by Gus Russo
How Arcadia became acquainted with the Attorney General is something that he is not yet ready to discuss, but one thing is certain: he was close to Bobby Kennedy, and their bond would strengthen as the years progressed.35
Whatever his relationship with RFK, it is well-known in the exile community that Arcadia was heavily involved in smuggling exiles out of Cuba. Public relations executive Ronnie Caire helped Arcadia to begin fund-raising, to set up bank accounts, etc. He testified that Arcadia attempted to purchase PT-boats for the Cuban invasion. In addition, Caire said, the New York Times reported one week before the invasion that Arcadia’s New Orleans branch of the CRC coordinated the exile training camps around New Orleans.36 Arcadia also smuggled spies into the Cuban underground, facilitated by his experience and contacts in Batista’s secret police prior to the Castro takeover.37
As to his own role, Arcadia implied that the Cubans he was recruiting were to become part of the landing force, Brigade 2506.38 Recently, Arcadia admitted that he also assisted the ill-fated Bay of Pigs mission of Nino Diaz, and coordinated shipments of supplies to the training camps in Latin America.
Arcadia still considers the details of his relationship with the Kennedys during this time as the equal of state secrets. However, some details have been recently revealed. “Whenever we needed a plane, for example to send arms to the camps in Nicaragua, I’d call Bobby. The next day it would be there,” recalls Arcacha.39 Robert Kennedy had vested interests in Latin American Cuban exile training camps (about which much more will be seen) and was giving Arcadia an open channel.
Regretfully, Arcadia says, his travails in New Orleans were in vain, as “Castro knew everything we were doing. He had people everywhere.”40 This observation was echoed by, among others, the CIA’s Mexico City Station Chief, Win Scott, who said, “We’re completely infiltrated by Castro’s agents. All they have to do is get into Mexico and walk across the border.”41
In truth, Castro didn’t need “people everywhere,” because the Cuban exiles were notorious for being their own worst enemies. Justin Gleichauf, the former chief of the CIA’s Miami office, has put it this way, “To a Cuban, a secret is something you tell only one hundred people.” Another CIA Cuba Project officer told author David Corn that, “A Cuban is someone who can’t keep his mouth shut.”42 Arcadia himself admits, “Cubans talk too much.”
CIA executive assistant Lyman Kirkpatrick wrote of this less-than-secretive atmosphere:
I heard one newspaper correspondent claim that he could spend a day in Miami visiting the gathering places of exiles and end up knowing everything that was being planned against Cuba. . . . The loose talk was most unfortunate for those free-lance exiles who were running their own operations against Cuba, often using unsavory boats and whatever arms they could beg, borrow or steal. Many of these died needless deaths as their plans quickly reached the ears of Castro’s agents in the United States, who then sent advance warning to the island.43
According to some, Arcadia also was instrumental in arms procurement for the many raids on Cuba that were, after the Bay of Pigs, to become part of 1962’s Operation Mongoose. But often, his proximity to the administration’s plans (and his “Cuban big mouth”) would cause trouble. Three months before the Bay of Pigs invasion, he was quoted in the local newspaper as predicting, “Cubans will launch an invasion in 1961 to overthrow the regime of Fidel Castro. The actual invasion will not be launched from U.S. territory.”44 One week before the invasion, Arcadia again spoke with the paper, saying, “Preparations are almost complete for an anti-Castro Cuban invasion. . . The invasion could begin this afternoon, tomorrow, anytime. We are just waiting for the signal.”45
After the Bay of Pigs raid was launched, Arcadia told the paper of how he had waited by his short-wave radio for the coded signal: “Look to the rainbow. The sky is clear. The fish are ready.” According to Arcadia, each sentence had its own important meaning.46
Not long after moving into his Camp Street office in New Orleans, Arcadia started to build a network with local activists, many of them connected to the detective agency housed around the corner, Guy Banister and Associates. They had bold ideas about liberating Cuba. Through Banister’s FBI friends, channels were in place in the bureau. What Arcadia brought was the imprimatur of Robert Kennedy.
Arcadia adds to the narrative:
I rented office space at 544 Camp Street. My office was on the second floor above the restaurant [Mancuso’s], and Banister’s was downstairs and around the corner. I only met Banister three or four times. He was more interested in Central America than Cuba. Any contact with his office was through Dave Ferrie, whom I saw regularly.47
David William Ferrie
“If Oswald is an enigmatic character, and he is, David Ferrie is his soulmate.”
—G. Robert Blakey, HSCA Chief Counsel
“David was a wonderful man, who truly wanted to help our cause. He was a gentleman. He loved to play with my children. He was a good Catholic who only wanted to help.”
—Sergio Arcacha Smith, New Orleans exile leader
David Ferrie has long been portrayed on paper and in film as an American grotesque: a raving hater of President Kennedy, who threatened to kill the President. He was said to be angry at JFK for failing to help the Cuban exiles restore liberty to their land. It seems certain he made a celebrated statement after the Bay of Pigs fiasco on which much of the portrait has been based. That incident occurred in July 1961, when Ferrie was addressing the New Orleans chapter of the Order of World Wars. Ferrie became so critical of Kennedy’s handling of the Bay of Pigs invasion that he was asked to discontinue his remarks.48 But that was almost certainly taken out of context and misinterpreted.
A devout Catholic (who was, for a time, a seminarian), Ferrie voted for Kennedy in 1960 and was “elated” when he defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency that year. “Things are going to turn for the better now that a Catholic has been elected,” a good friend would remember Ferrie saying.49 Another friend elaborated, “After all, he was an Irish Catholic too. He was an enthusiastic supporter. Dave was a spokesman for the Kennedys. To him, the idea of a Catholic president was mind-boggling. He thought Kennedy was fabulous.”50
Ferrie and the Cuban Exiles
“Dave was a man who honestly thought he could make a difference. Remember when Bing Crosby played a priest in the movies? That was Dave Ferrie.”
—Al Beauboeuf, a friend and student of Ferrie in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP)51
“Dave saw himself as a healer, a soother—truly trying to help out. He was anything but a killer of presidents. He has been taking the rap for Robert Kennedy, who was behind it all [the exile movement].”
—Morris Brownlee, Ferrie’s godson52
For a time, Ferrie worked as an investigator for the local detective, Guy Banister. Uniting the two was their virulent anti-communism, focused especially on Cuba. Ferrie’s rage intensified because he personally supported Castro before “the bearded one” declared his attachment to Marxism.
“Dave got involved with the Cuban exiles through his work with the Catholic Charities in early 1961,” recalls Ferrie’s godson, Morris Brownlee.53 Brownlee’s statements are credible given Ferrie’s devout religious background. Through Ferrie’s connections with the Catholic Church, he was able to help secure property on nearby Lake Ponchartrain. The property was owned by a local seminary, and used initially by the exiled homesteaders, but it later evolved into a full-scale military training base for Cuban exiles.
Ferrie used the power of his personality to encourage young Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadets (whom Ferrie was instructing) to enlist in the cause. One such recruit was Layton Martens, who recently recalled, “One of the camps was on the property of a seminary. Just outside the seminary was a landing field. Dave used certain channels of the church, with which he was familiar.”54 Anti-Castro activist Gerry Hemming was one of the key organizers of early training activity on Lake Ponchartrain. Not only does Hemming readily admit to this, b
ut he is backed up by recently-released CIA documents. “The Lake Ponchartrain activity was run by Gerald Patrick Hemming” was the wording of a February 1, 1977 CIA Memo.
Hemming told the author that his activities were sanctioned by Bobby Kennedy, via Miami-based exile leader Manolo Reboso. When Hemming flew over Covington, Louisiana (on Lake Ponchartrain’s north shore) in the summer of 1962 looking for sites for training camps, Ferrie met him. “One of Ferrie’s seminary friends, a bishop, had okayed the use of his seminary property for training,” says Hemming. The idea for using the site as such was abandoned when the secret project was exposed in a local newspaper story.55
As Ferrie’s involvement in the exiles’ plight deepened, he teamed up with Guy Banister, who, as has been noted, helped the Cuban exiles prepare for the Bay of Pigs invasion. Thus, it was not surprising that Ferrie would soon come into contact with the local Cuban exile leader, Sergio Arcadia Smith, whose spare Cuban Revolutionary Council office was on the other side of the same building that housed Banister’s office.
Arcadia remembers, “[Ferrie] had just shown up at my door one day offering to help.”56 Recalling Ferrie’s bravery, Arcadia says, “He wanted to fly into Havana harbor and bomb the refineries. Ferrie had an idea to make two-man submarines, go in, and just blow [the refineries] up. We actually made two of them, but we were prevented from using them.”57 Layton Martens, who came with Ferrie to Arcadia’s volunteer effort, also remembers the submarines. “Dave made them out of B-47 wing tanks,” he recalls. “He kept one on his front lawn for a long time.”58
Arcadia’s relationship with Ferrie became very close. He grew to depend on Ferrie’s help in the exile cause. On July 18, 1961, Arcadia wrote to Eastern Airlines Chairman Eddie Rickenbacker, asking that Ferrie be given a 90 day-leave with pay so that he could help with the Cuban problem—and help reinvigorate the Cuban underground in New Orleans. Arcadia’s letter read, in part:
[After the Bay of Pigs], the [morale] of the Cubans in exile and the underground within Cuba fell to zero. Then along came Captain Ferrie. He strongly prodded our whole organization until it was revitalized. Fund collecting began. The underground was re-organized and the re-harassment of Castro has begun. The reinvigorating of our program was the result of Captain Ferrie and his associates here in New Orleans. Through him, we’ve been able to get the best advice in affairs political, economic, and military. In addition, Captain Ferrie has been assisting in obtaining needed equipment.59
It is evident that David Ferrie brought to Arcadia’s cause amazing charisma and leadership abilities.60 It was about this time that talk started to proliferate about Ferrie’s relationship with the federal government. “I remember I was discussing career plans with Dave,” recalls Morris Brownlee, “and he suggested I think about the CIA, who he said he had a long relationship with.”61 Ferrie’s role with the government was also assumed by his young CAP cadets whom he persuaded to volunteer in the Cuban relief programs. One of these volunteers, Layton Martens, would become an assistant in Arcadia’s office. like Arcadia, Martens is clear about who was giving support to the project run out of 544 Camp street. But Martens didn’t just suspect a relationship—he knew of it:
Ferrie at that time was essentially working for the Attorney General of the United States. He was doing fund raising for the refugee assimilation here in New Orleans. We did this under both Mayors of New Orleans—Schiro and Morrison—and then subsequently directly for the Attorney General under the aegis of President Kennedy.62
Ferrie appeared proud of his new status, and made no secret of it. On one occasion, Ferrie and Arcadia approached their friend, loan officer Herbert Wagner. They told him they wanted to take out a loan to finance their exile activities. Ferrie asked Wagner if he had ever heard of Operation “Mosquito” (he probably meant Mongoose). Wagner said he had not, whereupon Ferrie told him it was part of a sabotage operation against Castro. Wagner wanted no part of it, telling Ferrie he was crazy—the government had radar everywhere. At that, Ferrie replied, “The government knows what we’re doing! As a matter of fact, they’re backing us.”63
When Ferrie appealed his suspension as an Eastern Airlines pilot, he again played the Kennedy card, writing the airline, “I have likewise been involved in activities approved and encouraged by the President and the Attorney General— helping to raise arms for the liberation of Cuba.”64
Ferrie’s godson Morris Brownlee elaborates upon the Ferrie/RFK connection: “Dave was put in touch with the Justice Department, who gave him authorization to help mobilize the Cuban community in New Orleans.”65
Ferrie seems to have interpreted this Justice Department link as a mandate to step up his activities on behalf of the exiles. That would be understandable, if the allegations of Layton Martens and others are accurate.
Layton Martens’ Excellent Adventure
As a seventeen year-old CAP cadet, Layton Martens was one of those who answered Dave Ferrie’s call to assist in the exile cause. By doing so, Martens put himself into an atmosphere of political activism, a vantage point from which he would observe some of the Kennedy administration’s secrets first-hand. For over thirty years, he, like Arcadia, has absorbed the slings and arrows of those who have accused him of protecting fellow “conspirator” Dave Ferrie. Frightened by the excesses of the 1967 Garrison “probe,” as indeed many New Orleaneans were, he has remained silent about what he witnessed in Arcadia’s office. It is only now that he feels ready to reveal what actually occurred.
Martens spent the summer of 1961 in the service of Arcadia’s Cuban Revolutionary Council, which, in the fall of 1961, would relocate to 544 Camp Street. His observations go a long way towards explaining what some have referred to as “the mystery of 544 Camp Street.” Those same observations make understandable how the tragedy of Dallas must have been compounded for Bobby Kennedy when it was revealed that Oswald had stamped the infamous Camp Street address on his leaflets.
One of Martens’ first assignments was soliciting contributions from local New Orleans businessmen. Although Martens and his associates had identification cards given them by Mayor Schiro, they still met resistance, with the potential contributors questioning the legality of Arcadia’s operation. “I went to [FBI agent] Warren DeBrueys, our government liaison,” says Martens. DeBrueys had no answer for Martens, but promised to “kick it upstairs” to the Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy. At the CRC office a few days later, Arcadia and Ferrie told Martens that they had been in contact with Bobby and that he suggested obtaining an opinion from the local U.S. Attorney.
“So I went over to see the [U.S.] Attorney, but he said he wanted no part of it,” Martens remembers. “A couple of days later, I saw Arcacha. He was smiling as he told me, ‘In two weeks there will be a new U.S. Attorney, and he will tell you the law.’”66 Martens then learned from a laughing Ferrie that the original U.S. Attorney was transferred to Bismarck, North Dakota. His replacement, when approached about the legality of the fundraising effort, responded to Martens, “It’s OK.”
“The next thing I know, I got a letter, I suppose because of DeBrueys, from Bobby Kennedy,” remembers Martens. “It was typed on official Justice Department stationery.”
The letter was brief, and Martens says he remembers it almost word for word. It read:
To Whom it May Concern,
These persons are acting legitimately on behalf of the United States government Please extend to them any courtesy that you can in good faith.
Thank You,
Robert F. Kennedy
Martens’ boss, Arcadia, in a conversation with the author, recently admitted to being aware of the Robert Kennedy letter, although, typically for Arcadia, declined to discuss it in any detail. After using the letter throughout the summer to solicit contributions, Martens says, “My copy was eventually stolen from my briefcase when I left it at Ferrie’s apartment.”67 Martens believes that, in fact, Ferrie took the letter, feeling Martens should not have any reason to keep this kind of material
because, at the time, he was leaving the CRC and returning to school.
Collecting donations was only a small part of the CRC’s role in New Orleans. The office at 544 Camp Street became a center not only for arms procurement for Bobby Kennedy’s sabotage program, but for intelligence gathering from what remained of the Cuban underground back on the island. As one of the Camp Street volunteers told the author, “This office became a White House priority because of the information we were getting. We had the FBI at our disposal.” This intelligence included information so sensitive that Arcadia and his associates were allowed to continue their pre-Bay of Pigs direct line to both the White House and Robert Kennedy. The White House wanted to know about missiles.
Missiles in Cuba
It has long been acknowledged that the earliest reports of Soviet missiles appearing in Cuba originated with Cuban exiles and their sources on the island. The reports predictably made their way to the exiles’ CIA case officers in Miami and New Orleans. At the time, Miami-based CIA agent Ross Crozier was the liaison with the Miami headquarters of Carlos Bringuier’s Cuban Student Directorate, or Directorio Revolutionario Estudiantil (DRE). Crozier says that the DRE “was the first to report the missiles in Cuba and have that information ignored. I was passing that information along, but it was like pouring water down a rat hole.”68 The CIA’s Chief of the Miami JM/WAVE station, Ted Shackley, had also been told of the missiles by his Cuban sources. Shackley acknowledged as much when he later testified before Congress. Congressional investigator Gaeton Fonzi has written:
