Last Exit for Reality

THE ISLAND OF CULEBRA

2010-05-27T19:35:00.006-05:00

This past week I had a few people stay with us from up North. They picked a great week to be on this barrier Island, lots of sun and no "oil". We went out to dinner, went fishing and, of course, had lots to drink. I was sorry to see them leave, we had the best of times.

I remember back in the sixties when I had some friends stay with me. Most them also worked for the government in one way or another. Then I got a call from my boss. The party was over and I was to be at Homestead Air Force base in the morning. Two of the guests also got the call so we packed that night and were on our way to the base early morning.

It seemed that no one knew where we were going and what our mission was. We took off in a sea plane and headed south. After about 2 1/2 hours of flying low over the ocean we landed on a small island near Puerto Rico called Culebra. The island is about 7 mile long and 4 miles wide and somewhat close to St. Thomas. While we were landing we were told a small data machine was stolen from a Navy base and was heading towards Cuba.

We searched the island and found nothing. By mid day we were headed towards Roosevelt Roads Naval Base, Puerto Rico. We traveled by van to the south side of the island to a town called Ponce. In the morning we were meet by a group of men and women from the base. The three of us split up and headed south on a dirt road ( Calle Salud) that seemed to go for hours. We all arrived in a village near the ocean called Playa Ponce. We came by jeep and the Navy sent boats to the village.

This ended good for a change, we caught the three men. No one was shot or injured and the data machine was found in good condition. That night the three of us caught a plane from the naval base back to Homestead. One agent (Ranger Bob) left for Texas. That later turned out to be my next assignment location.

DATA PROCESSING MATERIALS MISSING

2010-03-25T15:32:00.005-05:00

It was late in 1968 when I got a call about a theft of data processing materials at a Tampa military facility. We were told that they were heading down US441 in a white van and it was last seen at 60 mile bend.

There are lots of dirt roads coming off 441 but this is the only paved road that will bring you into Miami. US 441 changes names to the Tamiami Trail when it gets to Krome Avenue near the Krome Detention Center. We had agents heading south down US441 from Tampa. We headed north and stopped at the Tamiami Range just west of the detention center. The time it takes from Tampa to where we were was about 31/2 hours so we waited. It was over 4 hours and nobody showed. They did send up a helicopter but it had to turn around due to mechanical problems. So we had no eyes in the sky and no van.

We headed west on US441 looking for the van. After an hour and a half we reached 60 mile bend. So we split up. Two cars of agents stayed there and we headed back to Miami looking for dirt roads they might have turn on. We found nothing so we called it a day hoping the agents from Tampa were having some luck.

We were just pulling into the detention center when we got a call that they might have found the van just off the highway about 40 minutes north of us. When we drove up some of the agents were looking at the sawgrass along the road and one agent was in the water. Looking closely you could see the top of the van just sticking out of the water.The agent that went into the water said that there was no one inside but it looked like an airboat might have picked them up.

We called for another helicopter to help since we had no idea which way they went or even if they had used a airboat to elude us. It was getting dark so we decided to wait until light to continue the search. At first light the van was removed from the water. It turns out the van has been there for at least one or two months and was not the van we were looking for. The helicopter found nothing and found no other airboat tracks. We were at a dead end and we would have to wait till they were spotted again.

Two days later the Highway Patrol tried to stop a white van heading north on I75 near the Georgia Florida line. The van would not stop so the chase was on till the van lost control and crashed. The van left the interstate only to rear end a propane truck in a rest area and both went up in flames. They found the remains of three men in the van and the burned data processing materials.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

2010-02-26T22:24:00.000-06:00

Its now February 26 and what I thought would be easy turns out not that way at all. I'm now almost finished taking the pain medication but its been a long hard road. I still have some pain so I try to only take one every other day to help get through the pain.

My wife asked me the other day about a case I was working on back when we first got married. I have kept a log about the cases I have worked on or was involved with.

There was a case that took place in the late 80's where I was involved in the beginning but I was not there when it ended. The call came on a Friday afternoon that a truck from a base in Georgia had been hijacked. The two occupants, a drive and a passenger, both were hurt when the truck was taken.

I was told to meet other Agents just north of Atlanta to find the people who had hijacked the truck. I flew into Atlanta where I was meet by Agent Gary and two other Agents. We boarded a helicopter and flew to a small landing strip just outside of Cartersville.

Upon landing we were greeted by two men from the military and two FBI Agents. What ever was in that truck was very important to have this many agencies involved. We all got into cars and drove to a little town just off interstate 75 call Oakland Hts.

We were meet by the Sheriff and some of his men. The sheriff had found the truck near a rock pit. It was empty. When the Sheriff saw all that was involved, he started asking a lot of questions. No answers were forthcoming from us. In fact, he was put out of the loop altogether which he did not like at all.

We left the Sheriff and his town and traveled North on highway 441 until we reached a town call
Rydal. Agent Gary and I were told to stay there in case the perpetrators doubled back.

The other agents went back to Oakland Hgts. and caught a helicopter to Calhoun were they had been sighted. We stayed in that town for two more days waiting until we were ordered home. Two FBI guys had caught the perps and recovered three boxes of something that was not to be opened. So much for this case.

ARE WE ABUSING THE USE OF DRUGS?

2010-01-14T16:39:00.000-06:00

It's now January 11, 2010 and I've been clean from Oxy drugs for four days. The days are OK but the nights are another thing. The only way I can get to sleep at night and beat the withdrawal is to take Valium and wash it down with shots of Tequila. I hope this process doesn't last very long.

The year was early 1990 and I was on vacation with my wife on a boat going south through the islands. That's when I received a call that a CIA agent had been kidnapped. A military brief case was also taken. He had been inside a Tampa base on the west coast of Florida. The word was that they were on their way to the island of St. John. Since I was on my way to St. Thomas, which is the next island over from St. John, I was ordered to help.

My wife and I arrived in St. Thomas on a Monday morning. I was told that the CIA agent being held would arrive on St. John Wednesday by sea plane. I've been to St. John many times looking for and capturing killers and thieves so I knew the area pretty well.

I met six other agents at the docks in St. Thomas early Wednesday and we headed out towards the other island. We had a lead that they going to land on the west side of the island facing St. Thomas. Three of us went to that side of the island to waited while the other three split off and went to the south end of the island.

The sea plane landed just off the docks where we were. We watched the men be picked up by a large boat with more men and a few women on board.

I was watching the boat when I noticed that one of our agents, Tom, didn't look well. He was leaning against the wall. I moved over to him and asked him what was wrong. He told me he had cut his leg a few days ago and had taken some pain pills for the pain. Problem was he couldn't remember how many he had taken and when. This was not good news. He was not thinking clearly and the boat was coming in to land at the dock. I called the other agents. Thank God they had seen the plane coming in and would be there in two minutes.

The boat came to the dock very slowly and they tied the boat to the cleats. Two men came off the boat holding the CIA agent in front of them and headed towards the parking lot. I also noted three other men standing on the boat with guns. Two things were happening at the same time. I knew we couldn't let them leave with the CIA agent. Our other Agents were coming into the parking lot. I knew our job was to take out the men on the boat so the other Agents could rescue our guy.

I grabbed Agent Tom and the other agent and went out of the house to take out the guys on the boat. The other Agent and I went first with agent Tom following. We got a drop on the three men on the boat and they all dropped their guns.

Then I heard Agent Tom yell "gun". I turned around and saw Tom laying on the ground on his side and his automatic rifle firing into the side of the boat. He must have emptied almost a full clip into it. Then I heard automatic fire up at the parking lot. Then the yelling and women screaming started. I looked around trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

The other Agents had two men on the ground and the CIA Agent was rescued. We had two of the three men on the boat also on the ground. Agent Tom had shot one of the men on the boat as he fell to the ground.

The women on board the boat were still crying and yelling. Two agents went into the boat to check out the commotion. I went over to Agent Tom to see how he was doing since he was still laying on the ground. He had tripped over some iron bars on the dock and hurt his injured leg so badly that he couldn't stand up.

I looked over at the boat and one of the Agents came out shaking his head saying oh shit over and over. When Agent Tom fell and his rifle opened up he had killed a women and her child hiding inside the boat, not just the man who was getting ready to shoot us.

When things like this happens it's something you think about for a long time. You think to yourself if Agent Tom wasn't on drugs would he have slipped and discharged his rifle? Would those two innocent people have been killed? If he hadn't fallen and shot the guy on the boat would we be here? Were the innocent mother and child just in the wrong place at the wrong time? And why were they on the boat in the first place? A few hours later I flew back to St. Thomas to be with my wife.

TRYING TO GET OFF MY PILLS

2009-12-14T07:19:00.002-06:00

Its almost Christmas and I'm still trying to get off my pain pills. Its been a long and emotional battle. I'm now off the morphine completely but still taking Oxycodone daily. I was taking 10/650mg of Oxycodone along with 60 mg of morphine three times a day. After three months I'm now down to only taking 5/325 mg of Oxy three times a day.

Some days now are hard to get through with this dose, the pain and drug withdraw come often. I always thought that I could get off these drugs in a couple of weeks. I guess I was kidding myself. I've been on the drugs now for about 2 years. I tried cold turkey and that lasted two hours. The chest pains and withdrawal were too much for me to handle.

I was told by both of my doctors that doing cold turkey would probably kill me because of the open heart surgery less than 8 months ago. Those who know me knew that I would try it anyway.

I now have to deal with withdrawal and serious bouts of depression. When the dose of medication runs out or I forgot to take the next dose all hell breaks out. First withdrawal comes within an hour then comes anger, sometimes beyond my control. So far I've been able to deal with it and understand whats going on and realize it's my medication.

I have been dealing with depression for the last 20 years, it has had its ups and downs. It's taken me over 10 years to get it under control. My depression started getting worse again with the introduction of the pain pills. Over the years I have learned the signs and know what might be causing it and how deal with it. Now that I'm trying to get off the pills the depression is becoming harder and harder to deal with. I can be reading, watching TV, listening to music and the depression comes over me.

The doctor has now given me Valium to deal with the depression. The drug sorta works but I only take it when the depression is already happening. It's just another drug I will have to deal with later. I know there are lots of other drugs on the market to take for depression but I have tried most of these over the past years. Mnny cause me serious side effects. Side effects ranging from feelings of suicide to wanting to hurt people.

Many years ago I had a partner who had very similar problems. He had killed a woman and her child by mistake and suffered a serious hip injury during the altercation. I will post this case after the holidays.

YEARS LATER AND MY NECK STILL HURTS

2009-12-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

I decided about two weeks ago to start some therapy on my back. I had back surgery this past July 20th. I have been feeling fine but my back seemed tight when I twisted side to side. Today while in rehab I was doing some stretching exercises when my neck started to hurt. I guess I had that look of pain on my face when my trainer asked me what was wrong with my neck. I told him I was hit across the neck in the late eighties with a steel rod.

I was working on a case with the USCG in Miami that involved stolen boats. They were being used to bring drugs into the states. Since I hardly ever worked on cases that involved anything other than military interests this kind of case was new to me.

It was a real challenge to me since I was involved in meeting the people whose boats were stolen. It turns out that some of these high speed boats cost up to 800K to buy. The problem was that most of the owners of the boats didn't live where they stored the boats and hadn't notice them missing. After about a weekof working the case I noticed that some of the boats were built by the same company. The company was located in North Miami by the Inter-coastal waterway.

It seemed strange that nobody else had figured out that angle before I did. I went to my boss and he gave me a number to call about the case. I called it and an Agent with the DEA task force answered. I was told that yes, that company had sold many of the stolen boats and one of the managers was an Agent working with them on the inside. I was told there was another company making the same kind of boats in North Carolina.

I hadn't hung up the phone ten minutes when my boss called. I was on a plane to North Carolina the next morning. I landed a couple of hours later and was met by Agents Frank and Ken who were going to assist me.

The agents drove me to a motel about an hour away from the airport. There they laid out the case to me. We drove out to the company that made the boats. We were hoping to find the owner of the company but that was not to happen. We next drove to his home only to find him and his wife both dead. We were running out of leads and going nowhere.

The next day we received a call from the manager that use to work there. He wanted to meet with us right away. We were to meet him at a motel just outside of town, about ten minutes from where we were staying.

I knocked on the door and someone answered and said come on in the door is unlocked. I drew my gun and entered. I was hit behind the head with something and passed out. When I woke up Agent Ken had been shot in the leg and arm and was laying next to me. Agent Frank was standing over the manager whom he had shot and was calling for help. I was bleeding from my head and passed out again. They transported me to the hospital where I stayed for a day and then flew home.

A few days later I call Agent Frank to see how Agent Ken was doing. He told me that Agent Ken's leg was in really bad shape and they might have to amputate it below the knee.

Then I asked him about the case that we were working on. He told me that they had found another boat manufacture in Atlanta, Georgia who was also making these boats. They had raided the place and found the guys who were involved in bringing in the drugs. He told me the raid had gone south. One Agent was shot and three of the bad guys were killed. The undercover Agent had been made and was killed before they could get to him. I listened to him describing the raid. To me it was done poorly with lots of mistakes. I felt both the agent and informer should not have been shot.

I call Agent Ken in the hospital the next day and he told me that they had saved his leg but he would need lots of rehab. Later that same week there was an inquiry in the shootings and they transferred Agent Frank to New York for retraining. As for me the case was closed so I took off the next week to do some fishing.

THERE'S WORMS IN MY FOOD

2009-11-21T09:57:00.000-06:00

My vacation in Mexico came to an end about three weeks ago. My troubles started one week before I was to go home. I developed fever and stomach pains. I know in Mexico not to drink the water or eat some of the food. Somehow I picked up a worm or two eating something I shouldn't have. I was treated there but after a week in their hospital I checked myself out and headed home. I called my doctor and he placed me in a hospital here. It took about 8 days for them to get rid of the worms.

I have gotten worms a couple of times before in my travels so it isn't anything new for me to deal with.The last time I think was around 1987. I had taken an Air Jamaica jet from Miami International airport to Kingston, Jamaica. There I was met by six other Agents that had flow in about ten days prior from San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was told that three men had broken in and stolen tracking equipment manufactured in San Juan and taken it by boat to Kingston. They had a CIA stooge with them and they were to land their boat 50 miles up the coast from Kingston.

There were a few unknowns that we had to deal with, one was how big of a boat they were using and how long it would take them to reach Kingston. Second, did they have enough fuel on board or would they need to stop and refuel and where? My thought was if we knew where they were going we should stop them while they were refueling or at sea. I was told that the problem with that scenario was if the tracking equipment got wet or damaged it would be a loss of millions of dollars. So we were told to make sure that the tracking equipment was on land before we apprehend the equipment to prevent them dropping it over board.

Two days later the boat was spotted on its way up the coast to a place called Yallahs Point. Agent Moses and I headed up the coast to meet the boat in a very small 4 wheel truck. The other Agents and helicopter were stationed around ten miles away at and old landing strip used for drug running.

Agent Moses and I took up a position over looking the docks and the road out of there. Our plan was to let them off load the equipment from the boat then stop them on the road. We found a fishing shack where we could see both the dock and road. It also gave us cover. All we could do then was wait.

We had brought food and water but Moses was a very large Agent and had eaten most of the food by that afternoon. I watched through a window while Agent Moses went looking for more in the other shacks and boats tied to the docks. The idea sounded good at the time but I would pay dearly in next few days. Moses returned with some canned food and smoked fish he had found. I was hungry so I snacked on both.

I had just finished eating when the boat arrived with two men, not three. It was a really large boat. Within minutes a moving van type truck pulled up and they started to off loading lots of boxes. I made the call to the other Agents as they left the dock and drove down the road. Agent Moses and I jumped into our truck and followed them.

Thirty minutes later we had the van stopped and they were all under arrest and being held off to the side of the road. We open the van and searched the boxes we saw offloaded from the boat and placed then in the van. Inside the boxes were government issued guns and rifles but no tracking equipment.

We raced back to the dock and the boat was gone. The helicopter searched for hours and came up with nothing, the boat had vanished. Bottom line, was it really tracking equipment that had been stolen or was it guns or both? We couldn't get any answers.

I waited in Kingston another day to hear what was really going on but the CIA had no answers so I headed back to Miami. The following day I became sick and found out that the dry fish I had eaten probably had worms that were now in my body. I spent two days in the hospital and was given lots of drugs to rid myself of them.

EVEN OLD COFFEE CANS ARE USEFULL

2009-10-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

I'm still sitting here on a beautiful Mexican beach watching the sun rise. This mini vacation has been what I really needed.

The other day while I was walking down the beach I picked up an old, empty Maxwell coffee can. That reminded me of a case that started in the middle of Texas and ended near the border.

I got a call late one night to come to Homestead Air base to catch a flight to Texas. On my way I landed in Tampa and picked up a few other Agents. We were all briefed on what we were looking for and who we were after. The case was about the removal of certain missile tracking components. They needed to be found before they left the States. We landed in Wichita Falls and were picked up by helicopter and flown to Goodfellow AFB west of San Angelo, Texas.

The lead we got was about two days late. They had left by air from a small airport just south of San Angelo at Mathis Field. For some unknown reason they made a mistake and had filed a flight plan stating that they were heading towards Midland,Texas.

We followed them to Midland and got information that they were in a van headed towards Odessa, around 30 miles away. Two helicopters with lots of FBI and State police left for Odessa. That lead turned out to be false, these men were good.

I knew that the intell about the flight plan was too easy. What they had actually done was fly towards the border of Mexico and land near the city of Del Rio. The two helicopters followed suit and flew to Laughin AFB outside of Del Rio. Here we sat for almost two more days waiting and looking for more leads.

We finally got a break when one of the thieves was picked up for a traffic violation. The police found some papers with information about the components under the driver's seat.

We took him off their hands and brought him back to the base. After a little persuasion he told us they were in a blue van headed towards Eagle Pass. The plan was to cross at Piedres Negras, Mexico.

Our best hope was to catch them before they crossed the border. Dealing with the Mexican government is a job itself. The Mexican government and the local police are out of control and always looking for a pay off from us. The line we're always given is that the pay off is needed to cover their expenses.

After ten days on the road chasing these guys we finally caught up with them on our side of the boarder. They had stopped in a motel, biding their time for the perfect moment to cross the boarder at night.

The night manager did not like how these guys were acting nor the fact that they were traveling with a young girl with no other woman around. He called the police who contacted us. The girl was not known to us and had never been seen till then.

We moved in at three o'clock in the morning and raided the motel room. We caught them all without a fight. The missile tracking equipment was stashed in the shower stall with various pieces stuffed into old coffee cans.

I think it's time for another walk on the beach...

AN RV IS JUST TO SMALL

2009-10-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

I decided to take a small vacation so I headed down to Mexico on the beach. Things are pretty
cheap here, in fact they gave me an upgrade to a large suite on the top floor. The hotel is about 500 feet from the water on a hill side. The coolest thing is that instead of a cabana at the pool side you have a choice of an new RV parked about 100 feet from the water, placed on stilts, or a simple cabana by the pool.

Being in a RV by the water reminds me of a case that was in Utah by a large lake. We set up in a trailer someone had dragged there. When we drove up to it you could see it had no tires. The outside looked old, with lots of mildew covering it. This was going to be my home with two other agents till we caught up with three men that had taken a working micro processor from a military contractor. The good thing about the trailer was that it was only bad on the outside. The inside was a different story. It was clean, had running water, a refrigerator and a real cold AC. The only draw back was the toilet, it had been shot at a few times and did work.

The three of us had stayed there for three days waiting for the men to show up to sell us the processor. On the fourth day we received a call in the morning that they were coming to meet us around noon.

I stayed in the trailer while the other two agents, Ron and Louis, went outside and hid. Agent Ron covered the back and Agent Louis went up the road about ten miles to watch for the men coming. I called the office and they sent more agents and a helicopter which was about 15 minutes away. At 12:30 Agent Louis called and said that a pickup truck was coming but only one person could be seen inside.

I walked outside to meet the truck. Agent Ron and four other Agents that had arrived by helicopter started to move in from around the back of the trailer to the front. When the truck pulled up the driver told me he had the processor and wanted the money we had agreed on. As I was talking to him I notice a tarp in the back of the truck.

I turned my back, fixed my cap and headed back inside. The fixing of my cap was a sign that something was not right and to move in. I was barely inside the door when lots of yelling and gun shots rang out. I opened the door slowly and saw the driver shot on the ground and another guy hanging out of the back of the truck, also shot.

I then got another call from Agent Louis telling me a white van was coming. We put both of the bodies into the back of the truck. I waited outside again for the other truck to arrived. He pulled up, stopped and got out to say something about where the other men were. I pulled my gun along with with five other Agents and the situation was over. The micro processor was found behind the driver's seat in a false bottom of the van. It was time to go home.

FIRST CASE WITH AGENT ABE

2009-09-09T08:56:00.000-05:00

As I finished writing the last entry for the case involving Agent Linda it reminded me of a another case from the Mid 70's. I mentioned before in another post that I was working for a construction company at that time.

The seventies were very busy for me. I married in 1969 and had my first child, a son, in 1970. By the end of 1972 I had lost my father and one of my grandmothers. In 1973 I had my second child, a girl, and the agency set up shop at a company called Fred Kindle. I met Agent Abe and he got me hired into that construction company. He was employed there for over a year part-time. The Agency also opened a hardware store for Abe to run in Miami on Flagler Street. Years later, after Abe died, they set up a grocery store for me to run with a policeman friend of mine. It was in downtown Miami.

As I started going over my notes for the case I realized something after all these years. I realized that almost all of the women that some how touched my life and whom I hold dear looked some what the same and all had some type of scare on their face. The only person that didn't was my first wife. Maybe that why it didn't work out.

It was a few years after I was married that I went back to the agency. I had taken a leave of absence because I knew my new wife would never had gone for the idea of me working for the agency. She also wanted a big family. After my dad passed away the agency approached both me and my father's partner about the business that they were running for them. My dad's partner wanted the business so I was out looking for a job.

That was when I hooked up with Agent Abe and he got me a job with the construction company. I started to work undercover there in the mid 70's. One of the first cases involved the nuclear reactor plant located in South Miami. There was a breach at the plant while construction on a new water tank was going on. Someone, maybe a few workers, was able to break into the main building and steal 6 samples that were kept in lead shielded containers. We weren't sure if they were taken on purpose or if they had been taken by accident. Either way the containers were not to be opened for any reason.

All the containers were labeled with "dangerous do not open." If they were taken by accident maybe they would show up soon. If taken on purpose they needed to be found before they left the country.

Two days later we found one dead man and an a open container with the contents missing. By week's end two more bodies were found along with 4 unopened containers. This turned out to be a strange case with no answers to the dead bodies or the return of the containers.

The following week we got a lead on a boat in the Black Creek water way. They raided the boat the next day and found another dead man and the last container. There was also a steel container, not lead, with the other missing materials inside.

Weeks later two of the men were identified as Chilean nationalists who were also wanted for high tech stealing of military material in their country. Agent Abe called me at home to tell me that the first man that had been found killed had been a carpenter for the construction company a year ago. I remember hanging up the phone and saying to myself "it's good to be back."

WAS IT A CASE OF NATIONAL SECURITY? PT 2

2009-08-30T09:23:00.004-05:00

Upon arrival I met with Agent John. Now assigned to New York, he was originally from the West Palm Beach location. There was something strange about Agent John from the first day we met back in the mid 80's. I didn't really trust him or like him and neither did my dogs. He always gave me bad vibes. I worked with him on other cases but that feeling never left me. Years later he was arrested for passing information.

After talking he reluctantly assigned a few agents to help me with the case. He really didn't understand why it was important to find the materials since he had been told no one wanted them back.

I went to work trying to find out what had happened after the materials reached New Castle. We learned that the boards were flown from New Castle to Watertown International airport on a private plane. They were then loaded into a van and taken north on Hwy 81 to Fishers Landing.

We headed north towards Fisher Landing by helicopter. As we approached I looked out the window and noticed hundreds of small islands off the coast. It reminded me of Thousand Islands which is off Everglade National Park near Florida City. Upon landing I was met by Agent Danny who told me that the islands were also called 'Thousand Island". I said to myself maybe this is a waste of time.

These islands were located between New York and Ontario, Canada. We took some boats out to check out some of the islands and found nothing. Agent Don and I were returning to the docks when a man came up and said that some guys paid cash to rent a large boat about two month ago and never brought it back. I told him we hadn't seen any abandoned boats but maybe he could describe what the men looked like. He said that he could do better than that, he had taken a picture of the boat with some of the men for insurance purposes. Agent Dan recognized one of the men in the photo immediately as one of his newer agents. He had gone missing a few weeks back. He had told Agent Dad that his mother was very sick and he needed to take a leave of absence for awhile. The agent had never returned or called.

The man at the dock also said that later on that day he had received a call from someone telling him to give a message to the men to meet him near Gananoque in Canada. He never gave the men the message since they never came back. We all headed back to Fisher Landing and called the Canadian Special Forces for help.

The Canadian Special Forces asked us to met with them and the Gananoque police service at the Canadian side of the Thousand Island bridge. Somehow the Gananoque police knew about the circuit boards and took us to the Spring theater on King street. When we arrived we were told that the body of our Agent and some kind of circuit boards had been destroyed in a fire behind the theater.The body of the agent was so badly burned that we didn't know who he was until then. Three other men there had gotten into a fire fight with the Gananoque police and were all killed.

I tried to asked a lot of questions but was told that we needed to go to the police station and everything would be explained. When we arrived we were met by the Canadian Special Forces and they informed us that due to national security they couldn't discuss the case with us. Agent John and I flew back to New York where I caught a plane to Miami.

I still have not figured out why they let me go though all of that wasted time if they knew it was a security problem. And, more importantly, what was the real identity of the agent who was killed?

WAS IT A CASE OF NATIONAL SECURITY? PT 1

2009-08-28T11:33:00.007-05:00

I learned years later that the group of militant freedom fighters, otherwise known as "Viper," were totally disarmed and most either went to jail or were killed in the early part of the 90's. To this day I still think about Agent Linda and I do miss her.

I met with Agent Linda in her office for a few hours shortly after we worked together against the militants. Linda told me about a case she was working on. She had been working on the strange case of stolen electronic circuit boards for a few months. The case had nothing but dead ends. I told her that when I got back I would look into the thief.

I worked on the case for a few weeks but didn't turn up anything. After her death I received a phone call from and informant that had been working with Agent Linda. The information was about the location of the boards. I got on the phone and called a lot of people but was told that the circuits boards were out of date and they were not important anymore.

It bothered me that less than eight months later they were useless. Something else was going on with this case. Three days later I heard from Agent Louis who had worked on the case with her. He told me that the case was closed but did not know why either. I met with him and he gave me all the information he had on the case. What they did know was that the boards had been taken to a small warehouse near the waterfront in Pennsylvania, from there they went missing.

According to the informant the circuit boards went from Pennsylvania to New Castle in Delaware by boat. They were taken up the intracoastal waterway, off loaded, taken to New Castle airport and flown north. Those direction didn't give me much to work on but I started to agree with both Agents Linda and Louis that something didn't smell right.

I ran it through my boss and he told me to check it out. He said that he had know about the case but that it was closed. I left Homestead that day.

LOSS OF AGENT LINDA PT 2

2009-08-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

Agents Louis, Carl and myself boarded a jet out of Ft. Lauderdale to New York. When we landed we were met by other Agents that had leads on where they might be with the parts. Most of the information led us to believe that they were heading west of New York towards Buffalo to cross the boarder into Canada.

We all got on another jet and flew to Buffalo Niagara International and met some more agents. It turns out the men we were after had been stopped by the local police and two officers were shot. One officer was still in critical condition. This case was now way out of hand and these guys needed to be taken off the street.

We got a lead that the men were held up north of Niagara Falls. I boarded a helicopter with Agents Carl and Ted and headed to where we thought the men might be hiding out. We flew over Niagara Falls and landed in Whirlpool State park. Upon landing we were met by the local police and more of our agents.

Chief Gill of the police department said that the men were at a house on Spring Street near the railroad. Everybody split up into cars and headed south on Robert Moses Pkwy to Spring Street. The house at that address was empty. It looked like people had been there and left shortly before our arrival.

I was standing in one of the bedrooms and looking out the window when I noticed a bridge and rail road tracks that ran not to far away from were we where. One Agent called to the bridge to see if any one had crossed in the last hour in a van. There hasn't been any crossing all day, the bridge was closed for repair.

Someone brought in a map and it showed that you could get on a train at Depot Ave. and that one track crossed into Canada. Chief Gill took his men down to Depot Ave. Most of our agents headed towards the bridge and the train tracks near where it crossed into Canada. Some other agents, along with Agent Carl, Ted and I, stayed behind and looked at the map again to see if there was another way to cross over the Niagara River. Chief Gill called and said they had found nothing but someone had seen a van pulling a boat.

I remembered that last time these guys used a boat to get away so we headed down to where the train tracks crossed over the river. The van and trailer were there but no boat. We got back into our cars and headed towards the bridge.

Agents from Canada and their Special Force team met us on the Canada side. They had found the boat at the train trestle still in the river but no one was around. I mentioned to Lt. Phil, from the Canadian Special Force team, about their use of trains. He knew of an abandon drug house on Erie Avenue about one mile away where train tracks met and crossed each other.

We all left heading towards the house which was about 75 yards from the tracks. As we approached the house automatic fire rang out. Lt. Phil and his group of Special Force men had the situation under control in less than ten minutes. We got a chance to watch and learn. This time we were able to retrieved all the missile parts. Many more gang members and two women were killed. One member killed was the driver of the car that killed Agent Linda. Good job, we all said.

THE LOSS OF AGENT LINDA PT 1

2009-08-12T23:08:00.013-05:00

It was about thirty days later that I heard from Agent Louis. He called to tell me that Agent Linda had another case and would like to meet with me in West Palm Beach. Her office is around 90 miles north of Miami.

I'm sorry to say that Agent Linda was killed on I-95 on her way to meet me that day by someone who ran her off the highway. She was screaming on her car radio to Agent Louis and saying that some had just rear ended her car and was now pushing it. That's the last thing Agent Louis heard from her until someone reported that a car had flipped over and was in a ditch off the highway.

That was a bad day for me and a lot of other Agents around the country who knew her. I didn't get to spend much time with her but she was one of the best Agents I had ever met, then and now. Needless to say lots of people started looking for the car that had run her off the road.

The other case was still pending so I met with Agent John in West Palm Beach a few days later after the funeral. It was obvious someone had put a hit out on Agent Linda and the only people that would try something that stupid would be our gang of militant freedom fighters from the west.

There's one thing I will always remember about Agent Linda. She did this little impression of John Wayne when we were on our way out the door to catch the bad guys. She would always say "Men, lock and load your rifles". It always cracked me up to hear her do that impression.

The next day I met Agent Carl who had taken Agent Linda's place. He had a lead on who might be the responsible person or persons who killed Linda and the reason for this meeting. Over a week ago missile guidance parts were stolen. A local manufacturing plant was to deliver the parts to Ft. Lauderdale airport to be picked up and flown to a base in Tampa, Florida. The parts were being shipped by a Wells Fargo armored truck to the airport when it broke down on I-95. The trucking service sent a tow truck and towed the armored truck to their Wells Fargo yard in North Miami.

I remember that years ago, sometime in the early 70's before my father died, he was involved in guniteing the safe for Wells Fargo in a warehouse unit just off I-95. The reason I remember was he told me that the walls, floor and ceiling were almost 3 feet thick with layers of steel and concrete. This is where they shipped all of the money they picked up, millions of dollars weekly.

While the truck was in their yard the missle parts were stolen. The Wells Fargo manager felt it wasn't necessary to unload the parts and put them in the safe because they would be shipped the next day to the airport. In the middle of the night they over powered the guard and took the parts.

By the following week we knew that the parts were stolen by the same group of men that had stolen the chemical drums and they were on the way to New York. The group was also involved in the killing of Agent Linda. We also knew that the group now included two women. Women had never been involved with these people before. It was now time to hit the road and catch these guys.

ANOTHER CASE WITH AGENT LINDA PT 2

2009-08-10T05:09:00.008-05:00

Agent Louis and I headed back to were Agent Linda was and informed her it looked like the men could be hiding out in either the old school or maybe down by the river. We split into four teams. One was sent north of town, one stayed here south of town, one went to the school and one to the docks at the river. Agents Louis, John and I headed out to the docks by the river. The three of us first checked out the boat house, nothing. We then moved on to check out each boat both that was tied to the dock or moored along the shore.

I saw what looked like a twin v shaped bottom boat with a cabin. It was tied up to the end of the dock with one new looking rope. All of the other boats we checked had only old ropes. Agent Louis called out to the boat but no one answered. Moving very slowly and heavily armed Agent Louis and I boarded the boat while Agent John stayed on the dock to cover us. No one was aboard but one 55 gallon drum of chemicasl was. We knew the men had to be some where in town and let Agent Linda know. All the Agents moved into town.

The three of us waited there in case they headed our way. Agent John went to the boat house while Agent Louis station himself on a boat that looked like a tug about 30 yards way. I stayed in the boat with the drum and watched what was going on though a small widow on the side of the boat facing the street.

In less that ten minutes we heard lots of gun shots. Then a car came speeding in towards the boat. The man driving jumped out and headed towards the boat. Agent John ordered him to stop and to put his hands up but the guy opened up on John with automatic fire. Agent Louis returned fire from the tug, hitting the man. In the commotion another man had made his way to the boat. I shot him multiple times in the chest, hoping he was wearing a vest as they always do.

As I approached the man and kick away the Mac 10 he was carrying I noticed he was bleeding from the chest wounds and was dead. When we got back to town we found out that three other men had been killed also. We now had 5 dead men and only one drum.

Everyone spent the rest of the day looking for the other two drums with some outside help. Agent Linda left someone else in charge and the three us headed back to Miami. As we were headed out of town the old man flagged us down by the cemetery. He asked us what went down since he had heard all of the gun fire. I told him that we had found the men and one drum on a V bottom boat. He laughed and said that the boat they came there with had left two days ago. The three of us flew back to Miami but I never heard if they ever found the other missing drums.

ANOTHER CASE WITH AGENT LINDA PT 1

2009-08-07T01:44:00.008-05:00

It didn't take long after my first experience with Agent Linda to hear from her again. It was six months later and there was another case going on that involved the same group of men as before.

After I got back from the last outing with her I had checked up on her. It seamed that she loved these kind of shoot em up, high drama, lots of travel, most of the bad guys killed kind of cases. This next case with her involved all of the above.

It started with us leaving Florida and flying into Dallas International in Texas. Here we were met by 10 or more agents assigned to her. We were to find four or five men that were wanted for hijacking a step van carrying four 55 gallons drums of some type of agent orange material. It had been on its way to a reclaim area to be destroyed.

The van was found nine hours later along with the driver but the lab technician and three drums were gone. They left behind a note demanding 10 million dollars for their return. Agents Linda, John, Dan and I headed out of Dallas on a helicopter to Waco, Texas. I said to myself now the fun begins as we were landing.

We arrived in Waco in little less than an hour only to find out we had gone in the wrong direction. The perpetrators had headed north of Dallas not south. Two more hours of flying time and we landed in Gainsville,Texas. There we caught a plane and flew to a private air strip in Nocona, Texas. Our next stop was to a motel near Lake Nocona but they were long gone. We had missed them by at least two days. We got a tip that their were on the way to a small ghost town called Spanish Fort just north of here.

Agent Linda had everyone meet about five miles outside of town at sun up. Agent Linda sent in Agent Louis and myself to check out the town. The town had a population of around hundred. There were lots of old buildings from the late 1800's to early 1930's mixed in with some homes. There were also a couple of old abandoned manufacturing plants.

We found no Fort but did find an old cemetery that had lots of graves. Walking though the graves headed towards an old building I noticed two things, lots of the graves were for children and at least 50 or more of them were for people that were murdered. This place gave me the creeps.

The Red River, on the north side of town, was in reality nothing but a dark muddy river that runs for hundreds of miles. Looking around we really didn't see anything that looked out of place. On our way out of town I stopped to asked this old Indian man if had he seen any strangers or oil looking drums in town. He told us that four or five men had come to town looking to buy an old building to set up a research facility. They also had a covered boat hooked to the back of one of their cars which he though was strange since nobody fishes in that muddy river.

ANOTHER THREE SIDED HOUSE

2009-08-01T23:06:00.006-05:00

Talking about three sided houses, there was a time in the late 80's when I had to fly out to Utah for a case. I caught a plane out of homestead with another Agent. Agent Linda was with the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency). She needed my help on this case since I had dealt with this group of people before.

These individuals were a group of misguided militant men trying to do as much harm to the United States as possible in any way possible. These men also had sworn never to be taken alive and there was no way they would ever talk. Taking any of these men alive had only been done once if I recall. If you compared these guys to the most ruthless street gang it would be like comparing them to a Mickey Mouse Club. They would put the Nazi SS to shame.

We arrived at Salt Lake International and were met by three other members of her agency. We drove to a small airport 30 minutes near Clearfield. Here we took an helicopter to a small open field then driven to a cabin east of CR 39 up some dirt road. Upon arrival we were met by many more agents. I must say for a cabin in the middle of no where they had everything they needed and then some. We were briefed on what we were looking for, split up into teams and we left. I liked Linda so it was nice to be teamed up with her. She certainly knew her shit and what was needed to make this happen.

The four of us headed out traveling towards Powder mountain Ski area. When we arrived there were around ten other Agents already there. They told us the men were in an old cabin about 1 mile east of the resort. Agent Linda, Agent John and myself started up the mountain to come in from the top of the cabin. As we approach the cabin I noticed a small looking perch in a tree but I couldn't see into it. I pointed out the tree perch and had Agent John check it out. Sure enough a sniper was set up in the perch to take us out. John got him first.

In less than ten seconds the war had began. Lots of automatic firing, shouting and explosions ensued. After 45 minutes the air cleared and the shooting stopped. We had 3 agents that were shot but not seriously. One Agent had crashed his car into the cabin and was trapped but was OK. The bad guys were all dead but we had what we came for. We all headed back to the cabin to be debrief and go over what had happen. The next day Agent Linda and I headed home a little shook up but not hurt.

MY FIRST TREE HOUSE

2009-08-01T21:20:00.005-05:00

While I was in the hospital I had time to think about some other cases I was on and haven't shared with you. When I arrived home a few days ago I heard from my new neighbor. he move in behind me about 6 months ago.

Before Tony moved into the house it belonged to a single woman and her boyfriend whose parents had bought her the home years ago. She also had a daughter around 8 or 9 years old. There were a few pine trees in the back yard and they built her daughter a tree house. They used two of the pine trees and a telephone pole to make a triangle shaped tree house.

They built a large 0ne about 8 ft off the ground and it looked really great. They painted it, put a tin roof on it and it even had a front porch for her daughter to sit out on. Then a few months later we had a small tropical storm come through and the tree house became a club house on the ground. The pine trees were damaged so they were cut down.

A year later she sold the house to another couple and they stayed about a year. Next Tony and Suzanne moved in with their three cute little dogs and started to completely remodel the house, inside and out. One thing I have noticed that they have hired a new yard man to cut and take care of their yard and what a great job he is doing.

When I was around 11 years old I decided to build my first tree house all by myself. I collected wood with my bike to build it. I found a large lot with lots of pine trees a mile away from my home. There were three large pine trees to build in located well back inside the lot.The shape was also to be a triangle shaped house. I had used the tree house for over a year when one day I notice that someone else had discovered it. Seeing what it was used for I knew it wasn't a kid. My mistake was not telling my Dad about the visitor to my tree house.

I decided not to go back to the tree house for a few weeks. Next time I went back I took a few buddies with me. The three of us arrived and found no one, in fact the house looked like it was cleaned up. My two buddies started making fun of me and grabbed me and tied me to two trees and pulled down my pants. There I was in my underwear, spread eagle, tied to two trees when I felt someone grab me around the mouth. What happened next I'd rather not share. It seemed like hours when my buddies came back and untied me. They told me they were only gone about 20 minutes. I said nothing to them about what had happened.

It took me three days to tell my Dad what happened. Knowing what he did outside of his regular job I knew he would take care of the problem. Two days later my Dad took me back to what was left of my tree house. He showed me some blood near the trees where I was tied up and told me that person will never hurt anyone again. He held me tight and said lets get some help to get you though this. Until now there has been only three people who knew what happened on that day, my Dad,(my mother never knew) a doctor and last year I told one of my daughters.

ANOTHER DAY AT THE HOSPITAL

2009-07-29T23:50:00.002-05:00

The surgery went well and I should be heading home in a few days. For all of you that prayed for me I thank you very much. I need to thank a special friend Laura and her church followers for all their prayers too. But most of all I also need to thank the one who listen to these prayers. Amen

GOING FOR SURGERY

2009-07-18T18:46:00.003-05:00

After almost a year's wait I'm going under the knife on Monday. Surgery will be done and supervised by a special spine surgeon, another specialist on stand by and a Cardiologist to make sure my heart behaves itself. I will not be posting for awhile but I will back in a few weeks.

A COLD JULY AND MORE BODIES

2009-07-04T22:22:00.010-05:00

I was on another case in July of 1986 but it was cold this time. I had just arrived in Canada with a young lady when I got the message. We had arrived at a chateau north of St. Donneau. reservations at Mont St. Anne, a place where we usually go skiing during the winter. This year I thought it would be different to go in the summer to do some fishing instead of skiing. I picked up the message at the office and called in. I was informed that I needed to come to the office in Quebec City right away. I told my friend that I had to leave. After catching a bottle she threw at me I was on my way.

Two women and two men had broken into a Canadian outpost and taken some military papers. The bigger problem was that the papers were in a secure container that also contained the plans and data of an experimental missile hard drive. We needed to catch up with them before they left Canada.

The Canadian military had a lead that the two women had the container and were held up in a house near the St. Lawrence river just south of Quebec. I joined the military and the FBI on the way to the house. We found the two women dead but no container. This only meant that the two men had the container and would do anything to get away. I stayed in Quebec one more day to help find them. The next morning with no leads I decided to joined my friend back at the chateau. Three days later a military helicopter caught up with the men in a plane trying to leave the country. They refuse to land their plane and were shot down. The plane caught on fire and crashed. What was left of the container was recovered along with four unidentified men inside the plane.

HOT DAY IN JULY

2009-06-28T20:25:00.000-05:00

It was a hot July day in the late 60's when I was sent on a case to Denver. I flew out of Miami with a new agent named Tex. When we arrived we were meet by a large group of agents and were told what we were looking for. It turns out that some kind reconnaissance film was stolen from Buckley Air Force Base. As usual, we were not told what kind of film, only that it was necessary at all cost to get it back in one piece.

Tex and I grabbed a jeep and lead a caravan of other agents to the mountains just south of Denver. I forgot about the change of altitude from Miami and got dizzy right away. When we arrived I stayed in the jeep to get my head together. Agent Tex and two other agents got out to check out a large concrete house and a wide open barn.

I didn't know why Tex had us stopped here since we had passed a few other homes along the way. When we stopped Tex said he had a bad feeling about this house but that he knew it was were we would find the film. Agent Tex and around eight other agents surrounded the house. Automatic fire opened up from the barn next to the house. Agent Tex and ASAC Agent George were killed.

I heard the gun fire, saw what was going on, got out of the car and ran to the rear of the barn. I was met by two other agents. When we reached the rear of the barn two men ran out the back. I yelled stop. They turned and we fired killing both men. More gun shots rang out inside the barn. When we stepped inside the barn we saw that other agents had killed another man. They were holding the film in their hands. It was a very horrific day for the Agency. And me personally.

ITS JUST TOO HOT

2009-06-23T23:56:00.000-05:00

Its been really hot on the island the past few days. In fact, looking at the forecast for the next few days, its going to stay that way. I also see that the forecast for the country is way above normal for this time of the year. The weather around the world is about the same. I remember last year at a meeting they discussed there would be some kind of major activity on the sun. The activity would be starting this summer and last through all of next year. They also talked about how communication around the planet would be affected by large "Sun spots" appearing on the sun.

So far I haven't heard anything about any large breakdown of any type of communications. Just the weather seems to be affected so far. I'm planning a trip at the end of the week for a few days before the forth of July crowds. I was hoping to do some fishing but I can hardly fathom how hot it will be fishing out on the water. Fish do not like hot water either so they will move out in deeper water to get away from the heat. Hot water usually means no fish and spending a lot of time, energy, money and gas trying to catch them.

SURGERY ON MY BACK

2009-06-19T23:26:00.000-05:00

I got great news today. The doctor called to let me know that he has moved up the surgery on my back to late July instead of late August. He told me that he wanted a second doctor there to help just in case something goes south. That news was not what I wanted to hear but at least he is thinking of my health which is a good thing these days. He comes very highly recommended for what he does and the new technique that he performs.

When I saw him last, about three months ago, he told me that this new technique of surgery should only take a few hours and that I should be back to normal and healed in about 30 days.

The best thing about the early surgery, if there is anything great about back surgery, is that I will be pain free. I will be glad to get off these pain pills I have taken daily for over a year. My pain doctor has informed me about the three months of rehab I will have to go through to get rid of my drug habit. The treatment doesn't sound like a lot of fun either.

HURT ON THE JOB

2009-06-18T22:27:00.010-05:00

The other day I wrote about and old friend of mine. I also remember that year, 1965, was the first time I was hurt on the job. I must give a big credit to Agent Jack O'Brien who saved my live by stopping the bleeding of my right leg.

I was on one of the my very first cases, it took me to a small town just north of Dallas, Texas. I was there with about ten local agents. We were looking for two men that had taken military logistic materials from a storeroom. The case took us to a small, run down apartment house just outside of a piece of crap trailer park. We cased the place for two days then went in for the arrest. Being rather new, I was to watch the road leaving the trailer park with Agent Jack. I was standing just outside the car when we saw a man and a women running from the park. I pulled my gun and Agent Jack pulled his. We both yelled at the two to stop and put their hands up.

I held my gun on the two while Agent Jack searched them for weapons. While he was questioning them I was hit in the back of the leg with something that put me instantly on the ground. Agent Jack held his gun on them and yelled for help. While watching them he was able to apply a tourniquet. I was bleeding out. He saved my life that night. Unfortunately, the two we stopped had nothing to do with the case. After thirty five stitches I was later told that they had caught the two men at the apartment house.