The Bastion Americana Freedom Journal, Issue III: 1 August, 1943

Dec 27, 2024

After the explosive events of The Secret Files of Lucky Ford: The Dragon, the Wolf, and the Maiden the Axis’ propaganda machine went into high gear, churning out misinformation to twist the truth to fit their story. One of the most effective psychological weapons at their disposal is the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal.

Want to learn more about the defector Nedrick Garver? Stay tuned in 2025 for The Carpenter and the Curator, the first steamy thriller from Vigilance - Love and War!

This is issue III of the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal. For more information, please refer to the analyses of Issues I and II.

Content warnings: Violence, death, creeps, Nazis, gaslighting.

Although President Roosevelt invoked provisions of the Smith Act declaring the publication and distribution of the Bastion Americana Freedom Journal to be federal offenses, its third issue rolled out on schedule. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was tasked with stymying the newsletter’s circulation but some officials suspected that anti-Communist sympathies within the Bureau’s higher echelons precluded quick action on their part. Efforts by the Office’s regional inspectors resulted in a few couriers being stopped as they dropped off bundles, but no new information was gleaned from them.

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 III, 1 August, 1943
Arnold Pondletter, Editor-in-Chief

Classified ‘Most Secret, by order of the O.C.U.O.’

Main Article:

NEDRICK GARVER, A PROFILE IN COURAGE AND PATRIOTISM

HUNTED WHISTLEBLOWER BLOWS THE LID OFF THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT IN THE NAME OF AMERICA

A Secret Location, USA – Nedrick Garver is not a tall man, nor is he wide of shoulder or thick with muscle. Still, this unassuming man of science is a titan. When faced with assassins' bullets and foreign blades, some men cower and some men run. Only a few men, men like Ned Garver, will stand up to tyranny.

Just two weeks ago, Ned was an American agent recruited into the Office for the Cataloging of Unusual Occurrences, unaware that his labors were for the benefit of alien governments. He was a prominent physicist, working toward the betterment of the American people, before he was Shanghaied into the Office. There, his breakthroughs were ignored, despite their potential to save American lives from further foreign waste.

It was only when he discovered his dismissed technologies in the hands of enemy combatants, their theft covered up at the highest levels to then be used against American citizens, that he spoke up.

“When I brought it to my commanding officer's attention, he ignored me,” Ned explained. Even today, he gets upset at the memory. “It seems Researcher General Gonzales is more concerned with keeping secrets than saving lives.”

This Researcher General Gonzales, whose citizenship and loyalty is claimed to be to America, despite his surname, has rejected all the Journal's efforts to contact him. It seems the Office's dedication to occultation still outweighs its emphasis on sincerity toward its hosts.

Ned's interview was conducted in a safehouse provided by the Garrisonian Party, whose dedication to honesty inspired Ned to seek their aid in escaping the oppressive, stifling environment fostered by the Office. Garver lives in fear every day, convinced that black-clad cut-throats stalk his every movement. He has not seen the sun since his escape.

“I know better than most the capabilities these people have for murder,” he explained. His unit, one kept in prison-like conditions in a secret work camp called the Zoo, developed weapons of war. He never expected to find those very weapons being used against his beloved countrymen. “When I designed these devices, it was for the sole purpose of defending American lives. But the Office, who denied their efficacy in pursuit of foreign inventions, allowed my work to fall into enemy hands. All of my effort and expertise, wasted and stolen. I can only blame the Office, their negligence and disregard cost our own soldiers their lives.” - (cont'd p. 3)

Secondary Article:

INCREASE IN BRUTAL, LETHAL MOB VIOLENCE LINKED TO THE OFFICE

This article includes a photo of a crime scene featuring several members of the Chicago Police Department standing over a sheet-covered corpse. The caption reads as follows:

”Above: An unidentified member of the Selvaggio criminal network lies dead in a barbershop. Photo courtesy of Chicago Herald-American.”

Per ADA, the crime depicted in the photograph, the unsolved murder of Eraldo ‘Dodo’ Leccese, occurred in 1934, prior to the Office’s first contact with the Selvaggio family. ADA has confirmed that the late Mister Leccese was a colleague of Giacomo ‘Putter’ Selvaggio.

Chicago, IL – A small, American-owned business lies in ruins, corpses littering its tiled floor. Unfortunately, this scene is hardly a shock to any of the responding detectives. They say this type of wanton violence is on the rise in Chicago, a trend increasing nation-wide. What is not obvious is the cause: the Office.

Further information gleaned from interviews with Nedrick Garver reveal a startling level of interaction between the shadowy Office for the Cataloging of Unusual Occurrences and numerous elements of organized crime, nation-wide. Garver says the Selvaggio crime family, a cruel syndicate with foreign roots, is the linchpin - (cont'd p. 2)

Bureau for Cataloguing and Reference Analysis:

Leads regarding the whereabouts of Doctor Nedrick Garver following his defection have run dry. Though the injured officials will recover, the damage Garver did during his flight from Zoo Base will take longer to repair. Extensive ADA searches have linked Garver to the Silver Legion via his second-cousin’s husband, but that individual has not been located since the defection, either.

The joint committee tasked with determining sources of information loss has determined that all the intelligence referred to in the Journal could have come from Doctor Garver alone. Although he had extensive access to Zoo Base and projects in the Curie Energy Sciences Lab, his interests in other matters were never more than passing. According to Researcher General Gonzales, Garver’s familiarity with Office personnel, hierarchy, history, and procedure is what many consider surface-level. The committee recommends lowering Garver’s apprehension priority and reassigning those teams to pursue the German agent known as ‘Eizhürst.’

Per United States Department of the Navy records, Maxwell Quincy Revere is a former United States Marine Corps Raider. He was awarded a battlefield promotion during the Battle of Rabaul, before his capture by Imperial Japanese forces. Captain Revere kept his Marines’ morale up and organized an escape after seven months imprisoned. Despite a lack of food and intel, Captain Revere escaped with six fellow Americans and led them to safety. He was terribly injured during the escape, including the loss of his left ear and a wound to his left hand that became infected and eventually resulted in its amputation. After their rescue by ANZAC forces, Captain Revere was awarded an honorable discharge due to his extensive injuries and was presented with a Purple Heart and the Navy Cross in recognition of his efforts.

He was reported to have returned to his hometown of Pelling, Ohio after his discharge. No information could be found regarding his involvement with the Garrisonian Party prior to the Journal’s third issue.

‘Arnold Pondletter’ is suspected to be an alias used by SS Department Three’s Eighth Arm, code-named August. Several phrases in the Journal’s articles match writings recovered from the Eighth Arm’s Glaubensführer Korps, including the texts of their psuedo-religion, the Truth of the All-Highest.

Like what you read? Buy me a beer or @ me about it.

Written and edited by Daniel Baldwin. Art by Tyrelle Smith.

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