Oswald And Ferrie Seen Together By Dallas Cab Driver

[Michael T. Griffith]

You clearly have not read my article:

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/did-david-ferrie-know-lee-harvey-oswald

Ferrie did  tell the FBI that Oswald was vaguely familiar. His friends told him he had briefly served
with Oswald in CAP. Then Ferrie actually called the FBI and told them, yes, I was with Oswald.

Fred

When Ferrie was first asked about Oswald, he insisted he had never known him.

Again, the CAP member who took the Oswald-Ferrie CAP photo, Chuck Frances, told the FBI that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other.

Literally dozens of other people stated that they saw Oswald and Ferrie together or that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other. I just don't buy the argument that they were all lying or mistaken.

One of the more compelling accounts came from INS officer Wendell Roache. Roache told the Church Committee that during INS surveillance, Oswald was seen going into the offices of David Ferrie’s anti-Castro group in New Orleans, and that “Oswald was known to be one of the men in the group," as I discuss and document in A Comforting Lie.

I agree with Dr. David Kaiser that “from all the available evidence it is clear that Oswald knew Ferrie, and Ferrie in turn was closely linked to both Marcello and the New Orleans anti-Castro Cuban community” (The Road to Dallas, p. 203). I recommend readers check out Kaiser's discussion on the Oswald-Ferrie link.

I get the feeling that WC apologists reject Cummings' account automatically, that they never actually give it serious consideration but reflexively start looking for any reason/excuse to reject it.

Cummings never sought to profit from coming forward. He never sought out journalists or newspapers. He went straight to law enforcement people. He made no exotic or wild claims. He just said, to paraphrase, "I drove the guy with the weird appearance and Oswald to the Carousel Club, along with a third man whom I can't identify, and a few months earlier I drove Oswald from the bus station to a house. When I drove Oswald and Ferrie and the other man to that club, Oswald mentioned that he remembered me from the previous trip." That's it. I think most objective people would consider that to be a believable, low-key, no-frills account.

I don't understand how anyone can watch Cummings' videotaped comments and conclude that he was insincere, much less that he was a "publicity-seeking nut."

As I mentioned, I find it curious that WC defenders gladly believe Jack Ruby's problematic claims about his motives, his entrance into the police basement, his obvious stalking of Oswald, his Mafia ties, his presence at Parkland Hospital soon after the shooting, and his involvement in the assassination, but they summarily reject Cummings' account and look for any reason to question his character.

Cummings never beat up anybody, but Ruby did. Cummings was not involved in gun running, but Ruby was. Cummings did not have extensive Mafia ties, but Ruby did. No reliable IRS informant ever said that Cummings had foreknowledge of JFK's murder, but a reliable IRS informant who worked undercover among Dallas underworld figures said that Ruby knew JFK was going to be killed (A Comforting Lie, pp. 28-30). Yet WC defenders believe Ruby and reject Cummings.

[Fred Litwin]

Michael: You say:

"Literally dozens of other people stated that they saw Oswald and Ferrie together or that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other."

Who are these dozens? Lets go over them, one by one.

fred

[Michael T. Griffith]

Michael: You say:

"Literally dozens of other people stated that they saw Oswald and Ferrie together or that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other."

Who are these dozens? Lets go over them, one by one. fred

I think we both know that would be an unproductive exercise. You know that I greatly respect your research on several other topics, but I think your mind is just closed shut on this issue. But, I would be curious to know what you think about Wendell Roache's statement to the Church Committee that INS surveillance saw Oswald going into the offices of David Ferrie’s anti-Castro group in New Orleans, and that “Oswald was known to be one of the men in the group."

And let's nail down the fact that Ferrie initially denied knowing Oswald to any degree. I quote from the summary of Ferrie's 11/25/63 FBI interview--note that Ferrie not only denied knowing Oswald but denied that Oswald was in his CAP unit:

FERRIE stated that he does not know LEE HARVEY OSWALD and to the best of his knowledge OSWALD was never a member of the CAP Squadron in New Orleans during the period he was with that group. . . .

FERRIE said that to the best of his knowledge he does not know any individual named LEE HARVEY OSWALD nor has he ever known the individual represented by photograph presented to him as that of LEE HARVEY OSWALD in the CAP, in any business connection or in any social capacity. He said he does not recognized the name or the photograph as being anyone he has ever had any contact with at any time.

That seems crystal clear.

Regarding the claim that Ferrie said Oswald was "vaguely familiar" to him, Ferrie did *not* say this. Ferrie was talking about a profile-view photo of Oswald that he was shown, not about knowing Oswald in any way or to any degree. Ferrie was shown three photos of Oswald, including a profile-view picture. He said that the profile-view photo looked "vaguely familiar" but that the full-face view and full-length photos did *not* look familiar:

A photograph of LEE HARVEY OSWALD, New Orleans Police Department Number 112723 taken on August 9, 1963, showing a profile, full face and full length photograph of OSWALD was exhibited to FERRIE. FERRIE upon viewing the photograph stated that the profile view has a very vague familiarity to him but the full face and full length photographs of OSWALD are not familiar to him.

[Fred Litwin]

So, you won't go over the witnesses who claim Oswald and ferrie knew each other. I wonder why.

Yes, Ferrie initially said to the best of his knowledge Oswald was not in his cap unit. That is indeed correct. Ferrie taught at the other CAP unit, and briefly
taught at the other. Why should he remember Oswald? Oswald was only there a few times, and he taught between 400 and 500 students over the years.
I don't suppose any substitute teacher I had would remember me.

As for Roache, he claimed that Ferrie had an office. This was untrue.

Look at all the stuff that Roache did not know:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=219712#relPageId=35&search=roache_and%20ferrie

This is very weak stuff, and none of it from 1963.

fred

[Michael T. Griffith]

So, you won't go over the witnesses who claim Oswald and ferrie knew each other. I wonder why.

Yes, Ferrie initially said to the best of his knowledge Oswald was not in his cap unit. That is indeed correct. Ferrie taught at the other CAP unit, and briefly
taught at the other. Why should he remember Oswald? Oswald was only there a few times, and he taught between 400 and 500 students over the years.
I don't suppose any substitute teacher I had would remember me.

As for Roache, he claimed that Ferrie had an office. This was untrue.

Look at all the stuff that Roache did not know:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=219712#relPageId=35&search=roache_and%20ferrie

This is very weak stuff, and none of it from 1963.

fred

The CAP photo shows Oswald and Ferrie within 15 feet of each other in a small group. The guy who took that photo, Chuck Frances, told the FBI that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other.

So you think Wendell Roache's account is "weak stuff"? Really? That judgment smacks of extreme bias and a mind that is simply closed to objectively analyzing the evidence in this instance. Roache specified that INS surveillance observed Oswald going into the offices of David Ferrie’s anti-Castro group in New Orleans, and that “Oswald was known to be one of the men in the group." Describe for me how you think Roache could have been "mistaken" about such details.

And how do you know that Oswald did not have an office in the INS building? Why would Roache say this? What would give Roache the impression that Oswald had an office there? If Oswald was working undercover there, naturally there would be no trace of his having had an office there--it would have been under a different name. When I worked in military intelligence, I worked in places where we had CIA people working undercover--only a handful of higher-up people knew who they were; those of us who worked "on the floor" had no idea who they were.

"All the stuff that Roache did not know"? Is that how you judge witnesses? The fact that a witness does not claim to know everything is usually taken as an indication of veracity. How does the fact that there were several things that Roache did not know impugn his matter-of-fact statement that INS surveillance observed Oswald going into the offices of David Ferrie’s anti-Castro group in New Orleans, and that “Oswald was known to be one of the men in the group"? Again, describe for me a reasonable scenario where Roache could have been "mistaken" about such specific information.

[Michael T. Griffith]

Here is part of my chapter on Oswald and Ferrie from my online book Hasty Judgment:

--------------

Posner knows it is crucial for his case that he prove that Oswald was not associated with David Ferrie, "since Ferrie had extensive anti-Castro Cuban contacts and also did some work for an attorney for Carlos Marcello. . . ." (6:142). Another reason Posner must deny Ferrie and Oswald knew each is that this was a key claim made by Jim Garrison. And, after all, one would hardly expect the supposedly left-wing Oswald to be associating with the likes of David Ferrie. Not only was Ferrie reportedly a CIA contact, but he was heavily involved in CIA-backed anti-Castro operations and had close ties to right-wing Mafia kingfish Carlos Marcello. And Ferrie made no secret of his passionate hatred of Kennedy. On one occasion, Ferrie was heard to remark that Kennedy "ought to be shot" (28:174).

So a Ferrie-Oswald relationship poses serious problems for Posner. Posner probably wouldn't mind linking Oswald to someone who expressed violent sentiments against JFK (even though Oswald, by all accounts, thought highly of the President), but he doesn't dare connect Oswald to Ferrie, for if Oswald was the Castro-loving ultra-leftist that Posner says he was, why on earth would he have been associating with a rabid right-winger who had ties to the Mafia and the CIA?

Therefore, Posner asserts that there is "no credible evidence" that Oswald knew David Ferrie (6:148). . . .

Posner denies that Ferrie and Oswald knew each other in the New Orleans Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in 1955. He claims that CAP records show that Ferrie's 1955 CAP membership renewal request was rejected (6:143). But Ferrie formed his own CAP unit, and it was this unit to which Oswald belonged. Most of the CAP records for Ferrie's squadron were stolen in late 1960. However, HSCA investigators "established that Ferrie's service with the Air Patrol fitted with that of Oswald" (14:301-302). The Select Committee "also identified no fewer than six witnesses whose statements tended to confirm that Oswald had been present at Patrol meetings attended by Ferrie" (14:302; cf. 12:375-376). One witness told Committee investigators,

Oswald and Ferrie were in the unit together. I'm not saying that they may have been there together. I'm saying it's a certainty. (14:302)

In addition, a former CAP cadet told the FBI that after the assassination Ferrie visited him to see if any old squadron photos pictured him and Oswald together (14:301).

Posner dismisses the testimony of the witnesses in Clinton and Jackson, Louisiana, who said they saw Oswald and Ferrie together in the summer of 1963 (6:141-148).

These highly credible witnesses included a state representative, a deputy sheriff, and a town registrar of voters. Posner's reasons for rejecting their testimony are strained and unconvincing. He even suggests the witnesses never actually saw Oswald. Jim Garrison and his staff found the Clinton and Jackson witnesses to be credible (19:122-126). Years later, the House Select Committee interviewed these witnesses in executive session and concluded they were honest, credible, and significant. The HSCA Report says the following on the matter:

While reports of some Oswald contacts with anti-Castro Cubans were known at the time of the 1964 investigation, allegations of additional Cuba-related associations surfaced in subsequent years. As an example, Oswald reportedly appeared in August-September 1963 in Clinton, La., where a voting rights demonstration was in progress. The reports of Oswald in Clinton were not, as far as the committee could determine, available to the Warren Commission, although one witness said he notified the FBI when he recognized Oswald from news photographs right after the assassination.

In fact, the Clinton sightings did not publicly surface until 1967, when they were introduced as evidence in the assassination investigation being conducted by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. In that investigation, one suspect, David W. Ferrie, a staunch anti-Castro partisan, died within days of having been named by Garrison; the other, Clay L. Shaw, was acquitted in 1969. Aware that Garrison had been fairly criticized for questionable tactics, the committee proceeded cautiously, making sure to determine on its own the credibility of information coming from his probe. The committee found that the Clinton witnesses were credible and significant. . . .

There were six Clinton witnesses, among them a State representative, a deputy sheriff and a registrar of voters. . . .

In addition to the physical descriptions they gave that matched that of Oswald, other observations of the witnesses tended to substantiate their belief that he was, in fact, the man they saw. For example, he referred to himself as "Oswald," and he produced his Marine Corps discharge papers as identification. Some of the witnesses said that Oswald was accompanied by two older men whom they identified as Ferrie and Shaw. (HSCA Report, pp. 142-143)

One of Ferrie's former roommates, Raymond Broshears, told author Dick Russell in 1975, in a recorded interview, that Ferrie and Oswald knew each other quite well. Among other things, Broshears said, "David told me Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill the President. He was very adamant about it, and I believed him. All the things he told me about Oswald, I doubt he could have shot a rabbit standing fifty feet away" (11:576).

In 1993 HSCA records were released that included a flight plan dated April 8, 1963 (HSCA RG 233). According to the flight plan, a pilot named Ferrie was listed as flying three passengers, named Hidell, Lambert, and Diaz, from New Orleans to Garland, Texas. "Hidell," of course, was an alias used by Oswald. There is evidence that Clay Shaw used the alias "Lambert" in addition to "Clay Bertrand." An affidavit accompanying the HSCA RG 233 document reports that a man named Edward J. Grinus stated in 1967 that one of Clay Shaw's aliases was Lambert. (Hasty Judgment, pp. 81-83, [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JuHmh8_AXyoKFyCt0RPXEUoHDPy-qakz/view?usp=drive_link)

--------------

[Fred Litwin]

Raymond Broshears? You've got to be kidding. He was the guy who went on television to say
that he channeled lee harvey oswald in a seance.

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/exclusive-raymond-broshears-on-the-stan-bohrman-show-july-1968

I posted the tape of the show on Youtube. You can listen for yourself.

He was an incredible fabulist.

Read my various posts on Broshears:

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/blog/tags/raymond-broshears

fred