CUBAN
INFORMATION ARCHIVES
DOCUMENT 0445
Subject: RE:
LETTER TO CHARLOTTE BRAY [GPH BIO.]
From: InterPenPMGrp61@aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 03:17:10 EST
To: GPHEMMING@aol.com
Subj: Re: Letter From a: Marine [Korea] [US Army Special Forces
'Nam] & [CIA]
Date: 2/27/03 9:18:01 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: GPHEMMING
To: charbray@surfsouth.com
BCC: InterPenPMGrp61
Mrs. Bray [or if I might be so bold - - Charlotte]
I served in the Marines during the early 1950s for 4.5 years [I
extended by initial 4 yr. enlistment in order to qualify for the
US
Naval Academy Prep. School at NTTC Bainbridge, Havre D' Grace,
MD.] I resigned at the US Naval Academy during late 1958,
with 4
more years of required USMC Reserve duty. I left the USMC
as a
"Buck" Sergeant, and promptly resumed my recent gunrunning
operations
to Rebel Forces inside Cuba.
I served in the Cuban Rebel Army from '58 thru late 1959, and
thereupon
transferred from The Parachute Regiment to the Rebel Air Force
as a
Fighter/Patrol pilot. [I checked-out in the following WWII
era
aircraft: F-51 "Mustang"; B-26 "Douglas Invader"; British Mod. 2
Hawker
"Sea Fury"; F-47 Republic "Thunderbolt" (a/k/a the 7 ton "Jug");
C-46
Curtis "Air Commando"; C-47 Douglas "Sky Train" (which was our
primary
jump aircraft); L-2A DeHavilland "Beaver"; TBM-4 Grumman
"Avenger"
(Geo. H.W. Bush's WWII bird); AT-6/SNJ-3 North American "Texan";
T-28
"Trojan"; etc., etc.!
I left Cuban service during late 1960 after training Sandinista
Guerrillas and was later arrested by Fidel's Secret Police on
four
occasions. [The same "Sandinistas" whom I trained, became
the
anti-communist "Contras" during the
1980s.]
I
had participated in the tragic invasion of the Dominican
Republic on
June 14th, 1959, and was able to fly some of Major Delio Gomez
Ochoa's
survivors out of the La Plata airport on the North coast of
"Santo
Domingo"! A month later I went on the invasion against
"Papa" Doc
in Haiti (11 July 1959) with Major Henri Fuertes, and flew some
survivors out of this debacle after a very fierce fire-fight at
the Cap
D' Haitien Airbase which we had captured previously.
Upon arrival back in the US I was debriefed by the CIA.
During early 1961,
I worked with some of the Anti-Castro Commando groups before the
Bay of
Pigs Invasion (17 April 1961). I continued to train the
independent (of CIA) Cuban Exile groups at camps in the
Everglades and
the Keys until the summer of '64.
During August of 1964, our recently deceased (Then SF Major)
Colonel
Norman J. Gray [3/20thSFGrp(Abn)FLANG - - persuaded me to join
his 3
Detachments, Company "C", 3/20th SFGrp(Abn) which was then HQ'd
at the
Fla. Nat'l Guard Armory located on NW 27th Avenue, Miami, Fla.
(Later
moved to Ft.
Lauderdale).
During
1967 I signed up with the State Dept.'s USAID/Public Safety
Dept. (CIA) and was assigned to deploy to Tay Ninh Province in
the
'Nam. After moving my wife and two baby daughters to
California,
the Jim Garrison Investigation threatened to compromise my
future
career, along with that of then Captain Robt. K. Brown. However,
RKB
continued on to the RVN and the 25th Division (Despite his MOS
as an SF
"A" Team Leader). [Bob Brown later commanded an "A" Team
w/ 1st
SFGrp(Abn) for two tours. [After a Parachute Medical mission in
Peru
during early 1970; Bob later went on to found "Soldier of
Fortune
Magazine"]. RKB retired as a L/COL during the
1980s.
(We
all got together a couple months back - - here at Fort Bragg
country during the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the Green
Berets
in 1952).
I grieve deeply for the loss of Norm Gray, but despite my
serious
health problems, I had my SFC Green Beret son-in-law drive me on
the 5
hour trip to Rodanthe on the "Outer Banks" near Hatteras.
M/Sgt.
Ed Githens [re-activated and deployed to Kygystan and Kandahar
even
after retiring w/ 37 years of 3/20th service] and his son, along
w/
Pete Cooke were there upon my arrival. Norm's excruciating
pain
is gone now, and we expect that he is looking down on all of us,
naturally expecting that we will continue the duty that he so
well
trained us in!!
'Nuff said, kinda like "Preaching to the Choir".
Semper Fi / De Oppresso Liber
Sgt. Gerry Patrick Hemming
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