Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination 
Records Collection Act of 1992 
(44 USC 2107 Note) 
NW 53217 6/20/17
104-10218-10109 SAT TEl RE: GERALD PATRICK HEMMING, JR. rs ane ot matter ee aid tem ee ubbem On July 2, 1961, HEMMING with abour five mercenaries and Cuban exiles dressed in military uni- forms, put on an air drop parachuting show for the prese at the airport at Davie, Florida. HEMMING and his men were interviewed and he received considerable press publicity. in South. Plorida br being a person who was recruiting men to fight Commnism.in Latin America. ee me nent eny me abenentnnreprd Be NETO wees ’ Also in July, 1961, HEMMING was contacting 4 different Cuban exile groups in Miami offering them a 3 training camp facilities, ani seeking «heir contributions ob, {. in dollar donations and weapons. bo Soe On August 24, 1961, HEMMING claimed he went to Cuba and contacted representatives of the Cuban under] ’ ground. ANTONIO PEREZ QUESADA, Cuban exile beat captain, ao , on interview admitted he took HEMMING and six others to - Cuba on August 12, 1961 where they stayed about 42 hours. dol However, neither HEMMING nor his men made any contact vg FB, with the Cuban underground or militia. tek ele mt aR On March 30, 1962, as a result of press publicity, ? aa . HEMMING decided to diswaid other mercenaries and adventurers - : ‘from. coming to Miami to join his organization. HEMMING ow . therefore sent out hundreds of form letters tc persons ot core who previously made inquiry concerning joining INTERPEN. . 2a -In March, 1962, most of the leading Cuban exile cequnizacions had disavowed any cooperation:with HEMMING. pT Most of the groups felt HEMMING was maxing a living at pe the expense of the revolution and haa no real intention ; are i..ut i, »O& taking his group to Cuba to fight against Cosmunism. — nee ne May, 1962, most of HEMMING's mercenaries | wot considered HEMMING completely unreliable in that he nad _ taken no positive action and appearec€ to be more interested wate ate tee nae gt lee ot Weta) eit Pa ce ee a a eee Sy aaa ? a ;
104-10218-10109 43a ° ~~ 2] 2 : wy Ww ry ; 2 —\y _S hate end Re Sd WIG RE: GERALD PATRICK HEMMING, J2. in press publicity than the anti-CASTRO movement in Miami. . . pom SE In August, 1962, HEHMING planned a military - “be Bie expedition to Cuba. He obtained a boat and recruited a ae Cuban exiles, but at the last moment the exileo deserted ef oat him, U. S. Customs agents searched the boat, and then the boat broke down and became inoperative. eure the, S28 8S o eremaee omer epee cere cedures aetna An AONE Aedes onrente A ce en tee reatAs BE ; In September, 1962, HEMMING opened a military os bat training cam at Big Pine Key, Plorida and had 14 of his i | mercenaries training there. i } The National Broadcasting Company, Time and zi Life Corporation, and the Miami Herald Newspaper accepted ‘A an invitation to visit the camp and photograph the iy war games. The National Broadcasting Company later used : . these films on a neztionwide news program and claimed the films were smiggled into the United States and were photographs of actual internal revolution inaide of Cuba. i . - In November, 1962, HEMMING was working with a phe ES i" private detective SAM BENTON in Miami. HEMMING was ce 4 supposed to sink pleasure boats.so the owners. could ‘ : collect insurance. The first boat he was to sink was neg Bae cua} pst «iu: @ 31 foot CrisCraft, however, HEMMING became frightened . ° , he a and refused to sink the boat. Therein, the business ; a i, ; enterprise between BENTON and HEMMING terminated. ie Also in November, 1962, he obtained the use of . foe 2 a! 35 foot boat and planned an expedition to Cuba. HEMMING Pe - threatened to shoot it out with the U. S. Border Patrol tote 0 fe owe o> and the U. S. Navy if they tried to atop him. Problems ee Hs “: “later developed, the boat was not used, and the expedition - . / Was called off. . a In December, 1962, HEMMING rented a 35 foot se ere cuit aia,» ‘beat for an expedition to Cuba and planned to take 12 — wee F CONFID
104-10218-10109 ewer wt ol RE: GEKALD PATRICK HEMMING, JR. of his men with him. On December 4, 1962, U. S. Customs agents arrested HEMMING and his group, confiscated the arms, and amsunition on the boat and charged them with conspiracy to expirt' arms. On January 22, 1963, these charges were dismissed. In April, 1963, INTERPEN was down to.about six ‘members; HEMMING found it difficult to collect money donations, and cbtained omployment as a gardener. In June, 1963, HEMMING and about four of his men visited CARLOS ZARRAGA MARTINEZ, a Cuban exile who i maintained a large supply of arms at his residence. He HEMMING and hig men pulled out guns, and threatened ZARRAGA‘'s life if he did not give them these arms. ZARRAGA turned over these arms and HEMMING left the ! . house momentarily. While he was gone, U. S. Customs peerwemenes Bellen seme vesn aman Agua vitae abee | Imre tHE ES cease a rere ee ene + agente arrived, Gonfiscated the arms, and arrested HEMMING's men. ae In September, 1963, INTERPEN-no longer existed. no FFMMIPG's followers lost interest and felt HEMMING would a never be able to launch any military action ayainst Cuba. - The majority of the recruits left Miami, others were a run out of town by the police, ant? others were arrested ‘ for burglary, larceny, and vagrancy. During this period, | Mo HEMMING visited leading Cuban exile political figures ae and a number of american right-wing conservatives for i . donations. He travelled to Dallas, Texas,;. Chicago, & Illinois, and other places but was unable to raise a , money. On October 24, 1963, ALEXANDER I. RORKE, a free lance photoygraphe ¢ involved in Cuban revolutionary matters, ; .  «. left on a flight for Central America. He was never heard _ from again. . an On November 2, 1963, HEMMING and eight others on board a chartered DC-3 left South Florijia on a search mission. 7 Mi seins ee They eventually arrived at Guatamala where they — ee hh apd teed eabdpcebaes be on Mea e eee te ta saofian Sipe ~ 3 at . weer ee ntemen eeenmeae pettitaeh o6 Ket ene af darneerdeonte i 2 aa t,