OPERATION GLADIO Exposed with COLONEL TOWNER in The Skorzeny Papers Chapter 11 - 12

59:47 · recorded 2024-02-13 · ▶ watch on Rumble

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1:07 Okay, can I get a sound check? Sound good? Can y'all hear me? Hello? Can I get a sound check from someone? Hello? Trying to get a sound check. I need a sound check. Can y'all hear me? Sounds good. Okay. All right. What a day. Yeah, today's been a crazy day. So I did want to get a few announcements out of the way.

2:54 I've been busy behind the scenes. And thanks to Bridget and Liza, I'm able to barely keep up. So I taped a show today that will be put out. I'll give you a link whenever we get it. The guy that interviewed me today is Beer in the Parade, who I'm a big fan of.

3:21 Watched him for a long time back in the day when he was on with Kate Awakening and Patel Patriot way back in the day. So I'm not sure when that'll air. However, I did two shows on Saturday, once a radio show, and I will give you the link to that as soon as we have it. Also, there's a guy on X named Alpha Warrior.

3:52 He, immediately after the first spaces we did, week before this one, reached out to me, wanted me on his show. That show is going to be on tonight at 9 o'clock. So I hope y'all watch it. I'd love to have some feedback from you guys, whose opinion I highly respect. So I'm really excited about that one. I did not really know who he was.

4:21 He's a J6er, a totally fascinating story, a cop who basically lost his job because of an over-aggressive FBI BS garbage. So very interesting person, wonderful guy, and we had a great time doing the show. So we also have been asked to come back on Spaces for a third time.

4:49 And I will be doing another radio show this Saturday, probably even another Alpha Warrior show. So we are definitely getting traction on Operation Gladio. And I could not be happier about it. And that's just a testament to all of the hard work and behind the blood for punishment.

5:17 Liza says. I just, I'm thrilled, actually. I think the more people that knows about this, the better. And y'all understand how important it is. So anyway, to the book, we're on chapter 11. This is about, the name of this chapter is called Rescue Colonel Peeper. It's P-E-I-P-E-R. So

5:47 Where we picked up or where we left off. Skorzeny is very active at this point, helping Western intelligence. And remember that he has traveled around coordinating, getting all of his old paratroopers, SS people, all collectively together and reestablishing his network. So one of the,

6:22 main points of contention between Skorzeny and the West as he has began setting up this network, there was a conflict with the incarceration and potential execution of an SS colonel by the name of Gokin Pieper, P-E-I-P-E-R, an infamous tank commander from World War II. Pieper had been...

6:51 had seen combat on both the eastern and western fronts for Hitler. Like Skorzeny, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for gallantry. His unit fought desperately passing through the town of Malmondy, the site where unarmed U.S. soldiers who had surrendered to the Germans were slaughtered.

7:18 In other words, this is a colonel who slaughtered our soldiers on the battlefield. After the war, Pieper was arrested as a top SS officer and placed on trial for the massacre. He denied the accusation but accepted responsibility for his men's action on the battlefield, which he claimed had been honorable. Supporting his claim was Lieutenant Colonel Hal McCowan, who fought against him during the battle and was captured by him.

7:50 He testified that the Nazi SS colonel had conducted himself as a professional soldier, not unlike the UK guy that came to the rescue of Skorzeny. The prosecution could not deliver conclusive evidence that Pieper had ordered his men to kill the unarmed US soldiers, but he was found guilty nonetheless. He and 42 of his crew were sentenced to death by hanging.

8:19 On July 16, 1946, the sentences were controversial in language of complaints for the unjust trial procedures resulted in most of the sentences being changed to life imprisonment, among 12 of them remained in effect.

8:43 So 12 are sentenced to death by hanging. The rest of them have their sentences converted to life imprisonment. And several of the books that we've read has told us that many of the people for the initial media, during the trial, at the trial, they were sentenced to death. But behind the scenes, the large majority of those were changed to life imprisonment. And as soon as the eyes were off,

9:14 And the televisions got diverted to different topics. Many of those life imprisonments were commuted with the new West German government because, hello, they've got General Galen as their chief of intel and a whole bunch of other Nazis throughout the entire government. They're not going to let a bunch of their guys die on their watch. So they ended up being commuted to time served. So Nuenberg was a joke. So U.S. attorney.

9:48 Lieutenant Colonel Willis Everett made claims that the proceedings had amounted to a mock trial and cited several illegal procedures. Everett appealed his findings to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, Kenneth Royal, Secretary of the Army, established a commission to investigate the trial. Selected to head the commission was Judge Gordon Simpson. And guess where Gordon Simpson's from?

10:17 Of all the places in the United States you could pick a judge from, he's from Dallas, Texas. You know, the same place where the attorneys were that got Skorzeny off? Yeah, that same Dallas where the story ends up with the JFK murder. Simpson had served as a lawyer during the war and was considered an expert on war crime trials. The Simpson Commission, as it is known,

10:44 arrived in Europe on July 30, 1948, two days after Skorzeny's escape from Camp David. Simpson's final report, which came out in September 1948, so a few months later, was critical of the trial proceedings and recommended that the 12 remaining death sentences be commuted to life imprisonment as well. General Lucius Clay then commuted six more death sentences to life imprisonment.

11:19 but refused to commute six others, including Pipers, although the remaining sentences were delayed. In the States, the U.S. Senate also conducted a separate investigation of its own, propelling Joseph McCarthy into the public limelight and launching his infamous career. The progression of events was watched closely by Skorzeny and other German officers. For Skorzeny, the matter was one of honor. Skorzeny knew...

11:48 Pieper from the war and his men fought on the same side at the Battle of the Bulge. Skorzeny, too, had been accused briefly of participating in those same massacre, but the charges had been dropped for lack of evidence. So another German, Heinz Guterian, along with Skorzeny, actively campaigned to get Pieper released.

12:23 In 1951, Guderian wrote to one of the former officers about an appeal he had sent to John McCloy, the High Commissioner of Germany. At the moment, I'm negotiating with General Handy Heidelberg because he wants to hang Colonel Pieper. McCloy was powerless because the...

12:53 trial was being handled by UCOM and not the subordinate civilians of which McCoy was in charge of. So he decided to cable President Truman and ask him if he wouldn't intervene. The paper issue was one of deadly resolve for Skorzeny, and he used the news media to broadcast a warning to his clandestine partners in the CIA. In 1951, a CIA internal

13:21 A memo concerning a news report on Skorzeny coming out of Argentina was sent to the chief of the contact division, whose identity was redacted, to a Mr. Chauncey Stillman, who was located at the headquarters at the old CIA complex. The contact division chief started the memo by saying his division had acquired certain information which may be of interest to your office.

13:58 Here the writer verifies he knows that the information on Skorzeny would be of interest to Harvey's staff, or at least somehow associated with it. As we know, that was exactly the case at the time. Skorzeny was working with the Office of Planning and Coordination in the CIA, which is where this is going, through the various cutouts such as the Galen Organization, the World Commerce Corporation, and the French Intel.

14:27 So basically, they want plausible deniability, but this cable proves that Skorzeny was working for this DIA. It's like the smoking gun. The second and third paragraph contain information on Skorzeny that he had given to the Argentine press. Quote, some rather disturbing opinions, unquote. The report went on to say that Skorzeny had delivered a warning to the Western allies that if Colonel Pieper was executed, quote,

14:57 We will never lift a finger again, nor open our lips. If Pieper dies, the Americans can be certain we will not collaborate for an instant. Unquote. Stillman's full name was Chauncey Devereaux Stillman, an heir to the banking fortune. He was born in 1907 in New York. He died in 1989.

15:28 During World War II, he served as a U.S. Navy Air intel officer on the USS Enterprise. After the war, he served as a staff officer for the National Security Council and also served as a CIA agent. Virtually nothing is known of his CIA service, however. A newspaper article dated 1952 said, quote, he had been in the CIA, unquote. To Harvey, this may have been old news.

15:57 Pieper's death warrant had been commuted to a life sentence in January 1951, but the issue of Pieper was not taken lightly. And in fact, Pieper still languished in prison. The fact that he was still in prison was enough to irritate Skorzeny. If details are correct, Skorzeny was even involved in attempting to rescue Pieper from the prison that he was currently being held in.

16:26 The rescue was written about by historian Danny Parker, who penned an authoritative biography on Pieper. As the story goes, in late September 1951, Pieper's wife arranged to see her husband, and during the visit, she passed him information on Skorzeny's plan to rescue him. The Polish guards watching Pieper liked to drink. The plan was to drug the guards with a chemical.

16:55 that would make them sleep for hours. The plotters had a contact inside a hospital where Pieper was being held for medical treatment. With the guards incapacitated, the inside contact would whisk him out a window into a waiting vehicle to get away. Pieper was then to be taken to the Swiss border and would be turned over to Skorzeny. He would then vanish forever. The plan was conveyed.

17:22 to Pieper by his wife during the hospital visit, but Pieper objected, stating he would not leave. As long as one man in my command is still in prison, he wasn't going anywhere. So, within months of receiving the memo concerning Skorzeny's threat to end the assistance in the West, a series of events began to occur that would be difficult to comprehend without knowledge of Skorzeny's deep involvement with the CIA and the U.S. military.

17:51 In the 1950s, importantly, Jockin Peeper's status, while not resolved and to ease, and by 1954, he would be set free, just like I told you. It was also during this two-year period from 52 to 54 when Skorzeny would establish a new curious business connection, which extended to Dallas, Texas. Why did President Kennedy die in Dallas, Texas?

18:23 Scorzini business papers hold the answer, and it started in 1952, 11 years before any of those involved with Scorzini knew that actions would set the stage for the final act in President Kennedy's life. On September 10, 1952, the Dallas Morning News announced that the Spanish government had granted permits for several Dallas oilmen to begin oil exploration.

18:53 exploration in their country. The permits were granted under the authority of the National Institute of Industry, INI, headed by Juan Antonio Suarez, who handled the Spanish government's coordination with that company that we talked about, Sopendez, during World War II. So that's a huge big red flag for everybody because Sopendez

19:25 was basically what we would now call a CIA front company. So the same guy that's in charge of that is going to be in charge of the Dallas oil exploration that's coming to Spain. Oddly, Spain had done very little to explore potential oil reserves. The country was not considered a viable area for oil discovery at all. The timing of the enterprise is also interesting since the U.S. military

19:56 was just beginning negotiations with Spain to build bases around the country for NATO. Didn't get interesting. A large private oil operation could serve as an excellent front company, just like they've been using steel companies as front companies. In fact, this exact cover was used by the OSS in Spain during World War II. Imagine that. It allows for heavy equipment to be brought in.

20:34 for construction of underground facilities and tunnels. Huh. This type of large-scale industrial cover would not be without precedent. For example, in 1974, the CIA sent a large geological survey ship called the Hughes-Blowmore Explorer to the Pacific Ocean under the guise of private industry. The ship was reported to be exploring a seabed for minerals.

21:05 but in reality, it was a mission to recover a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine. Otto Skorzeny was also directly involved in the Spanish oil venture. This is established in Skorzeny's papers that confirm Hamler Flott, who was Hitler's banker, was handling the financial aspects of this venture and was on hand to greet the visiting door.

21:39 Dallas oil executives when they arrived. So, you know, this is getting to look an awful lot like Germany didn't actually lose the war because all of the same players are all hanging around. They're just all inside the CIA now. This was towards the end of September 1952. It is not known who coordinated his involvement.

22:10 on the American side. The idea for drilling in Spain was an initiative of a company called Degoyler, D-E-G-O-L-Y-E-R, and MacNaughton, M-A-C-N-A-U-G-H-T-O-N. Very interesting. They were a famous Dallas geological firm. Early in the summer of 1952, several Dallas

22:40 formed a syndicate to go to Madrid and begin operation. Other members of the syndicate included John Murrell, M-U-R-R-E-L-L, William Felder, F-E-L-D-E-R, a guy by the last name of Andrea, A-N-D-R-A-D-E, and J.E. Fogelson,

23:15 and Texas Instrument. Other companies involved were Geophysical Services, Inc. of Dallas, Delta Drilling of Tyler, Texas. Delta Drilling was ran by Joe Zeppa, Z-E-P-P-A, who also was slated to do the actual drilling in Spain. So as Skorzeny's financial banking partner,

23:50 Hitler's banker, not only informed Skorzeny of the Dallas oil executive visits, but he invited him to attend the very first meeting. This is confirmed by correspondence with Elsie for the last week of September 1952. He also attended a dinner afterwards with the Dallas oil executives, which included Alger Meadows and Judge Gordon Simpson.

24:19 the President and Vice President of General American Oil Company. Judge Simpson, you will recall, was the former head of the Simpson Commission that investigated Colonel Pieper's trial proceedings. One must wonder if it could possibly be a coincidence. At the time, Colonel Pieper was still being held in the...

24:43 military prison, Judge Simpson's contact with Skorzeny is also highly significant for other reasons, including the fact that there were several others involved in the venture who had also served at the Nuremberg trials and had interacted closely with the CIA War Department detachment that were all involved in Skorzeny's release. So a third man who was deeply involved with the Meadows oil deal was Colonel Jack

25:14 Crichton, C-R-I-C-H-T-O-N. He was vice president of that de Goyler and McNalton company. The colonel, too, was a veteran OSS officer from the European theater during World War II. He remained in the U.S. Army Reserve after the war and by 1956 had organized a U.S. Army detachment

25:44 doing intel work in Dallas for the 488th Military Intelligence Detachment. The 488th was tasked with strategic analysis, but by virtue of the colonel's ties to Skorzeny through the Spanish oil venture, it opens up the possibility that the colonel's unit was somehow connected to the Skorzeny stay-behind network. Wouldn't that be interesting? Certainly.

26:15 The colonel had a communication channel to Skorzeny via the General American Oil Company because it's basically acting as a front company. Oh, look, Spain. So Skorzeny's meeting with Meadows Oil Group in the fall of 1952 would result in a long partnership between him and American General Oil Company that stretched from 1952 to 1963. Oh, look at that.

26:51 Right when they don't need it anymore because JFK is dead. Clearly, the Texas oil connection to Skorzeny mentioned above are extremely important given the profile of its participants and the fact that Skorzeny was connected to the CIA power organizations. Add to this the earlier facts of Skorzeny's business connections to Johannes Bernhardt, Victor Oswald, and others involved in...

27:23 and the World Commerce Corporation. And the evidence becomes overwhelming. What has emerged is a clandestine network dedicated to covert action, including assassination. The timing of the oil venture is also important. General Eisenhower retired from the military service in 1952. This was just before the oil venture. Eisenhower's previous post had been a stream.

27:51 supreme commander of NATO. Oh, not the NATO that runs all of the Gladio units. What? And as such, would have approved all major covert operations in Europe. So Eisenhower, NATO commander, Eisenhower president during setting up all of the Gladio units. So the NATO officer in charge of top secret logistical matters.

28:27 at the time, was also a Dallas native, Paul Rogorodinsky. I'm going to spell this one for you. R-A-I-G-O-R-O-D-S-K-Y, who was selected as a special representative to Europe for oil production. What? In future years, he would be closely associated with a saga

29:01 of Lee Harvey Oswald. That's crazy. So this guy was handpicked for the NATO position by another Dallas oilman, Fred Anderson, who had held high-level strategic oil positions within the U.S. government. The bottom line is General Eisenhower was likely aware of the inclusion of Otto Skorzeny's Spain oil project. Well, of course he was.

29:34 Eisenhower was elected to the presidency in 1952 and assumed the office in 53. He immediately stepped up covert action and, according to historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., turned the CIA into a private presidential army. Bet you didn't know that. Chapter 12, The Attachés. One of Skorzeny's first contacts.

30:02 Upon his arrival in Spain in 1950, was an innkeeper from Dublin, Ireland named Philip Mooney. Skorzeny remained in contact for years afterwards with Mooney. Mooney subsequently introduces Skorzeny to another Irishman by the name of William Haynes. Like Skorzeny, Haynes, excuse me, H-Y-N-E-S, was an engineer.

30:32 During World War II, Skorzeny had two Irishmen in his command, James Brady and Frank Stringer. Both men survived the war, then all but disappeared from history in 1951, which basically means they were working for Skorzeny, most likely. The author was unable to make a connection between Skorzeny and his Irish friends in Madrid in 1951, and either Brady or Stringer. Later,

31:01 The Irish engineer, Hines, would introduce Skorzeny to an American, Edgar Smith, of Bristol, Pennsylvania. Smith was also an engineer who had evidently met Hines in Madrid's social circles. Skorzeny had introduced Edward Smith to Elsie, whom Smith would later recall as intelligent, charming, and attractive. Smith had been told by Elsie that she lived in

31:32 England for a number of years before the war. For this reason, he suspected Elsie may have worked for the German intelligence prior to the conflict. Otto had some inside joke with her concerning her membership in the Hitler Youth Movement, according to this guy. Smith soon introduced Skorzeny to Rolf Steinbauer. Oh, I'm sorry. Smith introduced Skorzeny as Rolf

32:05 because that's his alias in Spain, to a young American army officer named Captain Jerry Whittington. This seemingly simple introduction in the fall of 1950 would actually be the beginning of a longstanding CIA contact cover program with Skorzeny using military attaches in the American embassy at Madrid.

32:34 This system would remain in place until Skorzeny's death in 1975. So basically, they are running the military attaches at the Spain embassy as a go-between for the Nazi war criminal Otto Skorzeny and the CIA. Captain Whittington had just completed a tour at the U.S.

33:05 U.S. 11th Airborne Division in Japan before arriving in Madrid for a 10-month tour of duty. His assignment to Spain was actually a prerequisite for the follow-on duty to the language department at West Point. Whittington was accompanied by his wife and two-year-old daughter. When the family arrived in Madrid, there was no U.S. embassy, only a consulate.

33:35 So the guy that's writing this book, the retired major, he actually met Captain Whittington in 2012 and interviewed him. Whittington retired as a colonel and was living in Florida at the time. So over a two-year period of traveling back and forth, because I think this guy's from North Carolina, he got to know the retired colonel very well and had many conversations with him about him, about Skorzeny.

34:09 And the fact that the guy was used as a CIA runner. Captain Whittington arrived in Spain, which nearly coincided with Skorzeny's own arrival. Europe was in an economic recovery from the war. Like most Americans in Madrid, the Whittington family had to live in the city where they immediately set about finding housing. Because again, there was no military bases at the time. Those were just starting to be built.

34:38 And keep in mind, Spain at the time is still a fascist government. It's ran by Franco. Food and other commodities were scarce, but Americans seemed to fare fairly well. Captain Winnington's specific mission was to gain expertise in the Spanish language. But for administrative purposes, he reported directly to the senior army attache at the consulate.

35:07 At the time, there was only a very small contingent of U.S. military personnel, mostly attachés and no permanent U.S. bases in the area. When Smith introduced Otto and Elsie Skorzeny to Whittington during an evening dinner party, he introduced them as Rolf and Elsie Steinbauer. Otto and Jerry would both find a love of scotch and ladies seemed to have

35:37 many mutual interests as well. Whittington was under the impression when they first met that Elsie was Skorzeny's wife, but then realized she was his girlfriend. They eventually got married in 1954 after her divorce was finalized from the guy that she got married to in Austria. The initial meeting between Whittington and, I'm just going to say it, Skorzeny and Elsie, he uses his alias.

36:05 was soon followed by another evening together. After a week, an unusual event occurred. While visiting the Winnington's apartment, Elsie asked Peggy, does the American embassy object to you knowing us? The question caused Peggy Winnington to pause, and she seemed confused. She then told Elsie she did not understand the question. Well,

36:30 It's about Rolf. He is actually Otto Skorzeny, a hero of Germany, and during the war, he was Hitler's commander of special troops. Peggy was caught totally by surprise and said, no, we did not know that. Not that anyone else even hinted at the true identity. Elsie, too, was shocked that they didn't know. Of course, the new information became the immediate subject of conversations with Jerry.

37:01 When Jerry returned home later the evening from work, Jerry, too, was surprised. He had heard of the great German commando Otto Skorzeny, but he had not made the connection. Skorzeny had told him that he had been a German soldier during the war and that he had seen hard fighting. Madrid, just like Paris, was a hotbed of foreign espionage.

37:27 Soviet agents were a real threat, and some of the Russian spies were former German soldiers who had been recruited after the war by the KGB. Obviously, Whittington knew that his contact with Skorzeny was something that he had to report, and he was wondering if he was going to get in trouble. Then he asked to speak to the senior military attache, who happened to be Colonel William Shipp.

37:59 The colonel was quite interested in the new development. Scorzini, the colonel exclaimed, the SS commando? Whittington acknowledged that is exactly who he was talking about, and he asked if he should continue seeing him. The colonel said, well, no, end the friendship at once and stay clear of him, and that's an order. Although Whittington was relieved that he was not in trouble, he was nonetheless a little upset.

38:29 that he was going to have to tell Peggy they're going to have to end their friendship. Are you kidding me? But things quickly changed. Immediately after Washington or Whittington left, the colonel went directly to the CIA's office at the consulate to deliver the news. The CIA section chief was Al Umer, U-L-M-E-R, the former station chief in Austria where Skorzeny

38:57 had been released by U.S. Intel. So Ulmer is fully aware of Wisner's OPC. Hold on, let me turn that off. So we know that the CIA knows all about this. So the CIA basically tells him, no, no, it's fine. You need to keep that up.

39:32 It was almost like they were running a test on the captain to see whether he was going to be trustworthy enough to be able to run him as the liaison with Skorzeny and make sure that he's trustworthy enough for the spy. So he comes back and basically gets a talking to by the CIA.

40:08 He basically congratulated the young captain on finding Skorzeny like he didn't know he was there. And then he told the young captain that the CIA headquarters wanted him to keep tabs on Skorzeny like he's going to be the spy when that's all just a joke. Whittington would also recall that even though he was ordered to be Skorzeny's friend, he never felt like he was spying on him. In fact, the two got along.

40:40 quite well. Jerry informed Skorzeny that he had been told by his chain of command about their friendship. And of course, without mentioning the discussions with the CIA, he explained that there were no issues and that the couple could be friends. Whittington later confided to the author that these gifts, so ends up Skorzeny, they exchanged gifts throughout their friendship. He's there for about a year.

41:12 And basically, Whittington discloses to the author that many of the gifts that he was supposedly giving to the CIA and other people on the staff actually had printed messages in them. In describing Skorzeny, Whittington would recall that he always dressed a little more formally than everybody else. And he goes on with some other details. It's not necessarily all that big of a deal.

41:49 So Whittington maintains this friendship, like we said, throughout the entire time. They have some really crazy experiences. Whittington made regular visits to report on Skorzeny, as instructed by the CIA, and to pick up Skorzeny's cigarettes and scotch for him. Whittington's reporting was whether any of the operations

42:20 had been compromised. So basically, he's kind of like a second conduit to kind of keep a check on Skorzeny. It became apparent to Whittington that Skorzeny sincerely believed a showdown with the Soviets were coming soon. But of course, I mean, he's a spy. That's what he does. Skorzeny had told Whittington about his plans to counter this Soviet threat, basically.

42:49 As we all know, that's the justification for him building this stay-behind units. Whittington talks about several of his business meetings he had there and that he had opened an industrial engineering office, which is going to come in handy for him in a minute. So Skorzeny becomes friends with the chief of police in Madrid and gets to know a...

43:24 guy that owns a restaurant in Madrid. So this restaurant is called Horchers, H-O-R-C-H-E-R. And that is used, well, it was used very frequently by the elite Nazi people when they were in Madrid. Both Himmler and Goring used to go there all the time.

43:58 supposedly the entire place had microphones embedded in the booths and stuff like that so they could keep tabs on all of the major businessmen in Madrid. And with the help of Walter Schnellenberg, former SS chief of the RSHA,

44:24 That guy used to be Skorzeny's immediate supervisor when he was doing the German stay behind program and special operations. So it maintained its, this restaurant did, its status as an official meeting place for people. So there was this constant traffic between Argentina and Madrid.

44:54 And remember, the rat lines came through Spain and to Argentina. So Spain becomes like the major hub of these spies. So Liza is telling me that the restaurant is still open. That's very interesting. Whittington reported that there was no indication that Skorzeny was a member of any organized intelligence group.

45:26 Wonder how dumb that guy feels now. No, no, he's fine now. He's just running all these gladio operations, going around murdering everybody. No signs of intelligence whatsoever. The CIA arranged for his role as a contact to Skorzeny to be taken over by a U.S. Air Force attache by the name of Major...

45:56 Beek, B-I-E-C-K, sorry. So that guy's years up. We got an Air Force major coming in. He basically takes over. And the guy that was running the CIA detachment there, Al Umer, he's replaced by a guy by the name of Alfonso Rodriguez.

46:24 There's also a second guy, Edward Barber, who was a former Army general and OSS officer that joins the CIA and is also stationed at the consulate in Madrid. So you've got the major, the former general slash CIA officer, and then the chief CIA officer, Alfonso Rodriguez. All of them now.

46:56 It was at this time that the U.S. Air Force intelligence at the Pentagon was also informed by the CIA of the secret operation involving Skorzeny and the utilization of one of their officers, Major Beek. Actually, from this point forward, the CIA cover program on Skorzeny would remain under U.S. Air Force cover, perhaps a significant point.

47:21 is Frank Wisner's OPC, which had been the point of contact prior to Skorzeny's arrival in Spain, was also under Air Force cover. Imagine that. So, in 1956, when Captain Winnington, let's see, Captain Winnington departed Spain in 51, but that's not the last time he saw Skorzeny.

47:57 He returned to Europe with his wife for an assignment as a general's aide in Germany. While there, he phoned Otto and Spain and arranged for the couple to meet at a German hotel. Otto and Elsie made the trip over, and the four of them had a wonderful evening dinner. Skorzeny patted Peggy on the leg and laughed about good times.

48:27 Skorzeny informed Whittington that he was trying hard to get work, but without much success and that he was currently working on an airstrip. So basically what that meant was when they started building all of those bases over in Spain, a lot of that money is going to be funneled through Skorzeny's front companies in Spain.

48:57 And that makes you wonder about all of these contracts that go into all of the military bases overseas and why we still have all of those military bases overseas. Is that a big siphoned off pot of money that is being used for Operation Gladio 2? Is that yet not another funnel of money that just flows all the time?

49:30 There's some more conversation there about that, but it's a lot of details we don't necessarily need. So now there's the guy that was in charge of the Air Force Intel that supposedly was the front cover for this Major Beek's assignment to replace Whittington was Major General Charles Cabell, C-A-B-E-L-L. So he comes to visit Madrid.

50:07 And guess where Cabell is from? He's from Texas. His brother Earl Cabell became the mayor of Dallas in 1961. Huh. So he was the Dallas mayor running all the cops. You know, like the cop that escorted the OAS officer to the Gladio guy that was in town.

50:41 On the day of the assassination. And a police officer. Escorted him to the border. They would have all worked. For this guy here. Who's running Skorzeny. The chief of staff. Of the Air Force for Intel. Major General Cabell. From a Texas. Huh. That's crazy. So Major General Cabell. Had arrived in Madrid. Over secret orders to discuss.

51:14 with Al Rodriguez, the new CIA station chief, the use of Major Beck in an approach to Skorzeny for assistance in locating Nazi scientists deemed vital to the U.S. rocket and missile development. It can be reasonably assumed that the Secretary of the Air Force, Thomas Finletter, authorized General Cabell to use Otto Skorzeny for the Air Force.

51:41 The authorization of these two men concerning the early clandestine use of Otto Skorzeny is very important factor. Skorzeny's involvement in covert missions for the U.S. Air Force and government in particular. And of course, it highlights the network of another Dallas connection to Skorzeny and JFK murder.

52:08 The CIA and Air Force in finding German scientists was actually part of a program widely known as Operation Paperclip. It was originally started with the code name Overcast immediately after the war to safeguard scientific and military technology experts and prevent their acquisition by the Soviet Union. The early Overcast missions were carried out by the OSS and special military teams.

52:36 Also, a project called Joint Intelligence Objective Agency, JIOA, was involved in Operation Paperclip. As the senior U.S. Air Force intel officer, Major General Cabell was a key officer within JIOA. Over the course of many years,

53:00 That organization recruited several thousand former Nazi scientists and secretly brought them to the U.S. to work on top-secret research in various scientific fields. The most famous personality of that paperclip project was Hitler's former rocket scientist, von Braun.

53:21 An interesting fact is that von Braun had held the rank of major in the SS. After the war, he was brought to the United States where he was placed in charge of the U.S. missile development. Ultimately, he would lead the U.S. space program, which put the Apollo spacecraft on the moon, if you believe that happened. Much has been written about Operation Paperclip, but revealed here for the first time is the fact that Skorzeny assisted in the program.

53:51 The CIA knew Skorzeny had very valuable contacts in the former Nazi underground network that might be particularly useful in finding two key ballistic specialists, Dr. Gunter Voss, V-O-S-S, and Dr. Heinrich Klein, K-L-E-I-N. Immediately after Major General Kabel's departure, Major V.

54:18 was called to the CIA office where Al Rodriguez and Ed Barber tasked him to approach Skorzeny to see if he was willing to help find the two scientists. Within days, he had carried out his instructions, approached Skorzeny, and made an informed but confidential manner one evening while he and his wife were over at the apartment for cocktails. He basically explains what they wanted.

54:48 and ask if they would be amenable to working on the U.S. missile program under von Braun at Fort Bliss, Texas. Texas has a much bigger presence in all of this than I think any of us realize. So, Skorzeny and Elsie decided to meet with Beak and his wife in Bavaria while on vacation.

55:20 By chance, Skorzeny had mentioned to Beak that he and Elsie were going to the area and would be staying at a place just south of Munich. A few days later, the two couples meet at a huge guest house where Skorzeny and Elsie were staying. Beak and Mary Jean entered the restaurant where they found Skorzeny holding court. He recalled,

55:49 Soon, various men would approach the table, advance to within a few feet, stand at rigid attention, arms down, hands pressed to their thighs and exclaim, Colonel, sir, I am so and so. After identifying themselves, each man gave his rank and where he had served with Skorzeny. At least 25 men, former SS, came in in such a manner during the time that they were there. Skorzeny.

56:18 Was he really on vacation or was he recruiting? Ongoing at this very moment and in the very same area of the Alps was a highly classified war preparations mentioned earlier being carried out by Frank Wisner's OPC. Under the code name Pilgrim Baker and Pilgrim Dog.

56:45 The French and Americans were working to create an Austrian guerrilla force to defend the Alpine fortress from a Soviet invasion. Or were they just setting up Gladio units? The operation involved the secret stockpiling, oh my gosh, look at that, of weapons and training a guerrilla force. It is likely that Skorzeny was in the area recruiting and training officers and advising the OPC for...

57:16 Gladio. Skorzeny was located. Skorzeny had located Voss and Klein. Skorzeny visited the scientists and explained the situation. They immediately agreed to help the Americans. So, working through his CIA contacts, this Air Force major arranged for the two men and their families to be secretly flown to the United States. Amazingly, by finding scientists for Warner

57:46 Von Braun, Otto Skorzeny, the man who rescued Benito Mussolini for Hitler, had played a small but not insignificant role in getting the United States to the moon. Yeah, he got us somewhere, that's for sure. All right, so we're on chapter 13 now. We've been at it for about an hour, so we're going to stop here. We will resume on chapter 13.

58:16 On Thursday night. And I apologize profusely. For not reminding everybody. That I was going to be taking the night off on Sunday. Because of the Super Bowl. Tara reminded me. That I should have definitely done that. And it was very inconsiderate of me not to do that. So thank you for bearing with me. Not that that game was any good. It wasn't. It sucked. But be that as it may.

58:47 That's where we're going to leave off tonight. And remember, if you guys want to watch the Alpha Warrior podcast, it'll be on at nine o'clock tonight. Appreciate y'all all being here. And we will see you on Thursday. Please, if you're not following, join us. Oh my gosh, I just noticed that. We're over 700, y'all. Party! Yay, awesome.

59:18 The little things in life. So give us a thumbs up. That does help us a lot. And if you've not already clicked the follow button, please do that. I appreciate it. And we're moving on. So I will see you Thursday night.

Entities here

Claims made here

Otto Skorzeny recruited Jochen Peiper book_quoted ▶ 5:47

“Where we picked up or where we left off. Skorzeny is very active at this point, helping Western intelligence. And remember that he has traveled around coordinating, getting all of his old paratroopers…”

Jochen Peiper carried_out_attack Malay massacre book_quoted ▶ 6:51

“had seen combat on both the eastern and western fronts for Hitler. Like Skorzeny, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for gallantry. His unit fought desperately passing through the tow…”

Hal McCowan spied_on Jochen Peiper book_quoted ▶ 7:18

“In other words, this is a colonel who slaughtered our soldiers on the battlefield. After the war, Pieper was arrested as a top SS officer and placed on trial for the massacre. He denied the accusation…”

Gordon Simpson headed Simpson Commission book_quoted ▶ 9:48

“Lieutenant Colonel Willis Everett made claims that the proceedings had amounted to a mock trial and cited several illegal procedures. Everett appealed his findings to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a resu…”

Kenneth Royal appointed Gordon Simpson book_quoted ▶ 9:48

Lucius Clay pardoned Jochen Peiper book_quoted ▶ 10:44

“arrived in Europe on July 30, 1948, two days after Skorzeny's escape from Camp David. Simpson's final report, which came out in September 1948, so a few months later, was critical of the trial proceed…”

Heinz Guderian did_business_with John J. McCloy book_quoted ▶ 12:23

“In 1951, Guderian wrote to one of the former officers about an appeal he had sent to John McCloy, the High Commissioner of Germany. At the moment, I'm negotiating with General Handy Heidelberg because…”

John J. McCloy did_business_with Harry S. Truman book_quoted ▶ 12:53

“trial was being handled by UCOM and not the subordinate civilians of which McCoy was in charge of. So he decided to cable President Truman and ask him if he wouldn't intervene. The paper issue was one…”

Otto Skorzeny worked_for CIA book_quoted ▶ 14:27

“So basically, they want plausible deniability, but this cable proves that Skorzeny was working for this DIA. It's like the smoking gun. The second and third paragraph contain information on Skorzeny t…”

Chauncey Stillman member_of CIA book_quoted ▶ 15:28

“During World War II, he served as a U.S. Navy Air intel officer on the USS Enterprise. After the war, he served as a staff officer for the National Security Council and also served as a CIA agent. Vir…”

Otto Skorzeny attempted_assassination_of Jochen Peiper book_quoted ▶ 15:57

“Pieper's death warrant had been commuted to a life sentence in January 1951, but the issue of Pieper was not taken lightly. And in fact, Pieper still languished in prison. The fact that he was still i…”

Juan Antonio Suanzes headed National Institute of Health book_quoted ▶ 18:53

“exploration in their country. The permits were granted under the authority of the National Institute of Industry, INI, headed by Juan Antonio Suarez, who handled the Spanish government's coordination …”

Juan Antonio Suanzes did_business_with Sopendez book_quoted ▶ 18:53

Sopendez front_for CIA book_quoted ▶ 19:25

“was basically what we would now call a CIA front company. So the same guy that's in charge of that is going to be in charge of the Dallas oil exploration that's coming to Spain. Oddly, Spain had done …”

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with Hjalmar Schacht book_quoted ▶ 21:05

“but in reality, it was a mission to recover a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine. Otto Skorzeny was also directly involved in the Spanish oil venture. This is established in Skorzeny's papers that confir…”

Gordon Simpson member_of American General Insurance Company book_quoted ▶ 23:50

“Hitler's banker, not only informed Skorzeny of the Dallas oil executive visits, but he invited him to attend the very first meeting. This is confirmed by correspondence with Elsie for the last week of…”

Alger Meadows member_of American General Insurance Company book_quoted ▶ 23:50

Jack Crichton member_of Degolyer and McNamara book_quoted ▶ 24:43

“military prison, Judge Simpson's contact with Skorzeny is also highly significant for other reasons, including the fact that there were several others involved in the venture who had also served at th…”

Jack Crichton member_of 488th Military Intelligence Unit book_quoted ▶ 25:14

“Crichton, C-R-I-C-H-T-O-N. He was vice president of that de Goyler and McNalton company. The colonel, too, was a veteran OSS officer from the European theater during World War II. He remained in the U…”

American General Insurance Company front_for CIA book_quoted ▶ 26:15

“The colonel had a communication channel to Skorzeny via the General American Oil Company because it's basically acting as a front company. Oh, look, Spain. So Skorzeny's meeting with Meadows Oil Group…”

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with American General Insurance Company book_quoted ▶ 26:15

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with Johannes Bernhardt book_quoted ▶ 26:51

“Right when they don't need it anymore because JFK is dead. Clearly, the Texas oil connection to Skorzeny mentioned above are extremely important given the profile of its participants and the fact that…”

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with Victor Oswald book_quoted ▶ 26:51

Dwight D. Eisenhower headed NATO book_quoted ▶ 27:23

“and the World Commerce Corporation. And the evidence becomes overwhelming. What has emerged is a clandestine network dedicated to covert action, including assassination. The timing of the oil venture …”

Paul Raigorodsky member_of NATO book_quoted ▶ 28:27

“at the time, was also a Dallas native, Paul Rogorodinsky. I'm going to spell this one for you. R-A-I-G-O-R-O-D-S-K-Y, who was selected as a special representative to Europe for oil production. What? I…”

Frank Anderson appointed Paul Raigorodsky book_quoted ▶ 29:01

“of Lee Harvey Oswald. That's crazy. So this guy was handpicked for the NATO position by another Dallas oilman, Fred Anderson, who had held high-level strategic oil positions within the U.S. government…”

Philip Mosley did_business_with William Hayter book_quoted ▶ 30:02

“Upon his arrival in Spain in 1950, was an innkeeper from Dublin, Ireland named Philip Mooney. Skorzeny remained in contact for years afterwards with Mooney. Mooney subsequently introduces Skorzeny to …”

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with Philip Mosley book_quoted ▶ 30:02

William Hayter did_business_with Edgar Smith book_quoted ▶ 31:01

“The Irish engineer, Hines, would introduce Skorzeny to an American, Edgar Smith, of Bristol, Pennsylvania. Smith was also an engineer who had evidently met Hines in Madrid's social circles. Skorzeny h…”

Edgar Smith did_business_with Otto Skorzeny book_quoted ▶ 31:32

“England for a number of years before the war. For this reason, he suspected Elsie may have worked for the German intelligence prior to the conflict. Otto had some inside joke with her concerning her m…”

Edgar Smith did_business_with Don Whittington book_quoted ▶ 32:05

“because that's his alias in Spain, to a young American army officer named Captain Jerry Whittington. This seemingly simple introduction in the fall of 1950 would actually be the beginning of a longsta…”

Don Whittington member_of 101st Airborne Division book_quoted ▶ 33:05

“U.S. 11th Airborne Division in Japan before arriving in Madrid for a 10-month tour of duty. His assignment to Spain was actually a prerequisite for the follow-on duty to the language department at Wes…”

Don Whittington worked_for CIA book_quoted ▶ 34:09

“And the fact that the guy was used as a CIA runner. Captain Whittington arrived in Spain, which nearly coincided with Skorzeny's own arrival. Europe was in an economic recovery from the war. Like most…”

Otto Skorzeny married Elsie Skorzeny book_quoted ▶ 35:37

“many mutual interests as well. Whittington was under the impression when they first met that Elsie was Skorzeny's wife, but then realized she was his girlfriend. They eventually got married in 1954 af…”

William Shipp ordered_assassination_of Don Whittington host_asserted ▶ 37:59

“The colonel was quite interested in the new development. Scorzini, the colonel exclaimed, the SS commando? Whittington acknowledged that is exactly who he was talking about, and he asked if he should …”

Don Whittington spied_on Otto Skorzeny host_asserted ▶ 41:49

“So Whittington maintains this friendship, like we said, throughout the entire time. They have some really crazy experiences. Whittington made regular visits to report on Skorzeny, as instructed by the…”

Hermann Goring operated_in Horchers host_asserted ▶ 43:24

“guy that owns a restaurant in Madrid. So this restaurant is called Horchers, H-O-R-C-H-E-R. And that is used, well, it was used very frequently by the elite Nazi people when they were in Madrid. Both …”

Heinrich Himmler operated_in Horchers host_asserted ▶ 43:24

Otto Skorzeny did_business_with Walter Schellenberg host_asserted ▶ 43:58

“supposedly the entire place had microphones embedded in the booths and stuff like that so they could keep tabs on all of the major businessmen in Madrid. And with the help of Walter Schnellenberg, for…”

Frank Wisner headed Office of Policy Coordination host_asserted ▶ 47:21

“is Frank Wisner's OPC, which had been the point of contact prior to Skorzeny's arrival in Spain, was also under Air Force cover. Imagine that. So, in 1956, when Captain Winnington, let's see, Captain …”

Thomas Finletter authorized Charles Cabell host_asserted ▶ 51:14

“with Al Rodriguez, the new CIA station chief, the use of Major Beck in an approach to Skorzeny for assistance in locating Nazi scientists deemed vital to the U.S. rocket and missile development. It ca…”

Charles Cabell recruited Otto Skorzeny host_asserted ▶ 51:14

Charles Cabell member_of Joint Intelligence Objective Agency host_asserted ▶ 52:36

“Also, a project called Joint Intelligence Objective Agency, JIOA, was involved in Operation Paperclip. As the senior U.S. Air Force intel officer, Major General Cabell was a key officer within JIOA. O…”

Joint Intelligence Objective Agency recruited Wernher von Braun host_asserted ▶ 53:00

“That organization recruited several thousand former Nazi scientists and secretly brought them to the U.S. to work on top-secret research in various scientific fields. The most famous personality of th…”

Edward Barber recruited Major Beek host_asserted ▶ 54:18

“was called to the CIA office where Al Rodriguez and Ed Barber tasked him to approach Skorzeny to see if he was willing to help find the two scientists. Within days, he had carried out his instructions…”

Alfonso Rodriguez recruited Major Beek host_asserted ▶ 54:18

Major Beek recruited Otto Skorzeny host_asserted ▶ 54:18

Office of Policy Coordination funded Pilgrim Baker host_asserted ▶ 56:18

“Was he really on vacation or was he recruiting? Ongoing at this very moment and in the very same area of the Alps was a highly classified war preparations mentioned earlier being carried out by Frank …”

Office of Policy Coordination funded Pilgrim Dog host_asserted ▶ 56:18

Otto Skorzeny trained Office of Policy Coordination speculative ▶ 56:45

“The French and Americans were working to create an Austrian guerrilla force to defend the Alpine fortress from a Soviet invasion. Or were they just setting up Gladio units? The operation involved the …”

Otto Skorzeny recruited Gunter Voss host_asserted ▶ 57:16

“Gladio. Skorzeny was located. Skorzeny had located Voss and Klein. Skorzeny visited the scientists and explained the situation. They immediately agreed to help the Americans. So, working through his C…”

Otto Skorzeny recruited Heinrich Klein host_asserted ▶ 57:16

Otto Skorzeny carried_out_attack Rescue of Benito Mussolini host_asserted ▶ 57:46

“Von Braun, Otto Skorzeny, the man who rescued Benito Mussolini for Hitler, had played a small but not insignificant role in getting the United States to the moon. Yeah, he got us somewhere, that's for…”