might eventually be compromised if an ever increasing number of active and <i>former</i> Congressmen had ongoing knowledge of its location. Obviously, nothing was ruled in or ruled out in this one-sided memo, so we (and our readers) were left hanging awaiting another memo that revealed the decision. By virtue of the tireless <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_%28United_States%29">FOIA</a> filing efforts of <a href="http://www.governmentattic.org/">GovernmentAttic.org</a> we now have the additional documents that prove that the Greenbrier bunker notification responsibility was, in fact, assigned to the FBI. And, surprisingly, it was not a job that was immediately accepted with open arms by the Bureau. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-11gszOpVDPg/UmglQcvS74I/AAAAAAAADpI/-yZ5I6unojA/s1600-h/Observation%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Observation copy" border="0" alt="Observation copy" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-KZtHdaKO_BY/UmglRBA-gvI/AAAAAAAADpQ/T0yvLV9XYsM/Observation%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="161" /></a></p> <p>Indeed, in assessing the White House’s request for this assistance, senior FBI agent Alan H. Belmont argued against it. In an October 21, 1957 internal <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390038/1957-J-Edgar-Hoover-Approves-Relocation-Notification-Policy">memo</a> Belmont was more concerned with the bureau’s mission of “rounding up enemy aliens” during a crisis – not helping panicky legislators learn about their shelter accommodations. Belmont also raised the possibility of “some member of Congress” coming to a FBI field office to demand the location of the bunker site prior to the approved disclosure period (i.e. <i>after</i> a Presidential proclamation). He concluded that this scenario would put the “Bureau in a bad light” and imply “that the White House does not sufficiently trust the rank and file of the Congress” with the information. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MAzpJmIANTA/UmglRxUyjkI/AAAAAAAADpY/9uaQbV-hMps/s1600-h/Hoover%252520and%252520Tolson%252520-%2525201947%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Hoover and Tolson - 1947" border="0" alt="Hoover and Tolson - 1947" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-wN2Hu_pag38/UmglSkJKVpI/AAAAAAAADpc/EQRv10Fi5gw/Hoover%252520and%252520Tolson%252520-%2525201947_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="319" /></a></p> <p>But FBI leadership quickly disregarded these concerns in the form of terse mark-ups to Belmont’s correspondence. Associate Director Clyde Tolson weighed in first by scribbling “If the President wants us to do this, I think it is OK – T.” Director J. Edgar Hoover concurred and wrote the following next to Tolson’s note: “Of course. We must do it if that is the President’s desire. H.” </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1XrYIPcr6Mo/UmglTNOBfBI/AAAAAAAADpk/rEoSLFYPJGU/s1600-h/Tolson-Hoover_Handwritten%252520Note%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Tolson-Hoover_Handwritten Note copy" border="0" alt="Tolson-Hoover_Handwritten Note copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bzK0m5MVy9I/UmglTuAre1I/AAAAAAAADps/HLMnFtIH3LQ/Tolson-Hoover_Handwritten%252520Note%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="69" /></a></p> <p>That settled that. And then there was a period of silence while the Greenbrier bunker was actually built. In early 1961, as the bunker was nearing operational status, the issue of congressional notification was revisited in more concrete terms.</p> <p>Following some bureaucratic <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390040/1961-Draft-Letter-RE-Congressional-Relocation-Site">revisions</a>, a protocol for the secret notification duty was arrived at between the FBI and the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (OCDM). According to an internal FBI <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390074/1961-Letter-for-Approval-of-Congressional-Relocation-Site-Notification">memo</a>, the Attorney General was officially notified of the agency’s new responsibility via a letter dated February 14, 1961. </p> <p>In a March 7, 1961 <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390046/1961-J-Edgar-Hoover-Letter-RE-FBI-Notification-Responsibility">memo</a> Director Hoover stated that FBI field offices “have been advised of the Bureau’s responsibility in informing Members of Congress, upon their request, as to the specific location of the Congressional relocation site. This information will only be made available to Congressmen in the event of an emergency, when, in the judgment of the President, Congress should convene outside Washington, D.C. The identity of the Congressional relocation site is being maintained by our field offices in sealed envelopes, to be opened only upon the issuance of the Presidential proclamation.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-u2dqiOc26bM/UmglTw2lolI/AAAAAAAADp4/MBa9_IDhRGI/s1600-h/Hoover%2525201961%252520Statement%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Hoover 1961 Statement" border="0" alt="Hoover 1961 Statement" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Lt3Fm1yBZKA/UmglUtFk7uI/AAAAAAAADp8/-A99x-QEGtQ/Hoover%2525201961%252520Statement_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="154" /></a></p> <p>Hoover’s <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390039/1961-Distribution-of-Sealed-Envelopes">memo</a> to the field offices—distributed through the Albany, New York office—provided additional details regarding the procedure:</p> <p>“Attached hereto, for each office, is an appropriate number of sealed envelopes, classified Secret, each containing the identity of the specific location of the Congressional relocation site. In accordance with Congressional instructions received through OCDM, these envelopes should not be opened, except in the event the condition cited previously exists. A sealed envelope should be filed in each copy of your office defense plan as Appendix 25…”</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-xYKNtZ_pWvc/UmglVF0jGJI/AAAAAAAADqE/GE2zZB-92ts/s1600-h/Hoover_Distribution%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Hoover_Distribution copy" border="0" alt="Hoover_Distribution copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Vi0fvBs1e0o/UmglVgzlvlI/AAAAAAAADqM/rG23YW3qKvQ/Hoover_Distribution%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="114" /></a></p> <p>One last bit of business that needed to be addressed was where exactly to store the defense plan containing the location of the Congressional relocation site at the Records Branch of the FBI in Washington, DC. In a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390044/1961-File-Cabinet-Recommendation">memo</a> dated March 14, 1961, Mr. Belmont helpfully suggested that “Bureau File 66-17388” be retained in the Confidential File Room. In 1964 the matter was revisited in the form of a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390048/1964-Decision-on-Storage-of-Congressional-Relocation-Site-Information">memo</a> requesting confirmation that the file still needed to reside in what was now called the “Special File Room.” Per the initials of the responsible supervisors, the secret location of the Greenbrier bunker stayed put in its super secure haven.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftn2_6018" name="_ftnref2_6018">[2]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rQNBYfebNLw/UmglWEbKtyI/AAAAAAAADqU/MBnRB3GAIEM/s1600-h/File%252520Room%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="File Room copy" border="0" alt="File Room copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZVORj8XeP0w/UmglWu6DOKI/AAAAAAAADqc/Oi3r0oNULNE/File%252520Room%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="124" /></a></p> <p>But where were the field offices maintaining their copies of the defense plans and sealed envelopes (aka Appendix 25) and were they secure? Sixteen years after the first envelope was licked, someone finally asked. According to a March 8, 1977 <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390058/1977-Distribution-to-Field-Offices-Requiring-Response-RE-Security-of-Relocation-Site-Envelopes">memo</a>, representatives of the Defense Preparedness Agency (a successor agency to OCDM) “wanted reassurance that these sealed envelopes are kept in a safe place and had not been tampered with in any way…” This same memo contained FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley’s request to “All SACS” that each of them confirm “the safe location and integrity of sealed envelopes” and notify FBI headquarters of the results of their inspection by close of business on March 11, 1977.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UJV6NXKSl30/UmglWwehA4I/AAAAAAAADqk/kF_h22uYpPk/s1600-h/Scotch%252520Tape%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Scotch Tape copy" border="0" alt="Scotch Tape copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-P4N0tDI-d94/UmglXW1EtJI/AAAAAAAADqw/8yCkRGtPzQw/Scotch%252520Tape%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="49" /></a></p> <p>Miraculously, most of the field offices had nothing but good news to report back to the Director. A sampling of these routine replies can be viewed <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390065/1977-Field-Office-Responses-to-Relocation-Site-Envelope-Security">here</a>. There was <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390068/1977-Scotch-Tape-Found-on-Congressional-Relocation-Site-Envelope">one case</a> in Chicago where one of the sealed envelopes had been “worn on one end and had been sealed with Scotch tape, dated and initialed.” There were a few other anomalies with regard to the envelopes in other offices, but these issues were reported and did not set off any alarm bells. And then there was the case of the Butte, Montana field office. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Kxc_O0-O2tE/UmglX-l_xrI/AAAAAAAADq4/rIw_HgPAp5s/s1600-h/Butte%252520Postcard_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Butte Postcard_Lo" border="0" alt="Butte Postcard_Lo" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Z-mL1Wm9vDg/UmglYRAk8OI/AAAAAAAADrA/8wzSTpYsR2U/Butte%252520Postcard_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="257" /></a></p> <p>The Butte office, reputedly a dumping ground for the worst FBI agents in the Bureau,<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftn3_6018" name="_ftnref3_6018">[3]</a> responded to headquarters in a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/177390054/1977-Butte-Field-Office-Has-Lost-Sealed-Envelopes">memo</a> that stated that the “envelope must have been inadvertently destroyed when all secret material [was] ground up” when they updated their plans the previous year. They then meekly requested a replacement envelope. The Director was having none of it. He fired back a memo rebutting their shredder excuse and demanded that an “exhaustive search” be conducted with a subsequent report of their efforts. Unfortunately, there is no follow-up memo included in the declassified documents. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5-q4GTXHaIE/UmglZMfzOnI/AAAAAAAADrI/-HAnrRP-GJA/s1600-h/Butte_Reprimand%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Butte_Reprimand copy" border="0" alt="Butte_Reprimand copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JaH8ft2qSc0/UmglaiaXuiI/AAAAAAAADrQ/H_xZ1eiQwHM/Butte_Reprimand%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="207" /></a></p> <p>Presumably the Butte office received their replacement envelope (and a reprimand) and maintained its integrity until the office was <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/august/montana_083011">permanently closed</a> in 1989. </p> <p>There is no evidence contained in the declassified documents released thus far that the FBI was relieved of its notification responsibilities prior to Ted Gup’s published <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm">revelation</a> of the existence of the Greenbrier bunker in 1992. It is therefore assumed that the procedure remained in place for the life of the bunker. </p> <p>Have the field offices been assigned a similar notification task in the years since the decommissioning of the Greenbrier bunker? If there is a new Congressional relocation site, the answer to this question may be yes. After all, the level of trust between the White House and Congress has only declined since 1961.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-W5N_Vv33uR8/Umglb2z7dSI/AAAAAAAADrU/UIcnfGoDtWk/s1600-h/J%252520Edgar%252520Hoover%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="J Edgar Hoover" border="0" alt="J Edgar Hoover" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rnfRi-HMtFk/Umglcc9RdcI/AAAAAAAADrg/1WRdiRanpTE/J%252520Edgar%252520Hoover_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="383" /></a></p> <p>REFERENCES</p> <p>Unless otherwise noted, all of the documents referenced in this post have been excerpted from the following FOIA release: </p> <p>"Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) war/emergency plans and Bureau assistance for members of Congress in the event of war/emergency, 1955-1977" <br /> <br />Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation <br />Attn: FOI/PA Request <br />Record/Information Dissemination Section <br />170 Marcel Drive <br />Winchester, VA 22602-4843 </p> <p>To read all of the memos referenced in this post, please see our <a href="http://www.scribd.com/collections/4372912/FBI-Congressional-Relocation-Site-Correspondence">FBI Congressional Relocation Site Correspondence</a> collection on Scribd.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref1_6018" name="_ftn1_6018">[1]</a> The redacted government documents referenced in this post do not mention the Greenbrier resort bunker in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia as the relocation site for the U.S. Congress, but another declassified FBI document we have posted does. See: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/102562220/Greenbrier-FBI-Memos-1957">http://www.scribd.com/doc/102562220/Greenbrier-FBI-Memos-1957</a>.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref2_6018" name="_ftn2_6018">[2]</a> CONELRAD has filed a Freedom of Information request with the FBI for Bureau File 66-17388 including Appendix 25 with a special note that we would like the contents of the sealed envelope photocopied. We will update this post if and when we receive this documentation. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Greenbrier/FBI War Plans File/For Use on Blog/#_ftnref3_6018" name="_ftn3_6018">[3]</a> For a mention of the Butte field office’s bad reputation see page 28 of “From Appalachia to the White House: My Life in the Secret Service” by Joe Dye [Bloomington, IN: CrossBooks, 2011]. See also pages 67, 216 and 396 of “The FBI” by Ronald Kessler [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994] in which he references the history of the notorious field office.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com237tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-82412250994217770632013-08-19T05:04:00.001-07:002013-08-19T13:10:14.378-07:00ATOMIC GODDESS REVISITED: RITA HAYWORTH’S BOMB IMAGE FOUND!<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nbpD_5WOp1w/UhIJsKElC-I/AAAAAAAADkc/lC8iLXHR7Ac/s1600-h/Gilda%252520Headline%252520copy%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Gilda Headline copy" border="0" alt="Gilda Headline copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-72rCJ4rD1Zc/UhIJshJlpaI/AAAAAAAADkk/0aEBpQR7c80/Gilda%252520Headline%252520copy_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="123" /></a></p> <p><strong>CONELRAD EXCLUSIVE</strong></p> <p>Several years ago CONELRAD posted an <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/07/atomic-goddess-rita-hayworth-and-legend.html">article</a> detailing our exhaustive investigation into the claims that movie star Rita Hayworth’s image adorned the fourth atomic bomb ever detonated: The Able device exploded at Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946. The article was the result of many months of research that included correspondence with archivists from the National Archives and the Los Alamos National Laboratory as well as interviews with some of the men who participated in the Operation Crossroads Able test. We concluded that Ms. Hayworth’s likeness was not on the Able bomb, but that a stencil of her then current hit film, <i>Gilda</i>, was. We based this finding on the majority of the interviews that we conducted and, more significantly, on the archival government film <a href="http://youtu.be/NH-o-VmFm7Y">footage</a> of the bomb itself. </p> <p>Of the six Crossroads participants that we interviewed only Leon D. Smith, the weaponeer onboard Dave’s Dream, the plane that dropped the Able bomb, insisted that he saw Rita Hayworth’s image on the weapon. Smith was quite specific in his recollection. He told us the following about the image during our interview with him:</p> <blockquote> <p>“I thought it was something very revealing. I remember it being more of an evening gown… if I look at the nose from the rear of the bomb, I thought it was in the upper left-hand quadrant – up in the front of the bomb.”</p> </blockquote> <p>The then 88-year-old retired electrical engineer added that one of the reasons he remembered the image so clearly was because “[Hayworth] was very popular with us [servicemen and scientific support personnel] because we had been overseas and sort of starved for sex. And we had pictures of Rita overseas, so I was just delighted to see her picture on the bomb.”</p> <p>But in evaluating all of the evidence that we had uncovered and taking into account the reliability of human memory after so many decades, we decided to side with the majority recollection of our interviewees as supported by the only released footage of the bomb. In the end, despite our best efforts, we could not find the hard proof needed to validate Leon D. Smith’s colorful and vivid memories.</p> <p>As it turns out, though, Mr. Smith was right all along and we could not be happier.</p> <p>Indeed, we are delighted to be able to announce that the evidence that we failed to locate in 2008-2009 magically appeared in our e-mail inbox earlier this month. The following images—published for the first time by CONELRAD—are stills captured from a film roll that came from the <a href="http://www.lanl.gov/index.php">Los Alamos National Laboratory</a> and they are presented here with permission. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-54Fwl4hBjPA/UhIJtBKnWEI/AAAAAAAADks/ISUGU-LCoEg/s1600-h/Gilda01%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Gilda01" border="0" alt="Gilda01" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZXm4UiEVbgjam3jAR3fFYna0mambDA2cL7nkmIqT8SKlSBK4JDvHqIDj5re8A643A2DOmUluynUmoH8Ic9MR0qxxgveJmGgvSNZbsQTojTKITY0rp9jzI8EQT__PQ1yodZdyCayNGxQ/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="296" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hsMp6_f7WvU/UhIJuS4uphI/AAAAAAAADk8/NFfyua-1PXI/s1600-h/Gilda_02%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Gilda_02" border="0" alt="Gilda_02" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bdddRguFkYg/UhIJuhGP9GI/AAAAAAAADlE/cUbTXi0ms1k/Gilda_02_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="296" /></a></p> <p>Atomic documentarian <a href="http://www.atomcentral.com/">Peter Kuran</a>, the guardian angel who thought of CONELRAD when he discovered the historic film, told us that the footage “came out of a can without classification.” Kuran later added that the quick shots of Hayworth’s image on the Able bomb appear at the beginning of a roll of film that, for whatever reason, was not released to filmmaker <a href="http://robertstoneproductions.com/">Robert Stone</a> when he attempted to get all Crossroads bomb footage declassified for his 1988 documentary <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093817/combined"><i>Radio Bikini</i></a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftn1_5493" name="_ftnref1_5493">[1]</a> </p> <p>Los Alamos’s historian, Alan B. Carr, told CONELRAD that he had never seen the Hayworth images before Peter Kuran showed them to him and that the film roll in question is considered “unclassified.” Carr is not sure when the film was declassified or if it ever was considered classified. Kuran hopes to use the footage for an upcoming video project. CONELRAD will notify its readers when it is released. In the meantime, readers can view Kuran’s impressive archival handiwork on his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/atomcentral">YouTube channel</a>. </p> <p><b>SOLVING THE FINAL MYSTERY</b></p> <p>The final mystery then is where did this particular Rita Hayworth image come from?</p> <p>When CONELRAD was researching its original “Atomic Goddess” <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/07/atomic-goddess-rita-hayworth-and-legend.html">article</a> we found varying press accounts as to how Hayworth’s image was presented on the Able device. One article improbably claimed that it was a carefully rendered portrait painted by three artists. Operation Crossroads official Thomas Lanahan told United Press in 1946 that the image was an advertisement for <i>Gilda </i>that was cut out of an <i>Esquire</i> magazine. However, sixty-three years later he was certain that only a stencil of the name “GILDA” was marked on the weapon. Leon D. Smith told us that he remembered it being a painting.</p> <p>Now that we were able to actually see the Hayworth image as it appeared on the bomb, we decided to revisit Lanahan’s original version of events as told to the wire service.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftn2_5493" name="_ftnref2_5493">[2]</a> His comments, via UP, were published in the June 30, 1946 edition of the <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i>:</p> <blockquote> <p>“We stenciled the name in two-inch black letters. Then somebody suggested we needed a picture, so we found an old copy of <i>Esquire</i> and cut out a movie advertisement for <i>Gilda</i>.”</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JOmRlJRU8_U/UhIJvXdQnNI/AAAAAAAADlM/J3VO3egZPkg/s1600-h/Lanahan_UP_1946%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Lanahan_UP_1946" border="0" alt="Lanahan_UP_1946" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Zg-ik6afVJE/UhIJv5fP2DI/AAAAAAAADlU/kBZV4c5WCW0/Lanahan_UP_1946_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="354" height="129" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD had already examined <i>Esquire</i> on microfilm for the period in question for our earlier article, so we instead tried to find the image on the Internet. No luck. We also checked with a few prominent commercial photograph archives.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftn3_5493" name="_ftnref3_5493">[3]</a> These companies had dozens of <i>Gilda</i>-era Hayworth shots, but not the one that appears on the bomb. </p> <p>We then consulted with <a href="http://www.utdallas.edu/~amclean/amclean_vita.htm">Adrienne L. McLean</a>, the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813533899/conelrad">Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom</a>, and she was able to produce from her personal collection a very similar image to what is on the bomb. Specifically, McLean provided us with a photo of a sheet music book for a Mel Tormé song from 1946 that featured Hayworth on the cover. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-PlRXdv4jVbA/UhIJwfhjBTI/AAAAAAAADlc/UCEAgNnQ2bw/s1600-h/Hayworth%252520sheet%252520music_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Hayworth sheet music_Lo" border="0" alt="Hayworth sheet music_Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-0ZyrGjVMcKg/UhIJxA5qioI/AAAAAAAADlg/apubrTI9NBw/Hayworth%252520sheet%252520music_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="354" height="498" /></a></p> <p>But it wasn’t <em>quite</em> the same art that graced the bomb. It may have been a shot taken seconds before or seconds after the image that is on the bomb. So we decided to take one last careful look at <i>Esquire</i> on microfilm at the Library of Congress. We requested microfilm of the magazine from June 1945 through October of 1946 to cover all bases. </p> <p>As we were nearing the end of our meticulous scrolling, the elusive photograph appeared on page 78 of the June 1946 edition! The pin-up, credited to legendary Hollywood photographer <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1986-11-05/local/me-15364_1_photograph-collection">Bob Coburn</a> (1900-1990), was a dead ringer for the image on the bomb, but we still wanted to see the original shot as it appeared in the actual magazine. It was immediately obvious that the dark microfilm scan that we took did not do justice to Mr. Coburn’s camera magic. So we ordered a copy of the original issue on eBay.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-erC1n-0T9WY/UhIJxlOejcI/AAAAAAAADls/aOrUClJUkCE/s1600-h/Esquire%252520Pgs%25252078-79%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Esquire Pgs 78-79" border="0" alt="Esquire Pgs 78-79" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eByG1xQV1YI/UhIJyMxPz6I/AAAAAAAADl0/B5eLIpro_GM/Esquire%252520Pgs%25252078-79_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p>The 10” x 13” magazine (<i>Esquire</i> has shrunk considerably since the 1940s) arrived in the mail a few days later. The full color Hayworth portrait, titled “American Beauty,” pops off the page. The dress that she is wearing is an earlier version of the Jean Louis-designed <i>Put the Blame on Mame</i> evening gown seen in <i>Gilda</i>. The text at the bottom of the page gives a brief biography of the actress, plugs for her current films and her measurements.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-w8sfS8QH1Is/UhIJyibhLUI/AAAAAAAADl8/G6olcL1uOx4/s1600-h/Esquire_pg%25252078%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Esquire_pg 78 copy" border="0" alt="Esquire_pg 78 copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3ZjvVLMIMLw/UhIJzQRuiKI/AAAAAAAADmE/L-tZXTpzp-4/Esquire_pg%25252078%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="489" /></a></p> <p>We consulted with artist David K. Landis of <a href="http://www.shakeitloosegraphics.com">Shake It Loose Graphics</a> for his professional analysis of whether the <i>Esquire</i> shot is the same image that was cut out and affixed to the bomb. Landis told us that he believes that it is. Some readers may be wondering why the white necklace from the <i>Esquire</i> photo is not visible in the bomb images. As Mr. Landis pointed out to us, it <i>is</i> visible, but just barely. It is possible that the lights used with the motion picture camera that filmed the bomb were responsible for washing out the finer definition of the necklace. One also has to consider how far away from the weapon the camera may have been.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-SIHTjU2eLJQ/UhIJz_Wdl9I/AAAAAAAADmM/QOF7vaPq_nc/s1600-h/Necklace%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Necklace" border="0" alt="Necklace" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ufc_apeS_AQ/UhIJ0SLXqyI/AAAAAAAADmU/VPFtUxwotKI/Necklace_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="249" /></a></p> <p>From examining earlier images of the bomb (when the “GILDA” stenciling was still being touched up and before the Hayworth photo was added), Landis was also able to explain the hard-edged white surface that appears in the later shots of the bomb with the Hayworth image. He told us that this was the result of someone covering that area of the bomb with a sheet of paper to protect it from the black sealant spray that was applied at some point <i>after</i> the shot of the man working on the stencil painting of “GILDA.” </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-czELW3uTFlg/UhIJ1KD2PQI/AAAAAAAADmc/4Amn-V9N7lU/s1600-h/Gilda%252520Bomb%252520Collage%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Gilda Bomb Collage" border="0" alt="Gilda Bomb Collage" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hW2a4y8sUx0/UhIJ1W2DLII/AAAAAAAADmk/s_nkJiXLdHw/Gilda%252520Bomb%252520Collage_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="204" /></a></p> <p><b>A MEMORABLE SHOT</b></p> <p>When we called Thomas Lanahan, the man who still has the original “GILDA” stencil, to tell him the good news about finally finding the evidence to support the complete Rita Hayworth atomic bomb story, he told us that he still remembers the <i>Esquire</i> shot. It is a testament to the beauty and star power of Rita Hayworth that a 92-year-old man remembers a pin-up photo from 1946. Of course, the unusual backdrop Lanahan and his buddies chose for the picture is pretty memorable, too. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-SV8UJCvu7Ts/UhIJ2WSjAMI/AAAAAAAADms/ts8902DfAy8/s1600-h/Lanahan_2009%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Lanahan_2009" border="0" alt="Lanahan_2009" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RmLl68aoqkA/UhIJ2r4RPVI/AAAAAAAADm0/x4EhmZLj98k/Lanahan_2009_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="286" /></a></p> <p>We’ll close this post by revisiting the June 30, 1946 Orson Welles ABC radio broadcast in which the famous film auteur commented on his wife’s imminent role in the Operation Crossroads atomic test. The recording is made all the more extraordinary now that we know for a fact that the image was on the bomb.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:3085d693-1ad3-400c-b721-06ab81b77ce9" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div><object width="399" height="224"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BXlx24HZpWk?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BXlx24HZpWk?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="399" height="224"></embed></object></div></div> <p><b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS</b></p> <p>This post is dedicated to Dave’s Dream weaponeer <a href="http://obits.abqjournal.com/obits/show/229855">Leon D. Smith</a> whose memory served him so well when we asked him about Rita Hayworth’s image being on the atomic bomb four years ago. Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 92 on October 14, 2012 and was denied the right to tell us he “told us so.” For the record: he told us so.</p> <p>Thanks again to <a href="http://www.atomcentral.com/">Peter Kuran</a> for thinking of us when he made his amazing discovery. And thanks to <a href="http://www.lanl.gov/index.php">Los Alamos National Laboratory</a> historian Alan B. Carr for granting CONELRAD permission to publish the Rita Hayworth atomic bomb images. </p> <p>Thanks to <a href="http://www.utdallas.edu/~amclean/amclean_vita.htm">Adrienne L. McLean</a> for her Hayworth-centric photographic memory and her general guidance on the movie icon. </p> <p>Finally, thanks to <a href="http://www.wellesnet.com/">Wellesnet</a> for their online preservation of the remarkable 1946 Orson Welles Bikini radio commentary.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fmUCiFF6T78/UhJyMVJ9cPI/AAAAAAAADng/aw9V5jLpPWI/s1600-h/Esquire%252520Cover%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Esquire Cover" border="0" alt="Esquire Cover" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-keKB8JyPhTI/UhJyMmyQKZI/AAAAAAAADnk/i21HPLcyP60/Esquire%252520Cover_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="391" /></a></p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftnref1_5493" name="_ftn1_5493">[1]</a> Historian Alan B. Carr, who was not yet working for the Los Alamos National Laboratory when Robert Stone submitted his Freedom of Information Act requests for Operation Crossroads footage, suggested in an August 14, 2013 email to CONELRAD that there are a couple of theories for the why the filmmaker never received the footage with the Rita Hayworth image. One theory is that some of the films Stone requested may not have been under the purview of the Los Alamos archives in the mid-1980s. These films may have been under the control of the testing division and it is possible that Stone’s request did not filter down to this department. Another theory is that the film itself was overlooked. The field testing motion picture collection, according to Carr, contains thousands of films and that there is no “user-friendly database.” For the last couple of years Carr has been leading an effort to organize and preserve these historic films.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftnref2_5493" name="_ftn2_5493">[2]</a> It is important to note that in all of the voluminous press clippings we examined on this topic, Thomas Lanahan is the only person quoted by name about the Gilda stencil and the Hayworth image on the Able atomic bomb. For a complete list of newspaper and magazine citations, see our original <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/07/atomic-goddess-rita-hayworth-and-legend.html">article</a>.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Rita Hayworth-AbleBomb/___Rita Hayworth Image Revisited/#_ftnref3_5493" name="_ftn3_5493">[3]</a> CONELRAD also checked with the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills for the Rita Hayworth image. Their initial search did not locate the photo we were seeking.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com184tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-80205739434974993082013-04-29T07:45:00.001-07:002013-04-29T07:45:41.107-07:00TICKET TO MOUNT WEATHER: BUNKER PASS FORM<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fDBFIwq_d5U/UX6Hi440lcI/AAAAAAAADiQ/R5pTi3t0FUM/s1600-h/00%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="00" border="0" alt="00" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oLnfwp5Ow40/UX6HjVZeogI/AAAAAAAADiY/qRJjHwQppoI/00_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="237" /></a></p> <p>While searching for documents relating to our recent <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-resort-of-their-own-supreme-courts.html">post</a> on the Supreme Court’s Cold War relocation arrangement with a resort hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, we came across something else of interest. A few months <i>after</i> the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, the Court received “Pass Information” forms from the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP).<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftn1_8697" name="_ftnref1_8697">[1]</a> The “questionnaires”—as a member of Chief Justice Earl Warren’s administrative staff called them—are a bit intrusive. Indeed, one line requests the submitter’s blood type (“If known. Otherwise leave blank”). Another line requests the submitter’s weight. There is also a request for “three (3) pictures” that “should be of such a size that a picture 2 1/16” x 2 x 1/16” can be trimmed to fit the passes.” </p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Supreme Court Emergency Pass Form on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/138497483/Supreme-Court-Emergency-Pass-Form">Supreme Court Emergency Pass Form</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_53295" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/138497483/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-3lpgb18p6nmpqj9a578" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.78827646544182" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>What was this mysterious pass for exactly? The dead giveaway is at the bottom of the document. The text instructs the submitter to return their “Pass Information” form to William E. Elliott, Security and Inspection Officer, Office of Emergency Planning. Mr. Elliott, as CONELRAD blog readers may recall, is the same person referenced in our recent Mount Weather Morals Case Mystery <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-mount-weather-morals-case-mystery.html">post</a>. Specifically, he was one of the men consulted in the rushed handling of a “morals case” that threatened to compromise two top secret federal emergency relocation sites. We have another document that references this individual as being a senior official with security operations at the “Classified Location” (aka Mount Weather, aka High Point, aka the Special Facility). Not much else is known about the shadowy Mr. Elliott other than that he shows up in a 1958 <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/officialregister58unit/officialregister58unit_djvu.txt">Official Register of the United States</a> entry as a “Security and Inspections Officer” with an annual salary of $12,150. If William E. Elliott or any members of his family are reading this post, we’d love to hear from you. </p> <p>It is unclear from the handling of this document that the Chief Justice knew what its intended purpose was. The note asking for Warren’s guidance on issuing the form does not indicate whether there was any additional instruction offered by the OEP.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IP32DloMLkc/UX6HjrSgXEI/AAAAAAAADig/dnSvGKumZKc/s1600-h/Supreme%252520Ct%2525201963%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Supreme Ct 1963" border="0" alt="Supreme Ct 1963" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Dwzc0en4B0c/UX6HkFDXBFI/AAAAAAAADio/7EoK5RXbdiA/Supreme%252520Ct%2525201963_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="321" /></a>  <br />In the end, the memorandum cover page to the “Pass Information” form that was prepared for distribution to the Associate Justices simply states that “The Office of Emergency Planning is asking us to complete the attached form for official purposes.” It is signed off by the initials “E.W.” common to Earl Warren’s memos.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftn2_8697" name="_ftnref2_8697">[2]</a> CONELRAD was unable to find any evidence that the forms were ever completed by the Justices.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftn3_8697" name="_ftnref3_8697">[3]</a> Based on the Chief Justice’s declining interest in civil defense, it seems clear that he never disclosed his weight or blood type to Mr. Elliott.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xU9jqytZjhg/UX6Hki_Vn2I/AAAAAAAADiw/nf_V2IUDMlY/s1600-h/Earl-Warren-1954%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Earl-Warren-1954" border="0" alt="Earl-Warren-1954" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yNW3kMUomNE/UX6HkydP4WI/AAAAAAAADi4/Fdzyn0pyZc8/Earl-Warren-1954_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="404" /></a></p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftnref1_8697" name="_ftn1_8697">[1]</a> The document was found in Box 359, Papers of Earl Warren <br />Folder: Sundry Memos to the Court, 1961-1964 <br />Library of Congress, Manuscript Division</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftnref2_8697" name="_ftn2_8697">[2]</a> During the course of our research at the Library of Congress, CONELRAD examined dozens of Warren’s memos.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/Library of Congress/Pass Card Form/#_ftnref3_8697" name="_ftn3_8697">[3]</a> CONELRAD reviewed all of the administrative records for this period of the Supreme Court’s history. We have also reviewed all of the unclassified records of the Office of Emergency Planning at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. There are a significant number of documents from this agency that remain classified. </p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-12164965895868542142013-04-24T06:19:00.001-07:002013-04-24T07:07:47.455-07:00A RESORT OF THEIR OWN: The Supreme Court’s Cold War Relocation Plan<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VukDymVScXM/UXfby0GiGTI/AAAAAAAADeY/1oh8Jil9ntI/s1600-h/Oak-Grove-Park_Aerial-copy5.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Oak Grove Park_Aerial copy" border="0" alt="Oak Grove Park_Aerial copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8HttygzJj7g/UXfbzXlFxyI/AAAAAAAADeg/9ouz47iCp0Y/Oak-Grove-Park_Aerial-copy_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="259" /></a></p> <p>In 1992 the <i>Washington Post</i> revealed to the world the surprising Cold War emergency relocation plan of the United States Congress. In remarkably detailed reporting the newspaper told the Strangelovian <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm">story</a> of a massive government bunker built beneath the posh <a href="http://www.greenbrier.com/Activities/The-Bunker/Bunker-Tours.aspx">Greenbrier resort</a> in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in the late 1950s.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn1_1081" name="_ftnref1_1081">[1]</a> The irony of lawmakers riding out World War III under a five star hotel while the public sheltered in place was hard to miss. Needless to say, CONELRAD was intrigued to find, years later, a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court’s oddly similar contingency plan in David Krugler’s impressively researched 2006 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/This-Only-Test-Washington-Prepared/dp/1403965544/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366378734&sr=1-1&keywords=this+is+only+a+test"><i>This Is Only a Test: How Washington D.C. Prepared for Nuclear War</i></a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn2_1081" name="_ftnref2_1081">[2]</a> Indeed, based on previously published news articles we had assumed that in the event of an emergency the Justices would have been whisked away to <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/09/mount-weather-documents-before-and.html">Mount Weather</a>, the impregnable crown jewel of the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/136961566/Federal-Relocation-Arc-1958-1959">Federal Relocation Arc</a>.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn3_1081" name="_ftnref3_1081">[3]</a> But Krugler had discovered evidence proving that the Court had secured nicer—if significantly less fortified—accommodations at the historic <a href="http://www.groveparkinn.com/">Grove Park Inn</a> in Asheville, North Carolina. When we contacted the author to see if he had a copy of the April 1956 agreement between the Supreme Court and the hotel, he told us that he had not come across that crucial document – only memoranda that referred to it. That was all we needed to hear. The search was on. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4RVusGr7jPs/UXfbz9AHiOI/AAAAAAAADeo/gsDcQHR-0M8/s1600-h/Warren-Ct_1956-19573.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Warren Ct_1956-1957" border="0" alt="Warren Ct_1956-1957" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jCtwBMZh7jw/UXfb0OBpFaI/AAAAAAAADew/eekPC5Qx1xI/Warren-Ct_1956-1957_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="322" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD’s next call was to the Grove Park Inn to ask the management if they possessed the elusive contract. The representative we spoke with was uncertain as to whereabouts of the document but he helpfully referred us to <a href="http://www.arts-craftsconference.com/">Bruce E. Johnson</a> who has written extensively about the resort. “If anyone would know about it,” the representative said, “Bruce would.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn4_1081" name="_ftnref4_1081">[4]</a> Mr. Johnson informed CONELRAD that he had, in fact, seen the contract along with some additional government correspondence while going through the hotel’s archives to research his book <a href="http://www.arts-craftsconference.com/booksbybrucejohnson.html"><i>Tales of the Grove Park Inn</i></a> (the author devotes two paragraphs to the extraordinary government arrangement on page 313).<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn5_1081" name="_ftnref5_1081">[5]</a> Unfortunately, Johnson did not have a copy of the contract – only his notes. Before contacting the hotel again, we decided to engage in a broader search of the Supreme Court records held at the Library of Congress where Professor Krugler had originally found the memos referencing the agreement. We also examined federal civil defense records at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. And, while we were unable to locate the contract itself at these facilities, we did uncover other important documents that inform this article. We were now ready to travel to North Carolina. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Gg-8Y_mrOQc/UXfb0a2V1yI/AAAAAAAADe4/6oAQkGSjeoM/s1600-h/Cabinet_Lo4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="" border="0" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-j4FyJJOuSqk/UXfb0w5yT6I/AAAAAAAADfA/eoTpg_eRnrY/Cabinet_Lo_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="537" /></a></p> <p>On March 29th we were permitted access to the Grove Park Inn’s archives. Johnson had warned us prior to the visit that the records—which are kept in a large filing cabinet in the hotel’s back office—were not well organized.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn6_1081" name="_ftnref6_1081">[6]</a> But, as it turned out, CONELRAD’s Bill Geerhart was able to find the contract quickly – it was in a blue binder labeled “Historic Memorabilia 1955-1969.” </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7OQhDidXqvQ/UXfb1RZFDHI/AAAAAAAADfI/zymorDBCahw/s1600-h/Blue-Binder_Lo4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Blue Binder_Lo" border="0" alt="Blue Binder_Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8U3wfDFnB1E/UXfb1t8nKuI/AAAAAAAADfQ/YvhIhJRct3o/Blue-Binder_Lo_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="537" /></a></p> <p>The weathered photocopy of the April 3, 1956 contract (more specifically a “Letter of Understanding”) is attached to a cover letter that was sent from the corporate office to the Grove Park Inn so that the document could be “kept on the property in the event there is none there right now.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn7_1081" name="_ftnref7_1081">[7]</a> It is fortunate for history that this step was taken because government copies of the contract have since been either destroyed or classified.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn8_1081" name="_ftnref8_1081">[8]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-y5VJbi_uSto/UXfb1919eWI/AAAAAAAADfY/POJ1P-dXCyI/s1600-h/Contract-Excerpt11.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Contract Excerpt" border="0" alt="Contract Excerpt" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NkT1ribQflA/UXfb2CeFr1I/AAAAAAAADfg/RKwLApiD86s/Contract-Excerpt_thumb5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="419" height="253" /></a></p> <p>This remarkable document, published here for the first time, is short and sweet. The two page letter provides that “In the event of an enemy attack or the imminence thereof,” the Supreme Court would “take possession of the facilities described in Exhibit ‘A.’ Along with other particulars, the attached exhibit describes the hotel as having 141 rooms, 4 cottages and a 40 room dormitory. The author of the agreement also—perhaps a bit too optimistically considering the effects of atomic war—includes a provision for a “formal lease” to be negotiated “as soon as possible, thereafter.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn9_1081" name="_ftnref9_1081">[9]</a> Reflecting the open-ended nature of the Cold War in 1956, there is no specified expiration date in the contract. This is an omission that would cause headaches later. </p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Supreme Court / Grove Park Inn Contract - 04/03/1956 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137725502/Supreme-Court-Grove-Park-Inn-Contract-04-03-1956">Supreme Court / Grove Park Inn Contract - 04/03/1956</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_57370" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/137725502/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2e3fhvka935uyzkny37r" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.776724137931034" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <blockquote> <p>OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br />Supreme Court of the United States, <br />Washington 13, D.C.</p> <p>April 3, 1956</p> <p>Grove Park Inn, <br />Asheville, North Carolina </p> <p>Gentlemen:</p> <p>Reference is made to the confidential discussions heretofore had between our respective representatives. In pursuance thereof, the United States of America, acting by and through <u>The Supreme Court of the United States</u>, represented by the undersigned as contracting officer, hereby proposes to acquire the right to use and occupy the facilities described in the enclosure hereto, marked Exhibit “A”, as hereinafter provided. </p> <p>In the event of an enemy attack or the imminence thereof and upon notice verbal or written to such effect, by an authorized representative of the Government, it is understood and agreed that you will permit <u>The Supreme Court of the United States</u> immediately to take possession of the facilities described in Exhibit “A”. As soon as possible thereafter, the Government will enter into negotiation with you for the execution of a formal lease covering the rights and obligations of the parties with respect to the aforementioned facilities and providing fair compensation for the use thereof the Government commencing with its initial occupancy. Such formal lease or other instrument will be negotiated by General Services Administration. All prior conversations or negotiations between our representatives are merged in and superseded by this letter. </p> <p>It is understood and agreed that the Government will not be responsible for any expenses incurred by you prior to the period covered by the formal lease or other instrument to be hereafter negotiated. </p> <p>It is further understood and agreed that from time to time due to changed conditions, it will be necessary to amend or supplement Exhibit “A” by the addition or deletion of facilities therefrom.</p> <p>Please indicate the acceptance by your governing body of the foregoing by signing and returning to us the original and two copies of this letter. A copy is attached for your files.</p> <p>Sincerely yours,</p> <p><u>Harold B. Willey, Clerk</u> <br />Contracting Officer </p> <p>Accepted, as of the date of this letter.</p> <p><u>Hotel Operating Co</u></p> <p><u>By EC Leach <br />Attorney in Fact</u></p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-W6ewAcAUVl0/UXfb2q86e_I/AAAAAAAADfo/XOiHddBmK5c/s1600-h/Leach3.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Leach" border="0" alt="Leach" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Mz4JQnxQwaE/UXfb2zls6lI/AAAAAAAADfw/gIB1Qo5tGgw/Leach_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="254" height="318" /></a></p> <p>The man who signed the agreement on behalf of the Grove Park Inn (or more technically, the Hotel Operating Company) was Edward C. Leach, Sr., the president of the Texas-based Jack Tar Hotel chain that owned the Grove Park Inn at the time. Leach died in 1996 at the age of 83. His son, Edward C. Leach, Jr., a Charlotte, North Carolina attorney, told CONELRAD that his father never mentioned the top secret arrangement with the Supreme Court and that prior to our phone call he had never known about it.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn10_1081" name="_ftnref10_1081">[10]</a></p> <p>Why was the luxurious, but bunker-less Grove Park Inn chosen to host the Supreme Court Justices and their staff during a crisis? One of the aforementioned document discoveries by CONELRAD answers this critical question. The year before the contract was formally agreed to, Harold B. Willey, the Clerk of the Supreme Court—and the man who signed the contract on behalf of the government—visited Asheville, North Carolina on a scouting mission. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vbkiwvM-JhU/UXfb3L1h1LI/AAAAAAAADf4/1vV0ml9Suwg/s1600-h/Harold-Willey_Center7.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Harold B. Willey - Center - 1953" border="0" alt="Harold B. Willey - Center - 1953" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RJCQQHTMqqo/UXfb3t2SdUI/AAAAAAAADgA/PHecF__Flf0/Harold-Willey_Center_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="221" /></a></p> <p>Shortly after his return to Washington, D.C. in October of 1955, Willey summarized his findings for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren. The letter, which is published below for the first time, includes the explanation that General Paul of the Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM) suggested Asheville as a “likely site for us.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn11_1081" name="_ftnref11_1081">[11]</a> CONELRAD has identified the referenced official to be Lieutenant General (Retired) Willard S. Paul. Paul had been recruited to the ODM in 1954 by the director of the agency, Arthur S. Flemming.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn12_1081" name="_ftnref12_1081">[12]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-g1EeXpiyQ1A/UXfb4L-6dGI/AAAAAAAADgI/l1kN3qgwaWE/s1600-h/General-Willard-Paul_lo-res4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="General Willard Paul_lo res" border="0" alt="General Willard Paul_lo res" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sxZr_K3p7aI/UXfb4mrK91I/AAAAAAAADgQ/aJ7hUfpac0A/General-Willard-Paul_lo-res_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="703" /></a></p> <p>The clerk uses the next couple of paragraphs of his letter to lay out the finer points of Asheville and its desirability as a relocation site. He explains that the town is “served by Capital Airlines and the Southern Railway” and goes on to reason that “Because all large cities are considered to be enemy targets, a hotel in a secluded small city wherein approximately one-hundred people could both live and work, with spaces available for a court room and clerical offices, seems a most appropriate facility for the court.” Willey then cites his rationale for recommending the Grove Park Inn over the other major hotels in Asheville (the Battery Park and the George Vanderbilt). His reasons run the gamut from the practical—the hotel has large conference rooms that can be converted into courtrooms and libraries—to the frivolous: the hotel has plans to build a swimming pool and there is a golf course that adjoins the property.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn13_1081" name="_ftnref13_1081">[13]</a></p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Grove Park Inn Selected as Relocation Site: 1955 on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137724950/Grove-Park-Inn-Selected-as-Relocation-Site-1955">Grove Park Inn Selected as Relocation Site: 1955</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_91234" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/137724950/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-29bn0no34zdw9pmzyhd2" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.77739430543572" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>In the end, Willey went beyond merely recommending the Grove Park Inn to the Chief Justice. Indeed, he obtained a letter from the manager indicating that the owners of the hotel were “receptive to the idea” of the Court relocating there and he attached a draft “Letter of Understanding” to the letter that he submitted to Warren [Editor’s note: the attachments were not found by CONELRAD].<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn14_1081" name="_ftnref14_1081">[14]</a> But the always prudent Chief Justice turned to a colleague on the bench for an in-house legal review of the matter before moving forward. On a note card, Justice Harold Hitz Burton succinctly stated: </p> <blockquote> <p>Dear Chief – </p> <p>I have examined the attached material and believe it presents a reasonable solution on its face.</p> <p>HHB<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn15_1081" name="_ftnref15_1081">[15]</a></p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YyWG6LZfLPY/UXfb4yBGvYI/AAAAAAAADgY/6Y27RM4zy2A/s1600-h/Burton-Approval-copy4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Burton Approval copy" border="0" alt="Burton Approval copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DvSEZyviu2Q/UXfb5CpwfuI/AAAAAAAADgg/s56Java0YHw/Burton-Approval-copy_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="306" /></a></p> <p>The following year, on June 6, 1956, Willey—who was retiring as clerk—<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137724259/Harold-B-Willey-to-Earl-Warren-06-06-1956" target="_blank">notified</a> Warren that the “letter of understanding” with the Grove Park Inn had been signed and that a copy had been distributed to General Paul, the civil defense official who had set everything in motion in the first place.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn16_1081" name="_ftnref16_1081">[16]</a> The Chief Justice was “pleased” with the progress and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137723981/Earl-Warren-to-Harold-B-Willey-06-12-1956" target="_blank">asked</a> Willey to discuss with the incoming clerk, John T. Fey, plans “for actually establishing the Court at Asheville should the need to do so confront us.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn17_1081" name="_ftnref17_1081">[17]</a> Very little was ever done in this regard. According to an <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137722534/John-F-Davis-Memo-to-Edward-A-McDermott" target="_blank">undated draft letter</a> by Supreme Court Clerk John F. Davis to Edward A. McDermott, Director of the Office of Emergency Planning, “No steps” had been taken “to provide the facilities and supplies…which the Court would require to function as a court.” Davis further explained in his draft that “It has been thought that the facilities of the United States District and Circuit Courts at Asheville probably would be available for our use, but they are limited and certainly would not enable the Court to perform its regular functions.” Finally, Davis wrote that “Each spring the Marshal of this Court sends to the Clerk of the District Court at Asheville a microfilm copy of the Marshal’s payroll records, but I believe these are the only records which have been forwarded.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn18_1081" name="_ftnref18_1081">[18]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DSlu59WLN9I/UXfb5isxH6I/AAAAAAAADgo/68sHQIbKQng/s1600-h/Edward-A.-McDermott_Sworn3.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Edward A. McDermott_Sworn" border="0" alt="Edward A. McDermott_Sworn" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8WoWhk1Us8M/UXfb6JnohsI/AAAAAAAADgs/QO-pzV2ibok/Edward-A.-McDermott_Sworn_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="319" /></a></p> <p>Mr. McDermott, the intended recipient of Davis’s draft letter, had met with the Chief Justice at the Supreme Court building during the Cuban missile crisis in an apparent effort to make the case for the superiority of Mount Weather as a relocation site. McDermott summarized the meeting in a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137723525/Edward-A-McDermott-Memo-to-Earl-Warren-10-26-1962" target="_blank">semi-redacted letter</a> to Warren dated October 30, 1962.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn19_1081" name="_ftnref19_1081">[19]</a> It was not the only time during the missile crisis that the Chief Justice had been told about the assigned space for the Court at the super bunker in Virginia. CONELRAD interviewed Ramsey Clark who was then the Assistant Attorney General (he also happened to be the son of sitting Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark) and he revealed to us that Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had assigned him to tour Mount Weather during the missile crisis. The purpose of the visit was to review the Supreme Court’s accommodations there and to then brief Earl Warren. When asked to describe what awaited the Justices at the site, Clark told us: </p> <blockquote> <p>“Well, it was cramped. It wasn’t a grade A hotel. I saw beds. I don’t think they were double-deckers. It was like camping out – only with a lot of metal and concrete.” </p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uXq2eYCQwmY/UXfb6aoKUJI/AAAAAAAADg0/DGqAfN2_Z4M/s1600-h/Clark_Ramsey3.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Clark_Ramsey" border="0" alt="Clark_Ramsey" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RGJRLF9bwHA/UXfb6rk8eeI/AAAAAAAADg8/Xl4KS94Ycq4/Clark_Ramsey_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="254" height="357" /></a></p> <p>According to Clark, after he filled the Chief Justice in on the facility and their relocation protocol, Warren turned to him and said “Ramsey, I’m not going to relocate, I’m going to stay with my family.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn20_1081" name="_ftnref20_1081">[20]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Tu3fuB3I4N0/UXfb6_bOBxI/AAAAAAAADhI/22GlKV46lXc/s1600-h/Earl-Warren-19543.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Earl-Warren-1954" border="0" alt="Earl-Warren-1954" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-F8jQoxivxRo/UXfb7QS22wI/AAAAAAAADhQ/oBBJIKxti2M/Earl-Warren-1954_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="404" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD was unable to find any records to indicate that the Supreme Court Justices ever went to the Grove Park Inn as a group.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn21_1081" name="_ftnref21_1081">[21]</a> And if the Justices had decided to evacuate to the North Carolina resort during the Cuban missile crisis there may have been complications. CONELRAD found documents in the hotel’s archive that prove that the Grove Park Inn had double booked their disaster accommodations for a short, but very critical period, during 1962. Specifically, on August 9, 1962 the hotel entered into a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137733548/Grove-Park-Inn-Fallout-Shelter-License" target="_blank">public Fallout Shelter agreement</a> with the Buncombe County United Civil Defense Director, Nora Gunter. It was not until February 15, 1963 that Edward C. Leach, Sr. <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137725181/Rodney-S-Morgan-to-Nora-Gunter-02-15-1963" target="_blank">informed</a> Ms. Gunter of the mistake: </p> <blockquote> <p>“When I was in Asheville recently, I discovered that inadvertently we had entered into an agreement with you regarding the use of the Inn as a Civil Defense fallout shelter. I must advise, however, that when Mr. [Rodney S.] Morgan entered into this agreement with you that he was unaware of a prior commitment we have to the Supreme Court of the United States for their use of our building in the event of such an emergency.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn22_1081" name="_ftnref22_1081">[22]</a></p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_xq4uu00teI/UXfb8_S_91I/AAAAAAAADhY/2dlJEwLUfRc/s1600-h/Grove-Park-Inn-copy4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Grove Park Inn copy" border="0" alt="Grove Park Inn copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RDG_9fM8S1I/UXfb9CliIOI/AAAAAAAADhg/tK4V0F1JWs0/Grove-Park-Inn-copy_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="264" /></a></p> <p>Ten years after the original contract was signed, a representative of the Grove Park Inn asked the Supreme Court if they wished to continue their relocation agreement with the hotel. It had been four years since the Court had last <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137729210/John-F-Davis-to-R-H-Francis-10-26-1962" target="_blank">confirmed</a> its desire to continue the arrangement (at the height of the Cuban missile crisis). In this instance, however, Chief Justice Warren simply <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/137728182/Warren-Hotel-Agreement-Correspondence-1966" target="_blank">advised</a> John F. Davis to ask “whoever is in charge of [federal] Civil Defense” for their advice on how to proceed.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn23_1081" name="_ftnref23_1081">[23]</a> CONELRAD was unable to locate any documentation related to the guidance the Court may have received.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn24_1081" name="_ftnref24_1081">[24]</a> We were left to wonder then whether the Supreme Court was <i>still</i> slated to evacuate to Asheville, North Carolina in the event of an emergency. So we asked both parties if the contract is still in effect.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zIx98PirAk8/UXfb9mofsOI/AAAAAAAADho/6S18W9PuxF0/s1600-h/Supreme-Court_20134.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Supreme Court_2013" border="0" alt="Supreme Court_2013" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UJcCYaw9iTQ/UXfb9xJTkPI/AAAAAAAADhw/vJlSubu96f8/Supreme-Court_2013_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="306" /></a></p> <p>A representative of the Public Information Office of the Supreme Court informed us via email that “The Court does not comment on security operations as a rule.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn25_1081" name="_ftnref25_1081">[25]</a> And Tracey Johnston-Crum of the Grove Park Inn told us that “The Grove Park Inn would certainly defer to the decision of the Supreme Court.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn26_1081" name="_ftnref26_1081">[26]</a> CONELRAD has notified the Court that their rooms are still reserved and that the swimming pool has been completed.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftn27_1081" name="_ftnref27_1081">[27]</a></p> <p><b><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4UKI0AcVmxc/UXfb-KWuGQI/AAAAAAAADh4/eK4uLNkbWh0/s1600-h/Grove-Park-Post-Card_lo4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Grove Park Post Card_lo" border="0" alt="Grove Park Post Card_lo" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EciWd3DXKek/UXfb-d-rK6I/AAAAAAAADiA/XTIjoEOtkbE/Grove-Park-Post-Card_lo_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="256" /></a></b></p> <p><b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS</b></p> <p>First and foremost CONELRAD would like to thank David Mead and Hilary Thomas of the Grove Park Inn for allowing Bill Geerhart to examine the hotel’s archives to find the document that is the primary focus of this article. Mr. Mead and Ms. Thomas took time out of their day during a very busy week to humor what must have seemed like a rather odd request. We are truly grateful for their kind hospitality. We would also like to thank David Krugler who was the first person to write about the existence of the contract between the Grove Park Inn and the U.S. Supreme Court. Without Professor Krugler’s initial research, we would not have had the roadmap to the documents that we ultimately found. Finally, thanks to Bruce E. Johnson for providing confirmation that the contract did, in fact, reside in the Grove Park Inn archives. Mr. Johnson was also very generous with his time in answering our questions regarding the history of the hotel and its staff.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref1_1081" name="_ftn1_1081">[1]</a> Ted Gup, “The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway,” Washington Post, May 31, 1992. Note: The Post’s D.C. rival, the Washington Times, tried to steal some of the newspaper’s glory by reporting on the Post’s scoop on its front page the day before.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref2_1081" name="_ftn2_1081">[2]</a> David Krugler, This is Only a Test: How Washington D.C. Prepared for Nuclear War [New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006] p.7; p. 168.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref3_1081" name="_ftn3_1081">[3]</a> Ted Gup, “The Doomsday Blueprints,” Time magazine, p. 35, August 10, 1992. Gup, “How the Federal Emergency Management Agency learned to stop worrying—about civilians—and love the bomb,” Mother Jones, January 1, 1994. “Very Important People,” New York Times, November 1, 1992.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref4_1081" name="_ftn4_1081">[4]</a> David Mead of the Grove Park Inn to Bill Geerhart during a January 8, 2013 telephone conversation. Bruce E. Johnson’s books about the Grove Park Inn: Built for the Ages: A History of the Grove Park Inn [Asheville, NC: Grove Park Inn, Revised Edition, 2013] and Tales of the Grove Park Inn [Fletcher, NC: Knock Wood Publications, 2013].</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref5_1081" name="_ftn5_1081">[5]</a> Bruce E. Johnson to Bill Geerhart during a January 8, 2013 telephone conversation. For reference to the Grove Park Inn’s contract with the Supreme Court, see page 313 of Johnson’s Tales of the Grove Park Inn.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref6_1081" name="_ftn6_1081">[6]</a> Bruce E. Johnson to Bill Geerhart during a January 8, 2013 telephone conversation. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref7_1081" name="_ftn7_1081">[7]</a> The photocopy of the April 3, 1956 contract and other documents related to the hotel’s agreement with the U.S. Supreme Court were found in the Grove Park Inn Archives, Asheville, North Carolina, in a binder labeled “Historic Memorabilia 1955-1969.” </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref8_1081" name="_ftn8_1081">[8]</a> CONELRAD searched the unclassified records of the various federal civil defense agencies at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland and at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. We also searched the relevant Supreme Court records at the Library of Congress. No copy of the contract was found at these facilities. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref9_1081" name="_ftn9_1081">[9]</a> Supreme Court / Grove Park Inn contract, April 3, 1956, binder: “Historic Memorabilia 1955-1969,” Grove Park Inn Archives, Asheville, North Carolina. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref10_1081" name="_ftn10_1081">[10]</a> For Edward C. Leach, Sr. obituary see The Galveston County Daily News, p. 4-A, June 20, 1996. For Mr. Leach’s comments regarding his father: Bill Geerhart telephone interview with Edward C. Leach, Jr., April 22, 2013. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref11_1081" name="_ftn11_1081">[11]</a> For October 14, 1955 Willey letter to Warren: Box 399, folder “Clerk: Memos, Orders, et al 1946-1956, Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. For more on Harold B. Willey see “Harold B. Willey, Retired Supreme Court Clerk,” Washington Post, p. B6, July 8, 1982.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref12_1081" name="_ftn12_1081">[12]</a> “News Censorship Mapped for War,” New York Times, November 6, 1954.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref13_1081" name="_ftn13_1081">[13]</a> For Willey letter to Warren: Box 399, folder “Clerk: Memos, Orders, et al 1946-1956, Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref14_1081" name="_ftn14_1081">[14]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref15_1081" name="_ftn15_1081">[15]</a> Ibid. Justice Burton’s note is attached to Willey’s letter.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref16_1081" name="_ftn16_1081">[16]</a> For June 6, 1956 Willey letter to Warren: Box 399, folder “Clerk: Memos, Orders, et al 1946-1956, Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref17_1081" name="_ftn17_1081">[17]</a> For June 12, 1956 Warren letter to Willey: Box 399, folder “Clerk: Memos, Orders, et al 1946-1956, Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref18_1081" name="_ftn18_1081">[18]</a> For undated John F. Davis draft letter to Edward A. McDermott: Box 414, folder “Court – Subject File – Marshal Civil Defense,” Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Note: Another document in the same file dated October 26, 1962 states: “The Marshal has done nothing on this matter except to send Photostats of each employee’s retirement card to the Gr Clerk of the District Court at Asheville.” CONELRAD has a pending request with the clerk of the U.S. District Court in Asheville to determine if any of the old records sent by the Marshal of the Supreme Court still exist. If and when we receive a response, we will update this post.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref19_1081" name="_ftn19_1081">[19]</a> McDermott appointment book entry for October 26, 1962: Collection Number MsC0241, Edward A. McDermott Papers, Special Collections and Archives, University of Iowa. McDermott October 30, 1962 memo to Warren: Box 1, U.S. Office of Emergency Planning, Microfilm, Roll 1, Paper Copies, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref20_1081" name="_ftn20_1081">[20]</a> Telephone interview with Ramsey Clark conducted by Bill Geerhart on April 2, 2013. Note: Clark did not know that the bunker had a name, but based on his description of the site and the route that he took to drive there, there is little doubt that he visited Mount Weather. Also supporting the assertion that Clark went to Mount Weather is the previously published material that this is the facility the federal government reserved for the Court (see footnote 3). Also, Edward A. McDermott (the official who met with Warren) was director of the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP). This was the agency responsible for operating Mount Weather during the referenced time period. Ramsey also told us that he was unaware of the Grove Park Inn arrangement.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref21_1081" name="_ftn21_1081">[21]</a> CONELRAD review of federal civil defense records related to annual Operation Alert drills located at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. CONELRAD also reviewed relevant Supreme Court files at the Library of Congress. CONELRAD also asked author David Krugler if he was aware of any document related to the Supreme Court participating in civil defense relocation exercises. He told us that he was not.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref22_1081" name="_ftn22_1081">[22]</a> December 13, 1962 memo from Rodney S. Morgan to Edward J. Giusti and February 15, 1963 letter from E.C. Leach to Nora Gunter: binder: “Historic Memorabilia 1955-1969,” Grove Park Inn Archives, Asheville, North Carolina. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref23_1081" name="_ftn23_1081">[23]</a> Correspondence related to the re-confirmation of the agreement: October 26, 1962 letter from John F. Davis to Robert H. Francis and Joe R. Woods’ November 26, 1962 response to John F. Davis: binder: “Historic Memorabilia 1955-1969,” Grove Park Inn Archives, Asheville, North Carolina. April 29, 1966 memo from John F. Davis to Earl Warren and Warren’s April 29, 1966 response: Box 414, folder “Court – Subject File – Marshal Civil Defense,” Papers of Earl Warren, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref24_1081" name="_ftn24_1081">[24]</a> CONELRAD searched the unclassified records of the various federal civil defense agencies at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland and at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. We also searched the relevant Supreme Court records at the Library of Congress.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref25_1081" name="_ftn25_1081">[25]</a> Scott Markley, Public Information Office, U.S. Supreme Court to Bill Geerhart via email, April 18, 2013. Note: Markley’s response also offered the location, already in the public domain, of where the Supreme Court heard oral arguments during aftermath of the 2001 anthrax letter attacks (the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit). </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref26_1081" name="_ftn26_1081">[26]</a> Tracey Johnston-Crum to Bill Geerhart via email, April 17, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Supreme Court_Grove Park Inn/__Supreme Court Article/#_ftnref27_1081" name="_ftn27_1081">[27]</a> Bill Geerhart to the U.S. Supreme Court Public Information Office via email, April 23, 2013.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-40249436600649988862013-04-13T17:47:00.001-07:002013-04-14T04:32:41.666-07:00FALLOUT SHELTER: A Peter Scott Peters Appreciation<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_D9JAPRSpmk/UWn8mBPoWII/AAAAAAAADcA/SSk4p_AmGUc/s1600-h/Fallout%252520Shelter-45-Label_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Fallout Shelter-45-Label_Lo" border="0" alt="Fallout Shelter-45-Label_Lo" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7UEmZThYu9s/UWn8mvBksrI/AAAAAAAADcI/92s-9_kaOFA/Fallout%252520Shelter-45-Label_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="404" /></a></p> <p>Of all the songs ever written about Cold War panic (or lack thereof), Peter Scott Peters’ amazing 45 single <i>Fallout Shelter</i> (Lute 6020, 1961) may well be the coolest. The two-minute, thirty-three second opus begins with a driving jazz beat that leads the listener to a slightly menacing spoken word refrain: “I’m not scared, I’m prepared, I’ll be spared.” The hepcat singer then brags about his bachelor pad bomb shelter being fully equipped for the atomic duration: </p> <blockquote> <p>I've got a fallout shelter, it's nine by nine <br />A Hi-Fi set and a jug of wine <br />Let the missiles fly from nation to nation <br />It's party time in my radiation station</p> </blockquote> <p>Of course, what respectable “bomb bungalow” would be complete without a female companion to help re-populate the post-attack world? Peters has that covered: “My baby and me, cozy we will be, away from radioactivity.” The style of the song then abruptly shifts away from that of a weird spoken word jazz tune to a more conventional early 1960s pop rock ditty: </p> <blockquote> <p>Twenty megatons is the size of the boom <br />And if they let it go, I'll feel no doom <br />Let the cats run about, helter-skelter <br />I'm gonna, live, live, live in my fallout shelter</p> </blockquote> <p>This particular section of the song was used to amusing effect in the Ralph Meeker civil defense film <a href="http://archive.org/details/TownOfTheTimes"><i>Town of the Times</i></a> (1963). In the scene, as Peters wails on about his shelter, carefree teenagers are shown doing the Twist (and ignoring the Bomb). This clip was deemed to be funny enough for inclusion in the 1982 documentary <i>The Atomic Café</i>.</p> <p>Finally, how could we not <i>love</i> a song that ends like this?</p> <blockquote> <p>So if you want to be full of confidence <br />Get survival jazz and civil defense <br />You'll live like a king in your fallout pad <br />'Till the all clear sounds on CONELRAD. <br />Dial six-four-o, twelve-four-o-CONELRAD</p> </blockquote> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:667a8aa5-e763-43d9-af50-d241c13ad44c" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div><object width="407" height="304"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WFUqh7uF1G4?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WFUqh7uF1G4?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="407" height="304"></embed></object></div></div> <p><i>Fallout Shelter</i> did not exactly shoot to the top of the <i>Billboard</i> charts upon its release in late 1961, but the music industry publication did take note of Peters’ unique interpretation of the Cold War tension of the day:</p> <blockquote> <p>Fallout Shelter—Lute 6020-The label, which had a smash with “Alley-Oop,” has another off-beat side. The theme, admittedly is a sensitive one but the spoken lyric is cleverly written. Side has something and should be watched.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ub869uah4Ls/UWn8m3uEArI/AAAAAAAADcQ/foZNfdvh0DU/s1600-h/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_Billboard%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Peter Scott Peters_Billboard copy" border="0" alt="Peter Scott Peters_Billboard copy" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5uSMITHn1Kw/UWn8nPJ_NII/AAAAAAAADcY/qlQhgXX-Eb8/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_Billboard%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="291" /></a></p> <p>The song also caught the attention of <i>Los Angeles Times</i> columnist, Jack Scott, who didn’t quite know what to make of the work (and admitted he hadn’t even listened to it). What is most notable about the column is that he informs his readers that the 45 was sent to him with a press release headlined “New Record Hit Promotes Civil Defense.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kf0y32hcFD8/UWn8nSSmiVI/AAAAAAAADcg/pFuGO9aVjGs/s1600-h/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_PR%252520Shot_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Peter Scott Peters_PR Shot_Lo" border="0" alt="Peter Scott Peters_PR Shot_Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hr1D7j_VBa4/UWn8ou7lx8I/AAAAAAAADco/rvTqBTnF_LA/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_PR%252520Shot_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="494" /></a>  <br />The Lute label’s PR flack (who may have been Peters himself <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Music_Spoken Word/Peter Scott Peters Research/___Peter Scott Peters_Article/#_ftn1_1625" name="_ftnref1_1625">[1]</a>) was clearly reaching when he wrote of the song: “It can accomplish much in the public service field and please civil defense officials, if it catches on, because of the informative lyrics.” While the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> (and a couple of other papers who plugged the song) may have missed the clear satirical nature of <i>Fallout Shelter</i>, the British comedy duo of Mike and Bernie Winters must have been keenly aware of the song’s comic potential when they chose to record it in the United Kingdom. Their broadly hilarious 1961 cover on the Oriole label dispenses with any pretense of cool and amplifies the theme of jumpy paranoia (“I’m not scared, I’m petrified”). <br /></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:618a0225-c5b7-4d29-b50f-32da60c8cffc" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div><object width="392" height="294"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dJFtTh0wvOY?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dJFtTh0wvOY?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="392" height="294"></embed></object></div></div> <p>Unfortunately, the artist who created this wonderful song passed away in 1994. In 2006 and several times thereafter, CONELRAD reached out to Mr. Peters’ widow, Susan Peters, in an effort to obtain more details on the motive behind the song. She declined our requests for an interview. Mr. Peters had no children and his only sibling, Adam, passed away in 2000. Undaunted, we decided to find out as much about Peter Scott Peters as we could through other sources. It took several years to research, but we are very pleased to be able to present his biography (including many new details about <i>Fallout Shelter</i>) below.</p> <p>Peter Sikorski was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada on July 12, 1930 to parents Bill and Anne. He attended the <a href="http://www.spsd.sk.ca/schoolsprograms/highschools/bedfordroad/about.html">Bedford Road Collegiate Institute</a> and, in the 1944-45 edition of the high school’s yearbook (The Lantern), he contributed a poem that previewed his burgeoning creative talent. “A Soldier’s Message” is about a mortally wounded infantryman who scrawls his last message to the world in the sand of a crater he has crawled into after being shot in the chest. In a cruel twist, though, the last words of the soldier—about how he had “answered the call” of duty and death—are wiped clean “the next morn at dawn – A shell hit the spot! His message was gone!” Compared to his classmates’ lighthearted doggerel, Sikorski’s sense of morbid irony certainly stands out on the page.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Ck6ripwiEGw/UWn8o69qG1I/AAAAAAAADcw/HznejKRz3Xw/s1600-h/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_DJ%252520Ad_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Peter Scott Peters_DJ Ad_Lo" border="0" alt="Peter Scott Peters_DJ Ad_Lo" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0yf_-utfyM4/UWn8pe3rywI/AAAAAAAADc4/PsHCQuKHKg8/Peter%252520Scott%252520Peters_DJ%252520Ad_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="411" /></a></p> <p>In 1951 Peter Sikorski was reborn as Peter Scott, a nighttime disc jockey on CKOM in Saskatoon.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Music_Spoken Word/Peter Scott Peters Research/___Peter Scott Peters_Article/#_ftn2_1625" name="_ftnref2_1625">[2]</a> His show, Peter’s Platter Palace, featured amusing between-song patter and became quite popular. One of Scott’s fellow DJs at the station, Doug Alexander, explained his style and appeal to CONELRAD: </p> <blockquote> <p>Peter was Saskatchewan’s first personality DJ. He was a good looking guy and his nighttime radio program had a big audience, especially female. At the same time, Peter was active in Little Theatre in Saskatoon and later with the drama department at the University of Saskatchewan, where was taking day classes. The new radio format called for DJs to be able to ‘ad-lib’ between records, whereas announcers in the old block format read prepared scripts. From his Little Theatre experience, he had learned the art of ad-libbing well, so he was really suited to the new format.</p> </blockquote> <p>Alexander added that Scott’s opening theme for his show was Ray Anthony’s <i>Harlem Nocturne</i> and that his first line to his audience was always “Welcome to Peter’s Platter Palace, Alice.” His closing theme songs alternated between Ray Anthony’s <i>Dream</i> and Alvino Ray and the King Sisters’ <i>Nighty Night</i>.</p> <p>After four years at CKOM Scott’s theatrical ambitions were quickly overtaking his desire to remain on the radio. He had studied at the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California in 1955 and he was encouraged to stay and become a professional actor in America. Doug Alexander recalled for us that it was “sometime in 1957 that he announced he was leaving” the station [editor’s note: a published source places the departure in 1956]. “The staff had a big going away party and I can remember Peter singing ‘California, Here I Come.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FNTCtrjl2LM/UWn8pr2XRdI/AAAAAAAADdA/017pPAHWez4/s1600-h/Scott%252520Peters-1959%252520Players%252520Entry%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Scott Peters-1959 Players Entry" border="0" alt="Scott Peters-1959 Players Entry" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-D6YmY9bEgto/UWn8p3KSwSI/AAAAAAAADdI/2gZ7OthjHaQ/Scott%252520Peters-1959%252520Players%252520Entry_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="149" /></a></p> <p>In Hollywood he changed his name yet again – this time to Scott Peters to avoid being confused with another performer in the Screen Actors Guild. Peters’ <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676672/?ref_=tt_cl_t9">career</a> as a movie actor included an impressive array of mostly small roles in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psychotronic-Encyclopedia-Film-Michael-Weldon/dp/034534345X">Psychotronic</a> films such as <i>Invasion of the Saucer Men</i> (1957); <i>Attack of the Puppet People</i> (1958); <i>The Cape Canaveral Monsters</i> (1960) and <i>The Mad Man of Mandoras</i> (footage from which was later incorporated into the infamous <i>They’ve Saved Hitler’s Brain</i>) (1962). He also played the U.S. Army sergeant who waves Ray Milland’s car through a checkpoint at the end of the classic <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/features/panicinyearzero/"><i>Panic in Year Zero!</i></a> (1962). One of Peters’ rare “A” picture assignments was portraying gangster John Dillinger in <i>The FBI Story</i> starring James Stewart. The actor had better luck in television. He appeared in many of the top rated programs of the 1960s and early 1970s including a regular role as Detective Valencia on <i>Get Christie Love!</i></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-h9Uh7-2WhAs/UWn8qB0GCvI/AAAAAAAADdM/XEDq-uSKjsE/s1600-h/Peters-Hitlers%252520Brain%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Peters-Hitlers Brain" border="0" alt="Peters-Hitlers Brain" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jxn5nReE8is/UWn8qWeruRI/AAAAAAAADdY/jZElNQLibTY/Peters-Hitlers%252520Brain_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p>Ironically, Peters’ entree to the recording industry occurred far from the bright lights of a movie or TV soundstage. Indeed, the actor met his musical mentor through the Jehovah’s Witnesses church. Bandleader <a href="http://www.kavelinmusic.com/lute_records.html">Al Kavelin</a> (1903-1982) founded Lute Records in 1960 and immediately had a major hit with <i>Alley Oop</i> by the Hollywood Argyles. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-byBqNRwM-NU/UWn8qlGo3iI/AAAAAAAADdg/qgD8YOiuwZg/s1600-h/Al%252520Kavelin%252520Portrait%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Al Kavelin Portrait copy" border="0" alt="Al Kavelin Portrait copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ORQB3QrRXR8/UWn8rEnCpXI/AAAAAAAADdo/PTga_Krs0Lc/Al%252520Kavelin%252520Portrait%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="515" /></a></p> <p>According to Kavelin’s son, Frank, the inspiration for <i>Fallout Shelter</i> was the then unavoidable topic of civil defense and shelters that had been heightened by the 1961 <a href="http://conelrad.com/books/spine.php?id=391_0_1_0_C">Berlin Crisis</a> and President John F. Kennedy’s famous <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Radio-and-Television-Report-to-the-American-People-on-the-Berlin-Crisis-July-25-1961.aspx">speech</a>. Kavelin told CONELRAD in an interview that “Scott and my father became friends and came up with the idea together.” He added: “It was all tongue-in-cheek because Scott was a Jehovah’s Witness and believed that God would never allow a nuclear holocaust, but would intervene by establishing his kingdom on earth. He wasn’t out to raise awareness of survival based on the use of fallout shelters. However, he would not have rejected any publicity such a story would have generated. I believe his true motivation was the same as my father’s – to cash in on a current craze.”</p> <p>According to Kavelin, Peters “wrote the clever monologue and lyrics, and improvised the vocal [musical] sections” of <i>Fallout Shelter</i>. Marshall Leib—a high school friend of Phil Spector—produced the song (Leib, who was also in the Teddy Bears with Spector, <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=7126542&page=gr">died</a> in 2002). The music tracks were recorded at the same Hollywood studio where <i>Alley Oop</i> was cut.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-J85GDdRH4_w/UWn8rYQqU4I/AAAAAAAADdw/FEid3_y8L_M/s1600-h/Marshall%252520Leib%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Marshall Leib" border="0" alt="Marshall Leib" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-n6jE-fNBoUI/UWn8rqeQaFI/AAAAAAAADd4/EtlkLGYU-Fo/Marshall%252520Leib_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="472" /></a></p> <p>At CONELRAD’s request, Kavelin went into greater detail about the song including who played on it: </p> <blockquote> <p>“The music for <i>Fallout Shelter</i> was [inspired by] the basic rhythm tracks used by the Hollywood Argyles for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8FO07qo-38"><i>Sho Know A Lot About Love</i></a>, which was the B-side of <i>Alley Oop</i>. The musicians I’m sure of [who played on <i>Fallout Shelter</i>] are Gaynel Hodge on piano, Ronnie Silico on drums and Harper Cosby on bass. I’m not sure who played sax / flute. My father used Plas Johnson a lot so my guess would be Plas.”</p> </blockquote> <p>CONELRAD contacted <a href="http://www.gaynelhodge.com/">Gaynel Hodge</a> at his home in Holland and provided him with an MP3 copy of <i>Fallout Shelter</i>. After listening to it he called us and said that he definitely remembered the unusual tune: “It was a very timely song and we had a good time at the session.” He also told us that he thought he could hear the famous female backing group the Blossoms in the background of the track. </p> <p>CONELRAD was able to reach a surviving member of the group, Fanita James (formerly Barrett), in Los Angeles and we played the song for her over the phone. Ms. James told us that 1961 was one of the busiest years for session work for the group and that they frequently worked with Gaynel Hodge. When asked if she thought that the Blossoms sang back-up on <i>Fallout Shelter</i>, she said she was “pretty sure” they did and added “I can tell by the ahhs [in the song].” The other members of the group from this period according to James were Darlene Love (who is still very active in music) and Jean King (1938-1983). As for Plas Johnson’s involvement, CONELRAD contacted him via his <a href="http://www.plasjohnson.com/">website</a> and he replied in an email that he could not recall anything about the song.</p> <p>Peters’ recording career appears to be limited to <i>Fallout Shelter</i> and its less remarkable B-side <i>Moon Flight (Astronaut Blues)</i> which he co-wrote with Elvis Presley songwriter Bob Roberts. According to the BMI database he co-wrote with Red Simpson and Bill Woods one other song titled <i>Big Bank Robbery</i> that was recorded by Simpson. CONELRAD spoke with Simpson in 2009 and he said he had no recollection of ever having worked with Peters. <br /></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:1408fa30-6395-4219-971d-5b1e1f2ea262" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div><object width="390" height="292"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qDz077U-nYk?hl=en&hd=1"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qDz077U-nYk?hl=en&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="390" height="292"></embed></object></div></div> <p>Long after fallout shelters became the stuff of nostalgia, Peters remained close friends with the Kavelin family. Frank Kavelin told us that he remembers Peters and his future wife, Susan, spending a lot time at the house and using the swimming pool. The family also attended the Peters’ wedding. Kavelin has fond memories of Peters as a friend: “Although I was much younger, he treated me like a peer. He was very funny. I remember riding in his car and would make a turn and he would blurt out ‘we’ll all be killed!’ I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch <i>77 Sunset Strip</i> the night Scott made a guest appearance on the show.”</p> <p>Peter Scott Peters spent the rest of his life engaged in a variety of different projects. He produced health instructional / documentary films - most notably a movie on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation entitled <i>Save That Life</i> (1970) that was widely used by the Red Cross and other entities. He also returned to radio and worked in the public relations field. He died at the age of 63 in Los Angeles on January 15, 1994. His obituary in the <i>Saskatoon Sun</i> quoted an earlier interview with the actor in which he lamented the state of the motion picture industry: “It’s a pity that an artist perfects a craft and then can’t apply it. I can’t compromise myself. My religious beliefs are strong and I can’t accept the moral trend that is happening in movies today.” When Mr. Peters made these remarks he probably could not have imagined that his pop song about a fallout shelter would eclipse his acting career and become his most enduring legacy.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-awJ1sdVqgyA/UWn8r602dCI/AAAAAAAADeA/esn00QAyF4s/s1600-h/Headline%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Headline" border="0" alt="Headline" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nH-pzu-6MGM/UWn8sBC9o9I/AAAAAAAADeI/3jnP2MU_jzc/Headline_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="281" /></a>  <br /><b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS</b></p> <p>This article would not have been possible without the cooperation of Frank Kavelin, Doug Alexander and Bill Stovin. We are very grateful that these gentlemen decided to help us tell Peter Scott Peters’ story. </p> <p><b>REFERENCES</b></p> <p><b>Articles</b></p> <p>Note: Many of the Canadian newspaper and magazine documents obtained by CONELRAD were provided by Bill Stovin. These documents were obtained from the Saskatoon Library’s biographical clip file on Peter Scott Peters. Unfortunately, the sources for many of the documents are not marked on the individual clips. The citations below are for every article used in our research for which we have source information.</p> <p>“Special Merit Singles,” Billboard, p. 34, October 16, 1961.</p> <p>“Songster Gets Into Act With ‘Fallout Shelter,” NANA wire service, European Stars and Stripes, p. 16, November 15, 1961.</p> <p>Jack Smith, “In Ordeal, Will Genius Explode?” p. A1, November 22, 1961.</p> <p>Buck Herzog Column, Milwaukee Sentinel, p. 15, January 5, 1962. </p> <p>Ned Powers Column, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, p. A11, January 3, 1984.</p> <p>Ned Powers, “Actor Scott First Night DJ with CKOM Radio in 1951 (Obituary),” Saskatoon Sun, January 23, 1994.</p> <p>“Saskatoon-born Actor Dies,” Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, January 20, 1994. </p> <p><b>Book</b></p> <p>The Lantern, yearbook of the Bedford Road Collegiate Institute. 1945. P. 20. </p> <p><b>Interviews</b></p> <p>Doug Alexander, interviewed by Bill Geerhart via email on February 24, 2009.</p> <p>Red Simpson, telephone interview by Bill Geerhart on April 2, 2009.</p> <p>Frank Kavelin, interviewed by Bill Geerhart via email on March 31, 2013; April 2, 2013; April 3, 2013; April 4, 2013; April 5, 2013 and April 6, 2013.</p> <p>Gaynal Hodge, telephone interview by Bill Geerhart on April 5, 2013.</p> <p>Fanita James (Barrett), telephone interview by Bill Geerhart on April 10, 2013.</p> <p>Plas Johnson, interviewed by Bill Geerhart via email on April 10, 2013.</p> <p><b>Other Resources</b></p> <p>The BMI Repertoire database was accessed to confirm songwriting credit information for Peter Scott Peters. The ASCAP database was also accessed. All of Mr. Peters’ music credits are located in the BMI database.</p> <p>The California Death Records database was accessed to obtain Peter Scott Peters’ exact date of birth and date of death as well as to confirm his original surname.</p> <p>The Internet Movie Database (IMdb) was accessed to confirm Peter Scott Peters’ film and television credits.</p> <p><b>APPENDIX: FALLOUT SHELTER LYRICS </b></p> <p>Peter Scott Peters <br />Fallout Shelter (1961) <br />Lute Records (L-6020) 45 <br />Written by Peter Scott Peters <br />Produced by Marshall Leib</p> <p>I'm not scared <br />I'm prepared <br />I'll be spared <br />I've got a fallout shelter, it's 9 by 9 <br />A Hi-Fi set and a jug of wine <br />Let the missiles fly from nation to nation <br />It's party time in my radiation station <br />A 14 day supply of multi-purpose food <br />Water, medicine, be sure to include <br />Build your bomb bungalow, you needn’t postpone <br />With no down payment and an FHA loan <br />Let the tests go on in the atmosphere <br />In my fallout shelter, I'll have no fear <br />My baby and me, cozy we will be <br />Away from radioactivity <br />Twenty megatons is the size of the boom <br />And if they let it go, I'll feel no doom <br />Let the cats run about, helter-skelter <br />I'm gonna, live, live, live in my fallout shelter <br />I'm not scared <br />I'm prepared <br />I'll be spared <br />Twenty megatons is the size of the boom <br />And if they let it go, I'll feel no doom <br />Let the cats run about, helter-skelter <br />I'm gonna live, live, live in my fallout shelter <br />So if you want to be full of confidence <br />Get survival jazz and civil defense <br />You'll live like a king in your fallout pad <br />'Till the all clear sounds on CONELRAD. <br />Dial six-four-o, twelve-four-o - CONELRAD</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Music_Spoken Word/Peter Scott Peters Research/___Peter Scott Peters_Article/#_ftnref1_1625" name="_ftn1_1625">[1]</a> According to Frank Kavelin the person handling the promotion for <i>Fallout Shelter</i> could have been his father, Lute Records founder Al Kavelin, and / or Peter Scott Peters. Kavelin stated that it was also possible his father hired someone to promote the record. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Music_Spoken Word/Peter Scott Peters Research/___Peter Scott Peters_Article/#_ftnref2_1625" name="_ftn2_1625">[2]</a> Peters first DJ gig was at CKBI in 1948 followed by short stints at other stations around Canada. CKOM, however, was his breakthrough radio job according to our sources.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-88433824008295095662013-04-12T06:43:00.001-07:002014-12-17T12:07:19.121-08:00THE MOUNT WEATHER MORALS CASE MYSTERY<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TwchmfJ6kYc/UWgPhhwSFNI/AAAAAAAADbw/FIiqX2w-K-k/s1600-h/Morals%252520Excerpt%252520copy%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Morals Excerpt copy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Morals Excerpt copy" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-aEuWplBzJFI/UWgPh2sCrWI/AAAAAAAADb0/kbDX7XP5DEU/Morals%252520Excerpt%252520copy_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="244" /></a></p> <p>Last month while we were at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland researching the government emergency relocation site known as <a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/09/mount-weather-documents-before-and.html" target="_blank">Mount Weather</a> (aka the Special Facility, aka the Classified Facility aka the Classified Location aka High Point) we stumbled upon something very intriguing: A document concerning an individual involved in a potentially compromising “morals case” who worked in some capacity for the “Classified Facility.” But, apparently, what really sounded the alarm bells for the addressees on the March 20, 1964 letter is the fact that the unnamed mystery man—who had been involved in “highly classified matters”—also had knowledge of the top secret Congressional <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/groundzero/greenbrier.html" target="_blank">bunker</a> (aka CASPER) at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. </p> <p style="font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a title="View Mount Weather Morals Case on Scribd" style="text-decoration: underline" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/135553325/Mount-Weather-Morals-Case">Mount Weather Morals Case</a></p> <iframe id="doc_5640" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/135553325/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined"></iframe> <p>The purpose of the memorandum was to update the Director of the Office of Emergency Planning (the agency then tasked with operating Mount Weather), Edward A. McDermott (1920-1999), on a matter that had attracted the attention of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Cyrus R. Vance (1917-2002). Vance and his chief of Intelligence wanted to brief their spokesman, Arthur Sylvester (1901-1979), on the “general circumstances” so that Sylvester would be aware of the gravity of the situation in the event that he had to handle any media inquiries. The memorandum was written by McDermott’s Deputy Director Colonel Justice M. Chambers (1908-1982).</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jrYHVMEs0R0/UWgPigmW2PI/AAAAAAAADa4/ik_Rkj2GNHA/s1600-h/Chambers%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Chambers" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Chambers" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8E3y3LRl4ZU/UWgPi-B-4hI/AAAAAAAADbA/1RS9WAVoFbY/Chambers_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="402" /></a></p> <p>Robert Y. Phillips, Director of the Government Readiness Office, and William E. Elliott of the Mount Weather Security Office concurred that cluing in Sylvester “would do no harm,” but, according to the memo, directed Vance not to reveal any “facts concerning CASPER.” </p> <p>There was no further correspondence regarding this sensitive issue in any of the civil defense boxes that we have examined. And we were unable to find any reference to it in the declassified Secretary of Defense records that we looked at. According to the military archivist who was assisting us, most of the records from this period remain classified. Therefore, we were unable to look into whether the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (the aforementioned Mr. Sylvester) was ever contacted about the scandal-in-waiting. Sylvester, it should be noted, helped mislead the press during the Cuban missile crisis and later became the subject of controversy when he declared that “the government has the right to lie.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftn1_7153" name="_ftnref1_7153">[1]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OU9j61oJHRw/UWgPjkQzP8I/AAAAAAAADbI/9QbJcyMgLoE/s1600-h/Arthur%252520Sylvester%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Arthur Sylvester" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Arthur Sylvester" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VbHxlYu9AOI/UWgPkICPVRI/AAAAAAAADbQ/VSD90vDBcQo/Arthur%252520Sylvester_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="487" /></a></p> <p>Of course, when one searches the news databases for morals cases that occurred during 1964, the overwhelming “hit” returned pertains to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s senior aide Walter Jenkins (1918-1985) who was arrested (along with another man) on a disorderly conduct charge that took place in a YMCA restroom in Washington, D.C. Jenkins may have known about Mount Weather and the Greenbrier bunker, but his arrest occurred months after the memorandum. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftn2_7153" name="_ftnref2_7153">[2]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-po3z-J9bTJY/UWgS7F6AKSI/AAAAAAAADbg/mJJmR48l8jU/s1600-h/Walter%252520Jenkins%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Walter Jenkins copy" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Walter Jenkins copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-T2drUBKWWZo/UWgS7QTao4I/AAAAAAAADbo/RyPsCHzOVm8/Walter%252520Jenkins%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="325" /></a></p> <p>The only published reference to a morals case that was found to have transpired around the time of the letter is that of Eddie Haynes, a 31-year-old staff sergeant based at Fort Myer (Virginia). But Haynes’s “morals trial” was already in full swing (and well beyond the confines of damage control) by March 13, 1964, so it seems unlikely that he is our mystery man. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftn3_7153" name="_ftnref3_7153">[3]</a></p> <p>Efforts to locate William E. Elliott and Robert Y. Phillips were unsuccessful, though we did find some evidence to suggest that Elliott would have been in his fifties at the time of the memo. An email sent to a relative of Justice M. Chambers inquiring about the Colonel’s Mount Weather duties via a <a href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jmchambe.htm">cemetery website</a> bounced. </p> <p>Finally, the Clarke County District Court—the possible jurisdiction of the “morals” infraction—maintains criminal records dating back to the 1800s so CONELRAD may follow up on this lead in the future. We will, of course, update this post if we uncover anything substantial. In the meantime, the full background of this document will have to remain another unsolved mystery.</p> <p>SOURCE OF DOCUMENT</p> <p>National Archives and Records Administration <br />College Park, MD <br />Record Group 396 <br />Declassified P-95 Records <br />Box 6 <br />Folder: Special Facilities Branch </p> <p>ACKNOWLEDGMENT</p> <p>Thanks to Tim Goldsmith for additional research.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftnref1_7153" name="_ftn1_7153">[1]</a> “Arthur Sylvester, 78; Ex-Spokesman at Defense” (obituary), Washington Post, p. C4, December 30, 1979.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftnref2_7153" name="_ftn2_7153">[2]</a> “The Administration: The Jenkins Report,” Time, October 30, 1964.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Mount Weather/Mount Weather Morals Case/#_ftnref3_7153" name="_ftn3_7153">[3]</a> Don Morgan, “Judge Denies ‘Prejudice’ in Morals Case,” p. B5, March 13, 1964.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-16933636416014012992013-03-16T12:07:00.001-07:002013-03-17T04:35:08.186-07:00GREENBRIER BUNKER NOTIFICATION: PROS AND CONS<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Ix7bnmPSfY0/UUWpqoZCskI/AAAAAAAADaE/IG9ZU4AcoDA/s1600-h/McPhee%252520Memo%252520Excerpt%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="McPhee Memo Excerpt" border="0" alt="McPhee Memo Excerpt" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-J9v-Tg0VG54/UUTC0bKgQaI/AAAAAAAADaI/5zpwPs-ZQog/McPhee%252520Memo%252520Excerpt_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="247" /></a></p> <p>In late 1957 ground had not yet been broken on the United States Congress’s elaborate bunker (then known as Project X and soon thereafter as Project Casper) planned for construction beneath a luxury resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Indeed, the lease agreement for the government to utilize the Greenbrier hotel’s property as an emergency relocation site was not even signed until November 26, 1958 (and the facility would not be finished until 1962). But a general understanding between the Congress and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, owner of the Greenbrier at the time, had been reached in 1956, so it wasn’t too early for the Continuity of Government planners to begin thinking about how to notify legislators of where they were to go in the event of a crisis.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftn1_3393" name="_ftnref1_3393">[1]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-c93uJGBeIic/UUTC0xoOgxI/AAAAAAAADXM/F87OremSpqs/s1600-h/McPhee%252520Portrait_Refined%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="McPhee Portrait_Refined" border="0" alt="McPhee Portrait_Refined" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MLdYnFLM-BU/UUTC1VkerbI/AAAAAAAADXU/6yUTsavjdIA/McPhee%252520Portrait_Refined_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="328" /></a></p> <p>So it was that on November 19, 1957 Henry Roemer McPhee, Assistant Special Counsel to the President, summed up in a memo the pros and cons of various methods of congressional notification for the benefit of Gordon Gray, the Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-23DjT8IF_Jw/UUTC1tAuZmI/AAAAAAAADXc/DP-KYCnbu2Q/s1600-h/Gordon%252520Gray%252520Portait%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Gordon Gray Portait" border="0" alt="Gordon Gray Portait" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lFRqkL4a1M8/UUTC2MEQWyI/AAAAAAAADXk/R_v1M0z69bQ/Gordon%252520Gray%252520Portait_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="381" /></a></p> <p>The document is remarkable for its wariness in entrusting any sensitive information to rank and file lawmakers. In fact, it is quite apparent that Mr. McPhee is doing his best to dissuade Mr. Gray from taking on the burden of regularly briefing incoming congresspeople about the location of their shelter. Moreover, the young lawyer points out that such a policy would mean that an “ever increasing number of former Members of Congress would know the whereabouts of the relocation site.” Perhaps most damning is Mr. McPhee’s assumption that “in an emergency some Members…would probably not remember the location of the site and would have to seek further instruction.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftn2_3393" name="_ftnref2_3393">[2]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-znuudl7vn-M/UUTC2jz5LmI/AAAAAAAADaM/gsPsXEIUsRc/s1600-h/Suggestions%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Suggestions" border="0" alt="Suggestions" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ua6R1uUCEsQ/UUTC3B7VWkI/AAAAAAAADaQ/7mLlnX5XVr4/Suggestions_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="206" /></a></p> <p>The author goes on to propose two possible solutions to avoid the possibility of loose-lipped or forgetful legislators: (a.) Have the President of the United States provide the site’s address in his emergency proclamation (or in a subsequent broadcast) or (b.) direct law makers to visit their local FBI office to obtain the location of the shelter. The FBI field office representative would then, according to the plan, produce the address from a sealed envelope after the congressperson had adequately identified him or herself. Of course, in 1957 not even the FBI was clear on the name of the relocation site. In a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/102562220/Greenbrier-FBI-Memos-1957" target="_blank">memo</a> dated June 28, 1957 it is noted that J. Edgar Hoover himself had to offer a correction to the name of the site erroneously identified in a previous communication as “Sweetbriar.” “Don’t they mean ‘Greenbriar’ [sic],” the FBI Director is quoted as asking.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftn3_3393" name="_ftnref3_3393">[3]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tuSuff42Kxs/UUTC3ro-yjI/AAAAAAAADaU/zR7izJWulGA/s1600-h/Hoover%252520Note%252520copy%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Hoover Note copy" border="0" alt="Hoover Note copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6yPxZlIdAz0/UUTC4NI_h7I/AAAAAAAADaY/voQju9zOKKs/Hoover%252520Note%252520copy_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="122" /></a></p> <p>In the end, it would appear that only key government leaders were kept abreast of where the legislative branch was to evacuate to if World War III broke out. John Londis, who worked as a communications and cryptography specialist at the Greenbrier bunker for sixteen years, told CONELRAD in a recent interview: “Except for the leadership, I don’t think the Congress knew where they were to go. That would have been last minute information.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftn4_3393" name="_ftnref4_3393">[4]</a></p> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Henry R. McPhee Memo RE: Congressional Notification of Bunker on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/130754034/Henry-R-McPhee-Memo-RE-Congressional-Notification-of-Bunker">Henry R. McPhee Memo RE: Congressional Notification of Bunker</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a></p> <iframe id="doc_56829" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/130754034/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-21dynorqsvl3pqr0wd01" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.776247848537005" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>NOTE: CONELRAD reached out to Henry Roemer McPhee by phone and in writing for additional details on his memo, but he did not respond to our inquiries. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KLjiT06ZTjY/UUTC4jZ34HI/AAAAAAAADac/r9CmoEIo-eA/s1600-h/Sign-Off%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Sign-Off" border="0" alt="Sign-Off" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pL7w3YM5_D8/UUTC4wacIpI/AAAAAAAADag/hmc2IHAiA9Q/Sign-Off_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="151" /></a></p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftnref1_3393" name="_ftn1_3393">[1]</a> For the definitive chronology of the construction of the Greenbrier Congressional Bunker, see Robert S. Conte, The History of the Greenbrier: America’s Resort [Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1998], pp. 193-217.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftnref2_3393" name="_ftn2_3393">[2]</a> Memo from Henry Roemer McPhee to Gordon Gray dated November 19, 1957. Dwight David Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Harlow, Bryce N. : Records, Box 5, File: Civil Defense (1955-60) (2).</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftnref3_3393" name="_ftn3_3393">[3]</a> FBI memos dated June 27 and June 28, 1957 were provided to CONELRAD.com by <a href="http://governmentattic.org/">GovernmentAttic.org</a>, the organization responsible for obtaining the 2010 declassification of the documents.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/McPhee Memo/Article_Notes/#_ftnref4_3393" name="_ftn4_3393">[4]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012. For additional confirmation that only a select few members of the legislative and executive branches of government knew about the bunker, see Kenneth Cooper, “Hill Leaders ‘Regret’ Reports of Bomb Shelter Site,” Washington Post, May 30, 1992, P. A1</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zXdHZNWRjSk/UUTC5QDZohI/AAAAAAAADZY/66Hpoz9DBdg/s1600-h/Secret.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Secret" border="0" alt="Secret" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0rlFpQnaDQQ/UUTC5jcrR2I/AAAAAAAADZc/NxTfbfJmq4w/Secret_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="159" /></a></p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-2750251069218700542013-02-27T16:37:00.001-08:002013-03-04T05:44:50.569-08:00THE INSIDE MAN: John J. Londis and the Greenbrier Bunker<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4w6jhwvWv7o/US6mo7qGwEI/AAAAAAAADRk/s8jkaZjoyxo/s1600-h/Londis_Portrait%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Londis_Portrait copy" border="0" alt="Londis_Portrait copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2l39v3il7NA/US6mpdwwDmI/AAAAAAAADRs/W54NrkL-U5o/Londis_Portrait%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="462" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>“I can only give you what I have in the way of unclassified information. No one’s ever debriefed me or anything, so I can’t get into the mysterious stuff.”</p> <p>-John J. Londis to CONELRAD, December 3, 2012</p> </blockquote> <p><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p> <p>On May 31, 1992, the <i>Washington Post</i> revealed the existence of a classified government <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/groundzero/greenbrier.html">bunker</a> under the Greenbrier resort hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The massive structure—which became operational in early 1962—was intended for the United States Congress in the event of a Cold War crisis. But until the <i>Post</i> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/july/25/brier1.htm">story</a> ran only a small number of senior lawmakers knew about the facility. The bunker was maintained for thirty years by Forsythe Associates - a front company staffed by highly trained government employees posing as television repairmen (who actually did fix the hotel’s TV sets in addition to performing their day jobs).</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nhT3Sye2sBY/US6mprraYaI/AAAAAAAADR0/r4fqUNjctwc/s1600-h/Greenbrier-False-Front%252520Door%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Greenbrier-False-Front Door" border="0" alt="Greenbrier-False-Front Door" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TrrjzLzak5s/US6mqf0VbAI/AAAAAAAADR8/hhwlFWl5o5I/Greenbrier-False-Front%252520Door_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="249" /></a></p> <p>Ted Gup, the dogged journalist who exposed the unlikely hideaway, interviewed many people with detailed knowledge of the relocation site, but when he called Forsythe’s first general manager, John J. Londis, he received a canned response that was older than the bunker’s C-rations. Mr. Londis, who was then 76 and retired, told the reporter that his only function was to service the resort’s televisions.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn1" name="_ednref1">[1]</a> Twenty years later CONELRAD decided to take another crack at the TV repairman who once held a top secret security clearance. We were delighted to find that he was willing to talk and had a lot to say.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn2" name="_ednref2">[2]</a></p> <p><b>SELF-MADE MAN</b></p> <p>At 96 John J. Londis still has his Brooklyn accent and a warm sense of humor. He lives in a retirement residence in Florida and spoke with us on the telephone after we introduced ourselves to his son, James. The former Forsythe man, who has a remarkably solid long-term memory, was at first wary of our questions and told us that he couldn’t discuss what he called “the mysterious stuff.” But by the end of our nearly hour-long conversation, he had given us a rare insight into what it was like to work in the Strangelovian West Virginia complex for sixteen years (1960-1976).</p> <p>Londis was born in New York City in 1916 and dropped out of Brooklyn’s <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/21/K410/default.htm">Abraham Lincoln High School</a> because he was a young man in a hurry to enjoy success. “I never graduated high school, really,” he told us, “I took a lot of correspondence courses and I got an equivalency, but I never graduated from a regular high school.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn3" name="_ednref3">[3]</a></p> <p>After his abbreviated education and during the early part of his first marriage, Londis tended bar on Wall Street for several years in the late 1930s. It was at this saloon that he noticed some people who were more generous than most with their cash (a rarity during the Great Depression). He soon learned that these men were employed by International Telephone and Telegraph (<a href="http://www.itt.com/">ITT</a>) and were working under contract to the U.S. military. The ITT fellows took a liking to their barkeep and arranged for him to learn their teletype system after hours. It was not long after this ad hoc training that Londis quit his bar job and began working for ITT in an entry level position. He was making less money, but he saw a far brighter future in the field of communications than he did in shaking martinis. He remained at ITT throughout the war years. <br /> <br />After Londis separated from his wife around 1947, he left Brooklyn for California where he took an intensive array of courses in electronic communications and technology. As a result of this study, he earned a certification that made him highly marketable as America was entering its long twilight struggle with the Soviet Union. But he was still having trouble finding a job he liked. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn4" name="_ednref4">[4]</a> </p> <p>It was Londis’s brother Lou who urged him to come to Washington, D.C. to seek work. Lou had been working at the State Department as a “screener” interviewing Greek immigrants who were coming to the U.S. after the war. Heeding his brother’s call, Londis returned to the east coast in 1949 and, while living with Lou, secured his dream job. “I worked for the Army in communications and cryptography,” he told us. “I worked for the Signal Corps.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn5" name="_ednref5">[5]</a>    </p> <p>James Londis, John’s son, recalled for CONELRAD how impressed his uncle was with John’s self-propelled progress: “My Uncle Lou, proud and amazed at the same time, said that I needed to understand that my father rose through the ranks to the highest level of civilian rank in the Pentagon on diligence and smarts.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn6" name="_ednref6">[6]</a></p> <p><b>THE ROAD TO THE GREENBRIER</b></p> <p>During the early Cold War scramble to build government bunkers, John J. Londis found himself in high demand as a communications specialist. And his status as a single man with greater mobility made him even more attractive to the government. He explained the selection process to CONELRAD: “Well, it was a question of what job I was doing and what job they needed. And I happened to be single at the time, so it was easy for them to move me around and keep me undercover. So they decided to choose me and I agreed.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-695VbrJsJ0c/US6mqyNHzqI/AAAAAAAADSE/BqOdXcK9_cY/s1600-h/Mount%252520Weather%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Mount Weather" border="0" alt="Mount Weather" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HWXzCWKt6kU/US6mrein2dI/AAAAAAAADSM/R941geYl94w/Mount%252520Weather_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="490" /></a></p> <p>And, as it turned out, Londis’s road to the Greenbrier was paved through Berryville, Virginia, home to the mother of all relocation sites - Mount Weather. Londis recalled, without much enthusiasm, that he lived in Berryville while he was working at the Classified Location: “I was assigned to Communications Center as a communications specialist and cryptographic operations [person]. They needed a communications expert.” </p> <p>It was in 1960 – two years before the Greenbrier bunker became operational – that Londis began his longest government shelter stint. “I think I got there before the bunker was completed,” he confirmed. “We did a lot of installation of equipment. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” The code word for the bunker at this stage was Casper. When asked about the origins of this name Londis said with some degree of uncertainty: “I think it was the name of one of the intelligence agency’s children or something like that. They figured that was a good name. I don’t know.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-HwfweYVTEno/US6msFRi9fI/AAAAAAAADSU/kb4EiqhajEQ/s1600-h/Casper_Blueprints_Lo%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Casper_Blueprints_Lo copy" border="0" alt="Casper_Blueprints_Lo copy" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_xYNd4MySMI/US6msvlgh8I/AAAAAAAADSc/NupsFnRhpq8/Casper_Blueprints_Lo%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="269" /></a></p> <p>When we inquired about the paintings of nature scenes reported to have been placed inside the bunker, Londis told us: “It was our idea. After we got in there, we thought we would brighten it up a little bit. It was bad enough being under there – no windows, no nothing - we were trying to brighten it up. I forget whose idea it was – it was just natural that we’d want some brightness in the place.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn7" name="_ednref7">[7]</a></p> <p><b>FORSYTHE ASSOCIATES </b></p> <blockquote> <p>“Yeah, well that was my cover story, yeah. Branch manager of Forsythe was my cover story.”</p> <p>-John J. Londis to CONELRAD, December 3, 2012</p> </blockquote> <p>When the Greenbrier bunker opened for business, so, too, did its front company, Forsythe Associates. With regard to the faux business’s origins, Londis told us that it was devised by the Army: “Well, we didn’t come up with it. Actually, the intelligence people came up with the cover story. It was the Army intelligence people who came up with the story.” When asked whether there was any special significance to the name “Forsythe,” he answered: “No, not really,” and then he revealed “The [company] address in Arlington [Virginia] was false anyway. I think for a while they rented office space up there and after that they just closed it up.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn8" name="_ednref8">[8]</a> However, for the entirety of the bunker’s secret existence, Forsythe maintained an entry in the Arlington, Virginia telephone book with a real telephone number. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn9" name="_ednref9">[9]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-byQilhGb5e0/US6mtIU1mrI/AAAAAAAADSk/-fLU_29guNs/s1600-h/Forsythe_1964%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Forsythe_1964" border="0" alt="Forsythe_1964" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-MD47-v0MnFk/US6mtqBgD-I/AAAAAAAADSs/kerOxJR-WTI/Forsythe_1964_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="51" /></a></p> <p>We asked Forsythe’s former “branch manager” what would happen if someone called the number and offered the business real work. “We would tell them that we were too busy for small things,” Londis said. “We always made some kind of excuse.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn10" name="_ednref10">[10]</a></p> <p>In addition to an address and a telephone number Forsythe also had a payroll operation. According to Londis, the Army would deposit funds into the front company’s account and he would then receive his regular paychecks as issued by Forsythe. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn11" name="_ednref11">[11]</a></p> <p>He also had a secretary to help him with Forsythe and bunker business. Early in his tenure, Londis hired a West Virginia native named Gladys Childers for this sensitive work. In our interview, we asked him about how he came to choose her and he replied: “I recruited her – I remember that. I picked her – I had a choice of three and I decided to take her because she knew nothing about the government and cryptographic operations and, you know, I could teach her. Someone else –their old habits might interfere with operations.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn12" name="_ednref12">[12]</a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--_5_QFfTg5A/US6muA61WAI/AAAAAAAADS0/Alb0GZQr0dw/s1600-h/Gladyis%252520Childers_1967%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Gladyis Childers_1967" border="0" alt="Gladyis Childers_1967" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hcPIHbU3fbo/US6muvK6oXI/AAAAAAAADS8/CVg1x3GNjPo/Gladyis%252520Childers_1967_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="657" /></a></p> <p>Ms. Childers, who declined to be interviewed for this article, presented Londis with a local “boss of the year” award in 1969. The small newspaper article announcing the honor refers to him as “branch manager of Forsythe Associates at White Sulphur Springs.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn13" name="_ednref13">[13]</a> Childers remained with Forsythe long after Londis retired and, indeed, later gave tours of the bunker when it was opened to the public in the 1990s.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn14" name="_ednref14">[14]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QpLPblVHGuQ/US6mvKIHz5I/AAAAAAAADTE/ga561LKh2Ys/s1600-h/Londis_Boss%252520of%252520the%252520Year%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Londis_Boss of the Year copy" border="0" alt="Londis_Boss of the Year copy" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DeuzpRtFTrM/US6mvgbGv7I/AAAAAAAADTI/oKsuw1k3tOw/Londis_Boss%252520of%252520the%252520Year%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="327" /></a></p> <p><b>BUNKER STORIES</b></p> <p>The bunker became operational a few months before the Cuban missile crisis in October of 1962.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn15" name="_ednref15">[15]</a> We asked Londis about this tense period and whether the facility was ever activated. “Well, the word ‘activation’ means a lot,” he explained. “The system itself was in operation all the time and activated. Personnel were not stationed there for security reasons. During the Cuban missile crisis everybody was alerted to stand by and don’t leave your house. Or if you go anywhere, let us know. And if we needed them, we’d call them, but we never did call them.” Londis confirmed that during other crises like the 1963 Kennedy assassination and the Northeast blackout of 1965, he would remain—sometimes all night long—in the bunker waiting for a telephone call. “If there was going to be one,” he added for emphasis, “yeah.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn16" name="_ednref16">[16]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JD87vT2qA6A/US6mwHj8rgI/AAAAAAAADTU/DVL9luLuRn8/s1600-h/JFK-TV%25255B3%25255D%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="JFK-TV[3]" border="0" alt="JFK-TV[3]" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bmaV_pOFWAI/US6mw9ec0rI/AAAAAAAADTc/Ie3ygyuxKY4/JFK-TV%25255B3%25255D_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="242" /></a></p> <p>It was during this early period at the Greenbrier that Londis remarried. His new wife, Kalla, was a French tutor for the CIA and had a sufficient security clearance to be informed of her husband’s real job. Londis told us that “She was briefed that the government had an interest there, but nobody was really told who it was for.” Kalla passed away in 2011. Londis’s children did not know about their father’s secret occupation until they read about it in the <i>Washington Post</i> in 1992. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn17" name="_ednref17">[17]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TM9ACpCCz6I/US6mxrPDbzI/AAAAAAAADTk/dAaKZPKihTI/s1600-h/Forsythe%252520Greenbrier%252520Directory_1967%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Forsythe Greenbrier Directory_1967 copy" border="0" alt="Forsythe Greenbrier Directory_1967 copy" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-b3UovUxVS3k/US6my3ZifzI/AAAAAAAADTs/JxbeoHtilss/Forsythe%252520Greenbrier%252520Directory_1967%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="137" /></a></p> <p>The year after the Cuban missile crisis the government sent a new man to supervise the bunker and, understandably, Londis was less than thrilled with the move. Fred C. Hicks, Jr. arrived sometime in 1963 and took control of the facility and Forsythe Associates.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn18" name="_ednref18">[18]</a> When asked about the circumstances of Mr. Hicks’s arrival, Londis became a little exasperated:</p> <blockquote> <p>“[Congress] made him the top dog down there, but he didn’t do anything, really… He was there as my boss. Initially, he didn’t come down there. Initially, the Army had the full responsibility for the operation, but then somebody in Congress decided they wanted their representative down there which was ridiculous because he really wasn’t needed and he didn’t do anything.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn19" name="_ednref19">[19]</a></p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qqFtVvzdKYs/US6mzIdcIKI/AAAAAAAADT0/IPLgZ8eGgJw/s1600-h/Fred%252520C%252520Hicks%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Fred C Hicks" border="0" alt="Fred C Hicks" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UO5mqcvXiis/US6m0PmAhqI/AAAAAAAADT8/gnn7W3mE90g/Fred%252520C%252520Hicks_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="266" /></a></p> <p>Hicks, who died suddenly of a heart attack in 1971, is no longer around to defend his work ethic, but CONELRAD recently interviewed his son, Fred C. Hicks III. Among many other details about the site and his family, Hicks revealed to us that his father had a reciprocal disdain for Londis.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn20" name="_ednref20">[20]</a> CONELRAD will be publishing our profile of the late Mr. Hicks in the near future. </p> <p>Hicks was replaced as manager of the site in short order with Paul E. “Fritz” Bugas. Londis sounded less annoyed when we brought up his new boss’s name, but he quickly digressed into a defense of the importance of communications—his domain—in the bunker. “The communications had to be working <i>all</i> the time,” he declared, “that was the <i>key</i> thing.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn21" name="_ednref21">[21]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OjciScyr5rU/US6m0gmRsiI/AAAAAAAADUE/X4Cz6I6iRMY/s1600-h/Fritz%252520Bugas%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Fritz Bugas" border="0" alt="Fritz Bugas" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fkhPERe2CVk/US6m1KI7mPI/AAAAAAAADUM/iDujpQjFbZI/Fritz%252520Bugas_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="440" /></a></p> <p>Bugas managed the bunker for the remainder of its classified existence and was later responsible for helping transition the site into a public attraction. He is now retired. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn22" name="_ednref22">[22]</a></p> <p>When asked if many VIPs visited the Greenbrier during his career there, Londis replied “Well, [Vice President Hubert] Humphrey used to come down a lot.” In response to our follow-up question about whether the vice president toured the bunker itself, he said with a laugh, “Yeah, he visited the bunker – under cover of darkness.” Londis added that Humphrey was impressed with what he saw: “He was very satisfied that if the need ever occurred that we had the necessary communications equipment and the necessary people to provide them with the communications they might need.” According to Londis, the Greenbrier bunker was the designated relocation site for the vice president. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn23" name="_ednref23">[23]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-W6Qwn51fCk0/US6m1gT_kTI/AAAAAAAADUU/s-MWHi3-MXI/s1600-h/H_Humphrey_Lo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="H_Humphrey_Lo" border="0" alt="H_Humphrey_Lo" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-eqBgjtC_mJE/US6m2JQxhoI/AAAAAAAADUc/4YCNNxjN9o4/H_Humphrey_Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="362" /></a></p> <p>Over the years Londis gave other bunker tours to senior congressional leaders who had a vested interest in the facility, but he was doubtful that the rank and file members knew about it. “Except for the leadership, I don’t think the congress knew where they were to go,” he told us. “That would have been last minute information.”</p> <p>On the subject of family and whether the thought of leaving his wife in the event of a national emergency weighed heavily on his mind, Londis surprised us with the following response: “Not really. You get used to that kind of life and you tell your wife to come to the hotel and stay there. Then if it got dangerous enough, you’d grab her and bring her down to the bunker.” When asked to confirm what he had just said, he added: “Well, we were alerted for stuff like that. In other words, we had plans to do something. You can’t ask a man to leave his family and come down to the bunker while the bombs are falling all around him.” Londis claimed that this remarkable contingency plan was part of an official policy, but based on all other accounts, families were not on the formal bunker guest list. <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn24" name="_ednref24">[24]</a></p> <p><b>LIFE AFTER THE BUNKER</b></p> <p>John J. Londis retired from the government and from Forsythe Associates in December of 1976. Colonel Charles W. Yerkes of the Army Signal Corps (he was also an officer at Mount Weather) signed Londis’s Certificate of Appreciation thanking him for his “many years of service.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn25" name="_ednref25">[25]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ucROF-c-RiU/US6m2VYLAHI/AAAAAAAADUk/jcuYEcEfWw8/s1600-h/Londis_Army_1%252520copy%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Londis_Army_1 copy" border="0" alt="Londis_Army_1 copy" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXezIFS6HokusOGhDt_zwzuVwqE__I49nQCDCVvNYpGzU7qIb2ovnaa3kJpoIs6mRD2hmpRuGJ7beLkjGoeKjjdTcQYEyXNaEEVvub2drf6CEVoxcNn1Al17FGp7qrBbgIEYWnnaKvME/?imgmax=800" width="384" height="297" /></a></p> <p>Until they moved to Boca Raton, Florida in the 1980s, John and Kalla remained in their White Sulphur Springs home and availed themselves of the amenities of the Greenbrier resort. Londis, an avid golfer, especially enjoyed the world class links (that is him at the Greenbrier, second from the right, in the photo below). He did not remain in touch with his former Forsythe boss, Fritz Bugas, and never took a tour of the public incarnation of the bunker.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xduVEGnyUsw/US6m3ycNBEI/AAAAAAAADU0/BHOphZkvW2U/s1600-h/John%252520Londis%252520-%252520Second%252520From%252520Right%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="John Londis - Second From Right" border="0" alt="John Londis - Second From Right" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QnbG2s_0cGk/US6m4YYSSPI/AAAAAAAADU8/SWFsAmm0agY/John%252520Londis%252520-%252520Second%252520From%252520Right_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="287" /></a></p> <p>When the <i>Washington Post</i> article was published and exposed the facility and Forsythe Associates, James Londis recalled that he had to call his father to cajole him into talking about it. James was impressed that his dad could keep such a monumental secret for so long: “It surprised and pleased me that he never breached his security oath.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn26" name="_ednref26">[26]</a></p> <p>Indeed, John J. Londis was quite modest in discussing his unique and largely secret role in Cold War history. In summing up his job he told us: “Well, it wasn’t the flashy, elaborate assignment that people might think. It was a hush-hush thing.” <a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_edn27" name="_ednref27">[27]</a></p> <p><b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS </b></p> <p>CONELRAD would like to thank John J. Londis for his time and candor in looking back at his long career. It is an invaluable record to have for future generations. We would also like to thank James and Dolores Londis for trusting us with John’s story and providing some additional information about his life. Thanks also to Fred C. Hicks III for additional background information. We would also like to offer a special thanks to Dr. Robert S. Conte, the Greenbrier’s staff historian, and to Ted Gup, the man most responsible for opening the Greenbrier’s giant blast doors to history. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c4dPAXbCQMo/US6m5NupGnI/AAAAAAAADVE/rxu86QzJ-3I/s1600-h/Greenbrier-Leaving%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Greenbrier-Leaving" border="0" alt="Greenbrier-Leaving" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uuLz1i2K0lU/US6m5bEzFNI/AAAAAAAADVM/ONvbnxuBdwI/Greenbrier-Leaving_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="560" /></a></p> <p>Note: All images used in this post are the property of CONELRAD.com and may not be reproduced without written permission.</p> <p>This post was updated on March 4, 2013 to reflect additional information provided by the Londis family.  </p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref1" name="_edn1">[1]</a> Ted Gup, “The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway,” Washington Post, May 31, 1992.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref2" name="_edn2">[2]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref3" name="_edn3">[3]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref4" name="_edn4">[4]</a> E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, March 3, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref5" name="_edn5">[5]</a> E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, March 3, 2013. Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref6" name="_edn6">[6]</a> E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, December 4, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref7" name="_edn7">[7]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref8" name="_edn8">[8]</a> Ibid.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref9" name="_edn9">[9]</a> CONELRAD examined, at random, Arlington and Northern Virginia telephone books published during the period of the bunker’s operation (1962 – 1992). We discovered entries for Forsythe Associates through 1992, the year that the bunker was revealed by the <i>Washington Post</i>. In 1993 there was no listing for Forsythe Associates. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref10" name="_edn10">[10]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref11" name="_edn11">[11]</a> Email from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, December 2, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref12" name="_edn12">[12]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref13" name="_edn13">[13]</a> “Londis Is Cited,” Beckley Post-Herald (West Virginia), April 24, 1969, page 20.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref14" name="_edn14">[14]</a> Gladys Childers is documented as still being employed with Forsythe in Gup’s article (see end note 1). Her role as a bunker tour guide was confirmed to CONELRAD’s Bill Geerhart by Greenbrier historian Dr. Robert S. Conte on November 14, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref15" name="_edn15">[15]</a> Ted Gup, “The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway,” Washington Post, May 31, 1992 and Dr. Conte Robert S. Conte, “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Greenbrier’s Bunker,” Goldenseal, Winter 2010, page 21. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref16" name="_edn16">[16]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref17" name="_edn17">[17]</a> For John and Kalla Londis’s marriage and Kalla’s profession: E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, February 25, 2013. For clearance quotation: John J. Londis telephone interview conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012. For adult children’s discovery of father’s true occupation: E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, December 4, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref18" name="_edn18">[18]</a> Interview with Fred C. Hicks III conducted by Bill Geerhart, January 23, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref19" name="_edn19">[19]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref20" name="_edn20">[20]</a> Interview with Fred C. Hicks III conducted by Bill Geerhart, January 23, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref21" name="_edn21">[21]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref22" name="_edn22">[22]</a> Mr. Bugas’s bunker transition role and current retirement status was confirmed to CONELRAD’s Bill Geerhart by Greenbrier historian Dr. Robert S. Conte on November 14, 2012. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref23" name="_edn23">[23]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012. CONELRAD was able to find evidence of Vice President Hubert Humphrey visiting the Greenbrier in June of 1965 through the <a href="http://www.cohs.org/cgi-bin/cohs_search.pl?st=GREENBRIER+Humphrey&textsubmit=GO&tr=AND&lp=1&sl=100">archives</a> of the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref24" name="_edn24">[24]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012. For policy of families not being permitted in the bunker, see Gup’s article (end note 1). </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref25" name="_edn25">[25]</a> The date of John Londis’s retirement is documented in the copy of the Certificate of Retirement provided to CONELRAD by James Londis. For Colonel Yerkes role at Mount Weather see “Mrs. Yerkes Considered For PHW President,” Winchester (Virginia) Star, January 29, 1983, page 2.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref26" name="_edn26">[26]</a> E-mail from James Londis to Bill Geerhart, December 4, 2012.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Greenbrier/Forsythe/John Londis/#_ednref27" name="_edn27">[27]</a> Telephone interview with John J. Londis conducted by Bill Geerhart, December 3, 2012.</p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-80376698080011266682013-02-19T12:17:00.001-08:002013-02-19T15:35:15.024-08:00CADDYSHACK: EISENHOWER’S FALLOUT SHELTER DILEMMA<p> <br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-q2Jek9IZs6k/USPdtYdCKkI/AAAAAAAADOQ/_ouCRv4ss6E/s1600-h/Eisenhower_Dont%252520Ask%25255B105%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Eisenhower_Dont Ask" border="0" alt="Eisenhower_Dont Ask" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-30r5DaBKmps/USPdt6I2OpI/AAAAAAAADOY/OL_DfDUj1HQ/Eisenhower_Dont%252520Ask_thumb%25255B101%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="284" height="377" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>“I am not sure whether I would really want to be living in this country of ours should [we] ever be subjected to a nuclear bath.” </p> <p>-- Dwight D. Eisenhower in a letter, September 25, 1961</p> </blockquote> <p>When President Dwight D. Eisenhower left office on January 20, 1961 he probably anticipated a pleasant retirement filled with days of golf, fly fishing and the occasional session of memoir dictation. The aging general could be forgiven for assuming that pesky questions about fallout shelters and other Cold War headaches would be the sole province of his New Frontier successor, John F. Kennedy. But such was not to be the case. Indeed, a mere nine months after Ike left Washington for his beloved Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm he received a missive requesting his support in the construction of a community shelter at his new winter residence in California.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn1" name="_ednref1">[1]</a> This is the story of how the former Supreme Allied Commander and Commander-in-Chief sought to handle a thorny neighborhood matter.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UhcrggX9O9M/USPdud_HVoI/AAAAAAAADOg/HDIV9urndaM/s1600-h/El%252520Dorado%252520Country%252520Club_Lo%25255B68%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="El Dorado Country Club_Lo" border="0" alt="El Dorado Country Club_Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eWfT5s2Mmfw/USPdu0EGCOI/AAAAAAAADOo/R8HbHb2xYjk/El%252520Dorado%252520Country%252520Club_Lo_thumb%25255B65%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="379" height="241" /></a></p> <p>As the clock ticked down on President Eisenhower’s second term, the Associated Press published a story detailing his immediate post-presidential schedule. The final item listed in the article stated that Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, would soon be traveling to the <a href="http://www.eldoradocc.org/" target="_blank">Eldorado Country Club</a> in Palm Desert, California where they had “rented a house.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn2" name="_ednref2">[2]</a> What the A.P. piece did not mention is that Ike’s dream cottage on the eleventh fairway of the resort’s golf course had been built for him by his friend, Robert P. McCulloch, a wealthy oil and real estate executive (and Eldorado manager). The reported cost of the house was $175,000 on which the former president was said to have paid a “nominal rent.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn3" name="_ednref3">[3]</a></p> <p>It was in late September of 1961 that President Eisenhower received the aforementioned letter from his future neighbor, Mary Florsheim Jones, proposing her idea of a community shelter for the new residents of Eldorado. Mrs. Jones was the wife of celebrity Allan Jones (father of <i>Love Boat</i> crooner, Jack Jones) and an heiress to the Chicago footwear fortune. Mr. Jones, a singer and actor, had performed as part of Eisenhower’s inaugural festivities which might be why the former president was giving the letter his attention.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn4" name="_ednref4">[4]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oG--AMyEyUo/USPdvR9xccI/AAAAAAAADOw/YbNQAsB7gO4/s1600-h/AJ%252526Mary-wedding-in-LasVegas%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="AJ&Mary-wedding-in-LasVegas" border="0" alt="AJ&Mary-wedding-in-LasVegas" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xLRUW-SMayI/USPdvqi1Q7I/AAAAAAAADO4/d5R7JFjs8Uc/AJ%252526Mary-wedding-in-LasVegas_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="469" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>My dear General Eisenhower:</p> <p>I am taking the liberty of writing to you to ask you to help my husband and I to start a group of fellow Americans joining together to build a Bomb Shelter at Eldorado Country Club. I know you are building there this summer and so are we. Our home is on the second green and we had originally thought we would build a shelter for ourselves. This seems selfish and I thought perhaps we could ban [sic] together and ask for a piece of land and make this a community project that might also set a good example.</p> <p>A letter from you endorsing this idea if you think it a good plan is all we would need to start the idea into a reality. </p> <p>My husband asked me to remember him to you; he sang at both your inaugurations.</p> <p>Thank you for your consideration of our idea.</p> <p>Very Sincerely yours,</p> <p>Mrs. Allan Jones.</p> <p>September 19, 1961</p> </blockquote> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Mary Jones Letter to President Eisenhower RE: Country Club Fallout Shelter on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/126227101/Mary-Jones-Letter-to-President-Eisenhower-RE-Country-Club-Fallout-Shelter">Mary Jones Letter to President Eisenhower RE: Country Club Fallout Shelter</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a> </p> <iframe id="doc_81678" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/126227101/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-6tow9t7uwa8b7b7th0r" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.782330345710627" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>During his eight years in office, Eisenhower had the option of turning to his White House staff or cabinet (or anyone else in the free world) for advice and counsel on any issue big or small. For this post-presidential fallout shelter dilemma, however, he decided to contact his friend and Eldorado golfing buddy Freeman F. Gosden. Gosden, who was white, is best known for originating the comedic character of Amos, an African American, on the long running and hugely popular (and later controversial) <i>Amos ‘n Andy</i> radio series that began in 1928.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn5" name="_ednref5">[5]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jGQY1YVcYHY/USPdwOdCE8I/AAAAAAAADPA/QdEa8dvQOH4/s1600-h/freeman_gosden%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="freeman_gosden" border="0" alt="freeman_gosden" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-R5s5vSUj0ac/USPdw8AMbyI/AAAAAAAADPI/qZu-s9YlV_k/freeman_gosden_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="196" height="244" /></a></p> <p>President Eisenhower’s letter to Gosden is fascinating because it reveals his own conflicted attitudes about survival as well as his concern for the service workers at the country club – many of whom may have been black Democrats. The note begins with some friendly pleasantries before moving on to the former president’s community shelter quandary:</p> <blockquote> <p>I enclose a letter from Mrs. Allan Jones, who proposes that all of us at Eldorado join together to build a bomb shelter, apparently on the theory that this would be a good example for others as well as a possible refuge for those of us who might be living there during a catastrophe. So far as I am personally concerned, I am not sure whether I would really want to be living in this country of ours should [we] ever be subjected to a nuclear bath. But even if I were persuaded that the building of a shelter would be good, I would most certainly insist that it would have to be ample to take care of all of the caddies, the workmen on the golf course, together with everybody that works in the clubhouse, including waitresses, maids, janitors and all the rest. Certainly, I do not want to offend the lady, but I wonder whether you could give me your opinion of how to answer her.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn6" name="_ednref6">[6]</a></p> </blockquote> <p style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Eisenhower to Freeman Gosden RE: Country Club Fallout Shelter on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/126227607/Eisenhower-to-Freeman-Gosden-RE-Country-Club-Fallout-Shelter">Eisenhower to Freeman Gosden RE: Country Club Fallout Shelter</a> by <a style="text-decoration: underline" title="View Bill Geerhart's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/bill86862002">Bill Geerhart</a> </p> <iframe id="doc_9453" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/126227607/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-2jjiu9lo6uin9za583fn" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-aspect-ratio="0.7724399494311" data-auto-height="false"></iframe> <p>It is not clear if Mr. Gosden ever offered the former president any guidance on how to respond to Mrs. Jones or whether Eisenhower ever replied to Mrs. Jones’s query. CONELRAD contacted an archivist at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum who informed us that the correspondence on the Eldorado shelter issue is limited to what is presented in this post.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn7" name="_ednref7">[7]</a></p> <p>It is, of course, possible that Eisenhower simply discussed the matter directly with the parties involved because of their close proximity at the country club. CONELRAD spoke with Mary Elizabeth Florsheim Bradley’s daughter, Ellen Hunt, about her late mother’s letter and she confirmed that Eisenhower met her mother many times at Eldorado. On one such occasion, according to Ms. Hunt, the former president had shot a golf ball through their window and the Jones’s maid promptly gave the architect of the Normandy invasion an earful when he tried to retrieve it.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn8" name="_ednref8">[8]</a></p> <p>The final question that trumps the preceding ones herein is whether a fallout shelter was ever built at the Eldorado Country Club. CONELRAD asked Geoff Hasley, the current chief operating officer of the resort about this point and he stated categorically that no shelter had ever been constructed on the grounds.<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn9" name="_ednref9">[9]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vKMJl3NfIpw/USPdyfvgsjI/AAAAAAAADPQ/meOekH5CPDk/s1600-h/El%252520Dorado%252520Country%252520Club%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="El Dorado Country Club" border="0" alt="El Dorado Country Club" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZemugRn9PI8/USPdyzwwKkI/AAAAAAAADPY/eqChrZG8SiE/El%252520Dorado%252520Country%252520Club_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="379" height="248" /></a></p> <p>Less than a month after receiving the letter from Mrs. Jones, President Eisenhower was again asked about his views on fallout shelters—this time publicly—at a campaign event in Newark, New Jersey (the general was stumping for James P. Mitchell, a gubernatorial candidate). The retired Eisenhower, free to speak his mind, conveyed much the same sentiment that is evident in his private correspondence. He told the Associated Press that he would “just walk out” of a shelter if his family was not with him during an attack. He added, “I wouldn’t want to be left in that kind of a world.”<a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_edn10" name="_ednref10">[10]</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--MlrCvXv5FE/USPdzOdJ4WI/AAAAAAAADPg/8mv-lQrmmt8/s1600-h/Eisenhower_Shelter%252520Value%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Eisenhower_Shelter Value" border="0" alt="Eisenhower_Shelter Value" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TGjDTabGS5M/USPdzoWAyHI/AAAAAAAADPo/8kirWDH3qok/Eisenhower_Shelter%252520Value_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="504" /></a></p> <p>CONELRAD would like to thank Ellen Hunt for her kind cooperation with this article. Ms. Hunt is the founder of <a href="http://www.aspenfilm.org/index.php/events/aspen-filmfest" target="_blank">Aspen Film</a>.</p> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref1" name="_edn1">[1]</a> Eisenhower, Dwight D.: Papers, Post-Presidential, Special Names Series, Box 4, Folder: Gosden, Freeman, 1961. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref2" name="_edn2">[2]</a> “Eisenhower Schedules Busy Last Few Days,” Los Angeles Times (via A.P.), January 17, 1961, p. 11.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref3" name="_edn3">[3]</a> For McCulloch’s role in the construction of the Eisenhower winter home see: David Eisenhower and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961-1969 [New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010], pp. 12-13 and Jean Edward Smith, Eisenhower in War and Peace [New York: Random House, 2012], p. 764. For cost of house see “Eisenhowers Arrive for Palm Desert Sun,” Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1961, p. B1. For “nominal rent” see Margaret Childs, “The Lush Resort Where Ike Lives,” Washington Post, April 13, 1962, p. A16. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref4" name="_edn4">[4]</a> For biographical information on Mary Florsheim Bradley (the former Mrs. Allan Jones) see Serena Maria Daniels, “Mary Elizabeth Florsheim Bradley dies at 90,” Los Angeles Times, February 16, 2010. For biographical information on Allan Jones and his relationship to singer Jack Jones see Glenn Collins, “Allan Jones, 84, Hollywood Singing Star, Is Dead,” New York Times, June 30, 1992. For Allan Jones’s participation in Eisenhower’s first inauguration see “Actors Fly to Inauguration,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1953, p. 10. For source of Mrs. Allan Jones’s letter see end note number 1.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref5" name="_edn5">[5]</a> For biographical information on Freeman F. Gosden and a brief history of the Amos ‘n Andy radio and television programs, see Joseph B. Treaster, “Freeman F. Gosden Is Dead At 83; Amos In Radio’s ‘Amos ‘N Andy,” New York Times, December 11, 1982. </p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref6" name="_edn6">[6]</a> For source of Freeman F. Gosden’s letter see end note number 1.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref7" name="_edn7">[7]</a> Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum archivist Chalsea Millner to Bill Geerhart in a telephone conversation on February 7, 2013.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref8" name="_edn8">[8]</a> Telephone interview with Ellen Hunt on November 13, 2012 conducted by Bill Geerhart. Ms. Hunt was also asked if she was aware of any written response from Eisenhower to her mother’s letter and she stated that she was not. She added that her mother “kept a clean house” and that such a document may have been discarded.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref9" name="_edn9">[9]</a> Telephone interview with Geoff Hasley on Novemer 19, 2012 conducted by Bill Geerhart.</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Back-Up_102212/___CONELRAD/CONELRAD Writing/Atomic Secrets/Eisenhower Country Club Bomb Shelter/__Article/#_ednref10" name="_edn10">[10]</a> “Shelter Value Uncertain to Eisenhower,” Los Angeles Times (via A.P.), October 19, 1961, p. 31.</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mMTuLbnEwJU/USPdz-W1KbI/AAAAAAAADPw/jFmLoZ9NhwE/s1600-h/Eisenhower-El%252520Dorado-1967%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Eisenhower-El Dorado-1967" border="0" alt="Eisenhower-El Dorado-1967" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JnwHu7uim6s/USPd0cX3vzI/AAAAAAAADP4/Tbs14TS1xUM/Eisenhower-El%252520Dorado-1967_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="469" /></a></p></blockquote> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-20157475957960179902012-08-08T18:40:00.001-07:002018-06-17T18:32:13.760-07:00Miss Atomic Energy of 1948 is Still Going Strong<img alt="Janis Paige_Miss Atomic Energy_1948" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dfJFndpaHac/UCMVEy2HeGI/AAAAAAAADJY/fPxirLMvaEo/Janis%252520Paige_Miss%252520Atomic%252520Energy_1948_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="500" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Janis Paige_Miss Atomic Energy_1948" width="384" /> <br />
Indestructible entertainer <a href="http://www.janispaige.com/gallery.html">Janis Paige</a>, who will be celebrating her 90th birthday next month with a one-woman show at San Francisco’s <a href="http://therrazzroom.com/12ap/janis_p.html">RRaz Room</a>, was once known (albeit briefly) as Miss Atomic Energy. The following is a short history of this little known chapter in Cold War popular culture.<br />
In September of 1948 Ms. Paige, a Tacoma, Washington native and film actress, was scheduled to return to her home state to lend some star power to the first annual Atomic Frontier Days festival in Richland. Her title of Miss Atomic Energy was attributed in the press to an apparently spontaneous vote by “several thousand workers at the atomic-energy plant.” But it was more likely that the honor was the creative result of studio flacks looking for a story to go with their amazing publicity picture (as seen above and shot by the late great <a href="http://matiasaguilar-make.blogspot.com/2008/02/floyd-mccarty.html">Floyd McCarty</a>). <br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oHTagxYK2es/UCMVFcgtS2I/AAAAAAAADJg/1-ydji-Ddog/s1600-h/Janis%252520Paige_LAT_1948%252520copy%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Janis Paige_LAT_1948 copy" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GW8aiNV9rC4/UCMVFzbUZ7I/AAAAAAAADJo/29qF3TL_XUQ/Janis%252520Paige_LAT_1948%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="990" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Janis Paige_LAT_1948 copy" width="304" /></a><br />
On September 1, 1948, the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> announced Ms. Paige’s news with a photo caption reading “SHE’S ATOMIC – Actress Janis Paige chosen for honor at celebration in Northwest.” The article went on to state:<br />
<blockquote>
Radioactive or not, Janis Paige, Warner Bros. actress, has been named Miss Atomic Energy by several thousand workers at the atomic-energy plant in RIchland, Wash., it was announced yesterday. <br />
So, Miss Paige will fly to the northern city Friday to be a guest in an Atomic Frontier Day celebration which also will be attended by members of the government’s Atomic Energy Commission and other officials<br />
The actress will crown the local queen, ride in the parade and be a guest at a horse show and barbecue.
</blockquote>
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UaFPjjQDN2A/UCMVGH5QYRI/AAAAAAAADJw/Dgscb1hinTs/s1600-h/Janis%252520Paige_LAT_Txt%252520copy%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Janis Paige_LAT_Txt copy" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-goUpRrmcDxQ/UCMVG3KbeTI/AAAAAAAADJ4/aGTlopXz3sQ/Janis%252520Paige_LAT_Txt%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="321" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Janis Paige_LAT_Txt copy" width="264" /></a> <br />
In the September 6, 1948 edition of the <em>Union Bulletin</em> of Walla Walla, Washington, Ms. Paige was mentioned briefly in a story about Barbara Wiltz, “tall shapely blonde…who was crowned queen of the first annual ‘Atomic Frontier Days.’ The article notes that “movie actress Janis Paige took part in the ceremony.” A week later, the same newspaper carried a photo of the crowning under the headline “Queen of the Atomic City.” Although, it is impossible to tell from the poor quality image below, Ms. Paige is to the left of the “Queen.”<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QcmO68R2JtM/UCMVHc1hfTI/AAAAAAAADKA/IwV6LDG6tSE/s1600-h/Queen%252520of%252520Atomic%252520City%252520copy%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Queen of Atomic City copy" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WTCgJzKaB4U/UCMVIP9QfkI/AAAAAAAADKI/sYk40xPlmL4/Queen%252520of%252520Atomic%252520City%252520copy_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="578" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Queen of Atomic City copy" width="384" /></a> <br />
We’re not sure whatever became of Ms. Wiltz, but <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656712/">Janis Paige</a> continued her remarkable career path with roles in <em>One Sunday Afternoon</em> (1948), <em>This Side of the Law</em> (1950), <em>Silk Stockings</em> (1957) and many other films and television series. CONELRAD wishes the former Miss Atomic Energy a very happy birthday!<br /><br />
<strong>APPENDIX: Text from the Back of the 1948 Floyd McCarty Publicity Photo</strong><br />
<blockquote>
“Security at the Richland, Washington Atomic Energy Plant has been lifted long enough to reveal that the atomic workers there have selected Janis Paige as "MISS ATOMIC ENERGY." Janis will fly to Richland, Washington to reign over the Atomic Frontier Celebration, Sept. 4-6, commemorating the founding of Richland's Atomic Energy Plant. Here Janis demonstrates the reason she was accorded the honor -- her thorough knowledge of higher mathematics. Janis will soon be seen in Warner Bros.' ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON.” </blockquote>
Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-17868317604179473692012-04-25T12:23:00.001-07:002018-06-17T19:45:39.718-07:00Off-Season: Killing Time at Mount Weather<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UfmdLAepUvk/T5hPDHszdMI/AAAAAAAADGE/-ppn1xriF4w/s1600-h/Cvr-CU%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Cvr-CU" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-330GVnSClWc/T5hPEM2eoiI/AAAAAAAADGM/3MxK80fKwpU/Cvr-CU_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="463" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cvr-CU" width="404" /></a><br />
The massive top secret government relocation site known as Mount Weather (aka the Classified Location) has been featured in political thrillers since at least 1962 (its debut was as the thinly disguised “Mount Thunder” in the novel <i>Seven Days in May</i> by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II), but some of its more mundane, real life functions may surprise readers. Indeed, CONELRAD recently discovered a “Weekly Schedule of Activities” for the legendary Cold War super fortress that has all of the excitement of a corporate retreat agenda. But what makes this document of particular interest is that it is from the extremely tense early 1960s when one would have thought more would have been going on. But perhaps even government bunkers have off-seasons.<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lAIOf2y_za0/T5hPE2mLhPI/AAAAAAAADGU/X7DCFtNmQUw/s1600-h/harvard%252520club%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="harvard club" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EpUQlxmQfgM/T5hPFe17YjI/AAAAAAAADGc/uB9YKgr9_VU/harvard%252520club_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="381" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="harvard club" width="304" /></a><br />
If nothing else the memo proves that the Classified Location had a war room and showed cool old (even for 1961) propaganda movies. For the weeks covered in the schedule, the Raymond Massey-hosted <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc23jNE51KQ">Seconds for Survival</a></i> (1959) screened at 10:45 AM on November 7, 1961 and the NBC television documentary <i>Nightmare in Red</i> (1955) ran at 9:00 AM on the following day. There are also unidentified movies that ran at night which may have been from an entirely different genre (one not featuring the likes of Mr. Massey). <br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-SM_Ob2McYLo/T5hPFvfeS0I/AAAAAAAADGk/q6KP1OBX5Qs/s1600-h/Classified%252520Location-CU-2%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Classified Location-CU-2" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PiLog0xgsTE/T5hPGAfIjxI/AAAAAAAADGs/HwDIbVU1r-8/Classified%252520Location-CU-2_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="126" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Classified Location-CU-2" width="404" /></a><br />
And what taxpayer funded getaway would be complete without church services and a bus ride home? <br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2HR6yR62DUg/T5hPGvZy4wI/AAAAAAAADG0/ekbFxBrvdyw/s1600-h/Church%252520Services%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Church Services" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-yWAGjWm4c84/T5hPHQ9anwI/AAAAAAAADG8/Uxgbmo8yVdo/Church%252520Services_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="97" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Church Services" width="404" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/91260110/Mount-Weather-Weekly-Activities-1961" style="display: block; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; text-decoration: underline;" title="View Mount Weather Weekly Activities: 1961 on Scribd">Mount Weather Weekly Activities: 1961</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.709154113557358" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_33856" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/91260110/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-e6ultltjq2ej6pr155t" width="100%"></iframe> <br />
<p><strong>Figures mentioned in the document:</strong></p>
<p>Walter L. Mazan (1921-1991) <br />Project Director, Programs <br />Classified Location</p>
<p>Frank J. Muckenhaupt (1922-1992) <br />Director, Operations Classified Location </p>
<p>Jack R. Scott (1921-2008) <br />Director, Classified Location </p>
<p>J. Leo Bourassa (1917-2000) <br />Deputy Director, Classified Location</p>
<p>George Grace, <br />Project Director, Emergency Operations, Classified Location</p>
<p>E. McKay, <br />Project Director, Plans and Readiness, Classified Location</p>
<p>G.H. Chandler Tredick (? – 1984), <br />Director, Administration and Security, Classified Location. </p>
<p>William Kittel, <br />Director Passive Defense Office Corps of Engineers</p>
<p>Joseph P. Sahm (1914-1991), Technical Director, U.S. Army Interagency Communications Agency</p>
<p>E. Allen Aime, <br />Meteorological Consultant, Classified Location</p>
<p>Dr. Joseph D. Coker, <br />Director National Resource Evaluation Center</p>
<p>John Richardson, <br />Operations Classified Location</p>
<font size="1">Source: National Archives, College Park, Maryland. Records Group 306, Records Pertaining to Emergency Planning. Box 3, Folder O-113, OCDM / CL Schedules.</font>Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-43931100115476934572012-04-24T19:19:00.001-07:002018-11-24T16:54:25.370-08:00Radioactive Rest Stops: Cold War Billboard Planning<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QJuw4AOHZFI/T5dfFPRzDzI/AAAAAAAADE0/ULqmo93ks4g/s1600-h/e_billboard%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="e_billboard" border="0" alt="e_billboard" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-R_pLTxaggJA/T5dfGK3ysWI/AAAAAAAADE8/YKYn666PO3Y/e_billboard_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="298" /></a>  </p> <blockquote> <p>“Use [of billboards] during tactical warning, actual attack, and between attacks seems impractical.”</p> <p>-- Civil Defense official Lewis E. Berry, 9/27/1960</p> </blockquote> <p>The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration raised civil defense planning to a paranoid art form (the Operation Alert drills of the Fifties were nothing if not theatrical) and helped transform America into a nation of low-budget motorized tourists with the Interstate Highway System. It is fitting then that the Cold War contingency drones viewed the medium of billboards as an especially appropriate tool to convey pre and post-apocalyptic propaganda to a car crazy citizenry. Recently CONELRAD found evidence of this unique strategy buried in a box at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland and we are delighted to be able to share the material here. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharujcCqtszUg4cw1f_a1kYVTTNP3SruhJ01NNEh8B7xL4yRr4wh6ROBbsAgLu_48Re4TJybfTS0UskMCcVMOU6wJdD9KWB8t4B9quyEKL_6VSAWjDwk40pPs151xziIVHrzOcF3WZCfE/s1600-h/CD%252520Billboards-CU-1%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="CD Billboards-CU-1" border="0" alt="CD Billboards-CU-1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_ETJ9eAzt5s/T5dfG6TgGwI/AAAAAAAADFM/xD-OsO0DSws/CD%252520Billboards-CU-1_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="156" /></a>  <br />On September 28, 1960 Deputy Administrator of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization Lewis E. Berry (1914-2005) sent a letter to his management detailing his efforts concerning billboard messaging with attached “Preattack” and “Postattack” sample text. Needless to say, the latter category is far more amusing (and frighteningly Orwellian). </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KZHviR9j84A/T5dhkS70p1I/AAAAAAAADF0/stZupYPAuTM/s1600-h/CD%252520Billboards-CU-6%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="CD Billboards-CU-6" border="0" alt="CD Billboards-CU-6" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-31fxRd2wW9M/T5dhk6aQv8I/AAAAAAAADF4/6hz8F0mSS6I/CD%252520Billboards-CU-6_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="107" /></a>  <br />The previous day, September 27, 1960, Mr. Berry composed a longer draft of his memo that is noteworthy for its optimism (the CONELRAD emergency broadcasting system would not be needed after an attack, Berry reasons, because normal radio frequencies would return to the air) and the author’s mastery of the obvious: “Use [of billboards] during tactical warning, actual attack, and between attacks seems impractical.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-etkp3FIXzI0/T5dfHZhYVyI/AAAAAAAADFU/OBdEPebGpkk/s1600-h/CD%252520Billboards-CU-7%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="CD Billboards-CU-7" border="0" alt="CD Billboards-CU-7" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-nQtNZz7zsLo/T5dfH5DbBiI/AAAAAAAADFc/YO8aKDugcFU/CD%252520Billboards-CU-7_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="144" /></a>  <br />The following is the entire document containing the billboard copy suggestions that Berry’s team came up with. Unfortunately, CONELRAD could find no paper trail to suggest that this concept ever materialized as proposed (although there are some examples of public service civil defense announcements via billboards that we have included in this post). We would have loved to have seen an artist rendering of the post-attack signage.</p> <p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;" ><a title="View Prearranged Civil Defense Billboard Messages: 09-28-1960 on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/91118528/Prearranged-Civil-Defense-Billboard-Messages-09-28-1960#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Prearranged Civil Defense Billboard Messages: 09-28-1960</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="Prearranged Civil Defense Billboard Messages: 09-28-1960" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/91118528/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true&access_key=key-1i2yi9ikrr9auiiwrzp5" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="null" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><font size="1">Source: National Archives, College Park, Maryland: Record Group 396: Office of Emergency Preparedness A1 (P-95), Folder L-8, Lewis E. Berry Memorandum RE: Prearranged Emergency Billboard Messages, September 28, 1960. </font></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Oc0_MTC2vJ4/T5dfIcm17xI/AAAAAAAADFk/PyLLAaiaddU/s1600-h/CD%252520Billboard-1955-Lo%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="CD Billboard-1955-Lo" border="0" alt="CD Billboard-1955-Lo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-5eyEwHqIfZE/T5dfJISVIPI/AAAAAAAADFs/KbOeWdtt07E/CD%252520Billboard-1955-Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="269" /></a></p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-72279728125451733242012-01-16T11:09:00.001-08:002018-06-17T19:30:26.110-07:00WARNING RED: Maryland’s Civil Defense Movie<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rhC8_b2hux8/TxR1xMz5y0I/AAAAAAAADBk/2dy9O9DzWt8/s1600-h/Lo-Joseph%252520Cunningham-Warning%252520Red%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Lo-Joseph Cunningham-Warning Red" border="0" alt="Lo-Joseph Cunningham-Warning Red" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-D_URWhnF10I/TxR1xnJpNcI/AAAAAAAADBs/rNP1Z6xB8PY/Lo-Joseph%252520Cunningham-Warning%252520Red_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="540" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>“My shelter was just finished a couple of days ago. I thought people would laugh, so I kept it quiet.”</p> <p>--Mrs. Gray, dowager / civil defense savior in the short film <i>Warning Red</i></p> </blockquote> <p><i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094185/">Warning Red</a></i> (1956) portrays the atomic odyssey of suburbanite Martin Dale who, while on his way home from buying some ice cream, sees the bright flash of the Bomb. Once he gets up from the rubble and puts on his charred fedora, the thirteen-minute film moves forward with its agenda to convey all of the clichéd civil defense lessons about remaining in one’s shelter, avoiding contaminated food and staying tuned to CONELRAD. Of course, Mr. Dale ignores most of these rules (“It’s my life I’m risking, I don’t care!” he declares at one point to a tired survivor) by running through the fallout and fire-filled streets trying to find his family. <br /> <br /></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:683763a6-8ee6-4d8d-b950-b5704268ea7b" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="cfefabb9-cb9f-455b-8e52-dae5ffc657cf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJUtGc2C61Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-H9IFZ4CXcGk/TxR1x3axCvI/AAAAAAAADEU/3kG0qCEp2jA/video37694b2896c6%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('cfefabb9-cb9f-455b-8e52-dae5ffc657cf'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"401\" height=\"300\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/lJUtGc2C61Q&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/lJUtGc2C61Q&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"401\" height=\"300\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>During Dale’s journey—that seems to take less than five minutes of dramatic time—he encounters a stunned family sitting at a table by candlelight, a man cooking milk on an open fire and a psychotic woman trying to give her baby away. He finds his beloved wife, Karen, and son, Davey, when his older neighbor, Mrs. Gray, appears out of nowhere and leads him and his radioactive clothes into her secret (and giant) bomb shelter. There the Dale family is happily reunited while Mrs. Gray cradles the crazy woman’s infant. </p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:9fd30d42-563e-415f-b6e4-77f3cf5dc333" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="022a911a-d1f5-4576-9651-ad0ff4ab7156" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmdeHWrzTY4&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IOFqe7FlMhk/TxR1yB1wvrI/AAAAAAAADEY/eN8WaveEqeQ/video1a6dfa3e9aa5%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('022a911a-d1f5-4576-9651-ad0ff4ab7156'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"398\" height=\"298\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/qmdeHWrzTY4&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/qmdeHWrzTY4&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"398\" height=\"298\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>The official coda to the movie is that “You will have a greater chance of survival in an enemy attack or natural disaster if you know what to do…To learn how you can best protect yourself and your family in such an emergency, contact your nearest Civil Defense Office.” The unofficial coda to the movie is that these civil defense-loving survivors will soon be eating ice cream again (even if the scoop girl who so brazenly ignored the CONELRAD alert in the first minutes of the film is probably dead).</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:ca8ccab4-24bd-4a48-bca4-346acd72e86e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="b888d945-f4db-44af-9f10-e00a1664b11a" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOdeNWLdDgs&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1sqdBTihnf0/TxR1ysJFMnI/AAAAAAAADEc/h-Pmz5X3A5U/video03979c87e7ae%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('b888d945-f4db-44af-9f10-e00a1664b11a'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/IOdeNWLdDgs&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/IOdeNWLdDgs&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>Although the very entertaining <i>Warning Red</i> was nationally distributed through the auspices of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA), it is a Maryland movie at its core. The production was filmed at the National Civil Defense Training Center in Olney and its cast—including lead Joseph Cunningham (as Martin Dale)—was made up of local actors from the <a href="http://www.sstg-home.org/">Sandy Spring Theatre Group</a>. When the movie was completed and ready to screen, it was feted with a Silver Spring premiere and the following press coverage in the <i>Montgomery County Sentinel</i>: </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-mPpHPrjFrjw/TxR1y642K6I/AAAAAAAADCM/58c0WGaWwcQ/s1600-h/Lo-Sentinel%252520Headline%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Lo-Sentinel Headline" border="0" alt="Lo-Sentinel Headline" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kji3giH8fQU/TxR1zC3gDnI/AAAAAAAADCU/6ZAY8xVm040/Lo-Sentinel%252520Headline_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="184" /></a></p> <blockquote> <p>CD Movie Made in Olney <br /> <br />Warning Red Stars Local Talent, Sites</p> <p>Twenty Sandy Spring area residents will get a chance to see how they look in the movies tomorrow evening, when “Warning Red,” a Civil Defense Administration motion picture filmed in Montgomery County, has its national premiere at the <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9871">Viers Mill Theater</a>. </p> <p>Most of the sequences in “Warning Red” were made at the Olney CD facility and the majority of the cast are members of the Sandy Spring Group, all amateur actors.</p> <p>The premiere of the film at 8:30 tomorrow evening will have a dash of Hollywood—floodlights bathing the front of the theater, officials of local and Washington Civil Defense offices and the <a href="http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/sherwoodhs/">Sherwood High School</a> band.</p> <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741080/">Joseph Cunningham</a>, a Washington businessman who lives with his wife and three children at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencerville,_Maryland">Spencerville</a>, stars in the movie. </p> <p>He appears as a typical suburban homeowner, searching for his family among the flames, smoke and debris that follow an enemy air attack. The film illustrates the things one should do and not do in such a situation. </p> <p>Other members of the cast include Mrs. James Anderson, Phillip Boyd Martin, Mrs. Mildred Dowd, Mrs. Mary Reading Miller, Fred Joiner, James Sanders, Robert Miller, Rev. David L. Watterworth, Mrs. Marion Sanders, Melvin Scheidt, Mrs. Julia Bailey, Bonnie Bonifant, Elizabeth Cunningham, Richard Cunningham, Elizabeth Anderson, Sam Bailey, Bill Bailey, Sari Hines and Alan Johnston.</p> <p>“Warning Red” was directed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916977/">Nicholas Webster</a> of Manassas, Va., who has won several Hollywood awards for his direction of documentary films. </p> <p>It was produced for the Civil Defense Administration by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741745/">Phillip [sic] Martin</a>, of Norwood Studios. Mr. Martin is a former associate producer and film editor for several major Hollywood studios. He won an Academy Award in 1947 for the year’s best short subject, “The House I Live In.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366276/">F. William Hart</a> was assistant producer, and the script was by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741686/">Kirby Hawkes</a>. The motion picture was produced with the facilities of Capital Film Studios of Washington. </p> <p>Source: Montgomery County Sentinel, page C8, January 19, 1956</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CvrGgAAJ1v8/TxR1zi9CImI/AAAAAAAADCc/GJ75_kSxfvc/s1600-h/Lo-Sentinel-Photo-Brightened%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Lo-Sentinel-Photo-Brightened" border="0" alt="Lo-Sentinel-Photo-Brightened" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-oHW3jUHWpIY/TxR1z7CJBAI/AAAAAAAADCk/51XMvw8nQBs/Lo-Sentinel-Photo-Brightened_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="322" /></a> </p> <p>While most of the talent behind <i>Warning Red</i> faded into obscurity,<i> </i>the film’s auteur, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916977/">Nicholas Webster</a> (1912-2006), went on to launch the career of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001871/">Pia Zadora</a> by helming 1964’s <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058548/">Santa Claus Conquers the Martians</a></i>. The director revisited the Red Planet in 1968 with <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063311/">Mission Mars</a></i> without the assistance of Kris Kringle or Ms. Zadora. Webster spent most of the rest of his career working in episodic television including directing several episodes of the cult series <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063935/">The New People</a></i>.</p> <p>CONELRAD would love to talk to any of the surviving cast and crew members of <i>Warning Red</i> or their family members. If you fit this description, please <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/about/faces.php?faces=07">contact us</a>. If we hear from anyone, we will update this post.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1m-y9Rr-ZKM/TxR10b3rkzI/AAAAAAAADCs/6JJ4QOH6-D4/s1600-h/cdfilms_warningred_reunion_%25255B3%25255D.gif"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="cdfilms_warningred_reunion_" border="0" alt="cdfilms_warningred_reunion_" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--rY1xSAxIDA/TxR10saRxhI/AAAAAAAADC0/4ZdTJKbxZwo/cdfilms_warningred_reunion__thumb%25255B1%25255D.gif?imgmax=800" width="404" height="311" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094185/">WARNING RED</a> <br />Norwood Studios Presents <br />A Webster-Martin Production </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Tb-wCm1xDvI/TxR108ySFWI/AAAAAAAADC8/XVmTUzoUacs/s1600-h/Warning%252520Red%252520Titile%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Warning Red Titile" border="0" alt="Warning Red Titile" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qNTKhcbEHY4/TxR11NqC6wI/AAAAAAAADDE/HdXS94wq0i0/Warning%252520Red%252520Titile_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a>  <br />Starring <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741080/">Joseph Cunningham</a> as Martin Dale <br />Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916977/">Nicholas Webster</a> <br />Producer: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741745/">Philip Martin</a> <br />Assistant Producer: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366276/">F. William Hart</a> <br />Photographed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0818615/">Bert Spielvogel</a> <br />Script: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4741686/">Kirby Hawkes</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Y9gjAHwj2s8/TxR11RsVOFI/AAAAAAAADDM/esb6mqG6k3s/s1600-h/Credits%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Credits" border="0" alt="Credits" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NGSaz8Xp1SQ/TxR11i-k3oI/AAAAAAAADDU/F4-x5orjuyY/Credits_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a></p> <p>Produced with the cooperation of The Federal Civil Defense Administration at the Capitol Film Studios <br />Washington, D.C. <br />Copyright 1956 Norwood Studios</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Evi7pJEpsDc/TxR117ap7EI/AAAAAAAADDc/8m6gV4XYBPM/s1600-h/Capitol%252520Film%252520Studios%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Capitol Film Studios" border="0" alt="Capitol Film Studios" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VTkKeIQcwO8/TxR12JlMd9I/AAAAAAAADDk/AODwOnf_9Ig/Capitol%252520Film%252520Studios_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304" /></a> </p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:fa110c56-b06f-4da7-a829-45006423dcf0" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="fff1e9e2-20b3-4d05-9441-eeda41acbf7a" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpe-REvyeZs&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Uvn9ltmmzpQ/TxR12ff4PuI/AAAAAAAADEg/oa-fytCGYcc/videoc2bb7c0e8c38%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('fff1e9e2-20b3-4d05-9441-eeda41acbf7a'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"398\" height=\"298\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Tpe-REvyeZs&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Tpe-REvyeZs&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"398\" height=\"298\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8636962301540343517.post-79874011728130810172012-01-08T16:38:00.001-08:002018-06-17T19:37:45.330-07:00SEARCHING FOR THE DOOMSDAY SCRIPT<blockquote> <p>“For several months our staffs have been discussing the possibility of prepositioning at the Classified Location a suitable script for general broadcast immediately in the event of an emergency. We have also inquired as to the feasibility of prepositioning a recorded message which could be broadcast under specific circumstances.”</p> <p>-- Excerpt from a government memorandum dated April 22, 1960 </p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eIBLXfl73hw/Two3Db3B7HI/AAAAAAAADAw/dvJ99gozorI/s1600-h/Document%252520Callout%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Document Callout" border="0" alt="Document Callout" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TnM-j8Igc4Q/Two3DgQL6nI/AAAAAAAADA4/SKfaeqSglzE/Document%252520Callout_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="63" /></a> </p> <p>On October 21, 2011 historian and longtime friend of CONELRAD <a href="http://mahg.ashland.edu/faculty/krugler.html">David Krugler</a> emailed to us an intriguing and maddeningly incomplete Cold War era document. The 1960 memo with the subject line “Emergency Statements” proves that the United States government considered the use of prepositioned messages by the President for use in the event of a nuclear attack. Unfortunately, the attachment with the “prepared…text” that is so prominently called out by the document’s author is nowhere to be found. </p> <p>When we asked Professor Krugler if he had the attachment he said that he did not and would have certainly copied it had he seen it in the early 2000s when he was researching his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/This-Only-Test-Washington-Prepared/dp/1403965544/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315169352&sr=1-4">book</a>. CONELRAD immediately hired a highly recommended researcher to go to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland to find the document. </p> <p>As of this posting, the attachment has not been located in the folder or the box in which Professor Krugler originally found the memo. Our researcher is currently going through additional boxes in the Record Group, but the prospect of finding the “Doomsday Script” does not look promising. But while we are looking for this crucial part of the treasure map that may ultimately lead to the <a href="http://www.conelrad.com/godfrey/">Arthur Godfrey Doomsday Tape</a> (or, perhaps more likely, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Doomsday Tape), we thought we might as well share what we do have.</p> <p><b>OUR PART OF THE TREASURE MAP</b></p> <p>“Emergency Statements” is dated April 22, 1960 and was issued by Lewis E. Berry (1914-2005), Deputy Administrator of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. It was rewritten by Eugene J. Quindlen (1919-1977), Assistant Director for Government Preparedness, Office of Emergency Preparedness. The intended recipient was Kenneth T. Downs (1909-1991), Assistant Director for Training, Education and Public Affairs for the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (OCDM). Dean Pohlenz (1920-1993), one of the signatories, was an official with OCDM. “J. Scott,” one of the cc addressees, is Jack R. Scott (1921-2008), classified location director, OCDM. The document, which resides in Record Group 396, Box 5, Folder “Federal, State and Local Plans” at the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland, is presented below along with a transcription.</p> <a style="margin: 12px auto 6px; display: block; font: 14px helvetica,arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: underline; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none" title="View Presidential Emergency Statements: 4/22/1960 Memo on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/77585712/Presidential-Emergency-Statements-4-22-1960-Memo">Presidential Emergency Statements: 4/22/1960 Memo</a><iframe style="height: 552px" id="doc_17685" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/77585712/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-qrruo685snw4ucxxh1u" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" data-auto-resized="true" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.777636594663278"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();</script> <blockquote> <p>April 22 1960</p> <p>Assistant Director for Training, Education and Public Affairs</p> <p>Assistant Director for Plans and Operations</p> <p>Emergency Statements</p> <p>For several months our staffs have been discussing the possibility of prepositioning at the Classified Location a suitable script for general broadcast immediately in the event of an emergency.</p> <p>We have also inquired as to the feasibility of prepositioning a recorded message which could be broadcast under specific circumstances.</p> <p>On various occasions rotating personnel to the Site have raised the matter for discussion. Mr. Heslep of the Atomic Energy Commission has prepared a possible text, the main feature of which is that it does not pretend that the President is delivering it “live.” This seems to be worth serious consideration, and I am, therefore, attaching Mr. Heslep’s material for such appropriate use as you might wish to make. </p> <p>(SIGNED) </p> <p>Lewis E. Berry</p> <p>Attachment</p> <p>352/JScott/jf/4-21-60/5447 <br />Rewritten: 350/EJQuindlen/kes/x3235/4-22-60 <br />cc: <br />Central Files – 2 <br />Mr. Berry <br />Mr. Quindlen <br />Mr. Scott</p> <p>[Note: Document is actually signed by E.J. Quindlen and Dean Pohlenz]</p> </blockquote> <p><b><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WmngTZZuo8g/Two3D1AJkdI/AAAAAAAADBA/jKvQrJHvmAo/s1600-h/Heslep%252520Portrait-Lo%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Heslep Portrait-Lo" border="0" alt="Heslep Portrait-Lo" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YpDEi66GUdg/Two3ELlDlnI/AAAAAAAADBI/nxquqL0Lhys/Heslep%252520Portrait-Lo_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="375" /></a></b></p> <p><b>DOOMSDAY’S GHOSTWRITER</b></p> <p>The man so notably mentioned in the document as the writer of the sample emergency “text” is a Richmond, Virginia native named Charter Heslep (1904-1963). Heslep, at the time of the memo, was the Chief of the Program Review and Analysis Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Division of International affairs based in Germantown, Maryland. Before the doomsday scribe’s lengthy employment began with the AEC in 1949, he worked in news reporting and editing capacities for the <i>Washington Daily News</i>, NBC, the Mutual Broadcasting System and <i>Congressional News Quarterly</i>. During World War II he served as the chief radio news censor for the U.S. government. Along the way he collaborated on Admiral William D. Leahy’s memoir <i>I Was There</i> [V. Gollancs, 1950] and assisted in the writing of his friend Estes Kefauver’s book, <i>20<sup>th</sup> Century Congress</i> [with Jack Levin, Essential Books, 1947].</p> <p>During Heslep’s long career with the AEC, he witnessed a number of atomic tests and received the strange souvenir “diplomas” presented below to prove it. In 1952 he helped execute the world’s <a href="http://web.me.com/zcleve/KlausTribute/AbombHeslep.html">first televised atomic detonation</a>. And in 1955 and 1958 he coordinated press coverage for the Atoms for Peace Conferences in Geneva, Switzerland.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rmQqXlEXlS4/Two3EgqNpDI/AAAAAAAADBQ/3cZW9o5M8Is/s1600-h/Heslep%252520collage%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Heslep collage" border="0" alt="Heslep collage" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HDipH0cM93o/Two3EwuwEFI/AAAAAAAADBY/xX1qKGToNAA/Heslep%252520collage_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="146" /></a></p> <p>Heslep also had the opportunity to listen to Edward Teller privately disparage his scientific rival J. Robert Oppenheimer as Teller prepared for his role as a witness against Oppenheimer during his notorious 1954 security clearance hearings. Heslep summarized his conversation with the model for Dr. Strangelove in a memo to AEC Chairman Lewis Strauss. That correspondence is excerpted on pages 532-533 of <i>American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer</i> by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin [Knopf, 2005]. In the memo, Heslep states that it will be difficult to “unfrock [Oppenheimer] in his own church” in summing up Teller’s belief that Oppenheimer still had the backing of the scientific community.</p> <p>On July 29, 1963 Charter Heslep, who resided in Silver Spring, Maryland, died in a Berkeley, California hospital following a heart attack. He had been in the San Francisco Bay area on a business trip in his role as the Assistant to the Director of Public Information for the AEC. His wife, Margaret, passed away ten years later. CONELRAD was able to locate Heslep’s son, Thomas C. Heslep in Oregon, but not his daughter, Sara, who may or may not live in Florida.</p> <p>Thomas told CONELRAD that he recalls his father going on an extended business trip to a presidential bunker in the mountains, but that there were “a lot of things [his father] couldn’t talk about.” The son was not surprised to hear that Heslep may have written an end-of-the-world script for President Eisenhower, but stated that he had no direct knowledge of it. When asked if he had any of his father’s papers, Thomas told us that the last remaining family records are in a safety deposit box in Chicago under his only sibling’s control. He believes that his sister Sara, whom he has not had contact with in over twenty years, is deceased and that he is trying to obtain access to the safety deposit box. If there is a doomsday script or recording, it may well be found in a Chicago bank vault, because it doesn’t appear to be anywhere else.*</p> <p>* CONELRAD has contacted several different institutions that house portions of Charter Heslep’s papers (The Harry S. Truman Library, Oregon State University and the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming) and none contain the painfully elusive attachment to the memo featured in this post.</p> <p>CONELRAD also contacted the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library where we were told by a senior archivist that they do not have any material on “Emergency Messages.” </p> <p>When we asked the Department of Energy to check their AEC records on correspondence by Charter Heslep for the period in question, we were told that nothing on Heslep or the topic of prepositioned emergency messages could be found.</p> <p><b>NOTES </b></p> <p>CONELRAD derived its biographical information on Charter Heslep from the following sources:</p> <p>Interview with Thomas C. Heslep conducted by Bill Geerhart on October 25, 2011.</p> <p>“Charter Heslep, AEC Executive (Obituary),” Washington Post, July 31, 1963.</p> <p>Biographical Sketch, Charter Heslep, Charter Heslep Papers, President Harry S. Truman Presidential Library Website: <a href="http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/heslep.htm">http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/heslep.htm</a></p> <p>Biographical/History Info, Charter Heslep, Charter Heslep Papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming: <a href="http://uwcatalog.uwyo.edu/record=b3362610~S3">http://uwcatalog.uwyo.edu/record=b3362610~S3</a></p> <p>Biographical Information contained at the conclusion of “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done: The Story of the First Live Televising of an Atomic Detonation” transcript of an address by Charter Heslep on May 9, 1952: <a href="http://web.mac.com/zcleve/KlausTribute/AbombHeslep.html">http://web.mac.com/zcleve/KlausTribute/AbombHeslep.html</a></p> <p>Atomic “Diplomas” accessed from the Charter Heslep Papers at Oregon State University.</p> <p><b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS</b></p> <p>CONELRAD is once again indebted to David Krugler for providing us with such a fascinating lead. If we ever find the attachment containing the Doomsday Script, he will be the first to know. And you’ll be second. </p> <p>Thanks to Michael Ravnitzky for his assistance in identifying “J. Scott” in the memorandum.  </p> Bill Geerharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15054044275993801966noreply@blogger.com7