It was when I first learned that one such target of our Central lntelligence Agency, a Lieutenant Commander William Bruce Pitzer (who the CIA represented to me to be a "traitor") was in fact an honorable Naval officer caught up in the web of deceit that used subterfuge and intimidation to cover-up the facts of the John F. Kennedy assassination, that I decided to do what I could to help surface the truth about Pitzer and the crucial role he pLayed in the overall scheme of things.

Conversations with Pitzers widow, his two sons, and a nephew who held him up as a hero and mentor, convinced me that Pitzer had valuable evidence and that he had suffered the consequences of his refusal to be a part of the cover up conspiracy.

You, as readers of the FOURTH DECADE, know the rest of the story of my efforts and how I suddenly strayed from the path of those who struggled to carry through to victory over those who engineered and participated in the assassination and its cover up. Once David Vanek denied any recollection of our involvement in a class together at the Special Warfare Center shortly after the Kennedy assassination, the entire Special Forces Association gathered its legal and member resources to go against me. I know what they are capable of as I once shared their philosophy that each must protect the other for the sake of the organization itself.

When I later, inspired by Robin Palmer, read Dr. William Peppers revelations surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I provided Dr. Pepper with information I felt was relevant to that terrible crime. It was then that the safety of my grandchildren became an issue of great importance to me. I then attempted to extricate myself from the battle to prove that Dayid Vanek or any other former Green Beret had taken the same assassination training as I had, even with me in early 1964 at Fort Bragg, NC. That was one terrible mistake. Instead of confessing my liability to deal with the fear that eroded my confidence in my own ability to protect each and every one of my children and grandchildren, I succumbed to that fear.

Thus I wrote and voiced statements to two men whose loyalty and selfless - indeed courageous support - had given me the encouragement I needed over a long haul to continue in the pursuit of truth. It was I who let them down and I apologize publicly for not staying the course-

I pray that Robin Palmer and Allan Eaglesham, who were those brave supporters, continue to wage the war of truth through to victory - I doubt that I will be of any more help than I have been in the past to reach that goal, but I can assure you readers that I will do nothing further to detract or discourage others from that awesome struggle.

I do believe in my heart that truth will prevail. I am sorry for any roadblock I may have put in any others' path which caused him or her to waiver.

Keep up the good fight!

Lt. Col. Daniel Marvin (USASF. ret'd)

Daniel Marvin apologizes "for not staying the course," and, although admitting to letting us down, makes no reference to the accusations of dishonesty that Robin Palmer and I publicly leveled against him. (Robin reiterated the charges on his local cable-access television show For the Duration, and I posted the TFD letter on JFK-assassination-related Newsgroups on the Internet and mailed it to a dozen individuals with whom he had been communicating.) Instead, Marvin mentions contact with Dr. William Pepper, author of Orders to Kill (an investigation of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), that, he says, led to fear for the safety and well being of his children and grandchildren such that he "succumbed to that fear."

The phrase "not staying the course" is an interesting choice of words, because Robin Palmer and I severed our working relationship with him, not vice versa. Furthermore, he subsequently wrote The Pitzer File jointly with Dr. Rose -- published in The Fourth Decade in January 1998 -- in which they state an intention to press the Assassination Records Review Board to obtain unredacted documents relating to Lt. Cmdr. Pitzers death, and relate that Marvin is writing a book on the Pitzer case.

If Marvin was in contact with William Pepper before February 1997, I did not know about it. My files indicate that he called Robin in early Fall of 1997 with reference to contacting Pepper. Of course, we were obliged to immediately call Dr. Pepper in England to suggest circumspection in any dealings with Colonel Marvin. (I note that he has been demoted, apparently, to Lieutenant Colonel, which must be unusual in one who has been retired for so long.)

Finally, the obvious question: if Robin Palmer and I wrongly accused Daniel Marvin of lying, why is he apologizing to us?