[Letter to Donald S. Burke from Shepherd Smith]

SRC BY: XEROxF' TELECOPIER 7011; 8- 1-93 I:16PM 1 CCITT 53- 18183490-403; 5
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Don, if these same folks are some of Dr. Redfield's accusers, I
think everyone should view anything they say with great
suspicion. Clearly they are capable of rewriting history, or
constructing any scenario they want without basis in fact, There
seems to be an orchestrated movement there which I am convinced
will ultimately be shown to be little more than sour grapes;
without merit, with the root being professional jealousies and
inter-service rivalries.
Needless to say, this has certainly been one of the stranger
sagas I've been involved with to date on this issue. Because you
have not responded to my past requests I shall send this to
others in the command structure so that I can be sure it gets
recorded against the ridiculous statements written about the
call.
In closing, I would say my dad's rule of "keep it in the chainof-command" while he served in the Medical Corps was real wisdom.
Had scientific questions and any complaints of Dr. Redfield been
correctly directed to him, rather than allowed to be skirted
around him, I believe much of the harmful fuss going on today
could have been avoided, including the utter nonsense of their
reaction to my call. And while I didn't have the courtesy of
receiving Maryanne's memo from you, it really doesn't matter what
it said since Lucey wrote his memo in full concurrence and
compliancq with her. I don't believe either should be believed,
nor do I understand why you have gone to such extremes to protect
them. This whole affair is ludicrous and regrettable.