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Speaker 1: We imagine summer camps as a sunny escape of swimming

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in the lake, troop chants, and freedom from parents. The

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reality is that these isolated campgrounds have often served as

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a front for something much darker. From NDA's and employee

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recycling to Project Monarch. Follow Me down the rabbit Hole

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on Cannon Cook. Hello, friends, and welcome back to the

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rabbit Hole. I'm your host, Danny, and today we are

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talking about Cannon Cook, the camps associated with it, all

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of the ministering that they do all around the world,

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and how shady it is. So I think we need

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to give a special thanks to the Facts about Cannonook

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Advocacy Group for compiling a detailed, vetted resource of Cannicook

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camps and like all the crazy things that have gone

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on there. We use them as a heavy resource for this,

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but they actually just have most the information when it

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comes to the sexual abuse scandals that the camp has

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had going on before we get into it. Of course,

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I'd love to thank our sponsors, so thank you Wise

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with Gold for sponsoring my podcast. Guys, if you want

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golden Silver delivered straight to your front door for as

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little as fifty dollars a month, go to a rabbit

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hole dot gold right now. That tells them that you're

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shopping with us, and it helps us support the podcast.

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We really appreciate it. Also, if you want to support

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the podcast, we have a cool merch store with all

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kinds of fun things in there, so go check it out.

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I will link that in the show notes. Around thirty

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million children attend at least one structured summer camp program

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each year, which is about half all kindergarten through twelfth

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grade students in the United States. It's the ultimate American

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youth tradition, consisting of fresh air, swimming, and most of all,

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the total freedom of being miles away from parents. From

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character building to social skills, summer camps serve as a

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rite of passage for most youth who attend each year.

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The first organized summer camp recorded by the American Camp

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Association or ACA, was founded by Frederick W. Gunn and

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his wife Abigail in eighteen sixty one. The youth camp

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concept in the United States started in Washington, Connecticut, when Gunn,

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the headmastery of the Gunnery School which is now called

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the Frederick Gunn School, took his entire student body on

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a two week hiking and camping trip to Welch's Point

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on the Long Island Sound. The timing was no coincidence,

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so weeks after the start of the American Civil War,

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guns students were reportedly eager to experience soldier life, so

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the students, thirty boys and twelve girls, marched forty miles

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from Washington, Connecticut to Welch's Point. They lived in platoons,

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slept in large tents, and performed daily military drills to

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feel what the soldiers felt and prepare for eventual service

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in the Union Army. So it was in doctrination from

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the get go. The success of the eighteen sixty one

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trip led to a t twelve year tradition of gypsying,

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as the students called it, eventually moving the site two

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point Beautiful on Lake Warmog in the eighteen seventies. That

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was the first camp on record, and it was another

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twenty years before another camp was actually established. In eighteen

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eighty one, Camp Chakorra in New Hampshire established the modern

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sleepway model of camping. In eighteen eighty five, Camp Dudley opened,

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now known as the YMCA. It is the oldest continuously

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operating camp in the US between nineteen ten and nineteen twelve,

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the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Campfire Girls were founded.

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In nineteen twenty one, Camp at Water in Massachusetts opened

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as the first summer camp for black children. Then we

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get to nineteen twenty six. This is the year we

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saw a massive surge in the Golden age of American

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private camps, many of which were focused on Christian values

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and building character. It was in this year that the

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American Camp Association began standardizing camp best press practices, specifically

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the Summer Camp Handbook, written by Porter Sergeant, who was

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a former student and camper at the Gunnery School, which

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this book was actually distributed to all the camps. And

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at the same time, almost simultaneously, actually, the Nazi Party

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began formalizing its youth wing in Germany. In July nineteen

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twenty six, the Nazi Party's young wing was formally renamed

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the Hitler UGent or HJ for Hitler's Youth slash Bund.

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While many American camps of this era used what they

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called tribal imagery and military style drills to build character,

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that HJ used the camp structure for state indoctrination, radical ideology,

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and pre military training. The Nazi camp implemented Feurer Prince Deep,

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demanding that authority flow from the top down and followed

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without question, which sounds a lot like Project Monarch. But

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we'll get there. We're going to tie it to Project Monarch,

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I promise. The Nazi model also heavily emphasized the term

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geist to refer to a collective national spirit that superseded

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the individual. The American Character Camps and the Hitler Youth

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Bund were eerily similar. The daily ritual of the American

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camps began with a bugle call, then the flag raising,

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and the morning Watch, which was a daily devotional. They

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had squads or tribes that were led by senior counselors,

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and then at nights they told campfire stories, and their

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uniforms were often like military surplus to promote the equality

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and unity of the camp members. The daily ritual for

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the Hitler Youth Bund began with a bugle call, the

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raising of the swastika, and a daily religious service. The

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units of troops were led by a squad leader, and

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nights were spent having ceremonial hours of ideological yarns, which

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in German means to tell stories. Their uniforms were paramilitary

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brown shirts to promote uniformity. All this, like I said,

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will be important later, so just hang on to that thought. Meanwhile,

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in America, Cugahoe Camp now Cannacook Camp, located in Missouri,

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was founded by LC Ford. The story goes that it

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began with a group of Texas boys traveling to the

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Ozarks and it has grown into one of the largest

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Christian sport camps in the world. The founder and its

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successors implemented the I'm third philosophy, so God first, other second,

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yourself third. This was a move toward what is called

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self abnegation, the idea that the individual must disappear for

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the sake of the higher cause. The same year, in Hunt, Texas,

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Camp Mystic and Camp Waldemar were established. Both were all

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girls Christian camps. Camp Mystic emphasized the mystic spirit to

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build individual character. That is actually the camp that got

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washed away in Texas not too long ago. These camps

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laid the foundation for summer camps through nineteen twenty six,

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normalizing them as a rite of passage. The Handbook of

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Summer Camps, written by Star started in nineteen twenty four

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and was published annually. This handbook was the roadmap for

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camp directors and staff and an all informational guide for

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parents to follow, ensuring that each child in America would

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attend summer camp. Sergeant encouraged parents to interview camps to

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ensure it was the right fit for their child's specific interests,

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and for camps to interview youth before accepting them into

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their camp. This made sure that it was like a

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mutually beneficial relationship. The handbook was distributed across the US

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to every camp. Sergeant claimed that camps would allow kids

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to return to the primitive, re establish contact with nature,

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and to regain primitive vigor. He promoted the idea that

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the summer camp was a laboratory of character that involved

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hardening the body through cold water, long marches, and manual labor.

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In the beginning, it definitely seemed a lot more militaristic,

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whereas like now, summer camp is like this fun thing

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that kids go to to have fun. Sergeant highlighted camps

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that modeled themselves after military life, praising them for their

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orderly discipline, habits of obedience, and the camp community. He

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notes that many successful camp directors were former military men

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who brought systemized life to the woods. He emphasized that

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the individual must be subordinate to the group for the

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sake of the camp spirit. Sounds an awful lot like

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occult to me, but we're gonna go with it. Sergeant

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specifically suggested that camps were essential for preserving the vitality

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of the American stock against the strains of immigration and urbanization.

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It was around this time, like nineteen twenty six timeframe.

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The reason that there was a boom in camps is

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because that's when kids were no longer allowed to work.

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So up until the early nineteen hundreds, kids were working

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in factories, and then all of a sudden they were like, oh, whoa,

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We're gonna put in some child labor laws. So with

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the child labor laws, parents still needed to work, so

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they needed to send their kids off somewhere the entire

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summer while they were out of school, So summer camps

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became very popular. Between the thirties and the sixties, there

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was another massive movement in summer camps. The National Park

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Service built infrastructure for public camps through the New Deal,

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and Camp Mystic, along with many other camps across the country,

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began leasing its property to the federal government to serve

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as rehabilitation centers for veterans, which sounds great in theory.

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the New Deal. It used

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the Civilian Conservation Corps or Triple C to create camps

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in national parks and forests. The program employed young men

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ages eighteen to twenty five to enlist in work programs

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that performed vital conservation work such as building roads, trains, dams,

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and park structures, developing the park system while providing jobs

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and income. During the Great Depression, the parks were managed

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by the Army and supervised by the National Park Service.

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These parks, although considered national treasures today, were not exactly

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wanted by the citizens who lived in the area the

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parks were to be placed. One park was even deemed

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a social engineering park in nineteen thirty three. The Gateway

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arch Project, then the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was the exception.

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Most national parks were created to preserve existing wilderness. This

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one was created to destroy the city center it saved,

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quote unquote. This would be the first time the federal

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government used its power to clear a massive urban site

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spanning forty city blocks to create a commemorative park while

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people were starving. The government capitalized on the claim that

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this was a job creation project. However, the city proposed

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spending millions of federal dollars before the design for the

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memorial had even been created. That money would go toward

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clearing the land. Forty city blocks needed to be cleared,

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and that's what they started. It was another twelve years

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in nineteen forty seven before a nationwide design competition began

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to decide the memorial's design. The area that was cleared

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was one of the oldest and most significant black commercial

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areas in the country. The clearing destroyed nearly three hundred

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black owned businesses and resulted in the loss of around

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five thousand jobs. So don't tell me this was about

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creating jobs. They just wanted to get rid of a

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black community because they only like the only few jobs

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they had. They got rid of them all in the

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name of what a national park. Is that more important

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than the black community and the jobs that they had

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created for themselves. By the way, because most of these

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jobs in this area were small businesses, but you know,

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the Gateway arch was more important. The Saint Louis Post

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Dispatch won a Politzer Prize in nineteen thirty seven for

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proving that the pro park side of this argument actually

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stuffed ballot boxes with tens of thousands of fake yes

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votes to approve the park, so the people in the

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area that voted for it didn't actually vote for it,

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and they didn't actually want it. It was fine decided

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in the late forties to use a design by the

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architect EO Saranen. However, many people claim it closely resembled

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the work of Albert Speer, Hitler's architect, who favored massive,

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clean geometric lines like the arch, although Nazi ties are

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largely disputed. Eo Saranen was a Finnish American who actually

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worked for the OSS, which was the CIA before the

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CIA during World War Two, so he may or may

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not have dealt with the Nazis. Construction for the arch

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began in nineteen sixty three and was completed in nineteen

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sixty five. The arch symbolized Saint Louis as the gateway

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to the West, although it was commonly called the Gateway

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Arch for many years prior. In twenty nineteen, President Trump

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officially signed legislation changing the name from Jefferson National Expansion

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Memorial to Gateway Arch National Park. The most significant controversy

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about the Arch is that the federal government was funding

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a major overhaul of Saint Louis, destroying primarily black owned businesses,

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and displacing many culturally diverse communities, particularly black neighborhoods. Meanwhile,

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only twenty miles away, the German American Bund, a pro

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Nazi organization, established a summer camp called doist Host, meaning

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German Nest, on the banks of the Merrimeck River. The

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camp was a direct local version of the Hitler youth

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camps that began in nineteen twenty six. They wore uniforms

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modeled after the Hitler youth, practiced military drills, saying Nazi songs,

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and gave the Sieghile salute, all while camping in the

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Missouri Ozarks. While the Arch project was being sold to

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the public in nineteen thirty three as a symbol of

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American expansion and democratic progress, the Bund was secretly taking

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route in Saint Louis. They tried to brand themselves as

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one hundred percent American Right, claiming that Nazism was the

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true version of George Washington's vision for the country. Now,

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let's rewind a little when the military least youth camps

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for veteran rehabilitation, they were also taking over the camps

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and what we now know is Operation paper Clip. So

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this operation was carried out by the government when they

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brought over sixteen hundred German scientists to the United States,

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many with deep Nazi ties. The government had to keep

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them in temporary limited military custody while their backgrounds were

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being whitewashed, and then they would get like the paper

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Clip being like this guy was he was a Nazi.

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But he's fine now right, like we're just his background

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has completely been cleared. He's good to go. The official

240
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,639
narrative places the rocket team with a well known German scientist,

241
00:14:42,679 --> 00:14:46,200
Werner von Braun, in El Paso, Texas. However, this is

242
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,320
not the only location scientists were sent to. McDonell Aircraft

243
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,720
in Saint Louis, Missouri became a hub for aeronautical engineers

244
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,879
and experts in jet propulsion, aerodynamics, and glider technology. Kurt Hohenimzer,

245
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,120
a pioneer helicopter rotor physics, was among them. Arriving in

246
00:15:03,159 --> 00:15:07,159
early nineteen forty seven. Hollen Emser worked on the Flettner

247
00:15:07,639 --> 00:15:12,039
FL two eighty two Calibri in Germany, he became the

248
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chief aerodynamic engineer for the helicopter division at McDonald. His

249
00:15:16,879 --> 00:15:19,720
work led to the development of early helicopters like Little

250
00:15:19,759 --> 00:15:23,879
Henry and Big Henry. So how exactly did they get

251
00:15:23,919 --> 00:15:27,240
away with keeping these scientists and promoting them when President

252
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Truman had an anti Nazi policy that officially prohibited anyone

253
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,919
who had been an active supporter of militarism or Nazism

254
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from participating in American government programs. This is where the

255
00:15:41,159 --> 00:15:44,960
whitewashing or bleaching comes in. So the Joint Intelligent Objectives

256
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,279
Agency or the JIOA cleaned up the security dossiers for

257
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,000
these German scientists so they could obtain the security clearances

258
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,799
needed to work with the government. Hollenimser officially joined McDonald

259
00:15:57,879 --> 00:16:01,960
Aircraft in Saint Louis. However, or his living situation is

260
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,960
described as secluded during the vetting process. In nineteen fifty one,

261
00:16:07,039 --> 00:16:11,039
he officially became the chief of Aerodynamics at McDonald, overseeing

262
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,679
the XV one convert a plane project. He spent over

263
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,759
eighteen years at McDonalds Aircraft before moving into academia at

264
00:16:18,799 --> 00:16:23,480
Washington University in Saint Louis. Ultimately, he became one of

265
00:16:23,519 --> 00:16:27,759
the world's leading experts on helicopter rohto dynamics, a field

266
00:16:27,759 --> 00:16:32,720
that directly benefited from his wartime research on the Flettner helicopters.

267
00:16:32,919 --> 00:16:35,360
And he's just one of so many scientists that we've

268
00:16:35,399 --> 00:16:38,240
talked about in so many different episodes that they brought

269
00:16:38,279 --> 00:16:41,600
over to America and then used all the German technology

270
00:16:41,799 --> 00:16:45,240
to create our own programs. But there is this short

271
00:16:45,279 --> 00:16:49,559
period when these scientists are unaccounted for. However, although we

272
00:16:49,679 --> 00:16:52,840
know where they were sent, we also know that they

273
00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:57,039
could not have been roaming around military and government contracted

274
00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,840
spaces without a security clearance. Remember, not everyone in the

275
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,480
government knew about Operation paper Clip, certainly not the president,

276
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,960
or so he said. So the question is where were

277
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,720
these secluded living spaces. We already know that during this

278
00:17:12,759 --> 00:17:15,039
time the government was taking control of summer camps to

279
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:18,359
aid soldiers. The reason is that these camps already had

280
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,960
the facilities and land to provide all the resources needed

281
00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,200
to house large groups of people in a single controlled place.

282
00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:29,920
The theory for the German Nazi scientists in Saint Louis

283
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,200
is that they were actually moved to the Ozarks, specifically

284
00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:37,000
around Lake Tannycomo. The reason for this is that the

285
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,400
already well known Nazi bun camp had been shut down

286
00:17:40,519 --> 00:17:43,279
close to Saint Louis. The city and neighboring land were

287
00:17:43,319 --> 00:17:48,160
hotspots where people were already like very alert to Nazi sympathizers,

288
00:17:48,319 --> 00:17:51,519
and the OSS just could not risk their scientists getting

289
00:17:51,519 --> 00:17:53,720
caught up in the mix and then sent off. So

290
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,720
they were like, we need to send them far enough

291
00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,000
away that they have like plausible deniability they won't get

292
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,319
wrapped up in like the Saint Louis scandals. But also

293
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,039
they need to be close enough where they can still

294
00:18:04,079 --> 00:18:07,039
work for the companies that they're working for. Right Lake

295
00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:11,480
Tanna Coomo is only four hours away from Saint Louis.

296
00:18:13,079 --> 00:18:15,920
The late Tanicomo area in the nineteen forties and fifties

297
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,680
was significantly more isolated than it is today. This lake

298
00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:23,000
runs right through Branson, Missouri, but Branson was not as

299
00:18:23,039 --> 00:18:25,640
big of a tourist town as it is today. It

300
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,839
was kind of just getting started, and so this was

301
00:18:28,839 --> 00:18:32,200
the best place for them to go. For the JIOA,

302
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,799
moving high interest individuals to private rural properties was a

303
00:18:35,799 --> 00:18:38,519
way to keep them out of the press and out

304
00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:42,000
of reach of Soviet intelligence at the same time their

305
00:18:42,039 --> 00:18:44,839
sanitized identities were being finalized, so it's like a win win.

306
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,079
There is some evidence in a long history of speculation

307
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,359
that the OSS used summer camps in private resorts in

308
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,440
the Ozarks as safe houses. Cannicook Camp was considered a

309
00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,359
private enterprise and it catered specifically to the well to

310
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,000
do an influential people of Saint Louis, like they were

311
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,759
already going there, and it has also been established that

312
00:19:06,839 --> 00:19:09,480
the owner at the time, Bill Lance, was a highly

313
00:19:09,519 --> 00:19:13,279
influential figure within the athletic and educational elite during the

314
00:19:13,319 --> 00:19:16,640
thirties and forties, and his social circles would have directly

315
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,839
overlapped with the OSS. So Bill Lance worked with the

316
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,920
OSS as an expert in hand to hand combat, survival

317
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:28,400
and physical conditioning. The Ozarks provided a perfect off the

318
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:33,200
grid retreat for consultants or foreign nationals who needed to

319
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,039
be kept out of the public eye temporarily. Canacook, which

320
00:19:37,079 --> 00:19:39,920
Bill Lance owned and already had ties to OSS, so

321
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,279
it made sense he would offer his camp to these

322
00:19:42,839 --> 00:19:47,920
foreign nationals, provided the perfect space for isolation without any questions.

323
00:19:48,319 --> 00:19:51,599
Because it was a private enterprise. It did not have

324
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,519
to answer to public oversight. He didn't have to tell

325
00:19:54,559 --> 00:19:56,559
anybody who was staying as his camp. He owned it.

326
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,200
Anybody could stay there. It's like somebody coming to your house,

327
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,279
be like, who lives here? You don't how to tell them. Yeah,

328
00:20:02,319 --> 00:20:04,680
they know who owns it because it's on the county assessor.

329
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,119
You don't have to actually tell anybody who lives in

330
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,359
your house. For additional context, McDonald Aircraft frequently used Ozark

331
00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,759
properties for executive retreats and confidential housing anyway. So going

332
00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:19,359
through the archives of the White River Leader, the local

333
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,480
brands and paper at the time, there were many mentions

334
00:20:22,519 --> 00:20:26,839
of foreign born engineers or government consultants visiting the lakes

335
00:20:26,839 --> 00:20:31,039
for recreation and study. While they were not named, these

336
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,599
visitors really stood out because of everything we already know

337
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,519
was happening at the time. James McDonald, often called mister Mack,

338
00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,720
was the founder and president of McDonald Aircraft Corporation in

339
00:20:42,799 --> 00:20:46,240
nineteen thirty nine. From nineteen thirty nine through nineteen sixty two,

340
00:20:46,319 --> 00:20:49,319
he led the shift from propeller planes to jet technology.

341
00:20:49,759 --> 00:20:53,039
As a visionary in the nineteen fifties and sixties, McDonald

342
00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:57,279
pushed the company into space exploration before NASA was even formed.

343
00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,960
Then from nineteen sixty two through nineteen eighty he oversaw

344
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,119
the merger that created the second largest aerospace firm in

345
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,720
the US. McDonald was known for being deeply spiritual, being

346
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,440
into the occult in parapsychology, and he was notably highly

347
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:18,960
secretive about his company's intellectual assets because they were Nazis.

348
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,440
He famously named his planes Phantom, Banshee, Voodoo, and Demon.

349
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,759
His personal philosophy was deeply influenced by the idea of

350
00:21:27,799 --> 00:21:32,160
mental seclusion. He believed that for his best minds to

351
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:36,640
solve the impossible, they needed to be removed from industrial

352
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:41,559
noise of Saint Louis, making the rural lakeside a perfect place. Also,

353
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,880
it's a note that Nazis really studied the occult and

354
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:49,000
really were into parapsychology and all of that. So for

355
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,160
McDonald to also be into that, I don't like. Did

356
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,599
he learn it from the Nazis? Was he a Nazi sympathizer?

357
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,400
Were they even were there even Nazis working for him?

358
00:21:59,440 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 2: I don't know.

359
00:21:59,759 --> 00:22:03,319
Speaker 1: That's for you to decide. If we look into Kurt

360
00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:06,839
Holmeinzer's US patent. We see that it was filed on

361
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,079
November twenty second, nineteen forty nine, and granted on February

362
00:22:10,079 --> 00:22:13,839
twenty third, nineteen fifty four. The timeline of this patent

363
00:22:14,039 --> 00:22:17,119
from start to finish begins in nineteen forty seven, when

364
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,720
Hohenimser adapted his German research on cyclic pitch control to

365
00:22:21,759 --> 00:22:26,920
fit McDonald's new jet powered rotor projects. In nineteen forty eight,

366
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,160
extensive data was documented on blade tip speeds and flapping instability.

367
00:22:31,319 --> 00:22:34,200
By early nineteen forty nine, physical models of the rotor

368
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,240
head were constructed. The engineering logs showing how the mechanical

369
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:44,319
linkage responded to simulated flight loads served as evidence for

370
00:22:44,519 --> 00:22:48,359
the patent filing. From nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty three,

371
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:53,359
Honimser's team had to submit supplemental data such as performance charts,

372
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,079
demonstrating that their pitch control was unique to support their

373
00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,480
claim for the patent. While the patent was penned, they

374
00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:04,720
continued gathering data on the XV one convert a plane

375
00:23:04,799 --> 00:23:07,279
and the rotor system in the patent, which was the

376
00:23:07,319 --> 00:23:11,079
core of that aircraft. When the patent was officially granted

377
00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:14,720
in nineteen fifty four, it was titled Aircraft Lifting Rotor

378
00:23:14,799 --> 00:23:18,799
and Pitch Control Mechanism and was assigned to McDonald Aircraft Corporation,

379
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:23,079
Saint Louis, Missouri. This patent was under military security review

380
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,799
and was held under secrecy orders before being officially published,

381
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,680
meaning they didn't want anybody to know who was working

382
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:36,200
on this pattern, specifically who had filed the patent. The

383
00:23:36,319 --> 00:23:39,400
gap from nineteen forty seven to nineteen fifty, which is

384
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,799
the testing period for the patent, is the exact timeline

385
00:23:42,799 --> 00:23:49,799
for Hohenimser's shadow years, when the scientists had their identities sanitized. Coincidence,

386
00:23:51,799 --> 00:23:55,880
I don't think so. But let's talk about Cannoncook, because

387
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,079
that's what we're here to talk about, right. We have

388
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,839
all these links to say that maybe these scientists were there,

389
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,920
but what else is happening at Cannicook Because it's it's

390
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,440
deeper than just Nazi scientists. As I mentioned before, the

391
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,559
camp was established by C. L. Ford in nineteen twenty six,

392
00:24:13,839 --> 00:24:17,319
so this year actually marks the one hundredth anniversary. The

393
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,440
camp was initially called Cougaho Camp on a property in

394
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,319
southwest Missouri near Branson. They now own most of the

395
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,960
property along the shore of Lake Tannacomo across from the

396
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,440
Branson Landing, which is like prime real estate. But they

397
00:24:31,519 --> 00:24:34,480
also are running their summer camps in Lampy, Missouri, about

398
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,680
forty five minutes away from Branson, along the shores of

399
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,240
Table Rock. Lake Ford was a businessman from Dallas, Texas

400
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:44,599
who had already established an all girls camp, Kickapoo Camp

401
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,000
in nineteen twenty four. His camps leaned heavily on Indian

402
00:24:48,079 --> 00:24:51,519
lore and were rooted in the back to nature movement

403
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,599
of the nineteen twenties. The name Cugaho was intended to

404
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,759
evoke Native American imagery. However, the word doesn't actually.

405
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 3: Mean any thing in any Native American language, and after

406
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,319
doing a lot a lot of digging, I found that

407
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,240
it's actually not a word in any language, like this

408
00:25:10,519 --> 00:25:11,440
doesn't mean anything.

409
00:25:11,519 --> 00:25:14,279
Speaker 1: It's just like a fun word to say, Cugaho. The

410
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,480
camp focus on outdoor skills, lake activities, and traditional summer recreation.

411
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,960
Ford provided the land and the initial infrastructure, remaining relatively

412
00:25:23,079 --> 00:25:27,680
modest until Bill Lance became involved. Coach William C. Lance

413
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,839
was an athletic director and track coach at Tulsa Central

414
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,240
High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During World War Two, The

415
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,119
OSS recruited Lance primarily for his expertise as an athletic

416
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,839
director and physical conditioning specialists. The OSS training philosophy leaned

417
00:25:42,839 --> 00:25:46,160
heavily on high level athletics to build the mental and

418
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:51,960
physical toughness required for espionage and sabotage, which is their specialties.

419
00:25:52,599 --> 00:25:55,359
He served in the Schools and Training branch, responsible for

420
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,480
taking recruits ranging from Ivy League professors to professional wrestlers

421
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,519
and them into field operatives. He also helped implement and

422
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,599
lead rigorous physical training programs at secluded sites such as

423
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:12,000
Area B in Cadocton Mountain Park, Maryland. The courses were

424
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:15,240
designed to weed out those who couldn't handle the extreme

425
00:26:15,279 --> 00:26:18,119
stress of the behind the lines work which they would

426
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,319
be doing in World War Two. In nineteen thirty two,

427
00:26:21,559 --> 00:26:25,720
he was hired as the director of Cugaho. Lance introduced

428
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,000
the I'm third doctrine along with an emphasis on athletics.

429
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:33,319
He notably integrated the OSS way into the camp, which

430
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,079
is still visible in the camp's culture today. The I'm

431
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:40,160
third doctrine was a parallel philosophy he learned in the OSS.

432
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,000
This doctrine is a belief in order and submission to

433
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,839
a high mission, which he could relate to religion and

434
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,400
to Christian's duty to God. So God first, others second,

435
00:26:52,759 --> 00:26:56,720
I'm third. After just two years, Lance bought the camp

436
00:26:56,799 --> 00:27:00,200
from Ford in nineteen thirty four. Lance believed that the

437
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,119
boy's spiritual growth was often unlocked through physical challenge. Because

438
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,880
of this, he introduced more sophisticated obstacle and confidence courses

439
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,720
at the camp, which he modeled directly after those he

440
00:27:10,799 --> 00:27:14,960
had run for OSS recruits. Lance was known for his

441
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,640
elite staffing standards as well. He began recruiting a very

442
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,000
specific type of counselor, which he called coaches, and he

443
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,400
targeted college athletes and militarymen who could model high level

444
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,279
performance and leadership, treating the camp staff like an elite

445
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,640
rather than just like seasonal employees. He wanted the best

446
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,720
of the best for his camp. Lance began working closely

447
00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:42,039
with his protege, a counselor who was hired in nineteen

448
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,519
thirty one, just a year before Lance joined the team.

449
00:27:44,839 --> 00:27:48,240
The protege was Spike White. When Lance had taken over

450
00:27:48,279 --> 00:27:52,160
in nineteen thirty two. He recognized Spike's leadership potential and

451
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,920
began involving him in the administration and philosophical restructuring of

452
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,680
the camp. Spike was one of the first staff members

453
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,319
to help plants implement the four Square Life and the

454
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,559
I'm Third doctrines. Now I've already gone over the I'm

455
00:28:06,599 --> 00:28:09,359
Third doctrine, so let's talk about the four Square Life.

456
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,759
It is very important to note that there is a

457
00:28:12,839 --> 00:28:16,599
distinct difference between the Four Square Life doctrine at Cannoncook

458
00:28:16,799 --> 00:28:20,119
and the Four Square Church, which is a Pentecostal denomination

459
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:24,160
founded by Amy Sample McPherson. The four Square Life is

460
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:29,079
an educational and development model used specifically in the Cannonicook organization,

461
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:33,920
not based on the identity of a denomination. Although it

462
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,599
does not come from the Four Square denomination, it does

463
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,440
come directly from the Bible verse Luke two fifty two

464
00:28:40,359 --> 00:28:44,319
quote and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and

465
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,960
in favor with God and Man end quote. They believe

466
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,599
that for a person to grow complete, they should work

467
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,240
on four specific areas of life. Wisdom, developing the mind,

468
00:28:56,359 --> 00:28:59,720
academic learning and common sense, stature, taking care of the

469
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,599
body through athletics, health and physical discipline, favor with God,

470
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,319
cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and understanding the

471
00:29:07,319 --> 00:29:12,160
biblical truth and favor with man, learning leadership, kindness, and

472
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,720
how to build healthy relationships with others. Under Spike and

473
00:29:15,759 --> 00:29:19,920
his wife Darnell, the camp was expanded during their ownership

474
00:29:20,079 --> 00:29:23,319
from nineteen fifty five to nineteen seventy six. In nineteen

475
00:29:23,359 --> 00:29:28,039
fifty eight, they founded Canacumo Camp, the first expansion dedicated

476
00:29:28,079 --> 00:29:33,319
specifically to girls. The expansion began what the White family

477
00:29:33,519 --> 00:29:38,559
has called a family of ministries. He continued recruiting high

478
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,720
level collegiate athletes and coaches to serve as counselors at

479
00:29:41,759 --> 00:29:44,839
the camp. However, he turned the camp's doctrines into a

480
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,599
formal curriculum that could be replicated across multiple camp sites

481
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,640
in the organization. That way, everybody's learning the same things

482
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,000
and they continue to grow their empire, so to speak.

483
00:29:57,119 --> 00:30:00,880
Spike also began developing the camp's infrastructure, which would eventually

484
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,559
lead to specialized programs for teenagers. In nineteen seventy two,

485
00:30:05,799 --> 00:30:09,240
Spike's son Joe and his wife, Debbie Joe White began

486
00:30:09,319 --> 00:30:12,720
the process of purchasing the camp. In nineteen seventy six,

487
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,960
Spike officially transferred ownership to Joe and Debbie Joe White.

488
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,519
Although Spike's time at Cannicook sounds productive with evidence of

489
00:30:20,559 --> 00:30:25,559
camper growth and staff loyalty, it was far from perfect.

490
00:30:26,519 --> 00:30:30,279
There have been numerous investigative reports in civil lawsuits that

491
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:35,400
have raised significant allegations regarding the environment established during Spike's

492
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:40,119
tenure to start The Springfield News Leader, and multiple lawsuits

493
00:30:40,119 --> 00:30:43,319
have alleged that the culture of nudity was normalized under

494
00:30:43,359 --> 00:30:47,279
Spike's leadership dating back to the nineteen fifties. This included

495
00:30:47,319 --> 00:30:52,680
communal showers and physical inspections of naked campers, practices that

496
00:30:52,759 --> 00:30:58,000
survivors claim quote created an environment vulnerable to predators end quote.

497
00:30:59,359 --> 00:31:02,960
Documentation has indicated that Cannonicook did not release its first

498
00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:07,680
formal written policy on preventing sexual abuse until decades after

499
00:31:07,799 --> 00:31:12,119
Spike's ownership ended. Decades after Spike's ownership ended, which ended

500
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,279
in nineteen seventy six, despite industry guides being available much

501
00:31:17,319 --> 00:31:21,480
earlier than that. Survivors and advocacy groups like Facts About

502
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:25,799
Kennicook have alleged that leadership throughout the entire White family's tenure,

503
00:31:26,039 --> 00:31:29,480
including the era of Spikes leadership, failed to implement background

504
00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:33,640
checks or an adequate reporting mechanism for red flag behaviors.

505
00:31:34,039 --> 00:31:37,240
One specific allegation involves a survivor who first shared his

506
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,799
story at age seventy, detailing abuse he experienced while serving

507
00:31:40,839 --> 00:31:43,279
as a young counselor at the camp during the mid

508
00:31:43,359 --> 00:31:48,279
twentieth century. During Spike's ownership, especially during the fifties and sixties,

509
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:54,319
the standard response to inappropriate behavior was private termination. They

510
00:31:54,319 --> 00:31:59,720
didn't really talk about it outside of the office. Perpetrators

511
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,480
were often disciplined or fired, but they weren't reported to

512
00:32:02,559 --> 00:32:05,680
law enforcement, allowing perpetrators to just move on to other

513
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:09,480
youth ministries or schools and then continue doing what they're doing.

514
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,160
For example, investigative reports have traced the careers of several

515
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,160
counselors who were dismissed from Cannonicook for misconduct, only to

516
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:22,400
be convicted of abusing children at other institutions years later.

517
00:32:23,519 --> 00:32:26,359
The most notable case was that of William Frinch Anderson.

518
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,160
He attended the camp as a child and later served

519
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,559
as a counselor in the nineteen fifties. He eventually became

520
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,200
a world renowned scientist, often referred to as the father

521
00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:39,640
of gene therapy, and returned to the camp for decades,

522
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,640
volunteering as the camp doctor and self defense instructor. In

523
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,440
two thousand and six, he was convicted of sexually abusing

524
00:32:46,519 --> 00:32:49,920
a young girl in California. His presence at the camp

525
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,079
for over forty years as a mentor and authority figure

526
00:32:53,319 --> 00:32:56,319
has been a cause of major concern that abused as

527
00:32:56,359 --> 00:32:59,440
part of the camp's long term culture. Now, he was

528
00:32:59,559 --> 00:33:02,480
never act actually convicted of anything at Cannonicook, but the

529
00:33:02,519 --> 00:33:04,359
fact that he was convicted in two thousand and six

530
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,519
kind of makes us assume that he was probably doing

531
00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:10,920
this well before then. Another notable case is that of

532
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,400
the Harmon family, who had been close to the White

533
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,599
family since nineteen seventy one. Frank Harmon served as the

534
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,000
camp's trip director for forty years. Although he was not

535
00:33:21,119 --> 00:33:24,880
charged with the nineteen fifties abuse cases, his son, Matt Harmon,

536
00:33:25,079 --> 00:33:27,400
who began working at the camp in nineteen ninety five,

537
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,079
was arrested and charged with child sex crimes in twenty

538
00:33:30,119 --> 00:33:35,240
twenty four. Survivors have cited longstanding family dynasties within the camp,

539
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,759
and the children were taught to trust the pillars of

540
00:33:37,799 --> 00:33:40,799
the community per the Four Square Life and the I'm

541
00:33:40,839 --> 00:33:44,480
Third doctrines, so they trusted anybody that was brought into

542
00:33:44,519 --> 00:33:48,359
the camp. And as children, you would like, you're going

543
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,200
to a summer camp that your parents are sending you to.

544
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,200
You trust your parents. You're going to this fancy summer camp,

545
00:33:53,279 --> 00:33:55,480
and you get there, You're gonna trust all these people

546
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,000
because they also claim to be Christians and you claim

547
00:33:58,079 --> 00:34:00,559
to believe in God, and you're all there to study

548
00:34:00,559 --> 00:34:03,599
the Word of God and grow closer with nature and

549
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,400
do all these fun activities, and then they're sexually abusing you.

550
00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:10,440
These are things that kids don't expect are gonna happen

551
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,159
when they go away to summer camp, and then they

552
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:15,800
trust and they trust the adults when they're there. As

553
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,079
you can probably guess, the allegations were not just centered

554
00:34:18,079 --> 00:34:21,639
around Spike's tenure. This is where things get really heavy.

555
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:23,960
So hold on and bear with me as we kind

556
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,400
of like catch up from nineteen seventy six and then

557
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,079
now like under Joe White's tenure, who still owns Kennicook

558
00:34:30,119 --> 00:34:35,760
Camps today, the Cannonicook Organization transitioned from a summer camp

559
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,199
into a year round global and eventually church status entity.

560
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,599
The church status entity would give them tax benefits. We'll

561
00:34:41,599 --> 00:34:44,239
talk about that when we get there. Once Joe White

562
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,840
took over in nineteen seventy six, he moved beyond the

563
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:51,920
summer camp and began creating year round influence through parachurch models.

564
00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:56,360
A parachurch is typically a Christian faith based entity that

565
00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:02,039
operates outside of traditional church oversight or denominational structures. The

566
00:35:02,119 --> 00:35:05,559
biggest difference is the power of governance. They have their

567
00:35:05,559 --> 00:35:08,960
own boards of directors and financial structures, meaning that they

568
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:14,119
aren't accountable to a bishop, elder board or denominational headquarters.

569
00:35:14,679 --> 00:35:18,320
The camp served as a bridge for wealthy families in

570
00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,719
Texas and Oklahoma who wanted to send their kids to

571
00:35:22,079 --> 00:35:25,719
have like this mountaintop experience that their local church might

572
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,280
not have the budget for or really the facility to provide.

573
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,239
Joe leveraged this model to create several distinct but interconnected

574
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,320
nonprofits that are legally separate but share the same leadership

575
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:42,039
and philosophy. Many critics have deemed Cannoncook a parachurch empire.

576
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,960
So what are all these different organizations? Overall? Cannonicook leadership

577
00:35:47,039 --> 00:35:51,159
under Joe White oversees thirty plus separate entities. Now, I

578
00:35:51,159 --> 00:35:54,119
can't go over all thirty plus organizations under White there's

579
00:35:54,159 --> 00:35:55,800
just way too many of them. We will get into

580
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:58,400
a lot of them, but not all of them. So

581
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,320
if you are considering sending your chile to a Christian

582
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,079
summer camp, please do the research to make sure that

583
00:36:04,079 --> 00:36:06,800
they are not associated with Kennaicook and you'll understand why

584
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,440
by the end of this episode. In nineteen seventy eight,

585
00:36:09,519 --> 00:36:12,719
K two opened for high school age campers. In nineteen

586
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,119
seventy nine, K Life Ministries was founded in Saint Louis

587
00:36:16,199 --> 00:36:20,840
and designed to keep the camp high alive through weekly clubs.

588
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,000
Clubs spelled with a K of course, during the school year,

589
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,360
so think about like the Boys and Girls Club or

590
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:31,440
any childcare type after school program for kids while their

591
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,079
parents are still working. So this happens all year long

592
00:36:34,199 --> 00:36:38,039
during the school year. In nineteen eighty three, K West

593
00:36:38,119 --> 00:36:41,960
opened in Missouri, expanding its capacity for teenage campers. In

594
00:36:42,079 --> 00:36:45,719
nineteen eighty eight, K Country opened, targeting the youngest demographic

595
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,440
ages six to eleven. In nineteen eighty nine, K Life

596
00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:53,760
Ministries Incorporated was officially incorporated as a parent organization to

597
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,119
manage the growing number of city chapters. The widest Cannoncook

598
00:36:58,159 --> 00:37:01,719
expansion began in nineteen ninety one with the establishment of

599
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:06,039
Kids Across America KAA. This camp was marketed as a

600
00:37:06,079 --> 00:37:09,679
subsidized camp for urban youth made up of about ninety

601
00:37:09,679 --> 00:37:13,119
five percent Black children who were given scholarships paid for

602
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:18,480
by sponsors and by tuition paying Kennicook families. Around the

603
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,320
same time, in nineteen ninety one, Kennicook International also called

604
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:27,639
Global Connection, began with the formation of Kennicook Haiti. In

605
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,280
nineteen ninety three, K seven opened, offering one week and

606
00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:35,440
two week terms for ages twelve to eighteen. In two

607
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:39,679
thousand and two, Cannicook Institute or KI was incorporated. This

608
00:37:40,079 --> 00:37:44,039
is a post college discipleship program where students live on

609
00:37:44,079 --> 00:37:47,239
the KI Kawaii campus, which would later open in two

610
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:51,519
thousand and six as a tropical themed family camp. In

611
00:37:51,559 --> 00:37:56,119
twenty eleven, Link Years was founded by Adam Donie. It

612
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:59,639
serves as a spiritual gap year program for high school

613
00:37:59,639 --> 00:38:03,519
graduates that aren't going directly to university. The same year,

614
00:38:03,639 --> 00:38:08,079
Cannonicook Adventure Series launched, focusing on high adventure activities such

615
00:38:08,079 --> 00:38:12,159
as scuba diving and flying. In twenty fifteen, Cannoncook was

616
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:16,880
granted church status by the IRS. This was a massive

617
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,519
shift for Cannoncook because that meant they were exempt from

618
00:38:20,559 --> 00:38:23,880
filing public Form nine to ninety tax returns, allowing them

619
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,719
to hide all their executive salaries and internal spending from

620
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,199
the public. This made it really hard for us to

621
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:33,920
track their spending because they always say follow the money,

622
00:38:34,039 --> 00:38:36,440
but churches don't have to. You don't. You can't follow

623
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,840
the money with churches. The leader of whatever church could

624
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,519
take all of the money, leaving nothing for anybody else,

625
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,519
and they don't have to report that. Granted, most churches

626
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,320
have like a system in place, like a board or

627
00:38:50,639 --> 00:38:54,280
the denominational headquarters that would tell them how to spend

628
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,199
their money, but not in this case when they're a

629
00:38:57,199 --> 00:39:02,000
parent church. In twenty twenty one, Link Academy was established

630
00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:05,559
as a basketball powerhouse prep school. It operates as a

631
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:10,280
DBA or like doing business as within Cannonicook Ministries. This

632
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,840
same year, Facts About Cannonicook was launched by survivors. This

633
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,480
brought the organization's legal history into the public eye, leading

634
00:39:17,559 --> 00:39:21,320
several churches to cut ties with the camps. In twenty

635
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:26,039
twenty four, Cannicook Expeditions launched. This moved the Cannonicook International

636
00:39:26,159 --> 00:39:30,280
or global connection model into high end adult slash family

637
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:35,079
travel in pilgrimages. In twenty twenty five, Cannoncook celebrated its

638
00:39:35,159 --> 00:39:39,119
centennial summer, heavily marketing its one hundred year legacy, all

639
00:39:39,159 --> 00:39:42,360
while actually going through litigation regarding the use of non

640
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:47,679
disclosure agreements or NDAs in sexual abuse settlements. The lawsuits

641
00:39:47,679 --> 00:39:52,880
against Cannonicook have been piling up for decades. Public records

642
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,679
and survivor advocacy sites like Facts about Cannonicook estimate that

643
00:39:56,679 --> 00:39:59,119
at least two hundred and twenty one alleged victims have

644
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,639
actually come forward, although the scale of those adversely affected

645
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,400
is in the thousands, and at least sixty eight different

646
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:11,639
perpetrators have been identified since nineteen fifty eight. The exact

647
00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:15,079
number of active and pass lawsuits is difficult to pinpoint

648
00:40:15,119 --> 00:40:19,199
because many cases were resolved through private, out of court

649
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:25,360
settlements involving extreme NDAs. The Facts about Kennicook website lists

650
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,920
a long timeline of known abusers that we are going

651
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,079
to get into. But bear with me and remember that

652
00:40:31,079 --> 00:40:34,360
we're gonna mention child abuse and suicide. So please take

653
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:38,320
care because this gets It's awful anytime it has to

654
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,119
do with children. It's awful. As we talked about earlier,

655
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:44,519
the first known abuser was doctor William Frinch Anderson in

656
00:40:44,559 --> 00:40:47,840
the nineteen fifties, who worked with Cannonicook for decades, but

657
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,960
was convicted much later in twentousand and six in California

658
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,920
for abusing a young girl. In nineteen seventy eight, there

659
00:40:54,119 --> 00:40:57,559
was Corby Dale Grimes, who was hired as a counselor

660
00:40:57,599 --> 00:41:00,519
but was eventually fired due to his touching a boy

661
00:41:00,559 --> 00:41:03,760
camper's genitals. Later, in two thousand and two, he was

662
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,760
sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing a boy

663
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,119
in Texas. So had they done something in nineteen seventy eight,

664
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,840
the boy in Texas might not have been a victim,

665
00:41:14,159 --> 00:41:19,360
but I digress. In nineteen eighty five, Chuck Price was

666
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:23,079
hired as a counselor two female campers alleged sexual assault

667
00:41:23,119 --> 00:41:25,760
in the eighties, but he was not fired until nineteen

668
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:29,920
ninety when leadership supposedly got involved. However, Price just like

669
00:41:30,039 --> 00:41:32,840
moved on to urban k Life in Saint Louis, where

670
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,800
he volunteered until February twenty twenty one. He was never

671
00:41:37,079 --> 00:41:40,000
charged criminally, never has been charged criminally, So they fired

672
00:41:40,079 --> 00:41:41,880
him as a counselor, but then he just moved up

673
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,840
to Saint Louis and joined k Life, which is like

674
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,960
the after school activity. They just relocated him. They don't

675
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,519
care that he was accused of sexual abuse or sexual assault.

676
00:41:54,079 --> 00:41:57,079
In the early nineteen nineties, ed Ringheim was hired as

677
00:41:57,079 --> 00:42:00,599
a counselor. He was later reassigned to maintenance after reports

678
00:42:00,599 --> 00:42:03,559
of being sexually inappropriate with boys. He moved on to

679
00:42:03,639 --> 00:42:07,440
volunteer at KLi Orlando. However, in twenty twelve, he was

680
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,159
convicted of seven felonies involving underage boys because again they

681
00:42:12,199 --> 00:42:15,199
didn't say anything and he continued doing what he was doing.

682
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,800
In the summers of nineteen ninety three and nineteen ninety four,

683
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:23,039
Robert Shiflett was a summer employee at Cannicook Camps, and

684
00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:26,679
he was then awarded a contract through Tailfish to do

685
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,360
web design for Cannicook Institute from twenty ten through at

686
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:34,039
least twenty seventeen. He was later convicted in twenty twenty

687
00:42:34,039 --> 00:42:38,280
one for child sex trafficking and incidents that happened during

688
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,360
his time as a youth pastor at Denton Bible Church

689
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:45,440
between nineteen ninety six and two thousand and three, Paul

690
00:42:45,519 --> 00:42:47,840
Green worked as a counselor and abused a boy while

691
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:52,039
visiting him in Dallas, which is something that was encouraged

692
00:42:52,079 --> 00:42:55,800
by Cannonicook. Green died in a car crash just as

693
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,320
police were getting ready to arrest him after getting a

694
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,079
taped confession. In nineteen ninety five, Pete Newman was hired

695
00:43:02,119 --> 00:43:04,719
and retained as a camp counselor beginning in the summer

696
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:07,800
of nineteen ninety six. Newman was a student at Auburn

697
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:12,039
University and his application to Kennicook was allegedly incomplete. But

698
00:43:12,079 --> 00:43:14,320
remember that name because we will come back to him.

699
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:17,920
Also in nineteen ninety five, Matthew Harmon was hired as

700
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:21,199
a k Wild trip leader. Harmon's parents, Hank and Diane,

701
00:43:21,199 --> 00:43:24,400
were close friends with the Whites and had held multiple

702
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,480
positions at Cannicook since nineteen seventy one. We mentioned the

703
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:29,440
Harmon family a little bit, just a little while ago.

704
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:35,079
Harmon was dismissed in two thousand for allegedly kissing a camper. However,

705
00:43:35,159 --> 00:43:37,840
in two thousand and one through at least two thousand

706
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,119
and nine he served as a ropes course instructor and

707
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:44,800
often attended K Life events in Dallas, Texas. He had

708
00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:48,000
access to Kennicook Campgrounds through at least twenty twenty two,

709
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:52,000
visiting his parents at their Harmon cabin, which is adjacent

710
00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:55,320
to the K two campgrounds. Harmon was arrested in twenty

711
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:58,119
twenty four for sexual assault of a child from two

712
00:43:58,119 --> 00:44:01,079
thousand and seven while he was employed at Providence Christian

713
00:44:01,119 --> 00:44:05,079
School in Dallas, Texas and was volunteering at Trinity Christian Academy.

714
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,960
Paul James Kerr was hired nineteen ninety seven as a

715
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,840
Cannonicook counselor and was employed until two thousand and five.

716
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:15,599
In twenty twelve, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a

717
00:44:15,639 --> 00:44:19,079
nine year old girl at a Colorado daycare. A Cannonicook

718
00:44:19,159 --> 00:44:23,159
victim has come forward with additional allegations against him. In

719
00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:26,519
nineteen ninety nine, Pete Newman was promoted to a full

720
00:44:26,559 --> 00:44:29,800
time staff member and served as the director of the

721
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:33,280
Father Son Retreats. Later that year, a parent notified Cannonicook

722
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:37,280
that Newman was leading nude activities with multiple young boys

723
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:41,159
on the campgrounds, including nude four willing and swimming, which

724
00:44:41,679 --> 00:44:46,119
is so wrong on so many levels. Who thinks nude

725
00:44:46,119 --> 00:44:49,440
four willing is like a good idea? Ever? Let alone

726
00:44:49,559 --> 00:44:54,119
as a grown man around underage boys, Like, at what

727
00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:56,159
point were you're like, you know what? This is like

728
00:44:56,199 --> 00:44:58,239
a fun little four willing trip? You know what would

729
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,599
make it better? Let's get naked? Are you kidding me?

730
00:45:02,599 --> 00:45:06,880
People are so dumb. The next year, in two thousand,

731
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:10,599
Newman was promoted to summer staff leadership and Men's director

732
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:14,480
for k Country. Also in two thousand, Joe White, the

733
00:45:14,519 --> 00:45:18,360
owner of Cannonicook, invited the pilot of his private jet,

734
00:45:18,639 --> 00:45:22,159
Robert John Morgan, to live on Cannonicook property while he

735
00:45:22,199 --> 00:45:26,639
awaited trial for charges of sodomizing a child. So Joe

736
00:45:26,719 --> 00:45:32,719
knows his private jet pilot is awaiting trial for sodomizing

737
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:34,840
a child, and instead of being like, we got to

738
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,000
keep you far away from this summer camp for children,

739
00:45:38,599 --> 00:45:41,199
We're actually going to bring you closer so you have

740
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:43,679
all the opportunity in the world to do it again.

741
00:45:47,079 --> 00:45:51,239
White actually testified in Morgan's defense as a character witness.

742
00:45:51,679 --> 00:45:55,400
Morgan was convicted of statutory sodomy and was sentenced to

743
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,239
ten years in prison, Thank god, but still ten years

744
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:01,880
not enough time. Two thousand and three, more parents reported

745
00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:06,039
again that Newman was engaging in newde activities with boys.

746
00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:11,320
His direct supervisor, Will Cunningham, recommended that Newman be terminated. However,

747
00:46:11,639 --> 00:46:15,079
Joe White overruled the recommendation and allowed Newman to retain

748
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,880
all leadership roles. Yeah, you're getting naked with the boys,

749
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:21,719
but you're good. You're fine. Around two thousand and four

750
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:24,800
two thousand and five, Matthew Overstreet was hired as a

751
00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:28,280
counselor for K two But you guessed it. In twenty ten,

752
00:46:28,639 --> 00:46:31,840
he pled guilty to sexually assaulting a child he met

753
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:33,880
in two thousand and seven while working as a youth

754
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:37,480
group intern at a church in Texas. In two thousand

755
00:46:37,519 --> 00:46:40,480
and five, Newman was promoted to camp director of K

756
00:46:40,679 --> 00:46:44,320
Country when his former supervisor, Will Cunningham, who had recommended

757
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,639
him for a termination, left his role, probably because he

758
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:52,679
realized that everybody there was messing with little kids, but

759
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:54,880
he didn't do anything about it either. He wasn't reporting

760
00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:59,239
these people anyway. Newman assumed the official role in the

761
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:02,079
summer of two thousand and six, and Cannonicook continued to

762
00:47:02,199 --> 00:47:05,719
endorse Newman as a safe mentor for boys along with

763
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:10,280
his method of hot to Bible studies because that's appropriate.

764
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:13,559
In two thousand and six, more reports were made that

765
00:47:13,639 --> 00:47:17,000
Newman was inappropriately touching boys and having late night phone

766
00:47:17,039 --> 00:47:21,960
activity with boys. However, yes, he maintained all leadership roles

767
00:47:22,079 --> 00:47:25,639
and was promoted again to be the face of Cannonicook

768
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:28,440
and promoted as a safe mentor for youth, which he

769
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:32,480
was absolutely not. What's crazy to me is that it

770
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,079
seems like every time he's reported for doing something inappropriate

771
00:47:36,079 --> 00:47:38,679
with children, he gets a promotion. Instead of getting fired,

772
00:47:39,159 --> 00:47:42,239
instead of getting reported to law enforcement, he gets a promotion.

773
00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:47,400
He was widely recognized within Cannonicook as a purity expert

774
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:52,480
and purity leader. Boys went to him and got purity training,

775
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,079
and he was like teaching them how to navigate their sexuality.

776
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,800
And then he would like travel all over the world

777
00:47:59,039 --> 00:48:02,320
giving seminars on purity. He was like talking to churches,

778
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:05,639
talking to schools. He became the public faith of Cannonicook's

779
00:48:05,679 --> 00:48:08,639
moral standards, all the while abusing the children he was

780
00:48:08,639 --> 00:48:12,760
supposed to be mentoring. What a fantastic person. In two

781
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,679
thousand and nine and twenty ten, Newman was finally threatened

782
00:48:15,679 --> 00:48:18,840
with legal action. Finally, only fifteen years after he started

783
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:23,039
at Kennicook, He eventually confessed to white and revealed the

784
00:48:23,119 --> 00:48:27,280
names of some victims. He allegedly created two short lists,

785
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:31,440
boys he physically harmed and boys he didn't physically harm.

786
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:35,599
He was finally terminated, arrested, and sentenced to two life

787
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,039
terms plus thirty years for his crimes against at least

788
00:48:39,079 --> 00:48:42,719
fifty seven victims. The total of all campers abused by

789
00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:47,679
him remains unknown. This situation uncovered that Cannoncook began pushing

790
00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:51,480
for settlements and silencing victims with NDAs. They also created

791
00:48:51,519 --> 00:48:56,119
and promoted the Cannonicook Child Protection Plan to rebrand their

792
00:48:56,159 --> 00:48:59,800
camp as a safe, gold standard camping destination. Oh my

793
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:05,079
godsh Lacy Joe Cunningham served as a counselor at K

794
00:49:05,159 --> 00:49:08,679
two from twenty ten to twenty twelve and held leadership

795
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:12,679
positions as unit coordinator and basketball clinic lead. She had

796
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:16,719
graduated from Kennicook Institute in twenty twelve. Cunningham was indicted

797
00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:19,760
twice and sentenced of three years in a Texas jail

798
00:49:20,039 --> 00:49:24,039
for an improper relationship between an educator and a student

799
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:26,719
while serving as a teacher and basketball coach at Woodlands

800
00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:31,239
Christian Academy in Houston, Texas. She was released from jail

801
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:34,840
in twenty twenty five. Lee Bradbury, who had been hired

802
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:38,159
as a counselor after the protection plan was implemented, was

803
00:49:38,199 --> 00:49:41,519
accused of abusing at least four boys in twenty eleven.

804
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:46,239
In twenty thirteen, Bradbury pleaded guilty to sexually abusing minors

805
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:48,360
under the age of fourteen and was sentenced to seven

806
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:51,920
years for statutory a sodomy and two ten year sentences

807
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:54,960
for child molestation. Although it sounds good that they gave

808
00:49:55,039 --> 00:49:57,840
him around twenty seven years for his crime, he has

809
00:49:58,039 --> 00:50:02,719
already been released. In twenty sixteen, allegedly at least four

810
00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:05,960
thirteen year old female campers were sexually assaulted by another

811
00:50:06,039 --> 00:50:09,920
male camper at a K seven social event. Even though

812
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:14,119
they reported the assault, K seven director Kurth Chancey forced

813
00:50:14,119 --> 00:50:17,280
the girls to meet their perpetrator to apologize for making

814
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:22,679
the accusation and forgive him, since Jesus forgives. One victim,

815
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:26,159
who reportedly wanted to leave, was denied a request to

816
00:50:26,199 --> 00:50:30,760
call her parents, which goes directly against the camp's policy. Also,

817
00:50:31,119 --> 00:50:33,440
this girl is a minor, so she should be allowed

818
00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:35,480
to call her mom and leave if she wants to.

819
00:50:36,559 --> 00:50:39,760
In twenty seventeen, Chuck Price, who was terminated in nineteen

820
00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:43,320
ninety for allegations of sexual abuse that was reported to

821
00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:45,760
leadership but not to the police, by the way, was

822
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:49,639
pictured with an Urban k Live Saint Louis director and

823
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:53,800
Joe White wearing a Cannonicook visitor's badge. So they just

824
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:56,639
allowed of users to be back around the campers as

825
00:50:56,719 --> 00:50:59,880
much as they wanted. In twenty nineteen, a victim of

826
00:51:00,039 --> 00:51:03,760
Pete Newman died by suicide after settling his case. He

827
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:07,679
had been silenced by an NDA that was so strict

828
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:09,920
he was afraid to even talk to his therapist about

829
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:12,880
what happened to him. His family named him a Cannonook

830
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:17,679
camp abuse survivor in his obituary. Later, the Springfield Newsleader

831
00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:21,800
published an article about quote reports of eight cannon Cook

832
00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:24,760
victims whose deaths are suspected to be related to their

833
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:28,559
abuse end quote. Between twenty twenty one and twenty twenty four,

834
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:32,039
Cannonicook abuse survivors and their families began connecting for the

835
00:51:32,039 --> 00:51:35,440
first time. Facts about Cannicook dot Com launched in March

836
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,039
of twenty twenty one, and the abuse at Cannicook finally

837
00:51:38,079 --> 00:51:42,880
received national mainstream media attention. Survivors of Canticook abuse created

838
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:46,480
a petition to release the NDAs on victims, which has

839
00:51:46,519 --> 00:51:49,840
gained more than twenty seven thousand signatures. If you would

840
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,960
like to sign that petition, I have included that in

841
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:56,639
the show notes. Britt Hudson Ham was hired in nineteen

842
00:51:56,719 --> 00:51:59,159
ninety three. He was a Cannicook staff member and k

843
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:03,400
Life affiliate. He was known by his nickname Hamburger while

844
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:07,079
employed at Kennicook and was reportedly close friends with Joe

845
00:52:07,119 --> 00:52:10,360
White and his family just this year in January of

846
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:15,000
twenty twenty six, so very recently, Christian singer Stacy Orco

847
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:17,800
sued brit Hudson Ham for sexually abusing her as a

848
00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:20,320
child from two thousand to two thousand and four. She

849
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:23,639
won a music talent competition in nineteen ninety eight which

850
00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:26,760
Ham had judged, and then he became her manager. In

851
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:31,400
nineteen ninety nine, Ham was an employee at Rocket Management LLC,

852
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:35,920
founded by Michael W. Smith at the time. Ham later

853
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:39,920
became the COO of Business Jet Services based in Dallas, Texas,

854
00:52:40,159 --> 00:52:44,039
and would employ Joe White's grandson as a pilot. Additionally,

855
00:52:44,519 --> 00:52:49,280
Derek Duke Hampsh, the brother of current Cannonicook executive Chad Hampsh,

856
00:52:49,559 --> 00:52:52,960
is currently serving a twenty year prison sentence after being

857
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:56,920
convicted on child sexual abuse against minor girls. At the

858
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:59,920
same time, he was a youth pastor at a South

859
00:53:00,119 --> 00:53:06,039
Baptist convention church. After all this, it is actually shocking

860
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:09,000
that this camp is still very active and under the

861
00:53:09,159 --> 00:53:14,960
exact same leadership. I have so many questions, like what

862
00:53:15,079 --> 00:53:18,199
was it about Pete Newman that, instead of being fired

863
00:53:18,239 --> 00:53:20,960
and reported to the police back in nineteen ninety nine

864
00:53:21,199 --> 00:53:24,480
when he was first reported, he kept getting promoted for

865
00:53:24,519 --> 00:53:28,679
the next ten years. Pete was married during his fourteen

866
00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:31,119
years at Cannonicook, and there is no mention of them

867
00:53:31,159 --> 00:53:35,119
having children. His wife was named in reports against Newman,

868
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,199
but I could not find anything mentioning that she has

869
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:41,239
been charged or that she even knew what he was doing,

870
00:53:41,639 --> 00:53:44,920
although some accounts say she was in the other room

871
00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:48,599
when abuse was taking place. Canticook leaders made statements that

872
00:53:48,679 --> 00:53:50,599
his family, friends and neighbors were all in the dark

873
00:53:50,639 --> 00:53:53,960
and had no idea what he had been doing, which

874
00:53:54,039 --> 00:53:59,360
is ridiculous. Because it had been reported to Cannonicook many times.

875
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:02,159
What we really know about Newman is that he grew

876
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:05,760
up in Alabama and later attended Auburn University. Joe White

877
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:08,639
is quoted as claiming that his family and Pete Newman

878
00:54:08,679 --> 00:54:12,440
basically adopted one another, and he became a father figure

879
00:54:12,599 --> 00:54:16,800
to Pete. Pete would often use his status in the

880
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:20,119
Brandson community as a way to keep the kids quiet,

881
00:54:20,239 --> 00:54:25,199
especially because the Brandson communities got like small town vibes

882
00:54:25,199 --> 00:54:28,320
where everyone it's like a good old boys club. So

883
00:54:28,599 --> 00:54:32,000
Pete was in the good old boys club obviously, so

884
00:54:32,039 --> 00:54:35,280
that's how he would keep the kids quiet. I'm sure

885
00:54:35,599 --> 00:54:38,639
Canna Cooker, one of its many contacts, spent a lot

886
00:54:38,679 --> 00:54:42,159
of time and money keeping Newman's history wiped off the Internet.

887
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,880
But the fact that there is nothing, literally nothing about him,

888
00:54:46,119 --> 00:54:48,079
not the town he grew up in, not the high

889
00:54:48,079 --> 00:54:50,800
school he went to, if he had siblings, nothing. We

890
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:53,960
don't know anything about this guy. The fact that his

891
00:54:54,119 --> 00:54:57,840
life before being recruited from Auburn has been kept such

892
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:05,920
a big secret is suspicious, like was he a plant?

893
00:55:07,599 --> 00:55:11,000
But that's not the only thing that's super unsuspicious. Celebrity

894
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:14,519
Bill Crosby. Yeah, the same convicted sex offender everyone knows

895
00:55:14,519 --> 00:55:18,239
and loves endorsed the Cannon Cook camps, So that makes

896
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:21,480
us feel real good about it. Christian music artists Chris

897
00:55:21,559 --> 00:55:25,280
Rice and Michael Tate, both reported to have sexually abused children,

898
00:55:25,400 --> 00:55:29,239
have all had access to kids across America KAA and

899
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:33,320
Canna Cook children in the past decades. Other big name

900
00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:36,320
endorsers of Cannon Cook have been Amy Grant, Tony Romo,

901
00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:41,400
Peyton Manning, Jenny Allen, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and doctor James

902
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:44,920
Dobson from Focus on the Family, who is quoted as saying, quote,

903
00:55:45,119 --> 00:55:48,000
Joe White knows more about teenagers than anyone in North

904
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:53,360
America end quote even more interesting. Pastor Rob McCoy, famously

905
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:56,639
known for his role in turning Point USA Faith, is

906
00:55:56,679 --> 00:55:59,960
a long standing partner and speaker for Cannon Cook Camp.

907
00:56:00,679 --> 00:56:05,039
He has been frequently featured at Cannoncook's conferences and retreats,

908
00:56:05,199 --> 00:56:10,719
particularly those focused on Christian leadership and Biblical citizenship. McCoy

909
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:14,280
has also served as a guest lecturer and mentor at

910
00:56:14,480 --> 00:56:18,800
Cannonicook Institute, which has hosted many TPUSA faith leaders as

911
00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:22,239
speakers for students. I also want to get into Link

912
00:56:22,320 --> 00:56:26,280
Academy because it's often overlooked when talking about the abuse

913
00:56:26,360 --> 00:56:29,840
that has happened at Cannoncook, and we need to talk

914
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:33,400
about it. Link Academy is the elite boarding school for

915
00:56:33,480 --> 00:56:36,440
grades nine through twelve located on the campus of Cannonicook

916
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:40,559
Ministries in Branson, Missouri. The academy was founded by Adam

917
00:56:40,679 --> 00:56:44,280
Donie in twenty twenty one as an extension of the

918
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:47,199
Link Year program, which is like the Gap Year program

919
00:56:47,199 --> 00:56:49,920
that we talked about a little bit earlier. It is

920
00:56:50,079 --> 00:56:54,039
legally registered as a DBA entity of Cannoncook Ministries. The

921
00:56:54,079 --> 00:56:57,840
school is specifically designed as a basketball powerhouse, recruiting top

922
00:56:57,880 --> 00:57:03,039
tier national talent to compete in the NIKE eybl Schoolastic Conference.

923
00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:06,320
Despite being a relatively new high school with its first

924
00:57:06,400 --> 00:57:09,320
high school season starting in the twenty twenty one twenty

925
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:13,360
two school year, Link Academy and Link Year have already

926
00:57:13,360 --> 00:57:18,719
produced several professional basketball players. NBA players include Jordan Walsh

927
00:57:18,719 --> 00:57:21,800
class of twenty two, who was drafted by the Sacramento

928
00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:24,960
Kings and is currently playing for the Boston Celtics. Julian

929
00:57:25,039 --> 00:57:27,760
Phillips class of twenty two was drafted by the Boston

930
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:32,719
Celtics and is currently with the Chicago Bulls. Jacoby Walter

931
00:57:32,960 --> 00:57:35,880
class of twenty three was drafted nineteenth overall in the

932
00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:40,119
twenty four NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. Others that

933
00:57:40,199 --> 00:57:44,519
have become professional basketball players include Jamichael Morgan, who played

934
00:57:44,519 --> 00:57:48,719
professionally in Kosovo, Bryce and Warren, who played for the

935
00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:54,239
Westchester Kicks in NBA G League. Terras Reed Junior, who

936
00:57:54,639 --> 00:57:57,519
was a highly ranked recruit from class of twenty two

937
00:57:57,599 --> 00:58:01,719
and is currently playing for University of Connecticut, and Elliott

938
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:04,800
Cadou class of twenty three, who is currently the star

939
00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:08,760
guard for the North Carolina tar Heels. Link Academy also

940
00:58:08,880 --> 00:58:12,599
attracts the children of high profile professional athletes and families,

941
00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:17,119
probably because it's a basketball powerhouse. This includes Andre Iguidala,

942
00:58:17,199 --> 00:58:20,639
a former NBA Finals MVP and his son Andre Iguidala

943
00:58:20,679 --> 00:58:24,239
the second class of twenty five. Richard Johnson Junior, a

944
00:58:24,280 --> 00:58:28,440
former collegiate basketball player at Baylor and Midwestern State and

945
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:32,360
a former basketball coach since his son Trey Johnson. Trey

946
00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:35,840
was recently drafted sixth overall by the Washington Wizards in

947
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:40,719
twenty five. Beckham Black, Orlando Magic star Anthony Black's brother

948
00:58:41,199 --> 00:58:45,639
was transferred to Link Academy, so they're attracting basketball players

949
00:58:46,320 --> 00:58:49,239
from all over the country to go to Branson, Missouri.

950
00:58:49,599 --> 00:58:54,320
Adam Donie has stated that revenue from Canacook camps helps

951
00:58:54,360 --> 00:58:57,760
provide full ride scholarships for the basketball players. However, non

952
00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:03,400
scholarship students paid forty thousandition each which makes me wonder, like,

953
00:59:03,480 --> 00:59:06,800
You've got these NBA stars that are bringing their children

954
00:59:07,239 --> 00:59:11,119
to Link Academy for the basketball powerhouse that it is,

955
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:13,840
and you're not charging their like on full ride scholarships

956
00:59:13,880 --> 00:59:16,760
to this high school while these other students are paying

957
00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:22,199
forty thousand dollars intuition each year. You think that the

958
00:59:22,360 --> 00:59:25,199
that the NBA star could afford the forty thousand dollars,

959
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:28,760
use some of that money to give a scholarship to

960
00:59:28,800 --> 00:59:30,719
a kid that can't afford it that could be an

961
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:34,880
NBA star. Since Link Academy is a DBA of Cannoncook,

962
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:37,679
it is also tax exem and classified as a church.

963
00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:41,559
Don Ye is also the director of the Worldview Camp,

964
00:59:41,679 --> 00:59:45,079
which is a one week add on camp for ages

965
00:59:45,119 --> 00:59:48,599
sixteen to eighteen, costing a whopping one eight hundred and

966
00:59:48,639 --> 00:59:52,679
twenty one dollars. It offers further development of athletics or

967
00:59:52,760 --> 00:59:56,239
faith with specific lessons and training designed for kids of

968
00:59:56,280 --> 00:59:59,920
different ages and backgrounds, with a narrowed in focus, acting

969
01:00:00,119 --> 01:00:05,800
as a supplemental material to the overnight camps. Another entity

970
01:00:05,840 --> 01:00:08,480
of cannon Coook that is less talked about but should

971
01:00:08,519 --> 01:00:11,800
be is the kids across America. This camp says it

972
01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:16,159
is transforming urban youth for Christ. This camp is different

973
01:00:16,199 --> 01:00:20,119
than Cannonicook Camps, but in a subtle, nuanced way. Its

974
01:00:20,199 --> 01:00:23,880
core values featured on the about page really focus on

975
01:00:23,960 --> 01:00:30,360
targeting a different demographic, different meaning not white. Their values

976
01:00:30,400 --> 01:00:34,199
are quote Christ centered. We aspire to reflect the love

977
01:00:34,280 --> 01:00:36,199
of Christ and lift Him up in all we do

978
01:00:36,760 --> 01:00:40,159
education and training. We actively engage people in life changing

979
01:00:40,280 --> 01:00:44,400
learning experiences that provide growth and enrichment. Stewardship. We will

980
01:00:44,400 --> 01:00:47,599
honor God with all our resources and celebrate those who

981
01:00:47,639 --> 01:00:52,159
provide them integrity. We commit to open communication, honesty, and

982
01:00:52,239 --> 01:00:56,320
personal and organizational accountability, which is not true at all.

983
01:00:57,119 --> 01:01:01,679
Culturally relevant, we will engage our communities in ways that

984
01:01:01,760 --> 01:01:05,880
are compelling and relevant to them and unity. We embrace

985
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:10,320
cultural differences, build bridges, resolve conflict peacefully, and seek to

986
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:15,760
be an example of unified diversity. Cannoncook Camps do not

987
01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:19,400
explicitly state core values, but instead promote the I'm Third

988
01:01:19,519 --> 01:01:24,320
philosophy and the mission statement equipping next generation leaders. It

989
01:01:24,400 --> 01:01:27,840
also talks about the four Square life mentioned earlier, about

990
01:01:27,840 --> 01:01:31,760
growing physically through the seventy sports and activities, mentally through

991
01:01:31,840 --> 01:01:35,559
leadership training and skill building, socially through cabin life and

992
01:01:35,599 --> 01:01:39,239
healthy relationships, and spiritually through daily K life discipleship and

993
01:01:39,280 --> 01:01:43,800
biblical training. Investigative reports from Facts about Cannonook and Wikipedia

994
01:01:43,960 --> 01:01:47,360
have estimated that Cannoncook Camps has more than ninety percent

995
01:01:47,400 --> 01:01:51,159
youth who pay full twition and are white. In comparison,

996
01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:54,599
kids across America are more than ninety percent of its

997
01:01:54,639 --> 01:01:57,639
youth being Black or African American, and they are provided

998
01:01:57,880 --> 01:02:03,239
scholarships mostly donated by tuition paying parents at Cannonicook. This

999
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:07,320
has been a significant point of criticism from survivor advocates

1000
01:02:07,320 --> 01:02:10,480
who say that the camps are super segregated. It has

1001
01:02:10,559 --> 01:02:14,559
been pointed out that KAA is labeled Urban K Life,

1002
01:02:14,760 --> 01:02:18,079
while the affluent areas of the camp are labeled just

1003
01:02:18,519 --> 01:02:22,679
K Life. One abuse survivor talked about a basketball competition

1004
01:02:22,840 --> 01:02:26,880
between Cannonook Camp and KAA. He said it felt strange

1005
01:02:26,960 --> 01:02:31,400
that KA campers were never allowed on the Cannicook campus.

1006
01:02:31,639 --> 01:02:36,000
The Cannicook campers were always busted to KAA to attend

1007
01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:39,280
these basketball games, never the other way around, which talk

1008
01:02:39,320 --> 01:02:42,119
about segregation, right. And then he also noted that aren't

1009
01:02:42,159 --> 01:02:44,719
police officers would be walking around to monitor the camp

1010
01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:47,480
and the facilities as a whole were not even comparable

1011
01:02:47,519 --> 01:02:50,000
to those at Cannonicook. They were in such worse condition.

1012
01:02:51,000 --> 01:02:54,559
They are treating the KA campers as like second rate citizens.

1013
01:02:54,679 --> 01:02:58,360
Why because they're not white and they need scholarships to attend.

1014
01:02:58,679 --> 01:03:02,400
These camps are super ex I mean eighteen hundred dollars

1015
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:05,360
for one week A lot of kids parents can't afford that.

1016
01:03:06,679 --> 01:03:09,719
Kids across America have not been without its fair share

1017
01:03:09,719 --> 01:03:13,119
of abuse allegations, although so far it has mostly been

1018
01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:15,800
former staff who have spoken up, but that's not to

1019
01:03:15,840 --> 01:03:20,719
say that campers have not also been affected. Former staff

1020
01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:24,559
have told facts about Canna Cook that KAA quote executive

1021
01:03:24,639 --> 01:03:28,559
leadership refused to allow one of their young female staff

1022
01:03:28,559 --> 01:03:31,159
members to leave the camp early in order to be

1023
01:03:31,239 --> 01:03:34,119
with her family after her father passed away end quote,

1024
01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:38,719
which is awful. Another one says quote leadership regularly berate

1025
01:03:38,800 --> 01:03:41,199
their staff members until they cry in front of the

1026
01:03:41,360 --> 01:03:45,079
entire team of staff. In quote quote during a car trip,

1027
01:03:45,159 --> 01:03:48,440
KA executive leadership stopped their car and forced a young

1028
01:03:48,519 --> 01:03:52,599
KA female staff member to exit their vehicle mid journey

1029
01:03:52,719 --> 01:03:57,000
due to their crying. End quote. Another said quote, KAA

1030
01:03:57,039 --> 01:04:01,800
executive leadership regularly make statements of about female staff bodies,

1031
01:04:01,800 --> 01:04:04,719
including stop looking at me with those eyes end quotes.

1032
01:04:05,480 --> 01:04:08,199
And the last one that we have is KAA executive

1033
01:04:08,239 --> 01:04:11,920
leadership regularly call some of their black female staff members

1034
01:04:12,039 --> 01:04:15,880
camp gangsta. End quote. There have been multiple allegations of

1035
01:04:16,039 --> 01:04:21,000
child sexual abuse at an affiliate of KA Memphis Athletic Ministries,

1036
01:04:21,239 --> 01:04:24,800
according to Facts about Cannon Cook. These quote allegations of

1037
01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:29,639
sexual abuse and failures in mandatory reporting are from MAAM

1038
01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:34,159
coaches who were recruited from KAA end quote. These survivors

1039
01:04:34,199 --> 01:04:37,480
asked for their voices to be heard as KAA survivors.

1040
01:04:38,320 --> 01:04:40,239
Here are two statements from survivors.

1041
01:04:40,519 --> 01:04:40,880
Speaker 4: Quote.

1042
01:04:40,920 --> 01:04:45,400
Speaker 1: An adult MAM coach, a former KAA staff member groomed

1043
01:04:45,440 --> 01:04:49,679
miners participating in MAM by convincing them to sleep half

1044
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:52,440
naked in a bed with them. The coach was later

1045
01:04:52,559 --> 01:04:56,559
let go for being homosexual, but no action was taken

1046
01:04:56,639 --> 01:05:00,840
regarding the abuse. End quote which how many times are

1047
01:05:00,840 --> 01:05:03,880
these campers sleeping with their coaches or the counselors? Why

1048
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:06,239
is this a thing at all? They should all have

1049
01:05:06,280 --> 01:05:09,400
their own beds where they are sleeping completely by themselves,

1050
01:05:09,599 --> 01:05:12,880
not with any not ever with a counselor ever. The

1051
01:05:12,960 --> 01:05:16,199
other statement we have is quote when an ADULTMAM coach,

1052
01:05:16,280 --> 01:05:20,079
a former KA staff member, was reported to MAM leadership

1053
01:05:20,079 --> 01:05:22,519
for sexually abusing a sixteen year old student in their

1054
01:05:22,519 --> 01:05:27,800
care MAM leadership dismissed the report after conducting an internal

1055
01:05:27,840 --> 01:05:31,719
investigation that did not include or involve the reporting survivor.

1056
01:05:32,079 --> 01:05:36,199
Following the report and investigation, the abusive coach was promoted.

1057
01:05:36,639 --> 01:05:40,760
The MAM leadership who received and dismissed the report currently

1058
01:05:40,800 --> 01:05:44,880
serve as kaa management end quote. We already know what

1059
01:05:44,920 --> 01:05:48,039
was happening at Cannonicok campgrounds in Missouri, but this happened

1060
01:05:48,079 --> 01:05:51,360
in Memphis and it seems to track exactly along with

1061
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:56,039
what Cannonicook's doing. Some employees were dismissed after allegations and

1062
01:05:56,119 --> 01:05:59,679
just moved to another Cannonicook location, while others are promoted

1063
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:04,880
every time there's an allegation, like Pete Newman on the

1064
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:07,880
facts about America's site. There are multiple video clips of

1065
01:06:07,960 --> 01:06:12,239
deposition testimonies from Joe White, the CEO, Chris Cooper, the

1066
01:06:12,280 --> 01:06:16,840
former executive director, Doug Goodwin, the president, and Rick Brashler,

1067
01:06:17,159 --> 01:06:21,039
the executive director of Safety and Risk Management. Joe White

1068
01:06:21,199 --> 01:06:23,760
was asked if he could trust Pete Newman.

1069
01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:29,679
Speaker 2: That we can't trust what Pete Newman says or has

1070
01:06:29,800 --> 01:06:34,480
said about a number of victims or the extent of

1071
01:06:34,519 --> 01:06:38,639
the contact with individual victims.

1072
01:06:38,440 --> 01:06:40,519
Speaker 5: It's hard to know what to trust and why not

1073
01:06:40,599 --> 01:06:47,480
to trust. Well, do you trust him at all? God?

1074
01:06:47,519 --> 01:06:48,320
Trust him at all?

1075
01:06:49,840 --> 01:06:56,639
Speaker 6: When he sent us a list, I believe that there

1076
01:06:56,719 --> 01:07:02,119
was a list of approximately approximately eighteen or nineteen.

1077
01:07:01,760 --> 01:07:06,079
Speaker 5: Names, twenty two I think, yeah, okay, that list, And

1078
01:07:06,119 --> 01:07:08,519
I forget the exact date of that list. It was.

1079
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:14,480
Speaker 2: The first list, the first list that Newman said you

1080
01:07:14,800 --> 01:07:17,039
sent to Well, there was a I'm referring to a

1081
01:07:17,079 --> 01:07:18,920
list that he sent to Chris Cooper.

1082
01:07:18,719 --> 01:07:21,280
Speaker 5: Right, And I can't could tell you the date, but

1083
01:07:22,559 --> 01:07:23,239
I talked to.

1084
01:07:24,519 --> 01:07:28,960
Speaker 6: A number of those parents of those victims and have

1085
01:07:29,280 --> 01:07:33,280
subsequently had conversations with a number of the children of

1086
01:07:33,280 --> 01:07:39,519
those and it was consistent with the list that there

1087
01:07:39,519 --> 01:07:41,519
were two or three boys that he said he had

1088
01:07:41,599 --> 01:07:43,679
touched on the list that was consistent.

1089
01:07:44,559 --> 01:07:45,079
Speaker 5: There was.

1090
01:07:47,920 --> 01:07:50,880
Speaker 7: Sixteenish boys that he said the list that he hadn't touched,

1091
01:07:51,639 --> 01:07:55,199
and that has been consistent. So there's a degree of

1092
01:07:55,400 --> 01:07:59,960
trust there that in investigating that particular list.

1093
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:03,920
Speaker 1: So looks like Joe's gonna continue to trust Pete because

1094
01:08:05,079 --> 01:08:08,840
his story is consistent. Is it consistent because it seems

1095
01:08:08,880 --> 01:08:11,559
like a lot more people are coming out anyway. Chris

1096
01:08:11,599 --> 01:08:14,079
Cooper also had some interesting things to say about Pete

1097
01:08:14,119 --> 01:08:16,800
Newman that pedophiles.

1098
01:08:16,199 --> 01:08:18,760
Speaker 2: Like to sleep with children one on one, don't you.

1099
01:08:19,159 --> 01:08:21,600
And that's something that you've learned by now.

1100
01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:30,319
Speaker 4: Every person that sleeps with the child is not a pedophile.

1101
01:08:30,640 --> 01:08:37,680
And in Pete's case, Pete's ministry was tremendous.

1102
01:08:38,039 --> 01:08:42,680
Speaker 1: So as long as they're ministering well, sleeping with children

1103
01:08:42,800 --> 01:08:45,720
like just doesn't matter. So anybody can sleep with children

1104
01:08:45,840 --> 01:08:48,079
as long as they're teaching the word of God. That's

1105
01:08:48,079 --> 01:08:51,960
not somebody I want to learn from. Ever, Ever, you're

1106
01:08:51,960 --> 01:08:54,399
not following the word of God if you're sleeping with children.

1107
01:08:55,600 --> 01:08:58,680
There are multiple other videos of their depositions. If you'd

1108
01:08:58,720 --> 01:09:00,880
like to watch the rest yourself, it's linked in the

1109
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:03,079
show notes and the sources, so go check that out.

1110
01:09:03,279 --> 01:09:06,439
Joe White continues to travel round the country to speak.

1111
01:09:06,600 --> 01:09:09,680
He has a prominent role in organizations such as Promise

1112
01:09:09,760 --> 01:09:13,279
Keepers and has spoken at large universities, including Liberty University,

1113
01:09:13,399 --> 01:09:16,479
which makes sense because that's also the university where TPUSA

1114
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:19,880
Faith started and we have already made the connection to

1115
01:09:20,000 --> 01:09:23,680
TPUSA earlier. He has been a keynote speaker at Promise

1116
01:09:23,760 --> 01:09:28,920
Keeper events across the US, including locations like Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Baltimore,

1117
01:09:28,920 --> 01:09:33,439
and Nashville. He performs this same act at Cannonicook camps

1118
01:09:33,439 --> 01:09:37,199
and kids across America, but also includes campers. So he

1119
01:09:37,359 --> 01:09:41,279
calls this performance cross Talk, which involves building and hoisting

1120
01:09:41,319 --> 01:09:44,960
up a large wooden cross on stage to recreate the crucifixion.

1121
01:09:45,279 --> 01:09:48,800
White typically plays a Roman cross builder or a soldier,

1122
01:09:49,000 --> 01:09:51,720
and he uses an axe, logs in a hammer to

1123
01:09:51,760 --> 01:09:55,600
physically build a full sized wooden cross on stage, and

1124
01:09:55,880 --> 01:09:58,840
then speaks about the perspective of the soldier, reflecting on

1125
01:09:58,960 --> 01:10:03,560
the painful and shirt death of crucifixion. For Jesus. In

1126
01:10:03,600 --> 01:10:08,159
many versions, he includes a graphic reenactment of the crucifixion itself,

1127
01:10:08,720 --> 01:10:13,520
with counselors playing Roman soldiers and Jesus. The performance includes

1128
01:10:13,800 --> 01:10:18,159
simulated beatings and the sound of nails being driven into wood.

1129
01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:23,039
At kaa where campers are predominantly black, there have been

1130
01:10:23,199 --> 01:10:26,439
reports of racism where a black councilor plays the role

1131
01:10:26,479 --> 01:10:29,520
of Jesus and the Roman soldiers are played by all

1132
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:34,359
white councilors. One instance was reported by a former KA

1133
01:10:34,479 --> 01:10:37,000
staff member that while he was playing the role of

1134
01:10:37,079 --> 01:10:41,600
Jesus during the simulated beating, he was actually quote beaten

1135
01:10:41,640 --> 01:10:45,239
to the point of a concussion end quote. These reenactments

1136
01:10:45,319 --> 01:10:48,000
run weekly for six weeks, and the councilor was allegedly

1137
01:10:48,039 --> 01:10:50,399
not allowed to take a break after the incidents. He

1138
01:10:50,479 --> 01:10:52,960
was literally forced to continue to play the role with

1139
01:10:53,039 --> 01:10:57,560
a concussion. Many alumni have described the reenactment as traumatizing,

1140
01:10:58,000 --> 01:11:00,920
and we have to keep in mind that there are

1141
01:11:01,000 --> 01:11:04,439
kids out there as young as seven years old that

1142
01:11:04,520 --> 01:11:08,199
this is being played out in front of. Also, many

1143
01:11:08,239 --> 01:11:11,760
survivors and alumni from both Cannoncook camps and kids across

1144
01:11:11,760 --> 01:11:15,439
America have described the crosstalk reenactment as not just a

1145
01:11:15,600 --> 01:11:19,720
religious performance, but also a calculated psychological tool to create

1146
01:11:19,760 --> 01:11:24,479
the exact conditions necessary for grooming fear, total emotional breakdown,

1147
01:11:24,800 --> 01:11:27,880
and a desperate need for a rescuer. They've pointed out

1148
01:11:27,920 --> 01:11:30,720
that the intentional design to be horror like features high

1149
01:11:30,800 --> 01:11:33,800
volume screams and the sound of physical beatings and graphic

1150
01:11:33,880 --> 01:11:37,079
visuals of pain and suffering. They say this induced a

1151
01:11:37,119 --> 01:11:42,439
state of hyperventilation and uncontrollable crying. The organization essentially broke

1152
01:11:42,479 --> 01:11:45,319
down the kid's defenses, and in a state of distress,

1153
01:11:45,359 --> 01:11:48,079
the kid naturally seeks out comfort wherever they can find

1154
01:11:48,079 --> 01:11:52,880
it following cross talk. Interestingly enough, campers were often led

1155
01:11:52,920 --> 01:11:55,439
away for one on one time with their counselors to

1156
01:11:55,920 --> 01:11:59,880
process what they have seen. Then, predators like Pete Newman

1157
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:03,880
and reportedly used these moments of peak emotional vulnerability to

1158
01:12:04,000 --> 01:12:08,479
position themselves as the only person who truly understands the

1159
01:12:08,560 --> 01:12:13,399
child's pain. Survivors have stated that the alter Call environment,

1160
01:12:13,479 --> 01:12:17,119
where they are encouraged to confess their deepest sins and shame,

1161
01:12:17,520 --> 01:12:21,680
gave predators a roadmap to the child's vulnerabilities, which they

1162
01:12:22,000 --> 01:12:27,119
used to deepen the grooming relationship. One survivor provided testimony

1163
01:12:27,159 --> 01:12:30,199
that Newman used his shame of masturbating and groomed him

1164
01:12:30,199 --> 01:12:32,920
by saying it was okay to do it as long

1165
01:12:32,960 --> 01:12:35,640
as he did not lust while doing it, so then

1166
01:12:35,720 --> 01:12:38,159
he continued to normalize the act until he told the

1167
01:12:38,239 --> 01:12:40,119
child that it was okay to do it with other

1168
01:12:40,199 --> 01:12:44,680
males so that he wouldn't lust after women. This led

1169
01:12:44,720 --> 01:12:47,560
to Newman getting the child to act this out with him,

1170
01:12:47,840 --> 01:12:52,000
and that eventually led to a sexual assault. Crosstalk wasn't

1171
01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:55,439
the only way Newman and other predators used vulnerable children.

1172
01:12:55,800 --> 01:12:59,479
The international ministry run by Cannonicook allowed Newman to travel

1173
01:12:59,479 --> 01:13:02,159
with children on a mission trip to China and spend

1174
01:13:02,279 --> 01:13:06,359
nights with them alone. And the parents trusted Newman because

1175
01:13:06,359 --> 01:13:08,720
he was a part of this ministry. They're going on

1176
01:13:08,760 --> 01:13:11,399
a mission trip. They're not going to do anything to

1177
01:13:11,439 --> 01:13:15,560
their children, except they did because, according to court documents,

1178
01:13:15,720 --> 01:13:19,079
this trip allowed Newman the opportunity to sodomize the child,

1179
01:13:19,319 --> 01:13:22,159
who said he was in pain for the entire trip.

1180
01:13:22,279 --> 01:13:26,439
After these acts, there were further evidence of exploitation from

1181
01:13:26,479 --> 01:13:29,720
witnesses who claimed Newman was also filming boys during these

1182
01:13:29,720 --> 01:13:34,920
international trips, specifically during massages he hosted. You may be

1183
01:13:35,079 --> 01:13:38,640
wondering how leadership didn't see any of this. Oh, they

1184
01:13:38,680 --> 01:13:42,680
did along the way through promotions and endless opportunities for

1185
01:13:42,760 --> 01:13:46,039
overnight sleepovers with young boys. Pete Newman received at least

1186
01:13:46,039 --> 01:13:50,640
two formal disciplinary letters and one significant corrective action between

1187
01:13:50,720 --> 01:13:54,039
nineteen ninety nine and two thousand and six. In the letters,

1188
01:13:54,119 --> 01:13:57,359
Newman was explicitly warned to avoid sleeping one on one

1189
01:13:57,359 --> 01:14:00,560
with boys, which why are you doing that? Ever, at

1190
01:14:00,600 --> 01:14:03,199
the time this letter was written, Newman was promoted to

1191
01:14:03,239 --> 01:14:05,720
assistant director of k Country, so they're like, hmm, don't

1192
01:14:05,760 --> 01:14:09,560
do that again, but also do whatever you want. Later,

1193
01:14:09,640 --> 01:14:13,279
after more reports were made about Newman's nude activities with children,

1194
01:14:13,640 --> 01:14:18,039
he was given a probationary agreement titled Boundaries for Ministry.

1195
01:14:18,439 --> 01:14:21,560
The objective stated the goal was to help Pete understand

1196
01:14:21,560 --> 01:14:25,920
what healthy ministry is and ensure he never placed himself

1197
01:14:26,239 --> 01:14:29,319
in a compromising position. They didn't really care about the kids.

1198
01:14:29,479 --> 01:14:31,880
They were so worried about what their reputation would look

1199
01:14:31,920 --> 01:14:34,479
like and that Pete Newman might be caught that they

1200
01:14:34,520 --> 01:14:38,720
gave him this disciplinary action. The stipulations included prohibiting Newman

1201
01:14:38,960 --> 01:14:42,239
from spending the night alone with children, banning involvement with

1202
01:14:42,279 --> 01:14:46,520
sexual humor and any sexual or nude behavior, prohibiting any

1203
01:14:46,560 --> 01:14:49,920
physical contact that should be perceived as sexual in nature,

1204
01:14:50,119 --> 01:14:54,840
and restricting all private contact with children. Despite these strict

1205
01:14:54,840 --> 01:14:58,079
written rules, Newman maintained his leadership rules was allowed to

1206
01:14:58,119 --> 01:15:01,560
take children out of the country on mission trips on

1207
01:15:01,640 --> 01:15:05,720
several different occasions. Later in two thousand and six, after

1208
01:15:05,800 --> 01:15:08,720
more reports were made about Newman, he was given another

1209
01:15:08,760 --> 01:15:11,560
corrective action that asked him to spend more time with

1210
01:15:11,640 --> 01:15:14,640
his family and his wife and limit his kid time.

1211
01:15:15,319 --> 01:15:19,039
After more allegations and lawsuits started pulling in, Joe Ye

1212
01:15:19,159 --> 01:15:22,760
misled victims and their parents into signing NDAs by claiming

1213
01:15:22,760 --> 01:15:26,399
that Pete Newman's actions were isolated incidents, which we know

1214
01:15:26,760 --> 01:15:29,640
they were not, and that the camp had no prior

1215
01:15:29,720 --> 01:15:34,640
knowledge of his misconduct, which we know they did. Advocacy

1216
01:15:34,680 --> 01:15:38,600
groups stated that victims fell ordered and silenced in designing NDAs.

1217
01:15:39,239 --> 01:15:42,880
Joe White harassed families that initially chose not to sign

1218
01:15:43,000 --> 01:15:46,439
an NDA to the point of having to file restraining

1219
01:15:46,560 --> 01:15:49,880
orders against him because he would not stop. He would

1220
01:15:49,880 --> 01:15:53,119
send victims things like iPads and free trips, exotic hunting

1221
01:15:53,159 --> 01:15:55,880
opportunities on his land, and even fruit baskets, which is

1222
01:15:55,920 --> 01:15:58,880
just like so ridiculous. The parents would send the gifts

1223
01:15:58,920 --> 01:16:01,239
back because they're not trying to be bribed and asked

1224
01:16:01,279 --> 01:16:04,319
him to stop, but it would continue until Joe White

1225
01:16:04,359 --> 01:16:10,000
eventually countersuit. Once a counterclaim was filed, some families were

1226
01:16:10,039 --> 01:16:13,520
bankrupted by legal fees, leaving them with no choice but

1227
01:16:13,600 --> 01:16:16,560
to sign the NDA and settle. Parents essentially had to

1228
01:16:16,640 --> 01:16:19,960
choose between spending all their money fighting or using that

1229
01:16:20,039 --> 01:16:22,840
money to help their kid recover from the abuse that

1230
01:16:22,880 --> 01:16:24,920
they just experienced at the hands of this man who's

1231
01:16:24,920 --> 01:16:30,399
suing them. Cannon Cook even blamed the insurance companies suing

1232
01:16:30,439 --> 01:16:33,760
them and alleging that they required the NDA to be

1233
01:16:33,840 --> 01:16:36,880
signed for each settlement or they would lose their insurance,

1234
01:16:36,960 --> 01:16:39,199
and then the insurance company was like, that's not true

1235
01:16:39,199 --> 01:16:43,479
at all. They we don't require NDAs, and then the

1236
01:16:43,560 --> 01:16:48,279
insurance company countersued cannon Cook because of that, also stating

1237
01:16:48,399 --> 01:16:50,920
that they were never made aware of the true nature

1238
01:16:50,960 --> 01:16:53,800
of Pete Newman's activities and that they never threatened to

1239
01:16:53,800 --> 01:16:58,600
deny insurance for disclosure the victim. We talked about earlier,

1240
01:16:58,720 --> 01:17:02,119
who ultimately was so affected by the rules of his

1241
01:17:02,239 --> 01:17:05,680
NDA that he ended his life. Is Trey Carlock. Now

1242
01:17:05,760 --> 01:17:09,279
his sister, Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, speaks about what he and

1243
01:17:09,359 --> 01:17:12,119
his family have experienced because of the actions of Pete

1244
01:17:12,159 --> 01:17:16,880
Newman and Cannicook Camps. Elizabeth, along with survivor advocacy groups,

1245
01:17:16,960 --> 01:17:20,239
petitioned the states of Missouri and Texas to pass Trey's Law.

1246
01:17:20,600 --> 01:17:24,119
This law voids non disclosure agreements in civil settlements for

1247
01:17:24,159 --> 01:17:29,079
sexual abuse, allowing survivors to speak about their experiences. In Texas,

1248
01:17:29,119 --> 01:17:31,920
the law passed unanimously in May of twenty twenty five

1249
01:17:31,960 --> 01:17:35,159
and allows children and adults of any age without a

1250
01:17:35,199 --> 01:17:39,000
time limit to talk about their experiences. Elizabeth Phillips and

1251
01:17:39,079 --> 01:17:42,600
advocacy groups are trying to build a national movement to

1252
01:17:42,720 --> 01:17:45,680
pass Trey's Law in all fifty states and at the

1253
01:17:45,680 --> 01:17:49,159
federal level, with interest in Canada and various other jurisdictions.

1254
01:17:49,720 --> 01:17:52,520
One survivor wrote about Trade's Law quote, it helped my

1255
01:17:52,560 --> 01:17:54,600
healings so much to be able to meet and talk

1256
01:17:54,640 --> 01:17:57,560
with other survivors, to hear their struggles and know I

1257
01:17:57,680 --> 01:18:01,439
wasn't crazy or alone through that let process. I found

1258
01:18:01,439 --> 01:18:04,680
my voice and getting confidence in sharing my story. End quote.

1259
01:18:05,399 --> 01:18:08,640
Elizabeth Carlock Phillips says Trey's law is important to her

1260
01:18:08,800 --> 01:18:11,279
because of what her brother had to go through. She

1261
01:18:11,439 --> 01:18:14,119
said quote, I used to refer to him as a survivor,

1262
01:18:14,279 --> 01:18:16,720
but he didn't survive. Now I refer to him as

1263
01:18:16,760 --> 01:18:18,520
a victim, and I'm trying to do my best to

1264
01:18:18,560 --> 01:18:22,159
beat his voice. Everything that started Cannoncook, the history with

1265
01:18:22,199 --> 01:18:25,560
the oss, the abuse allegations that have occurred more than

1266
01:18:25,680 --> 01:18:28,960
seventy five percent of its existence, all seemed to be connected.

1267
01:18:29,479 --> 01:18:32,079
The White family has been a part of Cannicook since

1268
01:18:32,119 --> 01:18:36,520
the beginning and still thrives today. This honestly reminds me

1269
01:18:36,680 --> 01:18:42,079
of Project Monarch. The theory claims that this was a clandestine,

1270
01:18:42,159 --> 01:18:46,520
unethical continuation of the CIA's MK ultra mind control experiments

1271
01:18:46,520 --> 01:18:49,399
from the nineteen fifties and sixties, which tracks with Cannon

1272
01:18:49,479 --> 01:18:53,359
Cook and their first allegations starting in at least nineteen

1273
01:18:53,439 --> 01:18:57,239
fifty eight. Although Monarch is not officially confirmed, it is

1274
01:18:57,279 --> 01:18:59,560
alleged that the goal was to create Monarch slaves or

1275
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:03,560
program individuals by using extreme abuse to create trauma based

1276
01:19:03,560 --> 01:19:09,199
dissociative states. And split personalities of the victims. Kathy O'Brien,

1277
01:19:09,359 --> 01:19:13,760
popular for her books Transformation of America and Access Denied

1278
01:19:13,760 --> 01:19:17,079
for reasons of National security, claims she was sexually abused

1279
01:19:17,079 --> 01:19:21,479
by her father in a network of child pornographers. She

1280
01:19:21,560 --> 01:19:24,560
says the CIA forced her to participate in Project Monarch,

1281
01:19:24,800 --> 01:19:29,039
which was a subsection of Project Incultra and Project Artichoke.

1282
01:19:29,560 --> 01:19:33,039
She says under hypnosis she recalled memories of sexual abuse

1283
01:19:33,079 --> 01:19:37,560
by international pedophile rings, drug barons, and Satanists who allegedly

1284
01:19:37,680 --> 01:19:41,359
used a form of trauma based mind control programming to

1285
01:19:41,479 --> 01:19:44,920
make her a sex slave. With Cannon Cook's reach around

1286
01:19:44,960 --> 01:19:49,279
the world, specifically through the Cross International organization and with

1287
01:19:49,359 --> 01:19:52,600
private jets, because we know Joe White's personal pilot was

1288
01:19:52,640 --> 01:19:56,199
also convicted of these crimes, so it seems they're up

1289
01:19:56,239 --> 01:19:59,960
to more than just ministry. They talk about being active

1290
01:20:00,079 --> 01:20:03,279
than fifteen countries. They promote staff that are reported to

1291
01:20:03,359 --> 01:20:07,720
have victimized children, and they have so many different organizations

1292
01:20:07,800 --> 01:20:10,920
under the Kennicook parent company that they can just recycle

1293
01:20:10,960 --> 01:20:15,680
employees and none of them are monitored because they're considered

1294
01:20:15,720 --> 01:20:21,960
a church. Monarch specifically listed charismatic Christians as great subjects

1295
01:20:21,960 --> 01:20:25,239
of their programming because they obey without much pushback. They're

1296
01:20:25,239 --> 01:20:28,039
already used to the structure someone else being in charge.

1297
01:20:28,159 --> 01:20:31,239
They don't really ask too many questions, honestly. But also

1298
01:20:31,239 --> 01:20:34,680
in my research for Project Monarch, I found that Lampy,

1299
01:20:34,680 --> 01:20:37,680
Missouri was a location outside of the military basis that

1300
01:20:37,760 --> 01:20:41,720
they were programming or they are programming subjects for this project.

1301
01:20:41,880 --> 01:20:43,720
And at the time when I looked it up, I

1302
01:20:43,800 --> 01:20:46,840
was like, I don't understand. There's nothing in Lampy, Missouri.

1303
01:20:47,079 --> 01:20:50,399
I looked everywhere, We looked through Google Maps, we looked

1304
01:20:50,399 --> 01:20:53,359
through everything to try to figure out what is in Lampy, Missouri.

1305
01:20:53,600 --> 01:20:56,520
Where are they programming these kids? Thinking that maybe I

1306
01:20:56,520 --> 01:21:00,520
would find like a like some sort of research facility

1307
01:21:00,600 --> 01:21:05,279
or something. What we came across was Cannonicook Camps. So

1308
01:21:06,079 --> 01:21:08,560
here's the episode for that. There are a lot of

1309
01:21:08,560 --> 01:21:13,039
summer camps in Lampey, specifically Christian summer camps, especially because

1310
01:21:13,119 --> 01:21:15,359
the Brands and Lampy area are in the Bible Belt.

1311
01:21:15,840 --> 01:21:19,560
So it makes you wonder, is Project Monarch using this

1312
01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:21,520
as a cover When we zoom out and look at

1313
01:21:21,520 --> 01:21:24,760
the bigger picture from historical ties to the OSS, potentially

1314
01:21:24,760 --> 01:21:28,640
making secret arrangements to house Nazi scientists, to the long

1315
01:21:28,880 --> 01:21:33,359
history of alleged and confirmed sexual child sexual abuse, neglect,

1316
01:21:33,439 --> 01:21:36,720
and legally silencing countless victims. What are we looking at here?

1317
01:21:37,439 --> 01:21:39,520
Could it be a case of bad luck and Cannonicook

1318
01:21:39,600 --> 01:21:43,079
just accidentally hired a lot of pedophiles. I doubt it,

1319
01:21:43,680 --> 01:21:46,680
especially because they were ignoring the fact that they are pedophiles.

1320
01:21:47,199 --> 01:21:51,720
Is it a case of generational bad business leadership? Possibly,

1321
01:21:51,760 --> 01:21:53,920
but it seems weirder than that. Or could this be

1322
01:21:53,960 --> 01:21:57,840
another Jeffrey Epstein operation in an American Christian camp leader

1323
01:21:58,000 --> 01:22:02,119
carrying out the modern version of Project I'd love to

1324
01:22:02,159 --> 01:22:04,720
know what you guys think in the comments. Please don't

1325
01:22:04,760 --> 01:22:07,760
send your kids to Cannoncook camps or KLi for any

1326
01:22:07,800 --> 01:22:09,960
of those things. If you're in the Brandson area. Even

1327
01:22:09,960 --> 01:22:11,800
if you're not in the Brandson area and you're sending

1328
01:22:11,800 --> 01:22:15,359
your kids to Branson for these summer camps, don't do it.

1329
01:22:15,520 --> 01:22:18,119
If you want to sign the petition to hold Cannonicook accountable,

1330
01:22:18,279 --> 01:22:20,680
that's in the show notes. Until next time, my friends,

1331
01:22:20,880 --> 01:22:24,520
stay skeptical and I will see you all then. Hey, friends.

1332
01:22:24,560 --> 01:22:27,239
The rabbit Hole is an independent podcast written hosted and

1333
01:22:27,279 --> 01:22:30,079
produced by me Danny Mercy. Special thanks to Lindsay for

1334
01:22:30,119 --> 01:22:32,560
research and writing. If you love the podcast, please leave

1335
01:22:32,640 --> 01:22:35,279
us a five star rating. Interview wherever you're listening, follow

1336
01:22:35,359 --> 01:22:38,119
us on social media at Rabbit dot Hole podcast, and

1337
01:22:38,199 --> 01:22:41,279
visit our website at Stay Skeptical dot com for everything

1338
01:22:41,279 --> 01:22:41,560
else