Gerry Patrick Hemming
Encyclopedia
Gerald Patrick "Gerry" Hemming, Jr. (b. March 1, 1937, Los Angeles, California
– d. January 28, 2008, Fayetteville, North Carolina
) was a former U.S. Marine, mercenary
and Central Intelligence Agency
operative associated with attacks against on Cuba
in the 1960s.
on March 1, 1937. He attended El Monte Union High School in California before joining the United States Marine Corps
in 1954.
Hemming left the Marines in October 1958 and the following year traveled to Cuba
where he gave help to Fidel Castro
and his revolutionary forces. In January 1959 he met Lee Harvey Oswald
. Later Hemming "switched sides" and, in 1961, established Interpen. Other members reportedly included Loran Hall, Roy Hargraves, William Seymour, Lawrence Howard, Steve Wilson, Howard K. Davis, Edwin Collins, James Arthur Lewis, Dennis Harber, Bill Dempsey, Dick Whatley, Ramigo Arce, Ronald Augustinovich, Joe Garman, Edmund Kolby, Ralph Schlafter, Manuel Aguilar and Oscar Del Pinto.
in the early 1960s.
Declassified FBI files show that the agency had an informer within Interpen. His code name was MM T-1. In one document dated June 16, 1961, it said that MM T-1 had "been connected with Cuban revolutionary activities for the past three years". One document dated May 12, 1961, claims that Allen Lushane of Miami
"had made a trip to Texas
to recruit Americans for some future military action against the Government of Cuba". The document adds that the "first training camp was established by Gerald Patrick Hemming with Dick Watley and Ed Colby running the camp." In an interview that he gave to John M. Newman
on January 6, 1995, Hemming claimed that the FBI informer was Steve Wilson
.
This group of experienced soldiers were involved in training members of the anti-Castro groups funded by the Central Intelligence Agency
in Florida
in the early 1960s. When the government began to crack down on raids from Florida in 1962, Interpen set up a new training camp in
New Orleans, Louisiana
. When this work came to an end in 1964 Hemming was employed in the construction industry in Miami.
, he was also Lee Harvey Oswald
's case officer at then-secret NAF Atsugi.
Gerry Hemming has granted long interviews with several writers working on the assassination of John F. Kennedy
. These include Anthony Summers
(Conspiracy), Noel Twyman (Bloody Treason) and John M. Newman
(Oswald and the CIA). Some researchers believe that a combination of Interpen members and anti-Castro Cubans were involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This included Hemming, James Arthur Lewis, Roy Hargraves, Edwin Collins, Steve Wilson, David Sanchez Morales
, Herminio Diaz Garcia, Tony Cuesta, Eugenio Martinez
, Virgilio Gonzalez , Felipe Vidal Santiago and William "Rip" Robertson.
In August, 1978, Victor Marchetti
published an article about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
in the Liberty Lobby
newspaper, The Spotlight
. In the article Marchetti argued that the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) had obtained a 1966 CIA memo that revealed Hemming, E. Howard Hunt
, and Frank Sturgis
had been involved in the plot to kill Kennedy. Marchetti's article also included a story that Marita Lorenz
had provided information on this plot. Later that month Joseph Trento and Jacquie Powers wrote a similar story for the Sunday News Journal.
On April 14, 1980, Hemming was arrested and charged with drug trafficking. He was held on $200,000 bond in Palm Beach County, Florida
. He claimed that he had not smuggled Quaaludes, but was establishing his bona fides with drug traffickers so he could penetrate their networks. Hemming told Alan J. Weberman that he was working for Mitchell Werbell III
and Lucien Conein
. Hemming was sentenced to 35 years in prison with a minimum mandatory sentence of three years but the conviction was later overturned on appeal.
The HSCA did not publish this CIA memo linking its agents to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Hunt now decided to take legal action against the Liberty Lobby
. In December, 1981, he was awarded $650,000 in damages. Liberty Lobby
appealed to the United States Court of Appeals. It was claimed that Hunt's attorney, Ellis Rubin
, had offered a clearly erroneous instruction as to the law of defamation. The three-judge panel agreed and the case was retried. This time Mark Lane
defended the Liberty Lobby
against Hunt's action.
Lane eventually discovered Marchetti’s sources. The main source was William Corson. It also emerged that Marchetti had also consulted James Angleton and Alan J. Weberman before publishing the article. As a result of obtaining depositions from David Atlee Phillips
, Richard Helms
, G. Gordon Liddy
, Stansfield Turner
, and Marita Lorenz
, plus a skillful cross-examination by Lane of E. Howard Hunt
, the jury decided in January, 1995, that Marchetti had not been guilty of libel when he suggested that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated by people working for the CIA. Lane states that during a later meeting they had, Hemming corroborated the details of the assassination which were outlined during the trial.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
– d. January 28, 2008, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
) was a former U.S. Marine, mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
and Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative associated with attacks against on Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in the 1960s.
Early background
One of eleven children, Hemming born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on March 1, 1937. He attended El Monte Union High School in California before joining the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in 1954.
Hemming left the Marines in October 1958 and the following year traveled to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
where he gave help to Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and his revolutionary forces. In January 1959 he met Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
. Later Hemming "switched sides" and, in 1961, established Interpen. Other members reportedly included Loran Hall, Roy Hargraves, William Seymour, Lawrence Howard, Steve Wilson, Howard K. Davis, Edwin Collins, James Arthur Lewis, Dennis Harber, Bill Dempsey, Dick Whatley, Ramigo Arce, Ronald Augustinovich, Joe Garman, Edmund Kolby, Ralph Schlafter, Manuel Aguilar and Oscar Del Pinto.
Interpen
Hemming was a leader of Interpen, or Intercontinental Penetration Force, a group of anti-Castro guerrillas who trained at No Name KeyNo Name Key
No Name Key is an island located in the lower Florida Keys in the United States. It is 3 miles from US 1 and sparsely populated with only 43 homes. It is a fairly small island in comparison to its neighbor, Big Pine Key, which lies about a half mile to its west...
in the early 1960s.
Declassified FBI files show that the agency had an informer within Interpen. His code name was MM T-1. In one document dated June 16, 1961, it said that MM T-1 had "been connected with Cuban revolutionary activities for the past three years". One document dated May 12, 1961, claims that Allen Lushane of Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
"had made a trip to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to recruit Americans for some future military action against the Government of Cuba". The document adds that the "first training camp was established by Gerald Patrick Hemming with Dick Watley and Ed Colby running the camp." In an interview that he gave to John M. Newman
John M. Newman
[[File:[ /Applications/CanoScan Toolbox 4.1/My Pictures/2011-10-10/Scan1.JPG]John M. Newman spent 21 years with the U.S. Army [[Military intelligence|Intelligence]].-Career:...
on January 6, 1995, Hemming claimed that the FBI informer was Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson may refer to:* Steve Wilson , baseball player* Steve Wilson , former NFL player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers* Steve Wilson , former NFL player for the Denver Broncos...
.
This group of experienced soldiers were involved in training members of the anti-Castro groups funded by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the early 1960s. When the government began to crack down on raids from Florida in 1962, Interpen set up a new training camp in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. When this work came to an end in 1964 Hemming was employed in the construction industry in Miami.
Hemming and Lee Harvey Oswald
According to Victor MarchettiVictor Marchetti
Victor Marchetti is a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent paleoconservative critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel lobby in the United States....
, he was also Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
's case officer at then-secret NAF Atsugi.
Gerry Hemming has granted long interviews with several writers working on the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. These include Anthony Summers
Anthony Summers
Anthony Bruce Summers is the non-fiction author of seven best-selling investigative books. He is an Irish citizen, and has been working for some twenty years with Robbyn Swan, who is now his co-author and fifth wife...
(Conspiracy), Noel Twyman (Bloody Treason) and John M. Newman
John M. Newman
[[File:[ /Applications/CanoScan Toolbox 4.1/My Pictures/2011-10-10/Scan1.JPG]John M. Newman spent 21 years with the U.S. Army [[Military intelligence|Intelligence]].-Career:...
(Oswald and the CIA). Some researchers believe that a combination of Interpen members and anti-Castro Cubans were involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This included Hemming, James Arthur Lewis, Roy Hargraves, Edwin Collins, Steve Wilson, David Sanchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales
David Sánchez Morales was a Central Intelligence Agency operative who worked in Cuba.-Biographical highlights:...
, Herminio Diaz Garcia, Tony Cuesta, Eugenio Martinez
Eugenio Martínez
Eugenio Rolando Martinez was a member of the anti-Castro movement in the early 1960s, and later was one of the five men recruited by G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt in 1972 for the Memorial Day weekend Watergate first break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C...
, Virgilio Gonzalez , Felipe Vidal Santiago and William "Rip" Robertson.
Arms trading
Gerry Hemming was arrested on August 23, 1976 for the illegal transfer of a silencer and drug smuggling. It seems that this was the point that he began talking about his past work with the CIA. He told one reporter: "All of a sudden they're accusing me of conspiracy to import marijuana and cocaine. Hey, what about all the other things I've been into for the last 15 years, lets talk about them. Let's talk about the Martin Luther King thing, let's talk about Don Freed, Le Coubre, nigger-killers in bed with the Mafia, the Mafia in bed with the FBI, and the goddamn CIA in bed with all of them. Let's talk about all the people I dirtied up for them over the years."1978 conviction and acquittal
Hemming was convicted by a Miami jury of conspiracy to import marijuana. In 1978 he was sentenced to six months in prison by U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler. Hemming was released on appeal bond and the conviction was later overturned.In August, 1978, Victor Marchetti
Victor Marchetti
Victor Marchetti is a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent paleoconservative critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel lobby in the United States....
published an article about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in the Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization founded in 1958 that went bankrupt in 2001. It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,-Antisemitic world-view:...
newspaper, The Spotlight
The Spotlight
The Spotlight was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct Liberty Lobby...
. In the article Marchetti argued that the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) had obtained a 1966 CIA memo that revealed Hemming, E. Howard Hunt
E. Howard Hunt
Everette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
, and Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
had been involved in the plot to kill Kennedy. Marchetti's article also included a story that Marita Lorenz
Marita Lorenz
Marita Lorenz is a German woman who had an affair with Fidel Castro in 1959 and in January 1960 was involved in an assassination attempt by the CIA on Castro's life. She later had a child with the Venezuelan former dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.In the 1970s she testified regarding the John F...
had provided information on this plot. Later that month Joseph Trento and Jacquie Powers wrote a similar story for the Sunday News Journal.
On April 14, 1980, Hemming was arrested and charged with drug trafficking. He was held on $200,000 bond in Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...
. He claimed that he had not smuggled Quaaludes, but was establishing his bona fides with drug traffickers so he could penetrate their networks. Hemming told Alan J. Weberman that he was working for Mitchell Werbell III
Mitchell Werbell III
Mitchell Livingston WerBell III, , was an OSS operative, Soldier of Fortune, Paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.- Early life and OSS service :...
and Lucien Conein
Lucien Conein
Lt. Col. Lucien Emile Conein was a noted U.S. Army officer and Office of Strategic Services / Central Intelligence Agency operative...
. Hemming was sentenced to 35 years in prison with a minimum mandatory sentence of three years but the conviction was later overturned on appeal.
The HSCA did not publish this CIA memo linking its agents to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Hunt now decided to take legal action against the Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization founded in 1958 that went bankrupt in 2001. It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,-Antisemitic world-view:...
. In December, 1981, he was awarded $650,000 in damages. Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization founded in 1958 that went bankrupt in 2001. It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,-Antisemitic world-view:...
appealed to the United States Court of Appeals. It was claimed that Hunt's attorney, Ellis Rubin
Ellis Rubin
Ellis S. Rubin was an American attorney in Miami, Florida who gained national fame for handling a variety of highly publicized cases in a legal career that spanned 53 years. He was famous for his innovative defenses and his propensity for handling lost causes. Rubin won the first case in Florida...
, had offered a clearly erroneous instruction as to the law of defamation. The three-judge panel agreed and the case was retried. This time Mark Lane
Mark Lane (author)
Mark Lane is an American lawyer who has written many books, including Rush to Judgment, one of two major books published in the immediate wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination that questioned the conclusions of the Warren Commission. Another book, Plausible Denial, published in 1991, continued...
defended the Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby
Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization founded in 1958 that went bankrupt in 2001. It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,-Antisemitic world-view:...
against Hunt's action.
Lane eventually discovered Marchetti’s sources. The main source was William Corson. It also emerged that Marchetti had also consulted James Angleton and Alan J. Weberman before publishing the article. As a result of obtaining depositions from David Atlee Phillips
David Atlee Phillips
David Atlee Phillips was a Central Intelligence Agency officer for 25 years, one of a handful of people to receive the Career Intelligence Medal. He rose to become the CIA's chief of all operations in the Western hemisphere...
, Richard Helms
Richard Helms
Richard McGarrah Helms was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1966 to 1973. He was the only director to have been convicted of lying to the United States Congress over Central Intelligence Agency undercover activities. In 1977, he was sentenced to the maximum fine and received a suspended...
, G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
, Stansfield Turner
Stansfield Turner
Stansfield M. Turner is a retired Admiral and former Director of Central Intelligence. He is currently a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Policy....
, and Marita Lorenz
Marita Lorenz
Marita Lorenz is a German woman who had an affair with Fidel Castro in 1959 and in January 1960 was involved in an assassination attempt by the CIA on Castro's life. She later had a child with the Venezuelan former dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.In the 1970s she testified regarding the John F...
, plus a skillful cross-examination by Lane of E. Howard Hunt
E. Howard Hunt
Everette Howard Hunt, Jr. was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G...
, the jury decided in January, 1995, that Marchetti had not been guilty of libel when he suggested that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated by people working for the CIA. Lane states that during a later meeting they had, Hemming corroborated the details of the assassination which were outlined during the trial.