Mary's Mosaic (72 page)

Simply put, peace—particularly world peace—wasn’t good for business, nor for American military and economic hegemony. Whatever enlightenment Mary and Jack may have finally engendered together, it had evolved into a part of Jack’s newfound trajectory of where he wanted to take not only his
presidency in 1963, but the entire world. It was the pursuit of peace that was about to take center stage; and that voyage would no longer include any obsequious bow to the insanity of America’s war machine driven by the legacy of Allen Dulles and his ass-kissing cronies.

After Dallas, amid utter horror and shock, Mary had taken it upon herself to discover and make sense of the truth of the conspiracy that had taken place—only to realize the magnitude of the second conspiracy, a cover-up taking place right before her eyes. There, in her diary, she had reached an understanding. It was her own mosaic of people, events, circumstances, and exploration that informed her understanding—not only of the evil that had taken place in Dallas, but of the villainous darkness that was now enveloping all of America. She had furiously confronted her ex-husband, Cord Meyer, possibly Jim Angleton as well, with what she had discovered, not fully realizing the extent of their own diabolical ruthlessness. The Warren Report was ultimately nothing more than a house of cards; once ignited with the right matchstick, it would be engulfed in flames. If Mary courageously went public with who she was, and what she knew, making clear her position in the final years of Jack’s life, people with influence would take notice; the fire of suspicion around Dallas would erupt into a conflagration.

She had to be eliminated.

“
F
orget her, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” The concluding line of Roman Polanski’s film wafted through my mind, tempting me away from the task that now clearly lay ahead. Nausea was overtaking me, but it wasn’t the ferry pitching through the oncoming swells, veteran ocean sailor that I was. It was Mary’s revulsion for the CIA, now mine as well, that gripped me in its vise. Alone on the deck, hands outstretched toward the last bit of light on a short winter’s day, I unleashed my screams toward the sky, only to then collapse at the rail, sobbing one more time. In a certain way, my torment had come to an end, yet behind it there was an unbearable sadness, and not just my own. The shining beacon of America—a promise unlike any other for humanity—was being extinguished, as it had been in Rome. But unlike Rome, America would not be engulfed by flames. It would instead succumb to something far more sinister, invisible, and corrosive: ignorance. Ignorance dipped in fear-mongering and dazzled by fabricated myths had become the breeding ground for official stupidity, darkness, and senseless wars. Ignorance had once again become evil’s greatest handyman. As Benjamin Franklin wisely noted, “It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

Mary Pinchot Meyer had been struck down before she could speak publicly. Leo Damore had fallen, very likely poisoned into uncontrollable despair. John Davis, having picked up Leo’s mantle, finally opted out, his life threatened. He “wanted to live,” he said, shortly before a crippling stroke.

The familiar taste of salt water on my lips called me back inside my body. The wind and ocean spray danced all around, the cold of winter now an accustomed companion. I headed back inside the ferry’s cabin for warmth. Somber, yet still resolute, I knew right then and there I would do whatever it took, pay whatever price was required, to allow this story—this small but essential piece of history—to see the light of day.

A
PPENDICES

Appendix #1:
FBI Crime Lab Report for the Murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer

Appendix #2:
Confidential U.S. Justice Memorandum, February 24, 1965

Appendix #3:
Notes Taken by Attorney James (“Jimmy”) H. Smith on His Telephone Call with Leo Damore, March 31, 1993, at Approximately 8:30
A.M
.

Appendix #4:
Ben Bradlee’s 1952 Rosenberg Case Press Liaison with the CIA

Appendix 1:
FBI Crime Lab Report for the Murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer

Appendix 2:
Confidential U.S. Justice Memorandum, February 24, 1965

Appendix 3:

Notes Taken by Attorney James (“Jimmy”) H. Smith on His Telephone Call with Leo Damore, March 31, 1993, at Approximately 8:30
A.M
.

The following pages are copies of the notes attorney James Smith took on the morning of March 31, 1993, when author Leo Damore called him. The six (6) pages of notes document the telephone call and what was said during the course of the conversation. After Smith shared these notes with me in 2004, we spent hours together over a three-year period going over each line, thereby further stimulating Smith’s recall and accuracy. As of 2011, Smith has reviewed this appendix and fully endorses it to be true and accurate.
²

Each page of the notes has been transcribed so that the reader can make sense of what took place during their conversation. There is also a discussion of the information that is given on each page for better understanding.

Page 1: Notes of attorney James Smith’s telephone call with Leo Damore on March 31, 1993.

Page 1: Transcription

Introduction

These notes were taken by attorney James H. Smith on a telephone call with his client and dear friend Leo Damore on the morning of March 31, 1993. Damore’s tapes of his phone conversation with “William L. Mitchell” were not found among Damore’s belongings after his death, nor was a transcript of the call ever located. However, Jimmy Smith has aided the author in the reconstruction and interpretation of his notes from Damore’s account of his conversation with Mitchell.

The time of Damore’s call, according to Smith, was between 8:00 and 8:30. There are two pieces of this mosaic that Damore reveals on page 1: that he finally had telephone contact with “William L. Mitchell” the night before; and that he, Damore, had come into possession of Mary’s diary—a fact that he had not revealed before.