Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination 
Records Collection Act of 1992 
(44 USC 2107 Note) 
NW 53217 6/20/17
104-10221-10218 Co pew mB mee ee ee . » “awe wy ~ ae ~ \ | | \ = 4 : By : m= oh ° oy -Y . . i en ‘ 4 ‘synopsis Continued i’. alae! DETAILS: | hat On April 20, 1961, WILLIAM JOHN. JOHNSON, 127.1 Ferthwest 180th Terrace, Miami, and WILLIE MARVIN WALL, 69 West 58th ferrace, Niami, came to the Office of the VBI end informed SA JAMES M. COADY thac subject. was vecruiting for a Cuban invasion. These individuals had agen subject with applications for the International Anti- Commmist Brigade. They agaid they knew of four Cubans . whe bad aigned with subject, however, they wore. wmable to furnish identities of these individuals. Subject, with ALEXANDER I. RORKE, & free~ lance photographer. and reporter, were supposed to come by JOENSON's residence at 10 PM on April 20, 1961, and subfect allegedly would present his backer st thet time. JOHNSON and WALL stated they would advise tho PBI of further activities of subject. The "Parade" magazine supplement of the "Miami Herald", Miami, Florida, dated May 14, 1961, contains an article by FRANK FIORINI a3 told to JACK ANDERSON, . captioned "An Ansrican soldier of fortune in Cuba says 'yE WILL FINISH THE Joa'". The following is this article ~ in its entirety: af =
104-10221-10218 Aneeicin ‘he. ee naied a- ‘proainent” ‘role in oe landings in Cuba. ‘Parade’ readers: first met: | &. Fiorini in. an article, | Soldiers of Fortune. (June 12, 1960) .. After the Castro révolution, Fiorini lost ‘his U. $2 eitizenship. When he turned’ - against Castro, however ‘Sen; George Smathers. of Florida, on 'Parade'’s' appeal, helped Fiorini£. win a hearing before the State Departament. On March 14 the citizenship of: this dedicated freedom fighter was masitored . ; “Here Fiorini reveale the inside story of: the April lendings and what. preceded thém--and tells why he and his companeros. will be. victorious, . in spite of the ups and downs. "As you read this, the fight for Cuban freedom © is continuing. My Gompaneros on that embattled island possess the indomitable will of men who know that one 6etback or one ‘yletory: does not decide the. énuse of. Liberty. - It 4s-thia fiery spirit that: has enabied them to strike back, a and. again, against the Castro tyranny. "Today it {9 popular to consider the April landings an attempted large-scale invasion which - 3 =
104-10221-10218 TSW Qt, | { \ APT tea sees Oo ae 6 ae eta, Cawumerlige Ce ae cemce a eax yer “ stearic $ Liziniona sicatt VES see TN aia —o a finally wore ‘carried out. "For a Long ‘time, we had: been work tig in stealth: to; stab lish: ‘our undérg round... We came.” and went under cover of the: dark. ‘Sona tines we slipped ‘through the Sugar- Cane Curtain by: boat. oo . playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with ‘ _ Castro's gunboats among the offshore atolls and coral reefs, Sometimes we syooped over the treetops by plane and looked down upon Castro's bright orange patrol cars. We kept secret trysts with underground leaders, dumped supplies from the air into guerrilla hideouts. Wa raturned to Florida for more arms, "Using a secret . eee taken frem the Bible, we kept in daily radio contact with shopkeepers, _ Students, workers, peasants, even militiamen, Ac night they blew up bridgas, sabotaged - ‘factories, attackad Small outpoats. "Many of us once fought for Castro and the democracy he promised. Now we fight agesinse him who turned our dream of democracy into a Communist nightmare. "A Fight for Freedom = & w
a ae ee ec a a are EERE & MER ATTN TIE Soe Pye 3 Ak OREN IRIS RN ee eee eee 104-10221-10218 3 . . re . bs ved sr Es * ve are PR at Batak JOSE PTH tn Re RGA We SUAR. Sak € of: the mountains, which he used’ as ry ‘base ‘to batter Batista. Whereas Batista’ 8 troops’ a oo i tuck to the ‘roads, Castro" 8 militiamen swarmed: oo , - over the mountains. a . . . “He eGo! ‘ktiew that a successful revolt. ‘must hava the eupport of the people. To hold- the loyalty of the campesinos, the dirty-necks who inhabit the. countryside, Castro put shirts on their backs and food in their bellies, EPO eae OE BRE a z eed Ly eae tte . “Of no small help to Castro has: been our own disunity. The Cuban exiles have been divided into a hundred movimientos preoccupied with their own rivalries. For over two yeare, they dissipated their funds and energies in internecine quarrels. Most have been mere — debating societies whose members talked amd ° . dreamed big.but have little support inside Cuba, __ 1 finally became fed up-with all of them and:, Ye formed my own International’ Brigade, training - in the Florida Everglades. ; ‘In helping to set op an anti-Castro force Anside Cuba, I collaborated with Victor. Emman.el Paneque, the legendary 'Diago' who directed the Havana underground for Castro. Diago is a short, stocky daredevil who wears a cigar in his mouth as a permanent article of dress. He fears nothing. 5 -5- [OR a
MO 10221-10218 .. “Water agains é _€astro"s-Cuba “by: night: “shortly before: Chirteraas,. we ‘arranged’ to: meet the. underground chiofe. at -a sécret spot on .- ‘Cuba's. “northérn coast. We communicated ‘by. radio, using ‘the. Bible code. We. headed” ‘for a. ey atoll dn ‘the’ ‘Bahamag. "Diag had cached. arms onthe atoll with. ‘all the secrecy of the notorious pirate Captain “Kidd, who, according to legend, used these same. atolls for burying nis treasure. We loaded a 45- foot cabin cruiser with arma, mounted a 20, mm. cannon in. the stam pnd plowed. across the — Caribbean. "After dark we anchored in a cove off the north coast of Las. Villas. The silence was complete, Not. @ light, not a. sound. from. ry You: aover ‘knew ation machine guns would start to chatter and tracers cut their atrange patterns like firaflies about your ears. "Short of Ammunition "We waited tensely, Then from the shore came the wink of a flashlight. We returned the = & = a Gar
104-10221-1021 - oP ee . i ft, there wag. ° : _ a “We hid on an atoll for a few days while - rn eed g | we transferred our lethal cargo to the mainland. - : Soe - a and received reports of what was happening: in’ Cuba. The patriotic leaders who. visited ua, always by rowboat after dark, told of growing anger against Castro. His alliance with communism had disillusioned most thinking: men, But even the maszes were muttering over the hardships -he produced by’ purchasing Communist arms instead of food and putting guns before butter.. “The underground chiefs revealed a chink in Castro's armor: his militia bristled with weapons. that were short of ammunition, By rationing ammunition, Castro unwittingly showed . how little he crusted his ow men. Apparently — he took no chances chat they would defect and | _turn their arms against him, . 'Thiea scarelty.of ammunition was discovered: by Diago's men. These daredevils would creep up behind Castro militiamen, prod them with daggers and order them to drop their guns and ammunition belts. If they would agree to walk
104-10221-10218 i a a aki AL . PMT RS FER RE TUL eS ak a Ce A ES, | HO: 2-192, | + : a  mgtraighe-« ahead without Looking back, these Bane “bo. Lives. would be. Sparse. : ea ge } eS, a om, "D1ago" s contacts aleo supplied « us, “with a~ ce ty Bo Bo. nr . list. of chevitos, Castro: informers,. in Las’ Villas. ae a But ‘our. plan to open a new guorrilla. front . ale pe Sob » ~“. received: av nexpecte “setback. = -Thes<- tere ms Pe Sea, Democratic. Revolutionary, Front. launched ns , guerrilla attack in the very area we had. ‘chosen, Castro. ‘poured’ in his militia in " tremendous numbérs.. Of 200 guerrillas, only. 40 escaped.- ; "Dismayed, we abandoned our plan and pulied:. back to the Bahamas. We tried to deliver another boatload of weapons, but before our. cabin cruiser could make contact, it was caught in tha headlight of a jeep patrolling the coastal road, Then a Cuban frigate, apparently . summoned by radio, bore down on us. We managed to give it the slip, however, by racing to the offshore atolls, where the water was too shallow and snagged with coral reefe for the bigger ahip to follow... "Meanwhile, Castro's agents in Miami . Suspected what we were up to. They had orders. upon our recurn ‘never to let us out of their sight. But we tumed tha tables on them and. began. spying on them, I intercepted a telegram to one Caatro agent, Rudy Faneitty, who was registered at Miami Beach's Surrey Hotel. The wire, obviously in code, was addressed to "Lieutenant' Faneitty and was signed by - § °
104-10221-10218 | ee se ee rn tI resienber colta welt from ay.” "Ge Lia: sanchee. ; 1 heat cheepin meses stindeemnnn mobs : i the ght . discourage ‘the m4 Litia . ‘from ‘taking. pot. hots: at ué- Aa we flew low. “ over Cuba., : ; "he waa 6: 30. a.m. when we zoomed across. Poe the beach at tree-top level. The sur was. up, ‘ po and pesple. were: stirring. We spotted several oO bright orange. patrol cara: with cream-colored - tops. Miliciamen waved at U8; our masquerade, wha succeeding. "Back to the Boat i ; wh "Diago “aesured me that we could land on the roadway near ‘the rendezyous Bpot. But ‘the roade were either too short, too curved or too narrow to set the plane down. We circled the area for 35 anxious. aimutes,, then decided to dump the arms. Fortunately we had prépated for this emergency. The weapons were: wrapped in blankets of foam rubber to prevent: damagé. 0 ee "The weapons were picked up and safely hiddén. On successive davs, we made two more attempts to land. We circled in vain over cugar-cane fields and green hills. Each time we were forced to drop our supplies.
104-10221-10218 c . : 2 “areas ‘over which: we ‘had flown... Thé pho 5 ce : - markings. which had con fumed” the: militiamen, ©. didn't fool him. © . : "A United Front. "Bor several. days we tried to land ‘on. the Cuban shore, but Castro's gunboat patrols proved too vigilant and we had to give up tha effort. Maanwhile, however, anothar group of men went ashore in Pinar Dal Rio Province. © ‘* Among them was Angus McNair, a fellow American, But five of the group, including McNair, somehow got separated from the others and were picked up by Castro's militia. Now McNair, a dedicated ‘fighter for . freedom, has been shot by. Castro witnouc trial. So. have okbex: valiant friends ‘of our cause, Lo put McNair and the others did not die. in vain. And it ig: important to remémber that, whataver our situation now, Castro himself did not win his:triumph for three Long years. Despite all the ups and downs, victories and defeats, those of ue who believe in Cuban freedom are in the battle to the end." ~ 10 +
104-10221-10218 we . On duiiy.. 2 1961, “about - nevtaty-five: Cubans’: Le. gutnied. a Davie . ional poe Lite eegueines, ‘and gome: Spanish- language: newspapers. ; published, in Miami on. a weekly basis. . Two airplanes were rented from Howe Aviation; ‘Tamiami Airport, Miami, One plane was a four-placa Cessna, Regietration Number 9Y97D. The other plane was a two-place Piper Colt. These planes were: flown to ; Davie. Airport, ‘where GERALI- PATRICK HEMMING, DICK WATLEY, FRANK LITTLE and ORLANDO GARCIA @ach made a parachute. jump. ‘HEMMING, WATLEY and LITTLE belong to HEMMING's organization, known a8. Intercontinental ‘Penetration Forces. ORLANDO GARCIA is one of the officials of the Revolut lonery Junta of National Liberation. Also making '.@ parachute jump. was LEON DANIEL, United Press international Bureau Manager from Knoxville, Tennessee, DANIEL “claimed thet he had wade previous parachute jumps, but: on land ing from this jump, he fractured hig ankle and- was taken to; ‘Broward General Hospital, Broward County, Florida. . Bow , . ee The newsmen photographed the paractiute jumping. There were no other military mansuvers or mock attacks, as were previously planned, ELOY GUTIERREZ -MENOYO, former commander in the Cuban Revolutionary Army, did not attend this demonstration. AGUSTIN CAPO, a Cuban national, was supposed to come and demonstrate radio equipment to be used in some military attack against the present Cuban Government. However, CAPO did not appear. -ll- ttt abit BR alent EES
104-10221-10218 a aes ws ta-civs! } . ‘INI for hig-men participated in: tl i: Bue Chey were’ interviewsd by the. pres Ne: Le Les about forty other Cuban - of the: Revolut techniques of parachuting. They ‘also did some close order drill for the benefit of the photographers; . Newsmén also interviewed different ‘individuals... _. The "Miami Herald", a daily newspaper =| published in Miami, Florida, on July 3, 1961, contained. oe an articlé stating that the International Brigade had spe billéd the exercise as a mass.drop by some seventy parachutists, ‘of ona of its member groups, the Inter- » continental Penetration Forces. fhe article stated the’ erop was scheduled for 9 AM, but by noon there were only soma’ forty anti~CASTRO recruits on hand to jump. A | _8pokesman for the International Brigade stated they had only two parachutes and intendéd to borrow others to , give everybedy a chance to jump. The article stated that ~ FRANK FIORINI, the head of the International Brigade, . _ claimed that his organization had five thousand members, 4 - - of which seven “hundred were inactive training to combat Communism, wherever. it. exists. ‘He further claimed that “thé organization includes air and parachute groups, underwater demolition teams; and. many others who will not fight, but will help in educational activities, ‘ The article continued that JOHN PATRICK HEMMING, head of the Intercontinental Penetration Forces, claims to be an ex~-Marine, with almost five years of experience in the Corps, who fought with CASTRO from 1958 - 12 -
104-10221-10218 Poo omen a RS ey | ) 7. ten sereded, the Spt his orgaiiigacion, "and. . HEMMENG' ‘obganteation has ‘a maximum of twenty wenbera. _ - On July 3, 1961, MM T- -1 reported that subject - end GERALD ‘PATRICK. HEMMING were very happy and pleased after the demonstration ae déscribed above. , _ Subject made. a statement that the United States ‘Govetrment had called him and: had plans for him but that he should wait until the end of the. fiscal year when the. United States Government will have mora money to give subject for his International Brigade. Subject refused to state. which United States Government agency will Support him. On July v7, 1961,-J. WALTER YEAGLEY, Assistant. Attorney General, internal. Security Division, directed a ‘stter to the FBI. This letter in part. states as follows: . . “Ye ds noted that recent information: ‘furnished to the Department concerning the.subject indicates that he is identified as head of the International Anticommunist Brigade and was present with several of his men at.a gathering of some 75 Cubans at Davie Airport, Davie, Florida, on July 2, 1961, at which occasion, Gerald Patrick Hemming, head of the Inter- _ continental Penetration Forces, and several - 13 - “e
104-10221-10218 De ewe a ee a ee gage A | i" - j “individuals made-parachute Jumps. The ‘Miami ~. - eo. a _ Herald’ on July 3,."1961, reportedly contained % an le indicating that. approximately 70..men-” “ aan - rganization were. scheduled to- make - Hag | 760 are’ tn eeees ES Gnetudad parate The Départment concluded ‘that in’ Light of the above déacribéd activities. on the part of the subject, -- ag well aa His past history of extensive revolutionary’. aétivity,. 1£ was the opinion of the Internal Security _ Division that there is surficient indication of. possible violations of Title 18, United Stataa Code, Section 960 to warrant investigation, - ; yo Oe Om Juiv. 18, 1961, M4 T-1 informed that. JERRY BUCHANAN, known to him as "BUCKY", had- escaped arrest — by the Missi Follce Department’ in connection with the — theft of the tug boat "Gil Rokie" on February 4, 1961, MM T-1 identified the photograph of BUCHANAN which had appeared in the -"w rfolk. Ledger-Dispatch-The Portsmouth Star", dated May 16, 1961, . * | , MM T-1 advised that BUCHANAN was formerly associate? with a group of individuals who trained at No Name Key, Florida; under thé auspices of ROLANDO ARCADIO: MASFERRER ROJAS. BUCHANAN Lived fora period of time at 1651 West Plagler Streer, Miami, a barracks-type boarding and reoming house which waa furnished by MASFERRE&, - 14 -
104-10221-10218 nv) “eo, “untdl “February 4, | 4 = duala:livd t. this: 1 . PROCTOR wag.” . one. of. thoaé arrested. by tha Miani Police:Department. for’ ~ -.the theft of the. "G41 Rokie", 0° . MM .T-l hes no-dinformation that BUCHANAN is’ ~ currently recruiting for FIORINI. BUCHANAN is believed” to be in the Norfolk area and is known to have been’ a assoctated with FRANK FIORINI in the Miami area; however, © there {1s no indication ha is associating with FIORINI. at the present time, a On July 18, 1961, Detective Sergeant CHARLES | SAPP, Intelligance Unit, Miami Police Department, advised that his department had information relating to BUCHANAN: alleging he had participated in the theft of tha tug boat. "Gil Rokie" February 4, 1961, Detective Sergeant SAPP explained that his offica was no longér interested in this matter, The four individuals arrasted at this time in connection with the theft served approximately 30. gays and hava since been released. ‘There is no process outstanding for BUCHANAN and he is not wanted by the Miami Police Department, On July 21, 1961, the Counter Intelligence Corps of the United States Army, Columbia, South ; Carolina, informed that on July 20, 1961, a confidential source had furnfshed the following information to Counter Intelligence Corps at Fort Jackson, South Carolina: - 15 -
104-10221-10218 won aid x or or Mariel. ~ |. he ‘belief the a rbor ‘because: ‘there ; Be VICTOR PANEQUE) aleo-known aa Commandér Diego, anc would Consist. - of a total of eight men utilizing an old Anerican-type. PT ‘boat. ‘The last tise che source knew of the location of this boat was that it was in Florida. er .* On August 9, 196%, MM-T-1. furndehed the | following information: , - Subject réturnéd from Washington, D. C., several days ago and indicated he had had. many conférénces of importance with high military officials of the United States Government. ‘He did not identify’ any of these’ individuals. He said that insofat as the Cuban anti- DY CASTRO effort 1e concerned, no one will receive any — Be : Support from thea United States Government other than : JOSE MIRO CARDONA, _ | | 3 MM T-1 said that as of this moment, subject's International Brigade conaists of one member only, that of the subject himself. MM T-1 said subject's | “organization. is. nothing -but a "paper" organization, that ha has no following and is not attempting to recruit anyone into his International Anti-Comnunist Brigade, Subject stays out late moat every evening and claims to be attending wany important meetings otherwise unexplained by him, - 16 -
104-10221-10218 tte ce wate “rabigie palm age hats BN i does not "regard h : “any” potencisl inpot tance dn any rant s-CASTRO: =. oa - PEPE CONE MOS IE y. Ae c oin the “Un! rad ‘States. Army, Subject satd thie he will. positively: not do, ‘Subjéct presently resides. at an ‘addreas in the : 1300 block of Northwest 133rd Street,. Miaat, Florida, ; and his telephone number is ‘MU 15864, : . MM T-1 also said JERRY BUCHANAN, who formerly Oe, ; ‘ Lived in the Miami area and was associated” with subject, _ - ia no longer in thia aréa and it ia believed he has — returned to the northeastern section of the United GERCES though his exact location ig not known, :- - 17% - oer
104-10221-10218 & delétence ie aad: to the. report of Special. ; Agent LEMAN L. STAFFORD ; “JR. dated and captioned ag: ; above at Miami, . Florida, MM T-1,, sentioned in thie report, has. furnished 9° reliable information in tha past, oe , ‘ ‘PROPERTY -OF FBI - This siemorandum - ie loaned to you by the PBI, and neither it nor its contents are to be distributed ounsige the agency to whieh loanad.