On a beautiful, hot summer day in 1982, I came face-to-face with my new client in federal prison, inmate Joseph George Helmich - convicted Soviet Spy.
Helmich was a warrant officer in the U.S. Army with a specialty in cryptography. He received, transmitted and stored top-secret military intelligence with his high-level security clearance. He said a CIA handler groomed him to deliver that top-secret information to the Soviets. Helmich then found out his actions were a significant piece of a much larger puzzle that linked to the coup d état of the President of the United States.
This book should relieve all of us of the notion that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was an unorchestrated act by a lone-wolf gunman.
"Great world events don't occur by happenstance," Helmich told me during our interview. He also told me that, "Coincidence is the word we use when we can't see the levers and pulleys."
To fully resolve the Kennedy Assassination riddle, one must ask cynical questions: Who profited from Kennedy's assassination? Who benefited from the endless Viet Nam War that followed? Who benefited from the massive investment of blood and treasure?
The early 1960s were a time of absolute national confidence. Young men in America were filled with youth, hope and vigor. We felt fully able to take on all comers at any cost. That invincibility was shaken when Kennedy was shot. My generation grew up while assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK Jr., the Viet Nam War and anti-war protests swirled around us. It was the end of American Idealism.
Now, more than four decades after my meeting with Helmich, I'm ready to deliver on my promise to my client and share his untold story with the world.
