April 2: Home in Jacksonville

My wife, Nee, my cats, Pee Wee and Roy, and I finally made the trek to Jacksonville, Fla. my old Navy stomping ground, and taken up residence in a new home in a very nice part of the biggest city, geographically, in the United States. It’s been in the works for well over a year,  but we’re sure this will be our home for the rest of our days. The weather in Knoxville was a bit too cold for Nee’s chronic bronchitis, and I’ve always wanted to return to Jacksonville, where I learned the nuts and bolts of the business of newspaper reporting as a Navy journalist at Cecil Field for two years in the early 1980s.

More nonsense from Rich Martini 

In his latest “Earhart on Saipan” blog entry. Rich Martini advances even more incredible falsehoods in his attempts to gain attention for his Saipan efforts to prove Amelia Earhart died on Saipan. Though Martini is on the right side of the issue, his methods, which included digging holes, willy nilly, at the old Aslito Airfield site in a blind search for the long buried and destroyed Earhart Electra, as well as his writing illiteracy, as exemplified by his constant errors in grammar, syntax and his insistence on renaming Fred Goerner’s classic bestseller “Searching for Amelia” have done little to add credibility to what Goerner established in 1966 with The Search for Amelia Earhart, and what Truth at Last confirms in spades – Earhart and Fred Noonan’s presence and death on Saipan following their 1937 loss.  Martini says he’s “speaking with the very first eyewitness to come forward, a Saipan native who lives in the US [sic],” and he displays an old photo of Josephine Blanco Akiyama, though he doesn’t name her. He notes that “no one bothered to put her on film. We will.” 

The most outrageous lie to come out of Martini’s Saipan foray has been recorded by TIGHAR drone and pretend journalist Alexie Villegas Zotomayor, who reports in a March 28 Marianas Variety (Saipan newspaper) story that a Martini associate,  “said more than 200 eyewitnesses offered stories” about seeing Earhart on Saipan to the Martini group.  This ridiculous falsehood uttered by “Captain Cooper,” who stayed to dig at the old Aslito Field while Martini and Harris had already realized the ridiculous nature of their search and split Saipan weeks ago, undermines anything positive that might have been accomplished. Why do these people find it so necessary to fabricate disinformation when the case for Earhart on Saipan is already so strong? It bears repeating that not a single story about Martini’s Saipan antics can be found in the American media. Do we need any more evidence that the establishment hates the truth in the Earhart case, when so many ignore all attempts, misguided though some of these efforts might be, to prove it?

 George Cepeda’s Amazon review

At my request, a discerning reader of Truth at Last, Ohioan George Cepeda, recently revised his already complimentary review of the book, adding a star to the four he had earlier awarded it, and rewriting several sections of his fine review. Especially gratifying is his conclusion, which I couldn’t have written better myself:

“This is by far the most authoritative and exhaustive book written on the Earhart mystery and provides the best round table of facts leading to the most probable conclusions,” Cepeda wrote. “It is as close to an expanded and THIRD revised edition of  The Search for Amelia Earhart as we will probably ever see. I think Fred Goerner would have been proud to see how well the results of his research and others in this small investigatory community have been used.”

 Thanks George!

March 10: The Jim Bohannon Experience

We certainly have no friend in Jim Bohannon. I learned a hard lesson when I appeared on his syndicated radio show March 8 at 11 p.m. EST, and will never again let my guard down going into an interview with someone I don’t know. The next time a host tries to intimidate me and disrespect my work, I will know exactly how to deal with him. The discussion is about the book and the facts presented therein, NOT the uninformed host’s opinions. He hadn’t even bothered to so much as look at the PDF of the book that I sent him twice, a few weeks earlier, telling me, “I never got it.”  He knew nothing of the Earhart matter, not even Fred Goerner’s name!  From the start he questioned everything I tried to say, and I badly missed the opportunity to tell him that he was wrong about the Japs admitting to most of their wartime atrocities, and let  him get by with the false assertion that since they admitted their atrocities, they would have admitted to AE.  They’ve barely admitted the Comfort Women and have never fully come clean about such things as the Rape of Nanking and their biological warfare horrors. I really feel bad about blowing that sequence. 

    All who have contacted me have been highly critical of JB, and say I behaved in a professional, “knowledgeble and authorative” manner, among other positive comments. Bohannon may have thought I was a nut job to begin with, but that can only mean he had no regard for the man’s judgement who recommended me for his show, Charles Heller of Liberty Watch Radio, in Tucson, Ariz., whose efforts I much appreciate and who gets no blame and only thanks here.  But in the end, I think Bohannon, jaded and cynical as he is at 69 after so many years of late night radio, knew he was wrong and I had won over most of those in the audience with two brain cells to rub together. Once we got more into the evidence of the case in the second half hour, I noticed he grudgingly showed a bit more respect for me.

 

    Bill Prymak, the greatest living Earhart researcher, 85 and nearing a birthday in late March, told me today he was proud of me for the way I recovered in the second half of the program and stood up to Bohannon.  That meant a lot to me.  If I wasn’t so aware of his lofty status as one of the USA’s top 100 talkers and an elder statesman of radio, so to speak, I think I would have been able to stand up to him sooner.  This is another encounter that proves age and experience don’t always guarantee wisdom. Live and learn. As it is, we sold a few books that wouldn’t have been sold had I not gone on the show, but nothing like I had hoped. 

 

     At this point I can see that the days of radio interviews about Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, and indeed, this blog, are severely numbered. Recently I completed contacting every talk radio station in the country, many hundreds that I refuse to count exactly, and I have been ignored by well over 99 percent of them. I can take a hint.

Feb. 16: Rich Martini, D. Michael Harris on Saipan

Hollywood director Rich Martini and D. Michael Harris are on Saipan, and Martini is chronicling their efforts in a new blog titled,  “Earhart on Saipan.”  According to Woody Rogers of the Amelia Earhart Society, D. Michael Harris is the producer of “Deadly Fathoms”, the 1971 movie about the ghost fleet at Bikini Atoll.  Harris also accompanied T. C.  ”Buddy” Brennan on his expedition to the mid-1980s, a venture that became Witness to the Execution, published in 1988. Rogers says Harris’ only connection with Titanic is that he searched for the ship in the early 1980s and was unsuccessful, but that Harris’ son G. Michael Harris “brought up the majority of the artifacts from the ship in 1999-2000 that comprise  almost everything you can see in the ‘Ship of Gold’ touring displays.”  

     Martini says they’re finishing up with the paperwork for the permits to dig in search of the Earhart Electra, ostensibly under the former Aslito Airfield, now Saipan International Airport, but this will never happen, and Martini apparently has no clue.

     I cannot fathom Saipan officials, i.e. the U.S. government, granting anyone permission to look for the Electra anywhere near the vicinity where it actually is. Note that not a whisper of this has been heard in the media anywhere, contrary to the media blitz we get every time TIGHAR wastes another fortune in their endless returns to Nikumaroro.  So far Martini has nothing new to offer, but as usual, he’s trying to make quite a big deal of it, as only Martini knows how to do. He’s talked to relatives of some of Fred Goerner’s original eyewitnesses, and is trying to portray himself as a real journalist.  He might be fooling some out there, but not this observer.

     In his Feb. 16 posting, Martini writes: “One of our interviewees shared a photo with us of Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal (He became Secretary after the death of Frank Knox in 1949)  There are no known photographs of Forrestal on Saipan – until this one.” (Italics mine.)  “He’s standing with General Holland and Admiral Nimitz.  For those who are well versed in Earhart stories, Thomas E. Devine (there’s a clip of his interview on the right side of the page) was convinced that he saw Forrestal here during his tour of duty. 

     “Our research shows that Devine may have seen a gentleman who looked like Forrestal in June of 1944 when the plane was first found, and then perhaps he saw Forrestal himself at a later date.  Or it’s possible that Devine was accurate – but this is the first we’ve seen any photo of the Secretary on Saipan. This was taken just prior to his visiting Iwo Jima.”

      Martini, who likes to call himself a “journalist,” outdoes himself in this one. Can someone please tell me who ”General Holland” was? Is it possible that this person was actually Marine General Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, who led all American forces during the Saipan invasion? And what of Martini’s claim that no photo of Forrestal on Saipan was known to have existed before the one he displays on his blog?  A quick search shows this 1945  photo of Forrestal and Nimitz “arriving on Saipan,” on their way to Iwo Jima in February 1945, for sale on eBay.

     Wikipedia tells us that  USS Eldorado (AGC-11) sailed on 27 January 1945 for the Marianas and further preparations for the assault on Iwo Jima. She also carried General Holland Smith, USMC, and his staff, and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and his party when she sailed from Saipan on 16 February for Iwo Jima.

      No doubt many other photos of Forrestal on Saipan can be unearthed by an enterprising “journalist,” but don’t expect Martini to do it. He’s too busy making another outrageous claim to fame in the Earhart search. Just the latest installment of the clown show that is Rich Martini and Mike Harris on Saipan. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode.

 

Jan. 18, 2013: The Admiral Nimtz Museum Travesty

On Jan. 3 of the new year, the retail sales manager at the Admiral Nimitz Museum coldly, without apology and without even reading it, rejected the book that reflects and expands upon Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s revelation to Fred Goerner in 1965, a year before Goerner’s bestseller The Search for Amelia Earhart was published. Search immortalized the famed admiral’s statement to the San Francisco radio newsman that Earhart “went down in the Marshalls and was picked up by the Japanese.” My letter to the museum directors appealing this decision was ignored; even the simple decency of a response was refused me. 

     If my book, Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, belongs anywhere, it belongs in the bookstore at the Nimtz Museum, where Fred Goerner’s files are kept and from which I gleaned so much enlightening and unpublished information related to his quest to prove Earhart and Fred Noonan’s deaths on Saipan. But the Nimitz Museum has joined 170 aviation museums and nearly 100 percent of the mainstram media who refused to recognize the existence of a book that threatens their sacred cow. Clearly, they much prefer the lie of the never-ending,  irresolvable mystery.  It’s so much more romantic that way, and uncomplicated.   

     A significant number of those who refuse to accept the truth in the Earhart case — even so-called ”Earhart researchers” who insist on their own imaginary version of events and ignore the obvious — will have no problems with the museum’s decision. They will say its directors have every right to reject this or any other book from their store. Of course that’s true, as is its corallary, my right to vehemently protest this outrage in any way possible, and to bring the public’s attention to the feckless policies that apparently now inform the Nimitz Museum’s leadership.

     More on this travesty at the linked story below, which was published today. Sincere thanks to Glenn MacDonald of MilitaryCorruption.com for his unwavering support of this book and this worthy cause.

                 http://militarycorruption.com/earharttruth2.htm

               ADMIRAL NIMITZ MUSEUM BETRAYS NAMESAKE
                      REJECTS NIMITZ-FRED GOERNER LEGACY, 
               BOOK THAT PRESENTS TRUTH IN EARHART CASE

Dec. 31, 2012: Charles Heller, Earhart enthusiast

Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last turned 6 months old on Dec. 21, and despite some nice reviews from a few discerning critics, notably Glenn MacDonald of Military Corruption.com,  Dave Martin of DCDave.com, and the considerable efforts of Joel Freedman, whose persistance paid off with the Oct. 24 spread in the Knoxville News Sentinel, our most visible coverage to date, sales have hit a brick wall and the book remains unknown to more than 99 percent of the American public.  Virtually no one comes to this blog, so I wonder about my sanity in continuing to write new entries.

    In my ongoing efforts to find a receptive audience, I contacted Charles Heller, a weekend talk show host with KVOI AM 1030, in Tucson, Ariz. Charles is the host of “Liberty Watch” and “America Armed & Free,” which air from noon to 2 p.m. MST on Sundays. On his website, http://www.libertywatchradio.com, Charles describes his show as “dedicated to the principle of eternal vigilance, based upon the free flow of information about government, technology, current events, and our steadfast Constitution, So that citizens can give informed consent, the bedrock of our Republic, and government remains the servant, not the master. Let us each honor the privilege it is to live in God’s great nation.”

    Charles was immediately interested in Truth at Last, but warned me that I would have to work hard to change his views.  On his show, he told listeners that every year or two he reads a book that changes his mind about something, and Truth at Last is one of these books. We had a good interchange on the air, and Charles summarized the interview on his archives page thusly:

Mike Campbell is about as committed to his work as any man I have interviewed. First for 10 years in the Navy, then for 30 as a journalist for the Department of Defense, Campbell was a dedicated public servant. He also has written 2 books on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. “Amelia Earhart: The Truth At Last,” documents all the evidence and witnesses who saw her on Saipan in the custody of the Japanese. Mike talks about the massive multi-governmental cover up of the details. Fascinating 48.43.

          Here’s the audio link: 12 30 12 America Armed & Free

    Charles has pledged to do what he can to connect me with other talk show hosts, and says he specializes in helping people with worthy causes through his networking expertise.  He has other idea about how to get the word out about the book, i.e. “market” it, and I certainly hope the hosts he has in mind  will be half as supportive as Charles has been since he read Truth at Last. As Charles Heller has demonstrated once again, true interest in the Earhart matter is an acquired taste and is not for everyone. But every once in a while, I meet and, through the power of  Truth at Last, convert a new “Earhart enthusiast,” as Thomas E. Devine described me in signing his book upon the conclusion of our first meeting, in February 1990 at his West Haven, Connecticut  home.

Dec. 14: Jessica Renshaw and Mike Shinabery

Nothing significant to report since last time until now, such is the state of the establishment’s blackout of Truth at Last.  As an example of the resistance this book encounters daily, I recently contacted 170 aviation museums with gift shops in USA, got just five responses and have sold ZERO books so far! You would think AVIATION MUSEUM GIFT SHOPS would love this book, but not so. Their sacred cow is threatened, and their immediate response is to bury their heads in the sand.

     Over a month ago I saw a brief story on a blog called “hiddeninjesus” about Amelia Earhart’s death on Saipan, and I contacted the owner, Jessica Renshaw, to tell her about Truth at Last.  Although she wouldn’t commit to much at the time, later, after I sent her a copy of the book, she wrote this very nice review on her blog, and added another one on the book’s Amazon site.  Jessica is the daughter of famed anti-nuclear activist Earle L. Reynolds (October 18, 1910 – January 11, 1998) who was a famed anthropologist, educator, author, Quaker and peace activist, according to his Wikipedia entry:

He was sent to Hiroshima by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1951 to study the effects of the first atomic bomb on the growth and development of exposed children. His professional discoveries concerning the dangers of radiation later moved Reynolds into a life of anti-nuclear activism. In 1958 he sailed with his wife Barbara, two of his three children and a Japanese yachtsman in the Phoenix of Hiroshima, a ketch he had designed himself, into the American nuclear testing zone in the Pacific. In 1961 the family sailed to the USSR to protest Soviet nuclear testing. During the Vietnam War Reynolds and his second wife Akie sailed the Phoenix to Haiphong to deliver humanitarian and medical aid to victims of American bombing.

    Jessica, now entering her golden years and living in Long Beach, Calif.,  spent much of her childhood sailing the Pacific with her father and family, engaged in adventures the rest of us could have only dreamed about.  She knows people on Saipan who long ago told her of Amelia’s presence and death there, which Jessica says is “common knowledge” on Saipan. Perhaps among some of the elders there, this remains so, but I’ve been told by others who have had personal experiences with the intelligencia on Saipan that the TIGHAR lie is predominant now on the island, and talk of Earhart and Noonan’s deaths there is verboten.

 

    Was on the Michael Shinabery Show, Alamo AM 1230 Talk in Alamogordo, New Mexico, yesterday morning for an hour, and he asked me to come back later in January.  I met Mike as a result of my aviation museum mailing, by far the best – and probably only good thing — all that effort produced. Here is the MP3 link:

Thursday, December 13th (40mb mp3)

Next, will begin contacting small and mid-size town radio talk show hosts, and hope for just a bit more success.

 

Nov. 23: Media update

The long-awaited Broomfield (Colo.) Enterprise story on Bill Prymak appeared in the twice-weekly newspaper’s online edition Nov.  21.  The piece, written by the paper’s only full-time news reporter, Megan Quinn, wasn’t bad, considering how little time these too-busy wage slaves at the small papers actually devote to their feature stories these days.

    “For the past 27 years, Broomfield resident Bill Prymak has studied Earhart’s final journey as the head of the Amelia Earhart Society, a group of researchers and history buffs who share theories and information across the globe,” Quinn wrote.  “At the height of his research in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Prymak traveled four times to the Marshall Islands, where he interviewed potential eyewitnesses who said they saw a plane crash in 1937.”

    Quinn went on to describe Bill’s encounter with Joro, one of the elders on Mili Atoll’s Enajet Island, circa 1989, which is presented at length in Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last.  “Prymak said Joro described a ‘lady pilot’ crash-landing on the inner coral reefs of Barre Island,” she wrote. “In an interview with Prymak, Joro said the Japanese, who occupied the area at the time, ordered ‘all able-bodied men to assemble in the village of Port Rhin at Tokow Channel, next to Barre Island.’ The Japanese threatened to behead any islanders who talked about the mission, Joro told Prymak.”

    Quinn took a few liberties when she referenced me in the story, even taking a sentence from the introduction to Truth at Last and making it sound as if she had interviewed me. But she did plug the book, writing, “Prymak’s research is featured in Mike Campbell’s new book, ‘Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last.’  Campbell’s book makes the case for Earhart’s demise at the hands of the Japanese military.”

    Quinn’s story was immediately picked up by the Boulder Daily Camera, the Craig (Colo.) Daily Press, and amazingly, the Denver ABC affiliate, Channel 7, which put the story on their website. Sadly, all this coverage of Bill’s story had no effect on sales of the book. It was as if nobody read past the first few paragraphs of the story.  All in all, I was happy to see Bill get some well-deserved ink, but extremely disappointed that the fairly dominent mention of Truth at Last in the story simply did not translate into any sales at all.