Somewhere in the Skies - The Extraordinary Life and Strange Death of James Forrestal - Part 1

Episode Date: January 29, 2018

On episode 41 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, Ryan is joined by author and researcher, Peter Robbins. Robbins is currently developing a lecture about the first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal. This will be PART 1 of a two-part series.  On May 22nd, 1949, Forrestal fell to his death from the sixteenth-floor window of Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he was treated for “depression”. An official U.S. Navy Medical Review Board convened on his death, after examining all doctors and witnesses who were in the vicinity. They could not establish the reason for Forrestal's fall. The peculiar circumstances of Forrestal's death, and the U.S. government's withholding of the complete report of the review board until 2004 has led to much speculation and controversy. What many are not aware of is that Forrestal has also been connected to the controversial MJ-12 group, an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by an executive order by then U.S. President, Harry Truman, to facilitate recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft. Before his departure as Secretary of Defense, Forrestal had a mental breakdown, which ultimately led to his untimely death. What did he know? What was he told? And what exactly happened to him in the hospital as he plunged downward into tragedy and questionable history? Guest Bio: Peter Robbins is an investigative writer, author, and lecturer, best known for his books, columns, articles, radio commentaries, interviews and conference talks. He has appeared as a guest on and been a consultant to numerous television programs and documentaries. Peter was born in Queens, New York and studied art, design, and theater at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. He received his BFA (painting, film history) from New York City’s School of Visual Arts (SVA) where he also taught painting for a dozen years. In the mid-1980s, he became seriously involved in UFO research when his knowledge of classified data indicated to him the US government was not telling the public the truth about UFOs. Patreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskies Official Store: CLICK HERE Website: www.somewhereintheskies.com Order Ryan's Book by CLICKING HERE Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Instagram: @SomewhereSkiesPod Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is produced by Third Kind Productions, in association with eOne Entertainment Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, Ryan Sprague here. I just wanted to give a shout out to my new patrons over at the Patreon campaign. So to Chaps, Samantha, Jimmy, Bill, and Christopher, I can't thank you enough for your monthly donations to the show. I hope you enjoy your bonus episodes, content, and your official somewhere in the skies, stickers. If you would like to help support the show with a monthly contribution and get rewards in return, visit patreon.com backslash SomewhereSkies. Thank you for your support. And now on with the show. This is Somewhere in the Skies with Ryan Sprague. Welcome to Somewhere in the Skies. I'm your host, Ryan Sprague.

Earlier in the run of the podcast, I sat down with author and UFO researcher Peter Robbins to discuss a lecture he was developing about UFOs throughout history and the cultural significance given to said UFOs then and now. It was one of the highest downloaded episodes to date. The lecture went on to receive praise throughout the United States and abroad. Today, Peter and I take a second crack at his lecture series, discussing his latest installment, which centers around the extraordinary life and strange death of the first ever Secretary of Defense, James Forrestall. Peter brings us to the first. us on a fascinating journey through the life and career of this highly influential figure and his involvement in MJ12, an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government

officials formed in 1947 by an executive order by President Harry S. Truman to facilitate recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft. After resigning as Secretary of Defense, James, James Forrestall had a nervous breakdown and was committed to the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, where he was put under psychiatric examination, suffering depression and extreme paranoia. But what exactly was it that Forrestal was so paranoid about? And what string of events led to his mental breakdown? The answers may lay somewhere in the earliest days of the modern UFO era. and information about the UFO topic

that would ultimately lead to Forrestal's untimely death. Officially ruled a suicide, there was much cause for questioning. And that is exactly what Peter Robbins has done with this presentation. He will controversially argue that Forrestall possibly had more to do with the UFO issue than first thought, and that his suicide may have not been a suicide at all, but murder. This will be part one of Peter's presentation. Part two will be released next week. So, without further ado, here's part one of the extraordinary life and strange death of James Forrestall.

Today we are going to be going on a history lesson, but one that most people may not know of. And one that is frankly wrought with intrigue, mystery, and quite possibly UFOs. We are going to be talking about the extraordinary, life and strange death of James Forrestall. And with me to do so is my mentor. You know him, you love him, Mr. Peter Robbins. Peter, thank you so much for joining us again on someone in the skies. Always glad to be on the show with you, Ryan. You always bring something new. Anytime I ask you to come on, your episodes are always my most highly downloaded. So I thought, what better way to bring something to the public that I personally didn't know about that. That

many people don't know and may have a stunning connection to UFOs. And back in New York, you and I, we sat down face to face and we actually ran through a presentation that you gave. And I wanted to do that again today with you because this new talk that you've been shaping, revising, it's one I just had to hear knowing absolutely nothing about our first Secretary of Defense. So before we even get to that, I have to ask, how did you come to discover James Forrestall? And what made you want to? want to sort of craft this lecture around him? Great question, Ryan. It actually happened 30 years ago.

And the impetus was one of the most, how can I say, important UFO conferences I ever attended. The Mufan International Symposium of 1987, which marked the 40th anniversary of Roswell, Kenneth Arnold, the modern age of UFO sightings, but had an extra cachet because it was held at American University in Washington, D.C. And in attendance and the audience, among other people, was one American senator, the talks, and that was Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, who was publicly very interested in the subject. But among the talks was won by one of every sane UFO researchers mentors, Stanton T. Friedman. It was a brilliant investigative talk called The Secret Life of Donald K. Menzel. And without going off on a long tangent, Menzel, who was the head of the very distinguished

Harvard Astronomy Department, Stan established in no uncertain terms and through a lot of hard work and diligence that Menzel had, in fact, led a double life. He was, for all intents and purposes, as leading an astronomer in the academic community as there was, well-spoken, respect did, again, your head of a department at Harvard, people listen. He also, for decades, had a completely classified life within the national security establishment of this country. Stan proved it beyond any reasonable legal doubt by being the first person allowed into his personal archives by his widow, into his papers at the national archives through a lot of research, and his papers at Harvard. And it was also that summer, although some of us had gotten copies in the spring, that the whole MJ12 controversy broke on the UFO public and to a degree of popular culture in the public at large.

James Forrestall, our first Secretary of Defense, his name plays very strongly into MJ12 as it would in his role as our first Secretary of Defense. And I was so impressed with Stan's talk that I went back to New York resolve that perhaps I should really allow this inspiration in a sense to inform my doing a serious research piece on one of these other 11 individuals named in the MJ12 initial Eisenhower briefing document, which I do take very seriously. Other aspects of MJ12, I just don't know. And I'm sure there's a lot of specious stuff out there. but I had dinner with my parents shortly after, and I'm after dinner. It was basically relating these events to my mother, a remarkable woman, and asked her if she had any thoughts on it, and gave her my top three choices at that time, one Vannevar Bush, one of the most important, significant, powerful and influential men of the 20th century that most people have never heard of. Sydney Sowers, our first head of the CIA and President Truman's closest intelligence correspondent, national security advisor, that is, and a distinguished World War II admiral.

And forestall. And my mom said, do forestall. I said, that is my leaning to, but why do you say that? She told me the following. She said, you can't imagine the level of despair, mourning, sadness that we all felt in 1949 when we learned that James Forrestall had taken his life. He was so important to the war effort. He was so important to Truman. He was absolutely charismatic. Me and a lot of my girlfriends thought he was extremely handsome. I crush on him and I thought, well, there's the reason right there. My mom had a crush on James Forrestall. Upon reflection, she said, you know, it was a huge. huge event in the papers and in culture when he passed. And then his name just disappeared forever.

And so I began on and off coming and going from the subject for years. I gave my first actual talk on Forrestall, maybe even close to 15 years ago, and have continued to augment the material as my time is allowed and my interest is prevailed. And what this is, as you know, Ryan, is taking the information, a variation of it that I presented in conferences and libraries and the like as a talk on James Forrestall and put it into the form of something we're not very well versed in, very familiar with, and for good reasons, in UFO research and events that spring from it, which is dramatic readings. These belong to the theater.

And one of the things that first brought us together was not just our shared, obsession, interest, passion about the subject of UFOs and their implications, the secret keeping, but our love of theater. You studied to be a playwright and an actor. I was fortunate enough to work in New York theater for many years after a long, you know, civilian love of it. Still study acting, although not to be an actor, but because I love working with them and I find it fascinating, watching them gain the skills that they do. And so, we have here is not something for the stage, but not something for the conference hall, really. It could be done in either place. And the thing that your listeners need to visualize is that as this

runs, and it's essentially in two parts, it has a break in the middle, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of images that in an ideal situation would be flying by behind me or staying stationary behind me on a rear projection screen on a stage with a dedicated assistant changing the pictures so that I would not have to, or the actor doing the reading would not have to be bothered with that detail. And so with that as backstory, we begin. Let's do this. Let's do our table read. All right. Imagine we're in a room on the 12th floor in New York City, and we've got our scripts in front of us. We're going to start, my man. We're going to curtain is up, lights fade in, let's do this. I would love to run through this talk that you've

given that you're revising and where we're heading with this seemingly huge endeavor and project that you're working on. So let's do it, man. Where should we begin? God, we're such nerds, aren't we? Lights up, my friend. Okay, I'll begin at the beginning. At first, I didn't think it was real. I woke up to this blinding light and I was transported to another place. Pluto TV! Then I heard a voice. Come with me if you want to live.

There were thousands of movies and shows and they were all free. The truth is ours. It's just so beautiful. On Pluto TV, free streaming of Terminator 2, fringe arrow, the 100 NX files may cause excitement, loss of sleep, and sudden belief in extraterrestrials.

No credit cards or alien encounters necessary. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never. In the years immediately, following World War II, James Vincent Forrestall was one of the most powerful and best-known men in the Western world. From the early 1940s until the spring of 1949, his presence and policies were often the subject of front-page news and is above and beyond efforts in the service of his country directly contributed to our winning the Allied victory in World War II. How did it come to pass then, that so few Americans have ever even heard of him? Why is it that almost all references

to him and to his life and accomplishments have effectively been written out of our history and collective national consciousness? What was the actual genesis of this cultural amnesia, and how did it coincide with the legitimate UFO-related national security concerns of the Truman White House? The question at hand, however, is did this presidential advisor, wartime secretary of Navy, creator of our modern Defense Department and first Secretary of Defense, take his own life or was it taken from him? If we're to believe the official account, early on the morning of May 22, 1949, the secretary fell to his death from a 16th story window at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland where he was being treated for depression. But this account doesn't hold up under careful

scrutiny. In building the case, I'll be presenting to you a case of officially sanctioned murder. I've drawn from more than 30 sources, including declassified documents, bibliography, biography excerpts, period news reports, and commentary, memoirs by some of the men who knew Forrestall best, the 240-odd page file compiled by the FBI, and the published version of the Forrestall Diaries. James Forrestall's death was predicated by a profound nervous breakdown. There is no question about this sad fact, nor that it was brought on by a combination of factors. I speak here about a complex, driven man who assumed tremendous responsibilities in his public life, this while his private life slowly unwound, then imploded.

Over the years, I spent researching his life and death. I came to conclude that there was a central factor in his life. emotional collapse and setting aside for the moment all of the most serious Cold War considerations that it had to do with the unimaginable pressure generated by the above-top secret responsibilities thrust upon him the day he was sworn in as our first Secretary of Defense. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's begin at the beginning. It's important that you have some sense of who this man was of the power he wielded in this country throughout the 1940s and of the events that led up to his death. James Forrestall is born in 1892 in the small town of Madawan, called then, in Duchess

County, New York. The youngest of three brothers, his father is a contractor who is very involved in local Democratic Party politics, his mother a lay teacher at a nearby Catholic school. Young Jim is highly competitive throughout his high school years. and in 1911 is accepted to Dartmouth College. He transfers to Princeton the following year where he develops a reputation for being aloof yet friendly. His yearbook refers to him somewhat prophetically as, quote, the man nobody knows.

He becomes editor of the Daily Princetonian and trains to become a competitive amateur boxer. When Jim breaks his nose in the ring, he chooses not to have it reset because he thinks it will make him look tougher. It does. Forrestall leaves Princeton just three weeks before graduating to join the Wall Street brokerage firm of Clarence Dillon.

But with First World War now raging in Europe, he enlists in the Navy in 1916 and travels to Canada for flight training with the RAF. But the armistice precludes his seeing action and he returns to the States and to Wall Street in late 1918. In 1923, he becomes a partner at Clarence Dillon and president when Dylan dies in 1926. That same year, he also marries the beautiful but emotionally troubled Josephine Ogden, a writer at Vogue magazine and a former Ziegfeld Folley's showgirl. The couple builds their home on Manhattan's exclusive Beekman Place. As the 1920s roar on, James Forrestall's life comes to parallel that of F. Scott Fitzgerald's J. Gadsby,

and that is no exaggeration. The Irish kid from upstate New York is now a full-fledged, of New York Society at one of the Wall Street elite. His social circle includes Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Harpo Marx, Gary Cooper, among other luminaries. Over the next dozen years, while most Americans are struggling through the Depression, James Forrestall prospers on Wall Street. Banker Ferdinand Eberstadt, a friend and mentor of Forrestalls dating back to their days together at Princeton and a financial advisor to President Roosevelt. Eberstadt brings his protege's considerable skills to FDR's attention, and the young stockbroker is invited to join the administration's so-called brain trust or dollar a year men, a select group of business leaders who advise the president on economic matters.

Forrestall takes this call to public service extremely seriously, seriously enough that he puts his business life on hold and moves to Washington, where he accepts the token salary, of $1 a year to be at the call of the President of the United States. In May 1940, Roosevelt appoints him Under Secretary of Navy, a job which includes overseeing the manufacture and distribution of all supplies for America's pre-war Navy. He is soon directing and overseeing the manufacturing and flow of all the Navy's war needs, a staggering assignment by any standards. I start also with the assumption that this country has one of the great powers that has lifted the great, the terrible shadow thrown across the world in the last five years, must retain its armed force and its willingness and ability to make swift use of it whenever nations such as Japan, Italy or Germany get into the hands of either outlaws or maniacs. I assume that the United States Navy will be one of the great elements of that power.

And I speak to you as a group of men who will be officers in the naval service. However, I'm constrained to remind you and your older associates of the Navy that while the trained Annapolis graduates are essential to our ability to conduct naval warfare, the support of the nation is essential to the support of the Navy. But by all accounts, the Undersecretary does a superb job and seems to be a great. thrive in the ultra-high-high-stress wartime atmosphere. When Navy Secretary Frank Knox dies of a heart attack in April 1944, President Roosevelt has Forrestall sworn in as the new Secretary of Navy. It is in 1940 that he begins to keep a diary, not wanting to trust anything to memory. It becomes his habit

to dictate entries to one of his naval secretaries at the end of each workday, often remaining in his office at the Pentagon until midnight. These entries include particulars on those he meets with, the subjects of their conversations, and the content of the meetings he attends. Forrestal will continue to keep this diary until early 1949. No desk jockey or poser, the new secretary of Navy, repeatedly puts himself in harm's way and is present at or immediately following the battles of Leite Gulf, Iwo Jima, the Solomon Islands. Allen's, the Normandy invasion, and other conflicts. He also becomes the Roosevelt administration's pointman in securing and finalizing the so-called lend-lease agreements by which the British

are advanced millions of tons of badly needed war material. He also negotiates the lease for several American bases in England, including one in Suffolk that will bear the name RAF Bentwaters. He serves with a. distinction throughout the remainder of the war. At this point, I referred to two photographs I dug up in my research, one showing James Forrestall in Berlin, well, both of them showing in Berlin in the summer of 1945 on apparently two different junkets, and much to my shock, amazement, and fascination. There is a young Navy commander who had captained a PT boat with him named John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Additional research for me has convinced me that Kennedy was naval intelligence.

Also, he was on this mission, possibly in part because of family clout. His father, after all, had been ambassador to England during part of World War II. As an aside, the war now ended. President Truman asks the Army and the Navy to submit plans for unification of the armed forces. The president favors the Navy's plan and appoints James Forrestall to head up the gargantuan task of dismantling the Old War Department and the creation of a new governmental agency to be called the Department of Defense. James Forrestall, Center, newly appointed secretary of the U.S. Navy, confers with his assistance. Forrestall, as Undersecretary, played a major role in creating the largest Navy in the world. Now he has given its leadership. All sees this job through to completion despite constant ongoing inter-service rivalries,

again proving himself to be someone who can be counted on, even under great pressure and stress. Nine weeks prior to his becoming Secretary of Defense, a private pilot's sighting of unidentified flying objects in Washington State becomes national, then international news. The numerous sightings follow are met by official indifference. and media ridicule. Then, in late June or early July, something or things, crash in the desert in New Mexico, not relatively far from a town named Roswell. Headline edition, July 8, 1947. The Army Air Forces has announced that a flying disk has been

found and is now in the possession of the Army. Army officers say the missile found sometime last week has been inspected at Roswell, New Mexico, and sent to Rightfield, Ohio for further inspections. The Army airfield attached to Roswell-Woswell is the world's, houses the world's only nuclear strike force. 48 hours later, the Flying Saucer story is international news. I cite a series of documents here. Then on July 26th, the National Security Act is passed by Congress, and the president immediately names Farstall to be. our first Secretary of Defense. The Act's passage also brings into existence in the same sweep, the National Security Council,

the Joint Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Dr. Vannevar Bush's Research and Development Board. The New York Times praises Forrestall's nomination, saying his appointment, quote, is the best guarantee that could be given that unification of the services will be carried out intelligently and effectively. A chart at this point illustrates the Secretary's unique central role in the new defense establishment and by extension the tremendous responsibility about to be placed on his shoulders. On September 17th, Chief Justice Fred Vincent administers the oath of office to the nation's First Secretary of Defense, but the ceremony is very much a last-minute affair. That afternoon, en route by battleship from a state visit to Brazil, President Truman sends a message to Washington, instructing that James Forrestall be sworn in immediately.

No explanation is given. Shocked by the president's seemingly impulsive decision, former vice president and now presidential candidate Henry Wallace insists, quote, If there is a genuine emergency, the people have a right to an explanation. If there is no emergency, this action rates is the very lowest method of breeding fear, end quote. So, was there an emergency?

And if so, what was it? I cite a paper here, data, September 19th, the subject of which is examination of unidentified disc-like aircraft near military installations in the state of New Mexico, a preliminary report. This MJ-12 memorandum, while controversial to some, is also dated September 19th and supplies the requisite emergency. It is titled, examination of unidentified disc-like aircraft, etc. But even if this document never existed or proved to be false. Air material commands, quote, opinion concerning flying discs does and is, and its prominence is guilt-edged. It is dated only four days after Wallace's publicly posed question.

The secret memorandum, written by General Nathan M. Twinings, a future Air Force chief of staff, discusses the possible origin and behavior of the aerial unknowns and states unequivocally, quote, the phenomena reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious. The new Secretary of Defense arrives at his new offices in the Pentagon that same day. The Majestic 12 Working Group is established the next day by a special classified executive order issued by President Truman. James Forrestall is listed as third of the 12 men named in this group. Two days later, Secretary Forrestall issues his first official directive, and the United States Air Force is activated. A September 30 news photograph of Forrestall.

Horace all congratulating Dr. Vannevar Bush, after the latter has been sworn in as the new chairman of the Research and Development Board, shows the secretary looking particularly grim. Less than four months later, on January 7, 1948, Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Captain Thomas Mantel, is killed when his plane explodes in an uncontrolled ascent as he is closing on a UFO quote of tremendous size in the skies near Fort Knox, Kentucky. reasonably assume and conclude the Secretary of Defense is kept carefully appraged of the particulars of this and of all other significant UFO sightings and events occurring during his time at the Pentagon. That June, the Soviet arms blockades West Berlin, setting in motion the Berlin airlift and a major Cold War crisis. By mid-October 1948, support for President Truman is at an all-time low. And with the presidential election approaching, victory seems to be a very much. all but assured for the Republican presidential nomination Thomas E. Dewey, then governor of New York State.

Forrestall confides to his friend Bob Lovett, a future Secretary of Defense, that he is deeply concerned that, quote, since Dewey might be elected president, his representative should be briefed in preparation for the possibility, end quote. This is a very common practice in modern political politics, but it was not back then. The secretary has made a serious miscalculation. His common sense proposal draws the resentment of some administration officials who equate it with disloyalty to the president. Sadly, this belief gains general acceptance among those who have Truman's ear and becomes a sore point for the president, who refuses to see Forrestall for several weeks following his landslide victory. When the secretary and the president next meet in late November, it is for little more than a photo op on the front lawn of Truman's retreat.

in Key West Florida. The stress, this causes Forrestall, we can only imagine. But one thing is a fact, his star has gone into decline at the Truman White House. Two weeks later, the top secret, quote, analysis of flying objects is completed by air material command. In February, Forrestall is photographed with General of the Army Eisenhower. Also that month, he joins President Truman for off-the-record White House luncheons on the 8th, the 14th. and the 23rd. By months end, the Air Force distributes the secret Project Sign report, its most extensive technical assessment of the subject to date. And from that report, after reviewing

all of the possible conventional explanations for the aerial unknowns, Project Sign turns its attention to the possibility of quote-unquote spaceships and bluntly note something that would have had to have been on the secretary's mind. Quote, If there is an extraterrestrial civilization which can make such objects as are reported, then it is most probable that its development is far in advance of ours. Such a civilization might observe that on Earth we now have atomic bombs and our fast-developing rockets. In view of the past history of mankind, they should be alarmed. We should therefore expect at this point above all to behold such visitations.

That is an actual quote from a secret Air Force report, the very first one on UFOs. And it's a line that, for me, is paradigm shifting. It's beyond historic. If it had been included in the script of the day the earth stood still, it would fit into that great fictional story brilliantly well, off on a tangent. One of the report's closing remarks also must have had particular resonance for James Forrestall as well. quote, they, the aerial occupants, must have been satisfied long ago that we can't catch them, end quote. With the most advanced, modern, and awesome defense apparatus in the history of mankind at his command, the nation's first Secretary of Defense is unable to affect the situation he'd inherited, even in the most rudimentary manner.

To the best of our knowledge, nothing that he authorizes or attempts during his time at defense. offense alters the UFO situation one iota, and that had to weigh heavily on the secretary, a man who habitually personalized his successes as well as his failures. Very tragic character flaw. All cabinet members submit their pro-former resignations to the president following his election. And much to his disappointment, Forrestal's resignation is accepted on March 3rd. He and Truman meet a week later to discuss certain provisions of the National Security Act.

Secretary of Defense, James B. Forrestall and his newly appointed successor, Louis A. Johnson, drop in at the White House. Wartime Secretary of Navy and First American to assume the title of Defense Secretary, Forrestall gets warm thanks from the President. It is also at this meeting that Forrestall makes the unusual request that the White House personally take possession of his multi-thousand-page diary. Given the amount of classified material it contains, he doesn't feel it should be kept in his home. The filing cabinet is then removed from Forrestall's Pentagon office and secured

in the White House itself. The breakdown. On March 28, the day of his retirement, James Forrestall joins Defense Department employees assembled to see Lewis K. Johnson sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense. As part of the ceremony in the huge central area within the Pentagon, outdoors, the president presents the retiring secretary with the distinguished service medal, the highest civilian decoration authorized by Congress. But the recipient, both surprised and moved, reacts in an very unsettling way. You deserve it, Jim, quote-on-quote, says Truman, as he pins the medal on the lapel of Forrestall's jacket. He tries to express his gratitude, but all he can say is, it's beyond my...

Clark Clifford, a young advisor of Forrest Hall's and a few. future attorney general is in the audience and remembers, quote, unable to respond to the president's generous words of praise, Forrestall is led speechless from the room. It was suddenly apparent to everyone that there was some, that something was terribly wrong, end quote. Following the change of command ceremonies, Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington,

who had regularly challenged Forrestall's authority, is overheard telling the now former defense secretary, quote, there is something I would like to talk to you about. While there is no record of what Symington says, the effect on Forestall is deeply unsettling to those observing, if not traumatic. He is found some time later, sitting in his now former office, staring at the wall and repeating to himself the phrase, You are a loyal fellow. You are a loyal fellow. You are a loyal fellow. Once outside the Pentagon, Forrestall seems bewildered and dazed, and a shocked aide arranges for the nearby chauffeur of the President's chief science advisor, Van Gogh. of our Bush to drive him back to his Georgetown home.

Once there, Forrestall calls Ferdinand Eberstadt, who arrives soon after. Eberstadt is taken aback by his old friend's manner and recalled Forrestal telling him that he is a total failure and considering suicide. The secretary is also convinced that certain persons in the White House had formed a conspiracy to get him, in quotes, and had finally succeeded. At 5 o'clock, Mr. Forrestall phones the office of the FBI director and asks if Hoover in town. He is not, but the caller is assured that his message will be given to Hoover. Asked if he would like to leave his number, Forrestall responds that he would like Mr. Hoover

to call him at home. The writer adds that F spoke quickly and used short, abrupt sentences, end quote. Hoover's writes at the top of the memo informing him of the call, quote, I returned the call, but he was not in. The FBI begins an immediate investigation into the Forrestall crisis, and a classified report is issued March 31st. It centers around an interview the Bureau conducted with the secretary's butler. Excerpts from that FBI interview and quoting. The butler tells the investigators that morning quote. Mr. F is to step down as Secretary of Defense.

He asks if the butler has seen four men enter the property near the driveway. He did not. He also overhears the secretary on the phone asking somebody if his phone might be tapped. The employee also confines these other. particulars. That on March 28th, the Navy Department electronic specialist visited the house to find no evidence of tampering or wiretapping, that an FBI employee checked all of the phones and all other house wiring on May 29th and 30th with similar reported results. That Mr. F had recently become quote-unquote overtly suspicious whenever the front door was open, that he was

suffering from slight memory lapses and is increasingly restless and unable to sleep. that he has flown to Florida, shortly after the change of command ceremony accompanied by two friends. When Mr. F exhibited a last-minute reluctance to make his departure, he reportedly heard one of the friends say to the other, quote, we have to do something. We can't keep him around here, end quote. And that following his final departure from the Pentagon, for the Pentagon, the Butler came upon Forrestal's last will and testament, lying open on his bedroom desk together with seven or eight powerful sleeping pills. The brief report concludes, quote, that Mr. F has during the past several days been suffering from a slight nervous breakdown

and that his suspicions are the result of this condition. The columnist Drew Pearson, who had a longstanding vendetta against the former secretary, makes the following entry in his diary on April 1, 1949. Quote, Forrestall seems to be off his beam. While Tom Clark, that's Truman's Attorney General, was in Florida last week. Forrestall called him every day worried about something. Wouldn't say what? End quote.

On April 2nd, Forrestall and Eberstadt fly to Hobbesound, Florida, where their friend Robert A. Lovett has a home. Lovett, undersecretary of State of the Time, and a future secretary of defense, is noted, meets Eberstadt and Forrestall at the airfield. When Forrestall steps from the plane, Lovett is shocked by his appearance, but nonetheless, to joke with him. Quote, Jim, I hope you brought your golf clubs because the weather here

has been just perfect for golf, end quote. To which Forrestal replies, Bob, they're after me, end quote. Over the next three days, James Forrestall attempts to take his life at least twice. Lovett calls it the worst three days of his life. At the request of the Navy, Captain George M. Reins flies to Hobes Sound.

Rains is chief of neuropsychiatry at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Dr. Raines learns of the secretary's suicide attempts from Lovell and Eberstadt, but refuses to see or examine their friend, insisting that he cannot until the family's psychiatrist of record arrives. Dr. Raines has already learned that Forrestall's wife and or his brother Henry have chosen the renowned Dr. William C. Menninger. Regrettably, Dr. Menninger will not be arriving until the following day, and Reins feels

duty-bound to wait until the famous clinician is present. Lovett can only lock his guest in a bedroom for the night after cleaning out its medicine cabinet. The following afternoon, the two doctors conduct an examination of the patient, then consult. Together, they decide that the best course of action is confinement at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Dr. Menninger, now Forrestall's psychiatrist of record, then flies back to his clinic in the Midwest, and though he continues to be briefed on the secretary's progress, never sees his patient.

again. Dr. Raines accompanies Forrestall on the flight from Florida to Maryland. During the drive from the airfield to the hospital, Forrestall has to be restrained to keep him from throwing himself from the moving car. The patient is admitted to the hospital and once secured in a room on the 16th floor, a 24-hour Marine Guard is put three-shift on his door. For most of the first month, the patient is kept sedated. a week. There is no mention of Forrestall's breakdown or hospitalization in the press or on broadcast radio, something that would be almost unimaginable by today's journalistic standards. The New York Times first runs a story on April 8th, the title being Forrest All is treated in a naval hospital for nervous and physical exhaustion. Quote, doctors were very much encouraged by the former

Defense Secretary's response to care. Close associates of the former secretary ascribe this condition to physical and mental fatigue and the worries and responsibilities of his office, end quote, and true enough. Several days later, Bethesda naval officials first used the term operational fatigue to describe his condition. April 11th. One of the first people the patient calls when he is allowed phone privileges is Washington's Monsignor Maurice J. Shihi.

Monsignor Shihi is a highly regarded prelate who is friendly with men. Capitol Hill insiders. Forrestall has drifted from the church over the years and now asks the Monsignor to help him return to it. Sheehe, of course, responds in the affirmative and begins to plan for an initial visit to Bethesda. Next day, coverage invokes operational fatigue brought on by overwork. On the 17th of April, the headline is Farstall still gaining. Notes the recovery of James Farstall from operational fatigue is only a matter of time. a Navy doctor said today. Captain B.W. Hogan, executive officer of Bethesda Naval Hospital,

predicted that the former secretary would not suffer any turn for the worse, end quote. On the 23rd of April, the president visits Forrestall, as well as two other members of his administration who are hospitalized for routine ailments. Wall and Bethesda, Forrestall telephones the White House and is insistent that someone be sent over to check for listening devices in the wall of his room. The White House sends Admiral Sidney Sowers, the first secretary of the National Security Council and a future director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Admiral Sowers is one of the President Truman's closest confidants and advisors, so much so that he regularly joins the president for breakfast and stays on for the morning security briefing. Sowers assures the patient that the room is free of any listening devices. On the 27th Secretary of Defense Johnson visits Farrisdall and reports that his predecessor, looks fine and should be discharged in two or three weeks. That same day, members of the press

received copies of Project Saucer, the Air Force's desensitized general audience version of Project Sign. By May 17th, Forestall has gained 12 pounds since his confinement for five weeks earlier. And visitors and hospital personnel alike, as do his hospital records, all seem an agreement that the patient's condition is improving. Bethesda Naval Hospital Records, Note, Forrestall continues in good spirits. Throughout all of the 20th and the 21st, he shows no signs of depression, was well-dressed, shaved, and in good appetite.

End quote. On Friday, May 20th, Henry Forrestall telephones the hospital. He has decided his brother James should complete his recovery in the countryside at the estate of a family friend and informs hospital administrators that he will be arriving to take custody of his brother

on Sunday, May 22nd. Also on Friday, May 20th, Secretary of Navy, John Sullivan, has an appointment with Monsignor Maurice Sihi, one made at the Monsignor's insistence. Since receiving Forrestall's phone call, the Monsignor has visited the Bethesda Naval Hospital six separate times, and each time has been told that the secretary was unable to see him. Increasingly frustrated, the Monsignor has taken his case directly to the Secretary of Navy, who in turn contacts Bethesda and has given assurances that Shehee will be able to see the patient in time. But not enough time as it turns out.

James Forrestall has two days left to live. This concludes part one of the extraordinary life and strange death of James Forrestall. Be sure to tune in next week for part two, where Peter and I dig deep into the death of Forrestall and the curious questions left behind in the wake of his tragic fate. What did he know? What was he told? And where does this leave us in terms of the way history? Remembers James Forrestall.

This and much more next Monday. Please take a few moments to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever applicable. This helps the show gain new listenership. We're on Twitter at Somewhere Skies, Instagram at SomewhereSkies pod, and all past episodes and contact information can be found at somewhere in the skies.com. I'll see you here next week for part two. And remember, keep your feet on the ground, but never stop searching somewhere in the skies.