WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:31.920 Welcome back to the Path went Chili. 2 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.600 I'm Robin, I'm Jules, and I'm Ashley. Let's dive right 3 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.880 into this week's case. 4 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:44.759 July tenth, nineteen fifty eight, Monterey County, California. Twenty six 5 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:48.759 year old First Lieutenant Paul Whipkey leaves Fort Ord, the 6 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.079 Army base where he stationed, but he fails to return 7 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.359 and is declared a deserter. Thirty days later, five weeks 8 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.920 after you went missing, Whipkey's abandoned car is discovered nearly 9 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.439 five hundred miles away in a remote section of Death Valley. 10 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.519 Since Whipkey's body cannot be found, the Army believes he 11 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.879 suffered a mental breakdown and wandered into the desert and died. However, 12 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:16.040 Whitpkey's family discovers troubling discrepancies to make them believe the 13 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.680 Army staged his disappearance, possibly because he was recruited for 14 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:23.280 a secret mission. In nineteen eighty two, the Army officially 15 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.599 changes Whipkey's status from deserter to die in the line 16 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.560 of duty, but he's never found and the full truth 17 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.480 about what actually happened to him remains unknown. 18 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.719 After that, the Path went Chiley. Today, we've got a 19 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.400 very strange military mystery to cover, the nineteen fifty eight 20 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:44.120 disappearance of Paul Whipkey. This case was once featured on 21 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.000 Unsolved Mysteries, which did its fair share of stories about 22 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.079 servicemen who died or went missing under seemingly suspicious circumstances, 23 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.079 and the victim's families were certain that the military was 24 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:58.120 involved and orchestrated some sort of cover up. Well, quite frankly, 25 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.519 I feel that some of these segments had an overly 26 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.120 conspiratle tone, and that Unsolved Mysteries had a tendency to 27 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:08.039 exaggerate certain details to make the cases seem more mysterious 28 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.680 than they really were. However, the disappearance of Paul Whipkey, 29 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.560 a first lieutenant serving in the United States Army, is 30 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:17.560 a pretty bizarre story, and I think there are enough 31 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.400 odd details to suggest that the military knew a lot 32 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.560 more than they were letting on at the time he vanished. 33 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:27.319 Lieutenant Whipkey was stationed at Fort Orton, California, before he 34 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.159 left the base one day and went absent without leave. 35 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.919 When Whipkey's abandoned car was discovered in Death Valley over 36 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:36.960 one month later, the Army believed that he simply wandered 37 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:39.879 out into the desert and died, but there is compelling 38 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:42.719 evidence to suggest that someone else may have planted the 39 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:46.919 car there. Whipkey's family has always clung to two potential theories. 40 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.199 The Army either recruited Whipkey for a top secret mission 41 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.000 where they staged his disappearance to cover up their culpability 42 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.120 in assigning him to work on Operation plumb Bob, a 43 00:02:57.240 --> 00:02:59.759 series of atomic tests which may have caused a severe 44 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:03.000 nos get an impact on Whipkey's physical and mental health. 45 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:07.360 So we're going to explore all different possibilities in today's episode. 46 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.080 Well, I'm already in. This is a very fascinating case. 47 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.680 You don't hear a lot about cover ups where you go. 48 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:18.080 I actually believe there's some truth to this, especially with 49 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:20.120 you know, when you talk about the military and things 50 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:22.280 like that. When I hope you guys are going to 51 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:24.680 give me some evidence to show that one of those 52 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.319 two possibilities is possible where the Army actually could be 53 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.960 accountable in both scenarios. What I find really interesting here, though, 54 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.240 is that they do change the classification for him from 55 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:40.599 a wall or deserter to died in align a duty. 56 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:43.120 I think there's something to be said about that that, 57 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.759 you know, a family would think of. My loved one 58 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.560 is classified as a wall that they just abandoned their 59 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:52.800 position in the military, which is one of the most degrading, 60 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:56.159 horrible things you could do, is to desert your posts. 61 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.680 And somehow in nineteen eighty two they change it to 62 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.199 died in the line of duty. So do you know 63 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:04.520 more about that why they changed the classification. 64 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.639 Well, that's one of the most frustrating things about this case, 65 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:09.400 as we're going to talk about, because it was kind 66 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.159 of a bittersweet feeling for the family because their loved 67 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.560 one is no longer recognized as a deserter. But at 68 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.160 the same time they changed to him dying the line 69 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.879 of duty, but they don't explain why, or produce his 70 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.439 body or share any details about how he supposed Lee died. 71 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.759 And if you just drove off and wandered off into 72 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.879 the desert, that's technically not dying in the life of duty. 73 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.759 So that gives off the impression that the military knew 74 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.199 a lot more about what happened to them, but unfortunately 75 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:35.600 kept his family in the dark. 76 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.920 To me, it almost feels like that they know something 77 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.160 and they changed it to appease the family because they 78 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:46.319 didn't want further investigation. Where at least if we change 79 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.839 it from this, you know, horrible mark on his record, 80 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.279 maybe there is some solace there in the family. We'll 81 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:52.879 move forward. 82 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.199 This reminds me of the plot of the show on 83 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:02.000 Paramount plus Linus of the current season, where she's recruiting 84 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.920 a new Lioness, which is somebody to go out and 85 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:06.639 work in the field, and she ends up recruiting somebody 86 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:09.800 who's in active duty in I can't remember Iraq at 87 00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:13.759 that moment, and she's flying helicopters and they basically have 88 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.480 to get her a dishonorable discharge, like a fake one, 89 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.680 so that she can come in believably and work and 90 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:28.000 then infiltrate this gang in Mexico because they're somehow orchestrating 91 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:31.560 these attacks on America like they had kidnapped a senator. 92 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:34.839 Find it really interesting that we're going to get to 93 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:38.040 explore this a little bit deeper, and we're also really 94 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:40.319 lucky to have Ashley on this case because her father 95 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:44.120 was a marine and Ashley spent time as a professor 96 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:48.319 at the Citadel, so she's military adjacent and she's one 97 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:52.319 of the best people when it comes to opinions on institutions, 98 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.160 So I'm really excited to hear your takes Ash. 99 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.480 Thanks Jules. Yeah, I'll tell you what men and women 100 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.319 and who serve our country. They are my hero. My 101 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:04.920 dad is a marine. He obviously retired after Vietnam, but 102 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:09.040 once marine, always a marine, and he's literally my hero, 103 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:10.639 and so are all the men and women who serve 104 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:14.480 our country. I do get frustrated with the institution of 105 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.920 the military, like you mentioned, but I think that's all institutions. 106 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.600 So I can't wait to hear more about what happens 107 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:23.680 to Paul and these missions that they could have sent 108 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.240 him on, because in my gut, I'm feeling like the 109 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:29.800 Army feels some accountability or that classification just would not 110 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:30.519 have changed. 111 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.279 Our story begins in California in nineteen fifty eight. Our 112 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.600 central figure is twenty six year old Paul Whipkey, who 113 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:45.399 originally hails from Murriesville, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, 114 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:47.959 Whikey went on to earn a civil engineering degree at 115 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.680 Pennsylvania State University and was an honors graduate in the 116 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:55.439 Reserve Officers Training Corps, where he received his Army commission 117 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:59.639 as an officer. After completing basic training in nineteen fifty four, 118 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.519 Whipkey began aviation school and eventually earned his Army's pilot wings. 119 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.839 In July nineteen fifty six. He would be posted at 120 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.240 Fort Ord, located in California's Monterey County, and achieved the 121 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.680 rank of first lieutenant. After nearly two years there, he 122 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.560 was assigned the duties of company commander. On the afternoon 123 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:22.879 of July tenth, Whickey left Fort Ord in his nineteen 124 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.160 fifty six red and white Chevrolet. He told his friends 125 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:27.680 that he was planning to get a drink in the 126 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.600 town of Monterey, which was located less than a mile 127 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:34.360 away from the base. However, Whipkey never returned to the base, 128 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.959 and when he failed to surface by morning, he was 129 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:42.079 declared absent without leave aka a WALL. After thirty days past, 130 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:45.079 Whipkey had still not turned up, so the Army officially 131 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.839 declared him a deserter, But the case would take a 132 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:52.160 bizarre turn only one week later. On August seventeenth, over 133 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:56.240 a month after he originally went missing, Whipkey's abandoned Chevrolet 134 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:59.279 was discovered by a fishing game warden in a remote 135 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.759 section of Death Valley. The desolate location is nearly five 136 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:06.000 hundred miles east from Fort Ord, forty two miles from 137 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.360 the nearest town, and fifteen miles from the main road. 138 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:12.240 The Keys were still in the ignition and a suitcase 139 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:15.720 containing some of whip Key's personal belongings and his military 140 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:19.079 dog tags was found inside the vehicle. Well, there are 141 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:22.160 no obvious signs of a struggle or foul play. Whippi 142 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:23.879 himself was nowhere to be found. 143 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.560 This is really interesting because he's dedicated his career to 144 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.399 the army and he's even become a pilot. That's such 145 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:38.279 an amazing opportunity in the military, and he's really achieving 146 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.960 these ranks very fast. It seems like they put a 147 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:45.360 lot of responsibility in with him and that they trust him, 148 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:49.039 and they're using him as a leader in his position 149 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:52.960 and in his station, and so it's odd, it's odd behavior. 150 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.159 This is not some enlisted kid who comes in. This 151 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:58.360 is someone who's making a career out of the military, 152 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:02.360 and so for him to quote a wall, it really 153 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:07.159 is a fascinating scenario because he has such heavy steak 154 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:11.399 in the military. He has a clout and position and 155 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:13.639 so for him to go all the way through to 156 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.320 become a pilot and then just to abandon the military 157 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.440 does seem quite odd. Of course, when mental health is 158 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:23.000 to play, that can always be something that doesn't quote 159 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.879 make sense or doesn't really follow the normal script of 160 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:29.200 how people behave. But this is the fifties, and so 161 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:31.919 at the time, how much would we have known and 162 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.360 how many signs would you have picked up on if 163 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.279 he was in fact struggling with mental health. So I'll 164 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:40.679 be interested to hear more about that, but very odd, 165 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.720 given again that he has worked so diligently to achieve 166 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:46.879 so much in the military, and it goes to do 167 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:50.000 what a lot of military men and women do. They 168 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:52.440 go off to have a drink and hang out with 169 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:55.159 friends when they're not at their posts. 170 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:57.519 Yeah, we're going to go into more detail about this 171 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.559 later on, but it sounds like by all accounts, Whipkey 172 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.440 did have a stellar service record, but he got involved 173 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.639 in a particular operation which did cause a change in 174 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.399 his behavior, and if he was having mental health struggles, 175 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.000 this could have been the source of it. But overall, 176 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:13.600 it sounds like it would have been bury out of 177 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.159 character for him to just desert his post and then 178 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.480 just drive away, and the fact that his vehicle was 179 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.679 found five hundred miles away from the base in pretty 180 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:25.799 much the hottest climate in the United States is particularly unusual. 181 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.480 Investigators attempted to attrack Whipkey's movements after he left ford 182 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.440 Or on July to tenth. It turned out that later 183 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.440 that same day, Whipkey had apparently driven over three hundred 184 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.120 miles to Mojave, as his signature was on the guest 185 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:43.360 registry of a local establishment called White's Motel. A receipt 186 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:45.639 was found in Whipkey's car which showed that he purchased 187 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:49.000 fourteen gallons of gasoline in Mojave on July the eleventh, 188 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.200 and the spot where the Chevrolet was abandoned was approximately 189 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.720 one hundred and forty five miles from this location. The 190 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.799 Army concluded that Whipke likely suffered some sort of mental 191 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.080 breakdown pause due to the added stress of becoming a 192 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:05.360 company commander, and this prompted him to drive nearly five 193 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.039 hundred miles to an isolated area and Death Valley. He 194 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.720 subsequently watered out into the desert and succumbed to the 195 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:14.759 extreme heat, which could reach temperatures of up to one 196 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:18.879 hundred and twenty degrees fahrenheit in July. The army believed 197 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.039 that the shifting sands of the desert would make it 198 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:25.159 nearly impossible to recover Whipkey's body, but oddly they never 199 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.519 even made an attempt to search for his body until 200 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.799 nine months after his car was found. This was just 201 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:34.000 one of the many reasons that Whipkey's family became suspicious 202 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:35.600 about the official cover story. 203 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:39.759 So I'm wondering if their excuse was that a desert 204 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:44.200 so vast that there's so many spaces that a body 205 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:47.159 could go that he could have again like they said, 206 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:50.799 you know, fall down and the sand covers him and 207 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:52.720 things like that. Did they claim that it was just 208 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:57.120 too big of an unknown place to search, like I 209 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:01.720 just don't have a pinpointed area to search enough until 210 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.519 that car's found and then they say, oh, now we 211 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:08.159 can search for his body. Do you know what extent 212 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:11.200 they actually went out and had publicity that they have 213 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:12.600 a soldier who's a. 214 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:16.440 Wall I'm trying to remember I researched this case. When 215 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.360 I did it on the trail went cold, and I 216 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:23.120 don't recall seeing many newspaper articles in newspapers dot com. 217 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:26.000 But let me just double check that. I'm just curious 218 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.080 to see no looking back on it. It really didn't 219 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.639 get any publicity at all, and this case was completely 220 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:35.919 unknown until about the nineteen eighties, which is when Whippy's 221 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.039 family started lobbying to get his status change from deserter 222 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:42.159 to died in the line of duty and they took 223 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.759 his story to the press. But prior to that, his 224 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.080 disappearance didn't get any publicity at all. 225 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.799 Paul's older brother, Carl Whipkey, a veteran who'd served in 226 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.720 the army during World War Two and covered a number 227 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:59.399 of troubling discrepancies. Carl immediately became troubled when he attempted 228 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:02.759 to call his at Fort ord on July twelfth, two 229 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.320 days after he originally went missing. Karl learned that a 230 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.559 pair of soldiers had collected all of Paul's personal belongings 231 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.559 from miss Barracks the previous day, right after he was 232 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.840 declared a wall Even though Paul would not officially be 233 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.360 declared a deserter for thirty more days, his belongings were 234 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:23.200 subsequently packed into eleven wooden crates and sent to his family. 235 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:27.440 According to Karl, this was against army regulations, as a 236 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:30.720 soldier's next of kin or legal representative are supposed to 237 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.679 be notified before their belongings are packed up. When Paul's 238 00:13:34.679 --> 00:13:38.039 car was discovered one month later, Carl only learned about 239 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:41.000 it by accident. He had made an unofficial call to 240 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:44.399 an enlisted man at Fort Ord, who subsequently phoned him 241 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.840 a half hour later. The soldier told Karl that Paul's 242 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.039 vehicle had been discovered in Death Valley, but asked Karl 243 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.159 not to tell anyone where he'd heard this because it 244 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.080 was classified information. There were more odd details about the 245 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:01.200 circumstances of how Paul's car was found. Four weeks after 246 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:04.639 he originally went missing, a rancher reported seeing a red 247 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:08.440 and white Chevrolet driving through Death Valley, about twelve miles 248 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:11.879 from the spot that it was eventually discovered. However, he 249 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.720 claimed that the driver was dressed in a military uniform, 250 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:17.519 but Paul had been dressed in civilian clothing when he 251 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.080 left board Or. In addition, a pile of cigarette butts 252 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:23.679 was found outside the car in the desert, even though 253 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:24.799 Paul did not smoke. 254 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:29.000 Very interesting, you would think that the moment a soldier 255 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:32.960 went a wall, the military would start contacting people they 256 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.559 knew to say, do you know where they are? This 257 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:39.399 is serious. Your son is missing, Your brother is missing. 258 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.240 He's abandon his post or we believe he has, and 259 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.639 see if he's been in contact with anybody. It is 260 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:49.200 also odd that you have people who have packed up 261 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.960 all of his belongings so quickly, just two days, right 262 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:56.720 after he went missing, everything's packed up. What if he 263 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.639 came back and had been in a car accident or 264 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.960 you know, they found him in a hospital somewhere, then 265 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:04.840 why was all this stuff packed up? 266 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:07.559 Yeah, you're right, it's not like this was a soldier 267 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:10.720 with a history of discipline problems who was known for 268 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.159 like going a wall and escaping off base, like this 269 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.240 was very out of character for Paul, Like he had 270 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.320 a stellar service record. So it's just very suspicious that 271 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.720 they would think, well, he didn't come back after two days, 272 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.240 let's clear out his barracks because there's no way he's 273 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:26.440 ever coming back. Even though there's so many logical reasons 274 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.039 for why he might have disappeared. 275 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.919 The family was really fortunate that Karl had served time 276 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.679 in the military as well and knew who to call 277 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.360 and look questions to ask to get this kind of information, 278 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.200 because if he didn't, like what state would the case 279 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.360 have been in, the family wouldn't have really had anything 280 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.000 to lobby for at that point because they just wouldn't 281 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.879 have had the information to move forward. 282 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:51.360 So odd that they'd be told, hey, don't share this information, 283 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:56.000 it's classified. When something's so important as his car being found, 284 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.039 it's his family, don't they have a right to know, Hey, 285 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:02.159 you're a while brother. We discovered his car and we 286 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.679 don't know where he is. That seems like something that 287 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.200 the family should be aware of. That's his well being. 288 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.600 So prior to his disappearance, Paul had stopped communicating with 289 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.320 his family, and Carl would learn a potential reason for 290 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.200 this when Karl received Paul's personal blongings from ford Ord. 291 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:23.120 They mistakenly included a list of Paul's assignments, which revealed 292 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.559 that he had been assigned a temporary duty at Camp 293 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:29.200 Desert Rock in Nevada from July into October of nineteen 294 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.039 fifty seven. This was a camp for servicemen who participated 295 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.639 in nuclear weapons testing, and this particular series of tests 296 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.639 was known as Operation Plumbbob. During this time period, a 297 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.399 total of twenty nine explosions, all of but two of 298 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.159 which were nuclear wound up being set off. Paul's duties 299 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.799 included flying an observation plane and relaying radio messages to 300 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:55.000 and from ground troops advancing on ground zero. His list 301 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.320 of assignments showed that he had logged thirteen hours of 302 00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:59.960 flying time and witness to total of five atomic tess 303 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.519 the largest of which was a forty four kiloton blast. 304 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:07.359 Carl Whipkey would later speak to his brother's commanding officer, 305 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.799 Lieutenant Colonel Charles Lewis, who said he noticed a number 306 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:13.559 of troubling changes with Paul following his assignment at Camp 307 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:17.559 Desert Rock, which may have stemmed from exposure to radioactive fallout. 308 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.640 Upon returning to Fort Ord, Paul noticed that some unusual 309 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.880 blotches started appearing on his skin, as well as black 310 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.160 moles on his body and warts on his hands. He 311 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.960 started suffering from constant colds and losing weight, and things 312 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 reached the point where Paul needed to have all of 313 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:38.000 his teeth removed before he was fitted with dentures. Lieutenant 314 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:41.279 Colonel Lewis also said that Paul's personality changed as he 315 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:45.240 became more nervous and withdrawn and had trouble delegating authority 316 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:49.000 in his new role as company commander. Much like Carl, 317 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:52.640 Lewis was also troubled by the circumstances of Paul's disappearance, 318 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.480 but claimed that when he attempted to make further inquiries, 319 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.079 he was always advised to drop the matter because the 320 00:17:58.160 --> 00:17:59.079 case was closed. 321 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.920 Because this was the fifties, I guarantee you medical care 322 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.119 was lacking when it came to what you did when 323 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.839 soldiers were exposed to these kinds of radioactive levels, knowing 324 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.440 the impact on the body would have been less than 325 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:16.759 we have now. And so when you start seeing poor 326 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:20.319 Paul literally physically fall apart, he has to have all 327 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:24.200 of his teeth removed, he's losing weight. It's clear that 328 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:30.480 radiation poisoning or something has occurred, and other military members 329 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:34.039 are concerned. Remember his brother, Carl served in the military, 330 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:38.759 and he's talking to his brother's commanding officer saying something's wrong, 331 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:43.319 and that commanding officer standing up for Paul, saying, right, 332 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.799 there's a reason why he's a leader. There's a reason 333 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:50.200 he's been put in charge of these other soldiers, and 334 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.240 yet he's failing to delegate. He's failing to behave the 335 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:58.160 way we all know he behaves, and so he's going 336 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:00.400 to bat for Paul and saying, he' all got to 337 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.880 explain to me what happened, and no one wants to 338 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:05.839 talk to, even the commanding officer. So there's a big 339 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.000 problem there. This is his subordinate that he's checking on. 340 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.279 He has a family member who's inquiring, but he himself 341 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:15.799 is inquiring and he still can't get information. It's very, 342 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:16.880 very suspicious. 343 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.400 This is so upsetting. Like listening to the list of 344 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.400 his side effects, I can't imagine how his brain was 345 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:27.000 impacted by the nuclear fallout. And to have all of 346 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.599 your teeth basically fall apart, I don't know if they 347 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:32.680 rotted or disintegrated. What happened to is the rest of 348 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:36.440 his skeletal structure, Like were his bones falling apart? As well? 349 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:39.680 To be trapped inside a body that is failing you 350 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.319 at the age that he is, the impact would be catastrophic. 351 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.559 I can't even imagine. And it would be so difficult 352 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:49.119 if you weren't able to express your emotions or to 353 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.799 be able to talk about what you did with your 354 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.559 family because the information was classified. Like my heart breaks 355 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.240 for him having to experience that. 356 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.599 Oh yeah, because this is another case where Karl was 357 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.319 lucky because he wasn't supposed to note that his brother 358 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:06.480 participated an Operation plumb Bob, and he only found out 359 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:10.000 because they accidentally sent a list of Paul's assignments in 360 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:13.000 his belongings, but otherwise, because it was top secret, Paul 361 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:15.839 never told anyone from his family about it, and they 362 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:19.079 never would have learned if Carl had not received that sheet. 363 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.039 And I'm sure that costed some awful thoughts to go 364 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:23.960 in his head because this is the fifties and nuclear 365 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.519 testing has only been around for just over a decade 366 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.279 or so, and they just probably do not understand or 367 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:32.880 they don't care about the negative physical and mental effects 368 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.559 hes could have on the soldiers who are involved, who 369 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.960 don't have adequate protection, And this would eventually skyrocket into 370 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.519 a scandal with a massive lawsuit from all the people 371 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:45.799 who were forced to participate in Operation plumb Bob and 372 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.839 did not get protection and started suffering from health issues. 373 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:51.160 And it is just a shame that Paul suffered through 374 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.640 all this, but he never really got to receive justice 375 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.519 because he went missing and was no longer around when 376 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:58.240 this lawsuit became a big story. 377 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.799 UIs had been stationed with Whipkey at count Desert Rock 378 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.039 in nineteen fifty seven and recalled an incident where he 379 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:09.440 saw two men dressed in civilian clothing speaking to Whipkey 380 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.559 and another officer on the airfield. For security reasons, Lewis 381 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:16.160 decided to approach the two men and asked to see 382 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.480 their identification, and they produced ID cards which showed they 383 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:23.279 were Army intelligence agents. Lewis said that over the course 384 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.039 of the next few weeks he would frequently see these 385 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.480 same two men return to the airfield. They conversed with 386 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:32.640 Whikey two or three times per week, and Whikey always 387 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.759 appeared to be nervous and uptight afterwards. Whenever Lewis asked 388 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:40.279 Whitkey if there was anything wrong, Whipkey always assured him 389 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:43.799 that everything was fine, but never discussed his conversations with 390 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:47.279 the two men. Louis would later express his beliefs that 391 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:50.960 these men had been affiliated with the CIA. During this 392 00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:54.640 time period, the CIA would often recruit servicemen to assist 393 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:58.200 them on classified, top secret assignments, and Lewis felt that 394 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.559 Wikey's excellent service record would have made him a promising 395 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:05.880 candidate for them. Lewis's story prompted Carl Whitkey to remember 396 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:08.559 our conversation he had with his brother in January of 397 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:11.640 nineteen fifty eight, where Paul told Carl that he was 398 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:14.640 going on assignment in which he would quote make a 399 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.920 name for himself. But before Paul could share any more details, 400 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.880 he told Carl that there were some officers near his desk, 401 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.720