The Bastion Americana Freedom Journal, Issue XI: 26 September, 1943
The Garrisonians aren’t going anywhere. The incidents in Washington, Tallahassee, and now, Akron, have only set their hooks in deeper.
This is issue XI of the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal. For more information, refer to earlier analyses.
This issue contains spoilers from Gray Dogs and The Case of the Man from Tomorrow.
Content warnings: Violence, creeps, Nazis, gaslighting.
Despite the debacle having just happened the day before, the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal was able to rush a story about the Heartland Heroes’ attack in Akron to press within hours and still secure national distribution through their networks. Officials have yet to determine how they propagate information so quickly, but there is a solid suspicion that the writers behind the Journal knew exactly what was going to happen in Ohio before the Heroes ever showed up.
The eleventh issue of the Journal’s front page is provided below:
The Bureau for Cataloguing and Reference has provided the following transcription:
Bastion Americana Freedom Journal
Only the Truth, for True Americans
Free to Patriots
The only newsletter endorsed by the Garrisonian Party of America.
Issue XI, 26 September, 1943
Arnold Pondletter, Editor-in-Chief
Classified ‘Most Secret, by order of the O.C.U.O.’
Main Article:
CHAOS IN AKRON: HEARTLAND HEROES ATTACK MAIN STREET
THEIR BRAZEN ATTACK IN BROAD DAYLIGHT LEAVES EIGHT DEAD, DOZENS INJURED, THWARTED BY PATRIOTIC INTERVENTION
Akron, OH – A quiet Saturday afternoon in downtown Akron was shattered yesterday as the infamous, lawless, heartless Heartland Heroes conducted a violent assault against one of the targets their corporate, socialist overlords have deemed unfit. Eight died, including eight-year-old Sandy Thomas, and the ‘Heroes’ would have kept on killing if not for the timely intervention of the Akron Patriotism Board.
While the villains continued their wanton slaughter, a cadre of true patriots could not turn their backs on the attack. Several members of the Garrisonian Party, unable to ignore injustice, banded together to protect the citizens of Akron.
“If not for this brave group of Garrisonian patriots, the Heartland Heroes might still be out there, killing,” Summit County Sheriff W.P. O’Neil was reported to have said. Deputies and firefighters were on the scene after the dust settled to wash the blood off the sidewalks.
The Heroes’ assault on the Criff Municipal Office Building began at three in the afternoon, at the exact moment the intermission began at a movie theater not one block away. That theater was packed with children watching the matinee, including the late and innocent Sandy Thomas. Salvos of their bullets, lightning, and frost raked up and down the busy street, uncaring as to the crowds of innocents caught in their fire.
As the bloodshed spread, a group of concerned patriots were forced by conscience and pride to step in, men of morality and loyalty to their country. These men used their own skills and know-how to fight fire with fire and bring the ‘Heroes’ a taste of their own medicine.
“The welcome assistance of True Americans like Stanley Houk, Abe Allison, Frank Gutermuth, and more, kept the death toll out of the dozens,” Sheriff O’Neil confided in a Garrisonian source. “With lawless vigilantes running roughshod over this country, the support of the foreign Office honing their blades, having a Corps dedicated to our Defense is necessary for our peace - ” (cont’d p. 3)
Secondary Article:
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH STANLEY HOUK, ACE PILOT, ENGINEERING GENIUS, AND ONE OF THE REAL HEROES OF AKRON, PAGE 2
This blurb contains a portrait of a man wearing what appears to be an oxygen mask and some sort of mechanical device on his back. The image is consistent with Official Castaño’s description of one of his attackers.
Advertisement:
DO YOU FEEL LOST AND ALONE?
DO YOU NOT RECOGNIZE AMERICA?
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU. THERE ARE MANY OF US, JUST LIKE YOU.
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME IN THE TRUTH OF THE ALL-HIGHEST.
TUNE IN NIGHTLY TO OUR UNION RADIO TO HEAR TESTIMONY AND PRAYER FOR THE LOST FAITHFUL NAVIGATING TREACHEROUS WATERS.
LED BY FATHER CAUGHLIN WITH SPECIAL PRAYER GUIDES EVERY EVENING.
UPCOMING GUEST SCHEDULE:
SUN.: CLYDE LEHRER
MON.: ABE ALLISON
TUES.: F.J. KUHN
WED.: CHAS. LINDBERGH
THUR.: MISSY DI CAMPO
FRI.: JIMMY HALDEMANN
SAT.: MAX Q. REVERE
The advertisement for this radio program includes the exact name and sun-behind-the-mountain emblem as the religious radicalization program developed by Department Three. Many D3 members, particularly those who have undergone mental conditioning, adhere strongly to the tenets of the Truth of the All-Highest. The fact that they no longer feel the need to conceal its existence outside their closed ranks is concerning. Those guests are all known Garrisonian associates, either decision-makers or propped-up figureheads. Fritz J. Kuhn stands out as the former leader of the German-American Bund who was set to be imprisoned before disappearing earlier this summer. HYDRA analysts have been tasked with narrowing down when and where recordings for these broadcasts are being produced.
Tertiary Article:
CAPTURED JAPANESE PLANS REVEAL INTENT TO REVIVE THE BLACK DEATH
Read more on page 7.
This is unfortunately true. Japanese biological warfare units have been found distributing rats and fleas infected with the bubonic plague as early as 1940, causing outbreaks responsible for the deaths of thousands in Changde and Ningbo. The Bureaus for Eastern European Affairs and East Asian Affairs are engaged in a continuing joint operation to end these atrocities.
After the Black Dragon Society absorbed the units conducting said experiments and attacks, frequency and intensity notably increased. Physician General Sharma has tasked a team of a cataloguers to begin tracing links between different ‘plague clans’ within the Society to better understand their goals and methodologies.
Printmaster Bellegarde suggests that exposing these war crimes is the Abwehr’s way of distracting the American public from their own horrors and focusing them on a different enemy.
Bureau for Cataloguing and Reference Analysis:
The Journal’s reporting, as should surprise no one, is wholly biased and incorrect. The incident now referred to as the ‘Rubber City Bloodbath’ was the sole fault of Garrisonian agents laying in wait for the Heartland Heroes. Those concerned citizens they tout so proudly are nothing more than blatant Abwehr agents. According to after-action reports from the Heroes, as many as five Abwehr agents were present during the ambush, all using various Department Three weapons and equipment.
Official Castaño was able to positively identify Nedrick Garver and Abe Allison at the scene. The Journal named Frank Gutermuth, whose name matches that of the son of a deceased Silver Legion leader. ‘Stanley Houk’ is believed to be a pseudonym, but officials at the Library are working with British authorities to narrow down his true identity. The last agent, referred to by Official Castaño as the ‘Goatman,’ who was wearing anachronistic armor and furs, matches the description of an individual who attacked consulting folklorist Doctor Ogden, Inspector Malloy, and Missus Queen last winter.
Local and state authorities have taken over investigations into the identities of those uniformed officers who arrived in support of Abe Allison.
Further inquiries will be necessary.
The reported death toll of eight is correct. Four of those killed were found deceased within the collapsed Criff building. Body temperature indicates that they had been dead for hours before the Heroes’ arrival. They were identified as members of the fugitive board of Crown Pharmaceuticals, each suffering fatal blunt force injuries.
One civilian, Dwight Johnston, eighty-one, suffered a heart attack during the rush away from the firefight and succumbed before he could reach the hospital.
It is true that errant gunfire entered the lobby of a nearby movie theater, striking Sandra Thomas. Initial autopsy reports indicate that she was the victim of live gunfire. As none of the Heartland Heroes engaged their attackers with actual bullets, it is believed that those shots were fired by Garrisonian agents. The bullets removed from Miss Thomas are currently missing.
The final two deaths occurred during the explosive vegetal growth within the Criff building. It is believe this process was, knowingly or unknowingly, initiated by those same Garrisonian agents. As the vegetation grew beyond the size of the building housing it, the structure collapsed around it, killing another two members of the Crown board.
It is curious that the Journal neglected to mention the gigantic broccoli growth dominating the Akron skyline. As it is such a striking visual, the plant will have been seen on every front page all over the world within the week. Printmaster Bellegarde assumes that the Abwehr has future plans to address it.
Peter Gimball, operating as MGM’s Starpower, was injured by gunfire during the encounter. He is not expected to return to active service before December. Tanner was injured during the attack as well, though he is expected to recover in a matter of days. John Calderone’s broken arm responded well to an application of Osteo-Bond and he should be field ready within a week. Replacement parts for the Lincoln Landstrider walking armor are already in transit. Bell Labs has begun the process of constructing an updated Blue Bulb suit that is said to be able to counteract the terahertz radiation used so effectively by Ned Garver.
Printmaster Bellegarde and Inspector General Klavin have both denied Official Castaño’s request to resign his command of the Heroes.
Frank Crown, founder and chief executive officer of Crown Pharmaceuticals, was not among those found after the attack ended. Official Castaño indicates that Crown escaped with the Garrisonian agents. It is unknown when those agents arrived to facilitate the escape and ambush, but it was possibly days before the Bureau of Investigation received the tip as to the fugitives’ whereabouts. A line of inquiry has been opened to follow up on that intelligence, but it is unlikely to go anywhere.
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Written and edited by Daniel Baldwin. Art by Tyrelle Smith.