◆ SpookStack

.:For SECReT was in it, to what extent he was not in it. Therefore, from time to time, he would protrude .'. sometimes, saying that he was sorry to protrude; and then he would retract; and then he would be in; and then he would be out ••• that's as a person. Then again, his Deputy, Ray Herbert, would call and say ttl just don't understand Cable 18963 IN from Guatemala today. Would you come over and explain to me what that's all about:" and I would step out of the maelstrom of JMATE ••• they were just working flat out ••• and go over. There would be the old WH types doing their thing in the old WH way. Maybe two cables a week from the stations, and quite leisurely ••• I think what had happened to J. C. King was that he had stayed overlong in the same job: and he was .ttMr. WH," by Gawd. with the excep- tion of first Guatemala and then Cuba, there was very little that ever happened in Latin America whi~h got to be, given our other worldwide responsibilities in the DDP, a very front priority matter: and consequently, at Staff meetings, for example, they would go around and talk about the Soviet Union and China and Europe and even Africa. Then, if there was any time left, J. C. King would have his time at bat and repor~ some relatively minor thing. Except in the case of Guatemala there was, as everybody krtows now, a very substantial paramilitary operation which was run by Richard M. Bissell in his capacity as Special As- sistant to the Director for Planning and Coordination. I think that one of the many reasons ... and I never was able to get much in the way of history on Gu~temala as an aid to the study of the Cuban operation while the latter was in process ... was - 36 - ,