No More Silence: An Oral History of the Assassination of President Kennedy

Acknowledgements

A CKN 0 W LED GEM ENT S When I fIrst became involved in researching the assassination of President Kennedy, I was told by a fellow researcher: "Don't expect encouragement in your research from much of anybody. Most are either so absorbed in their own research, or will be hypercritical of yours." In many respects, what he said proved to be true. One must be prepared to face ridicule, sarcasm, and sometimes worse, especially when dealing with a topic which frequently attracts UFO buffs among others. On the other hand, though, during my fIfteen year involvement with the assassination, a number of fellow researchers have been of great assistance in sharing information and providing materials for my collection on the subject. Among those whom I would like to thank include: Steve Barber, Warren Graham, Max Holland, Harry Irwin, Dave Perry, Gary Shaw, Richard Trask, Paul Weller, and Bob Porter and Gary Mack of the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. I would especially like to thank Mark Oakes for the friendship developed over the past several years. Our many phone calls, meetings in Dallas, and his access to witnesses and documents has helped me keep abreast of the latest developments in Dallas. I have appreciated his continued encouragement in this project. Indispensable to any researcher on the subject have been Andy and Linda Winiarczyk of the Last Hurrah Bookshop in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the President's Box Book Shop in Washington, D.C. Their biannual catalogs have been a treasure trove of material on the various assassinations and covert activities of the intelligence agencies. Various periodicals and newsletters have also been of great assistance. Jerry Rose's The Third and Fourth Decade, R.B. Cutler's The Grassy Knoll Gazette, Dateline Dallas and its x NO MORE SILENCE successor The Assassination Chronicles, CTKA's Probe, and Walt Brown's Deep Politics Quarterly, just to name a few, have been useful tools in keeping up with current research. Dallas: 1963 from Great Britain, and Probable Cause from Australia have also provided insights from across the oceans. Thanks, too, to a fellow colleague in education, Vance Barnwell, for convincing me to borrow his video camera on my first trip to Dallas, which ultimately led to the accumulation of over sixty hours of video-taped interviews, and to Roy Adcox of Wolf Camera in Suwanee, Georgia, for his assistance in preparing slides and photographs for the book which were taken from the 1972 Dallas Police Annual, lent by former Dallas policeman D.V. Harkness. My appreciation, too, to the faculty and students of Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia, especially Drs. Robert Clark and John Hall, for their encouragement and promotion of No More Silence. And to friends Gary Petmecky, Rob Loveridge, and Norman Thomas for computer assistance, as well as to my editor and publisher, Darwin Payne. Most of all, though, to the people of Dallas, and especially to all those who welcomed me into their homes, shared their memories, and ultimately became friends. Without their help, this could not have been written. Among those who deserve special mention for inviting me to stay in their homes and making me feel like part of their families are: James and Taimi Leavelle, Ed and Sue Smith, and John and Denise Beisiegel. Being on a tight budget each summer, their kindness has been much appreciated. Also to those who have helped in arranging interviews and taking me out to lunches, thanks to James Leavelle, Jim Ewell and the cooperation of Sheriff Bowles and the Dallas County Sheriffs Department, J.W. Courson, James and Clara Altgens, D.V. and Ellie Harkness, L.C. and Myrt Graves, Paul and Moselle Bentley, Jack and Jean Faulkner, Stavis and Nita Ellis, Austin Cook of Austin's Barbeque in Oak Cliff, W.R. Westbrook, Bill Alexander, and to "Butch" and Maxine Burroughs for allowing me access to the Texas Theater. To those who have either loaned or given me photographs for use in this book, my heartfelt gratitude, and especially to J.W. Courson, Cora Dean Courson, Stavis and Nita Ellis, and Harry D. Holmes for personal memorabilia which I will always treasure. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ri Throughout the ten-year sojourn to and from Dallas, the foremost concern of most of those interviewed was that their stories be reported accurately and unaltefed. It is with a sense of appreciation, obligation, and responsibility that I have attempted to achieve...