[quote=George Lander;43932]Francis: From what my friend tells me and what is said in Alston Purvis' (Melvin's son) book "VENDETTA", Melvin Purvis looked on J. Edgar Hoover as a surrogate father figure. It is true that several innocent CCC workers were accidentally shot (friendly fire) at Little Bohemia, however Purvis and his men were under fire from a number of gangsters there including Machine Gun Kelly all of whom later escaped out the back of the building. When Dillinger was killed he was carrying the Parker under his coat plus a Colt 1911 in his belt. I think that Purvis was anything but a FUBAR. He just got screwed over by the man that he admired most and who gave him some faulty intel.
Bill: I'm sure that, as Francis said, the Parker probably was stolen by Dillinger but it will be interesting if the research letter shows who it was originally consigned to. I'm going to take some pictures of it next week when I see my friend again and also the PGCA letter when it arrives and I'll post them here. He really wants to find someone to make a high quality display case for it along with Purvis Colt 1911 that he was carrying when Dillinger was killed.
Best Regards, George[/So we can add Melvin Purvis's name to the list of others in a command position who were screwed over by high-ups on the C of C-- Lt. William Calley USA 1968 comes to mind-- But George, your usage of the mis-nomer "friendly fire"- huum-- it is true Dillinger and MG Kelley and others escaped from the shoot-out at Little Bo, but I think about a term from another George- in this case the late George Carlin- who once posed this conundrum-- "If fire fighters fight fires, and crime fighters fight crimes, what exactly do freedom fighters fight then?-- USA Ranger (Airborne) and former NFL star Pat Tillman- supposedly died due to that Fubar- and a few Officers got "fragged", but if I had been Purvis and found out that my orders lead to the tragic death of three CCC workers- it was dead dark night, few lights at the Bohemia. Purvis wanted to impress John Edgar Hoover- judged with 20-20 hindsight, he should have held his position, called in back-up and covered all the back roads and lakes, and waited until daylight, and tried to get Dillinger to surrended-
J. Edgar Hoover and "Tricky Dick" Nixon- two men who abused the power of their office to punish in a petty way anyone they felt was against them- and Hoover was a cross-dressing nutcase- he held so much power that even LBJ- no "panty-waist" and the below the belt infighting of politics in DC was cautious in his dealings with him-- Just as Nixon like to such down Scotch aboard the Prez. Yacht and plot and scheme, J. Edgar loved to bet the ponies- and his underworld "ties" arranged for him to win on "rigged races"--At least Dillinger was a "in your face" criminal, not a "behind your back variety" like Nixon and Hoover--If we hadn't had the Volstead Act and the Suffrage act that enabled many tee-totaling well meaning but ill-advised ladies new power, Capone would have been just another pimp in Five Points NY (aka- Hell's Kitchen) and Hoover would have remained a shiny-#@@ed office clerk in the Treasury Dept-- IMO anyway
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