I got myself invited to speak at the JFK Lancer conference this year in Dallas. I traveled down on November 21st and met my friend, and excellent researcher, Steve Roe for breakfast on the morning of the 22nd.
We then attended the Sixth Floor Museum's lunch event with Professor Marc Selverstone. He is the Professor and Director of Presidential Studies and Co-Chair of the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, and the author of The Kennedy Withdrawal.
Selverstone argues that Kennedy's plan to withdraw troops from Vietnam was conditional on the progress of the South Vietnamese army.
Taylor: I will just say this: that we talked to 174 officers, Vietnamese and U.S., and in the case of the U.S., I always asked the question, “When can you finish this job in the sense that you will reduce this insurgency to little more than sporadic incidents?” Inevitably, except for the Delta, they would say, “’64 would be ample time.” I realize that’s not necessarily … I assume there’s no major new factors entering. I realize that—
Kennedy: Well, let’s say it anyway. Then ’65, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll get a new date.
Taylor: ’65, we’ll get another.
Selverstone says that this conversation indicates that JFK would only withdraw from Vietnam “under propitious military circumstances.”
I strongly recommend Selverstone's book.
Right after the Sixth Floor event, we went to Dealey Plaza where the usual suspects (Judyth Vary Baker, Robert Groden) had addressed the crowd at 12:30 PM.
The QAnon people stopped traffic at 12:30 PM.
I had my picture taken with this QAnon person:
Photo courtesy of Steve Roe.
Here is their handout:
We did not go out to the Helping our World Ranch, although it does sound enticing.
And then Judyth came over to talk with them:
Steve Roe and I did a walk through of Dealey Plaza and I did a small video wearing a CIA hat that Langley was kind enough to donate:
Then it was time to head over to the JFK Lancer conference at the Marriott Hotel.
We also had a good lunch at Jack Ruby's Salon & Grill.
I wonder if there will be future conferences in person in Dallas. The CAPA Conference was only held virtually. They could not get enough people to register for their in-person event Somebody told me that about fifty people logged on to view the conference. But there was one benefit to the CAPA get together:
It was "Litwin free."
The JFK Lancer Conference was also sparsely attended. Dick Russell spoke at 9:00 AM on Saturday, November 23rd. Here is a view of the crowd:
I count 33 people, including myself, the technicians at the front, and my guest Matt Kordelski in red in the foreground. Some of the other attendees were also presenters. This was as crowded as it got.
At another hotel in Dallas, Judyth was holding her conference. I have no idea how many people attended her get together.
I am not sure whether this is sustainable. I should add that the organizers of JFK Lancer, Kenneth Zediker and his wife Gabriella Glen are really nice people. They worked hard to put on a good conference, but at the end of the day, they were let down by some of the presenters.
For instance, Brian Edwards presented on Roscoe White which has been thoroughly debunked by Dave Perry.
And he also presented this slide:
Lee Bowers never said anything like this, and it is interesting that Edwards did not show the actual letter.
On Saturday morning, Andy Kiel, a former high school teacher, presented a slide with a map of the motorcade from the Dallas Morning News and alleged that the route was changed. This was debunked years ago -- the News left out the turn on to Elm Street but described it in the text. The Dallas Times Herald had a proper map. The route was not changed.
Dick Russell spoke right after Kiel, and I was very keen to see his presentation.
Here is his presentation:
Russell had updates to his research for the Rob Reiner podcast series, Who Killed JFK?
It was a complete mishmash of conspiracy nonsense. In additional to Richard Case Nagell and Herminio Diaz, Russell brought up the Pierre Lafitte diary which was featured in the book, Coup in Dallas. The diaries are "cryptic" and so require interpretation which Russell was very prepared to offer. In addition, he brought up Chauncey Holt, another supposed tramp.
Russell mentioned that the Stasi files of Richard Case Nagell were "fascinating," but he provided no details. He did not stay for my presentation on the Stasi files, but we know he was around since we bumped into him in the hotel right after my presentation.
A few people defended me which I appreciate. But I loved this comment:
I swear to god that I am not a prefabricator. Nor do I decive.
Some of the wares for sale at the JFK Lancer conference.
On Sunday night we headed to Dave Perry's house and had a great time looking at his JFK collection of documents and books.
We then went to dinner, and Langley gave Dave permission to wear the CIA hat:
Photo courtesy of Matt Kordelski
And look who joined us for dinner:
Top, left to right: Dave Perry, Fred Litwin, Quentin Campbell
Bottom, left to right: Steve Roe, Buell Frazier, Matt Kordelski
It was a fun dinner. Buell Frazier is now 81 years old and is still working. I think he would prefer to talk about baseball, his pickup truck and his family rather than the assassination. He did tell Steve Roe that there had to be a conspiracy because he didn't believe one man could pull it off. He added that there are still some untold stories about the assassination.
On Monday it was off to Baylor University to examine some of Gus Russo and Dick Russell's files. I particularly wanted to photograph Gus's files on Tosh Plumlee.
On the way back to Dallas, I stopped in Irving and had some coffee with Sean DeGrilla, another excellent researcher:
Have I shrunk or what?
I don't know if I will be invited back to the JFK Lancer Conference. There are a lot of researchers out there who have conducted important research, but who may not believe in conspiracy. Nick Nalli comes to mind. The people at these conferences could learn quite a bit from Nick but they won't.
Previous Relevant Links
My trip for the 60th anniversary
Langley paid for a terrific dinner.
My 2023 trip to College Park.
My JFK buddies and I visited New Orleans.