Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination

The box came and I tore it open. Wow! Two copies of Legacy of Secrecy (one of which I'd probably ordered in a drunken state) and one copy of Ultimate Sacrifice (which I dimly remembered ordering). I immediately gifted my sister and brother-in-law with one of the LOS books, but then realized that mine was 922 pages long. OMG! This was not large text for the legally blind; this was 8-9 pt Times Roman, or a comparative type style. Holy! Holy! Holy! "I can't do this," I told myself. "I'm a one-eyed reader and the light has to be exactly right and I can't read in the daylight because of my cataracts and I'll have to take this on only when everyone else has gone to bed and I sit at the end of the couch, with the table-lamp positioned just so, by which time I'm going to be 12 minutes from closing. But, I'm here to tell you that this book is so well-written and fast-paced that you'll find yourself staying awake just for the pure pleasure of the knowledge that pours from its pages. You know all the players and you know how they fit into the mix. I LOVE this book! I'm not finished reading it because of my busy social calendar (don't imagine that I'm attending black-tie events and balls - think school concerts and plays). However, I'm doing a helluva job wading through it. This is a great book! I just keep on reading and reading with one eye....

LEGACY OF SECRECY is, in many ways, superior to it's predecessor, ULTIMATE SACRIFICE. While it paints a more complete picture of the era, I found this work much less repetitive in it's text than ULTIMATE. As much as I enjoyed ULTIMATE for it's detail, the amount of detail/backstory that was repeated throughout the work was distracting. While some of the detail contained in LEGACY can make you feel like you've been condemned to a twilight zone of names and initials, it is the attention to detail that is so very convincing of the case put forth by the authors, and also revealing of the failure of 'research' in pro-Warren Commission books by the likes of Posner and Bugliosi. Waldron and Hartmann got it right. And frankly, that's something I never thought I'd say ( or see ) in my lifetime. This is a true gem, the crown jewel of the assassination ouevre.

Legacy of Secrecy, a follow up volume to their earlier work Ultimate Sacrifice, is a brilliant piece of research regarding the assassination of JFK. Based upon new evidence from the national archives it tells the story of how the Mafia-specifically Carlos Marcello the boss of New Orleans as well as Dallas along with Johnny Rosselli and Santo Trafficante the boss of Tampa and the rest of Florida- conspired to assassinate JFK and reveals for the first time that the FBI had taped their confessions. It details their connection to various plots organized by the CIA to assassinate Castro and install a new government in Cuba as well as their infiltration to an ongoing plot run out of the White House and directed by RFK; a plot that continued even after JFK had publicly announced all attempts to overthrow Castro were discontinued in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco. It details the massive cover-up as well as the connection to the assassinations of RFK and MLK. This is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to know the real story behind these heinous acts. I want to thank the authors, Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann, for helping us know the truth of how, why and who killed JFK. It has haunted me ever since I saw the horrific images of the Zapruder film of the event itself and I hope people still care enough to know the answers.

Fills in vital details not known to the authors when they wrote ULTIMATE SACRIFICE. This excellent addition to JFK assassination literature answers significant questions we've pondered for too many years. MOST IMPORTANT TO ME: We now know that the plan to invade CUBA would be in conjunction with "a palace coup", "turning" CASTRO'S longtime ally, Commander JUAN ALMEIDA, onboard to murder Fidel, most likely as he drove in an open jeep going to or from his residence in Veradero Beach. Anti-Castro Cuban sharpshooters, trained by CIA personnel were tapped to perform this mission (with Almeida?). These same personnel reversed course, went to Dealey Plaza and killed Kennedy (riding in a open vehicle.) Oswald was a decoy, deflecting attention from the killers who fired the deadly shots. Recognizing there had been a conspiracy which if exposed would likely spell the end for Juan Almeida and plans to invade Cuba, RFK immediately set about arranging the "lone assassin" explanation of his brother's murder. This was mostly accomplished by making the evidence fit the theory. The anomaly concerning body alteration BEFORE THE OFFICIAL AUTOPSY BEGAN, was accomplished AT BETHESDA during "a national security autopsy" which preceded the official autopsy. This constitutes a major breakthrough for which the authors should be congratulated. Robert Dorff