Faded Glory: Dusty Roads Of An FBI Era

Very little has been covered over the years with regard to the FBI men of the Depression Era.  Some have been mentioned but merely a name here and there appearing in books, articles and more.  On the same hand, there are many who never made it to the history books or the magazine rack.  Today, hundreds of these men have literally been forgotten.   I think these men who, in reality, were the real pioneers of the FBI deserve something a little better.  While there were FBI men before and after them, the Depression decade launched a young FBI and its Agents into areas never seen before.

Efforts continue here nationwide to find the sons, daughters, grandchildren and friends of the G-men of the '30s with a view toward getting more of their own stories.   While we still have a long way to go with other research on these men,  I'm hoping we can memorialize these Agents in their biographies, their photos  and their exploits.  And at the same time, give some pictorial evidence of a young FBI and the conditions in which these men worked.  Hopefully in some instances, we can set the record straight too.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to post your comments.  You can contact me through the navigation link for our email and in most cases, I'll get back to you within 48 hours.

Don't forget to stop by the FBI's own website at:  fbi.gov where there is more historical data on the cases.

Larry Wack

Retired Special Agent, FBI (1968-2003)

William Lamar Hayes (formerly William Ramsey, IIII) at his father's grave site, that of SA William Ramsey, 2008.

During the months of 2008,  Retired  FBI Agents conducted a nationwide inquiry to locate the resting places of those Agents killed in the line of duty.  Efforts were made to insure these sites were being taken care of.

During the inquiry to locate the resting place of SA William Ramsey, we determined his only true son was still living but confined to a nursing home in Washington State.   It was determined at the time that the son, William Ramsey, III, had taken on a adopted name of William Lamar Hayes.

Our Seattle Chapter of The Society of Former Special Agents Of The FBI took the reigns from there.   Chapter chairman, Gary Pilawski said, 

"The chapter’s October 30, 2008 meeting focused on the attendance by 72 year old William Lamar Hayes, the son of FBI Service Martyr William R. Ramsey killed in 1938. He was presented with a framed 1933 credential photo of his dad that he had never seen, a FBI 100th anniversary book personally signed by Director Mueller, and a plaque from chapter members noting his dad’s ultimate sacrifice for his country. He was then escorted to his father’s grave that Hayes had never located. At the gravesite, Hayes was presented with a US Flag flown over Quantico three days earlier. A memorial service followed, presided by Seattle Office chaplain Bill Tate and attended by 33 former and current agents.William Lamar Hayes previously had a stroke, has difficulty speaking and is wheelchair bound.William Lamar Hayes’ expressions and gestures showed his overwhelming appreciation of the former agents efforts throughout the country to bring closure after many years."

The inquiry also led to the finding of SA Ramsey's only daughter, Barbara, who is now married and resides on the West Coast.

Author Bryan Burrough's book, "Public Enemies," is a well researched and a close historical account of names, incidents and more.   I cannot say the same about the movie, "Public Enemies."

There are some blatant misrepresentations of the facts and after I saw the opening of the movie with the killing of "Pretty Boy" Floyd,  I already knew the historical accuracy of the movie was headed for disaster.  The shameful distortion about these facts is that the documentation was readily available PRIOR to the shooting of the movie.  All of it was readily available to researchers for the movie if they simply looked for it.   It was right there in Burrough's book! All of it was right there in the writings of many others.  I'm sure the FBI's current historian, Dr. John Fox, was available anytime for Mr. Mann and his researchers.   In fact, during the filming, one of Mr. Mann's researchers, a young lady name not recalled, contacted me about utilizing some of the documents from this website.  I gave her full permission to use whatever she wanted; anything that would keep the movie accurate.  

Here's a few observations:

• The shooting of "Pretty Boy Floyd" was not even close to documented reports; Purvis did NOT have a rifle at the scene nor did he kill Floyd.  By his own documented admission, Purvis shot at Floyd with his .38 caliber service revolver.  Furthermore,  Floyd was killed in October, 1934, long after Dillinger was dead.  Not before the Biograph incident in July, 1934.  This one is way out of sequence.   At the time of Floyd's shooting, he was found in possession of two automatic handguns; not a Thompson sub machine gun.  The jail house scene of Dillinger meeting Purvis and greeting him as "the man who killed Pretty Boy Floyd" could not have happened simply because Floyd, as above, was killed in October, '34 long after Dillinger was already dead in July, '34!

• The shooting done by Nelson at the apartment building where he shoots apparently an Agent named "Vaughn" is perplexing.  I'm not certain which incident this might be referring to, (possibly the Helen Gillis/Marshfield Apartment surveillance) or whether it's just fiction,  but Nelson never killed any FBI Agent named "Vaughn" who Purvis is standing over in the hallway.

• Purvis' offer to resign, which Hoover turned down, was AFTER BOHEMIA, not before and surely not after the "fictitious" killing of "Vaughn."

• The "tip" that Dillinger and others were at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Wisconsin came from Henry Voss, an inside relative of the Wanakas, owners of the lodge who recognized some of the Dillinger gang upon their arrival there.  Voss was acting as a messenger from the Wanakas. It was the result of a note smuggled to Voss from the inside AFTER the gang had already arrived.  The "tip" did not come as a result of FBI Agents squeezing the head wound of some injured Dillinger bank robber.   (The report of what happened is in the navigation area)       

• The shootout scene at Little Bohemia (April, 1934) is a debacle all by itself with regard to what happened there according to the movie.   First of all, the movie shows "Baby Face" Nelson escaping Bohemia, killing Agent Carter Baum (true) and wounding SA Jay Newman, but then being chased by Purvis (on the running boards) and others and eventually killed at the end of the chase.  Fact is, Nelson wasn't killed until months later in November, 1934 in a lone shootout with friend, John Chase, Nelson's wife, and Agents Cowley and Hollis.  Purvis was NOT present at the killing of "Baby Face Nelson."  He was NOT even close to that tragic event.  During that shootout, Nelson killed Agents Cowley and Hollis, and was also killed himself.  Movie makers must have "crunched" the Bohemia shootout in April, 1934 with the Nelson/FBI shootout of November, 1934 and the shooting of John Hamilton and as a result, ended up with a chaotic distortion of what really happened.   (If memory serves me right, there was no mention/showing of Nelson killing Agents Cowley and Hollis which alone, is a shame.)

• But there's a bit more to the Bohemia incident as shown in the movie with the presence of three main characters who, by all accounts, weren't even there.   Bohemia happened on April 22, 1934.   The Agents who traveled to the location came from two contingents.  One group arrived with Purvis from Chicago; one group arrived with AD Clegg and SAC Hanni from St. Paul.  Agent Winstead's own memoirs reveal he arrived in Chicago on the Dillinger Squad in May, 1934 which I note is AFTER Bohemia was over.  The books by Burrough and Alston Purvis ("The Vendetta") show the date as May 12, 1934.

By all official file accounts, SA Charles Winstead was working in the Dallas, Texas area during the month of April, 1934 chasing down leads relative to Bonnie and Clyde.  

Also, SA's Clarence Hurt and Jerry Campbell did not join the FBI until May.   FBI records provided by the FBI's Historian, Dr. John Fox,  clearly show that Hurt entered on duty with the FBI on 5/23/34 and went directly to training.  He did not appear at the Chicago Office until 6/25/34, one month later.  Records show Campbell in the same training class with Hurt on 5/23/34. 

Additionally, reports after the Bohemia shootout in file clearly reveal that it was Purvis,  and other named Agents, including SA Carter Baum,  who fired upon the vehicle containing the innocent CCC workers.  Purvis' Thompson machine gun jammed at one point.  The scene of Winstead and Hurt standing with Purvis doing the shooting at the car is not accurate according to official reports.

• Everything available reveals that Winstead, Hurt and Campbell were not even at Bohemia.  Thus, even the "train scene" of them arriving BEFORE the Bohemia shootout at the Chicago, FBI is not accurate.  A June 1, 1934 FBI inquiry into the Bohemia incident reveals statements obtained from approximately 28 Agent personnel present.  That document DOES NOT reveal that Winstead, Hurt or Campbell were interviewed.  Why?  Simply because by all accounts, they just were not there. 

• Gangster, "Red" Hamilton was NOT shot by either Winstead or Hurt while being chased through the woods from Bohemia with Dillinger.  The shooting of Hamilton (and his eventual mortal wounding) came at a bridge crossing near Hastings, MN.  A policeman named Fred McArdle and several deputies ended up in a running gun battle with Dillinger, Hamilton and Homer Van Meter, all of whom had escaped from Bohemia.  That battle occurred on the Monday after the Bohemia shootout.  This is well documented.   

• It was interesting to see the approach of Purvis and the Agents to the Bohemia lodge conveniently done without the barking dogs, contrary to documented reports,  and which barking dogs alerted the gang inside to the coming Agents.  The dogs were not reported  to be there in the real event. 

• In reality, it isn't fair to give all the shooting credit to Winstead in the Dillinger killing.  Agents Clarence Hurt and Herman Hollis also fired at Dillinger at the same time Winstead fired.  Granted however, that in all probability it was actually a shot from a .45 that Winstead carried that made the fatal head/cheek wound.  In 1970, SA Winstead told the Society of Retired FBI Agents' magazine, "The Grapevine,"  that although he tried to hear, he DID NOT understand what Dillinger said as he lay dying.  There was never any report from Winstead revealing Dillinger telling him to tell Billie goodbye.   Winstead's report of what he did that night, along with the other Agent's reports, are at this site.  He makes no mention of hearing anything Dillinger said. 

I had heard from quite a few that Mann's attention to historical facts was paramount.   Now I can sit back and tell myself that my "gut feeling" was right all along.  It was never going to happen.

It wasn't the FBI who killed Dillinger and his gang, or a self inflicted wound later in life that killed Purvis ......it was Hollywood.  And nothing in this regard has changed in decades .............

So what did you and the American Public get?   You can tell us here.

Feel free to post your observations................

Larry Wack, Retired SA, FBI - 1968-2003