JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION FORM AGENCY INFORMATION Peleased under the John ‘ . Eennedy AGENCY : CIA . Wesassination Records RECORD NUMBER : 104-10119-10427 bellection act of 1992 RECORD SERIES : JFK (44 USC 2107 Note). AGENCY FILE NUMBER : 80T01357A DOCUMENT INFORMATION ase#: NW 53294 Date: He—-14-2017 AGENCY ORIGINATOR : CIA FROM : LA DIVISION/SECURITY TO : OFFICE OF SECURITY, OSB ‘TITLE : OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIPS, MEMO: DEBRIEFING ON TRAINING & DEMOLITIONS GIVEN TO ANTI-CASTRO CUBAN EXILES. DATE : 01/26/1977 . PAGES : 10 SUBJECTS : HEMMING GERALD JFK ASSASSINATION DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER CLASSIFICATION : SECRET RESTRICTIONS : 1A CURRENT STATUS : RELEASED IN PART PUBLIC - RELEASED WITH DELETIONS DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 05/25/04 COMMENTS : JFK43 : F4 : 20040225-1048877 [R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTED 104-10119-10427 HW 53294 Bocld:32361653 Page 1
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1? January 197? CONTACE REPORT Mr. Grayston Lynch, former staffer 8709 Bay Pointe Drive Tampa, Florida 33615. 813-884-8610 AHO 0° SUBJECT: Debriefing on Training and Demolitions Given to Anti- Castro Cuban Exiles , PLACE : Holiday Inn (Tampa Airport ) Tampa, Florida TIME 14 January 1977 0900 - 1445 hours \ 1. Purvose: To debrief Mr. Lynch on questions posed by the Department of Justice rerarding ‘anti-Castro “Cuban exiles, These questions, in general, covered training and explosives/detonation detiees given to these. exiles. ~ ae oo 2. Meeting: Mr. Lynch came to my motel room (503) on Friday —— - morning at 0900 and departed at 1645. During this time, both of us sat in easy chayis in front of a picture widow on the 5th foor - Mr. Lynch did 95% of-the talking. Neither of us got up during this period, a strech of almost 8 hours. Lynch was most intertaining, but only marginally informative as to specific details on the questions probed to him. He spins a good story and remembers people and places very well, My bona fides for the meeting was a eall from Ms. Sheila _ O'Neil to Lynch a day before I arrived in Tampa. Lynch is a little goosy, because of a DEA connection (below), and checked mp out thru a phone call to the motel by his wife. Incidentally, I used tme name with Lynch. 3.0 Results: Lynch covered the following topice with me: a. Training: On-Panama and the facilities used,m the best Lynch could remember, Ft. Sherman was open in about Aupust or September 1960 to train Cubans for about a 2 to 3 month period. There were about 40 to 50 men, mostly ARTIMe followers. When it was decided a bigger group would be needed, which later became Brigade 2506, these people were sent to Retalthuleu (Guatemala) andxakk in about November 1960. Actually, the group was split, with some going to Guatemala and others. to. the New.Orleans. area. AS to other training in Panama, Lynch has no knowledge. . (NOTE: Lynch suegested that Hr. Robert Moore, retired staffer currently in the New Orleans area, might be a good source. Moore was C/Ops for the invasion Task Force, as weel as Deputy for PM and C/Ops for JMWAVE at one time. )
i By. b. Supplies: As Lo explosives; tine delay fuses, remole control davises, detonation materials, etc. riven to thes e exiles, Lynch said, "Look over the supply manual. for that time, Apparently, the exijes were given everything that’ was available and in large quantities. Lynch said he just could not begin to Rive me a list of what had begn passed. ; _¢c. Infil Teams: After the Bay of Pics invasion, Lynch worke:l with infiltration teams. ._Th9. Agency worked with these teams from roughly 1963 to 1956. They were in two catagories. The first were unilateral teams. trainins and sponsored by the Agency. The ‘ other catagory was "political" teans - that is political proups in souftthern Florida who were sponsoring infiltrations into Cuba. The Agency helped this later m— catagory by miving them supplies. In the case of both, they usually made a caches in Cuba. The unilateral team, as an example, would make a cache on-island, and ‘another group would pick it up and use it (compart-nentation). In some cases, teams (both unilateral and political ) would not. actually make the cache and keep the material in Florida, to be used later at their own convenience,’ In addition, Lynch was. positive that some of Castro's troops obtained some of these caches, due to. foul-ups and snitches. These caches“containes pistols, rifles and ~ heavier, money and demolitions. Some of the teams cheated by going to the Bahamas and buryink their stuff on small islands and reporting back to Florida that they-had cached in Cuba, Lynch stated several times that there was no effective control over the "political" groups and therefore no contro] ofer the material riven them, From this, me may surmise that Agency equipment (demolition included) was in the hands of anti-Castro Cubans in south Florida, as well as Castro's Rebel Army on-island. d. . Brigade Training: Further to demolition training te Anti-Castro-Cubans, Lynch reminded me that shortly after the Brirade was ransomed from Cuba, Brigade leaders were taken to Palm. Beach and talked with President Kennedy. At that time, the US Govt offered Brigade members the chance to join the U.S. amy. This also included infil team members, who were completely seperate from the Brigade, and members of the Brigade airforce. The Army end of this training was given ‘at Ft. Banning, Georgia and bepan in early 1963. There, Srirnade members entered the U.S. Army at roubly equivalent ranks - officers ‘were made 2nd Lts. .They received Ranger training,- plus jump training, Thus, Lynch said, if any exiles were training in demolations and related topics, thete best training was probably given at Ft. Benning. Host of these men were in the,U.S. Army for either 6 months or one year. ; e. Cubana Bombing: Lynch was specifically asked about the 6 October 1976 bombing the of the Cubana airliner in the Garibbean. nch said the street-word among the Cuban community in south Florida 4s that. the bomb should have gone off in the plane on the ground. The bombers did not mean to kill all of those people. On BOSCH, the ; community does not particularly like him, but admires him because he had been going at Castro tooth and nail for years, They do not like the idea of terrorism and fault BOSCH and MORALES for this.
f. Swine Fever: Lynch’ had read the recent articles in the papers about the introduction of Swine Fever into Cuba by the Arency in 1972. He had no knowledze of this... Lynch did ask if se had checked! with DIA??? He said when he had been with the Army as a Special Forces type, it was unbelieveable what the Army: had done in tho way of Bio Warfare training in the States. He mentioned an HXeeEKNX a training exercise in NYC, when a fake substance was into~, " duced into the water of a hotel where Pres, Eisenhower was staying. In any event, igh Lynch said if Swine Fever had been introduced into Cuba, he wouldn't doubt that the Army/DIA had .some hand in it, especially if the so-called sources claimed it cams out of Ft. Gulick. g. Assassinations by the Agency: Lynch said he had absolutely ; no knowledge of assassinations, attempts or plans, by-anyone in the . Agency during his tour. Not only were they prohibited by the Agency, they were counter-productive, It was explained to him during ‘his Agéncy tour that! there was a good chance of an assassination back- firing; that we (U.S.) are more vulnurable to assassinations than the Cubans or Soviets. Therefore, as far as he was concerned, they were strictly verboten..~Edilorializing, Lynch said it was too bad that the upper-echelonsdid not believe in this restriction. . On top of that, they approached mafiosa:to help them. (NOTE: Lynch is rather anti-Kennedy, especially Bobby, with whom he was in a shouting x match during a hearing on the Bay of Pigs invasion. ) h. Assassination of Peruyero: Juan Jose Peruyero, a Bay ; = of Pigs veteran and leader of the Brigade 2506, was gunned down last gy week as he left his home in Miami. Lynch said the vord on the street %y among the iban, community is that this was done by the DGI as a warning: to, the anti>Cubans in Miami. Peruyero had no enemies --he was not into drugs, crime, politics, etc. Ry killing him, the Cubans were warning the community that they could strike anywhere and anyone. Thus, watch out and lay off Cuba and Cuban citizens. If anyone else had been killed, perhaps the killing could have been blamed on the mafia, drug dealers, politicians, etc. A copy of an editorial . 2g from the Tampa Tribune of 14 Jan 77 is attached, below, WY, 53294  ‘Docdaygy
i * a + Card Tampa Tribune 14 Jan 77 | Emergency in Miami Murder is murder but assas- sinalion is something else again. It’s an emergency. , Seven Cuban exile leaders have been assassinated in Miami in the past three years, five of them in the last few months. Lat- est to fall was Juan Jose Per- wlan Jose Prer-_ uvero, a Bay of Pigs veteran and - leader of Brigade 2506, punned down as he left his front door last week. _ Mindless murder is a purely ‘local police matter. But the ‘coolly calculated multiple politi- ‘cal assassinations, not to men- . tion assassination attempts, in ‘the city that - Cuban refugees adopted, are admittedly beyond ~ the resources of a local law en- forcement agency. That is why Miami_ police, wisely, have appealed to U.S. At- torney General Edward Levi to allow FBI intervention in the in- vestigation of the unsolved kil- lings. Federal intervention is not, as widely believed, automatic in as- sassination cases. The murder of a private person, even the politi- cal assassination of a man on the street, is not a Federal offense. Before the FBI can enter the casé, Levi must declare that the Miami murders constitute an “emergency.” They. do, it is and he should. (NOTE: If not already ‘done, it might be a good idea to look into | the background of Peruyero, as far as the Agency is concerned, it the FBI is actually stepping into this case, Naturally, theybwill. come to us for information, ) ; at SEP? aa ee ea:
aw a? Diet lc ira 8 Ged ie) Oe , yoo. - . er 8 -~ fi'- . - i. Assassination of Lettalier: ‘hile on assassinations, this case entered Lynch's conversation, -He has no- personal knowledge of whatjhappened. Again, however, hs gave me the "street word. In Miami, the Cuban community is saying that the same people who did in ROSSELI performed the lettalier assassination. Santo Traficante arranved for the Lettalier killing - hired and paid the killers. oe For this reason, the Chicago..family of the Mafia is furious with Traficante, because he is/or will bring heat on the Mafia. - The reason for Traficante doing it??? Fidel Castro hired him and paid him well to do it. The word is that Traficante has been cooperatinr with the DGI and Fidel since he departed Cuba. Fidel wanted Rossgli killed, because of Rosseli'’s part ‘in the assassination attempt against Fidel. Lynch emphasized that that this is not his theory, but: word from the Street in Miami. j. CRS Show on Cuba: Lynch Said CS is planning a show on the "Legacy of the Bay of Pigs," which should be broadcast in about May 1977. .CBS has already shot zranx interviews in Miami, _ including one with Peruyero. (above) -before he-was-killed,- plus. : ‘covering the aftermath of his assassination. Currently, the C8S crew.is in Cuba - they hops to film-:the-beaches. at the Ray of Pigs - which had been suggested to them by Lynch. Lynch has also been interviewed and has given his opinions for the TV showing. while in Cuba, the CBS crew hopes to also interview Fidel - ‘also at the suggestion of Lynch. The fellow behind the show is named CRILE and he‘has talked td Lynch extensively. According to Lynch, the show would have been very anti-Agency in its comments, but he (Lynch ) has turned this around almost 180 degrees!!t As planned, the show will be two hours and shown in May 1977. ni k. Brigade 2506: On the Brigade, Lunch said he had been an apolitical organization. Individuals of any political shade had been members and politica had not- really entered Brigade Association business, Last year, however, they joined with Orlando BOSCH, amonr others, to help form CORU. Now, the Brigade is embarrassed and wished they had never joined CORU. They with-drew shortly after the Cubana bombing in October 76. However, the damage has been done to the Brigade Association, which Lynch considers a shame. On ‘the CBS film (above), Lynch said he was filmed attending an anniversary meeting. Thiks same meeting was where C8S filmed Peyuyero. l. Lynch & DEA: ‘When Lynch retired from the Agency, he moved to Key Wast. He came to the attention of DEA, especially to Lou Conine, an ex-Agency 6fficer now with DEA. Lynch calls Conine an SOB and worse. He went. into a long explaination of his activities with DEA in Key West. -In summary, he was a P/A and ran a string of informants. Because of internal DEA politics, he was blown and left dangling. on a string in Key West: He had to leave town within 24 hours and.left his people (informants) there without calline or warning them. As a result, he lost friends, prestige with his informants (many of them Cyban exiles) and his business in Key. West. In general terms, he was treated very shabbily by DEA and regrets ever having mixed with them. He is still in contact with one of
AM I yey. . 4 eo 7 ' . z “* - -* . . 4 , wot . - O - as od our ex-of ficar? Gary Haddox. . Accontinz to Lyneh, Malddex will be i ’ returning to the Acency Shortly. Maddox is familiar with the _ operation in Key West. Aasther ex—Areney emp Lovee was also in- volved kn this operation, one Bill Logzay. The undersirned knew ‘ Logay in Vietnam - he was 3 contract employee at about GS-8. With . DEA he quickly rose to GS-14 and was directing the Key ‘lest operation. _ : -When-it folded, according to Lynch, Légay was busted to G3-13° and sent back to dashineton, where he is now working in D&A's Inspection , Division (similar to our IG Staff). Lynch was also aware of another ex-Agency employee, (fmi) Rodriquez, who was to co to Mexico under DEA "deep cover", According to Lynch, Rodriguez was to be involved in assassination operations arainst Nexican dealers and pushers. Instead, Rodriguez ended up in El Paso for about a year and is now in Miami. The undersigned personally knew Rodricuez, but did not know of his specific assignment within DEA. (NOT&: While the above is a little rambling, this is the way.the debriefinr of Lynch went ‘all afternoon!) Se ~ , no -m, Lynch's Manuscript: JT had read Lynch's mannscript, "The Bay of Pigs" before departing Washineton. Lynch explained that he had dictated this paper andj had-a couple of secretaries type it out, It is only in very rough form and he wanted to zet his thoughts down on paper. As he indicates in the paper, he wanted to get the facts straight, He feels that since he was there and part of the invasion, he has a unique veew point of the Bay of Pies and wants to see that history reflects his pobition. As indicated earlier, Lynch is rather bitter against the New Frontier, the Kennedys and Camelot. This is reflected in his manuscript. Lynch claimed that . much of his paper had been "stolen" in that he explained the invasion, * for instance, to the CBS crew and they were using some of his material in the soon to kar be shown program described above. In addition, Lynch mentioned that he had spoken to the Agency historian - can't recall his aame - wn who is also writing a book (classified) on the invasion. As to publication, it seems to be-in the distant future. He does not plan to go to a publisher, where he would xex raceive royalty payments of around 5%. Rather, he plans to publish on his own, probably in Miami, and realize close to 100% profit. It might - cost him kh in the area of $5,000, but he could realize a profit of about $30, 000 depending on sales. n. Mise,: Lynch also spoke abont personalities within the Agency. He mehtioned Tad Shackley, "Dum"Dum'immer, many people in LAD who had a part in the invasion or JMWAVE. Lynch is a member of the retired Agency employees association that Dave Phillips formed. As such, he has appeared several times on Tampa radio and TV shows. ~ To:me, he appears to be an articulate defender of the Agency. 4. Conclusion: For me, this was a most interesting interview, note As far as results, the interview indicated to me that we can get broad-brush overviews from retired Agency employees, and few details. To answer specific questions from Congress and/or the Department of Justice, we must continue to dig and come up with documents from -
Agency files. Unfortuneatly: these documants appear to ba most difficult to locate and retrisve, many of them buried in retired file holdings. a oo 5. Recommendations: ‘We should continie to seek information from retired Agency 6mployees, especially when it appears that they gere intimately involved in the pacticular event or activity in which wes are interested. This should be a selective process and used anly when we believe tha retiree could contribute to our | imnediate inquiry. The documented facts, however, are still needed to.answer questions posed to us officially by other Government entities. a , Grady A. Vickers, (jr ae —LA/Ops |,