About the Book
In this section, I will explain how the book, “Spooky 8 The Final Mission” (starting with the hardback) came to be. I will discuss the motivating factors that brought me to write it, why it was written and what it is trying to say. I will give my opinion regarding why all of the events took place, and I will share with you my thoughts and the thoughts of others. Regardless of how this book is promoted by the publisher, or perceived by its readers, this is the real story behind the book.
First, let me say that Spooky 8 was never intended to be published, nonfiction or fiction. “Spooky 8 – The Final Mission” is a book that is based on actual events. What it is saying really did happen. Spooky 8 is the end product of a year of writing down our past, facing our demons and trying to bring closure to a part of our private lives – lives that were never any ones business but the team’s and those involved with us. It was a means of therapy, suggested to me by my very good friend, Eric Bernt. It was never intended to prove anything, point a finger, accuse, admit or deny any wrongdoing or conspiracy by any specific government agency. It is not about the military. I’ve never proclaimed to be an agent of the CIA, NSA, DIA or any other string of letters that nobody really knows what they do. I’ve never been an “Operational” Intelligence Operator or involved in any official military “SpecOps” operations. Those people who are “Operational” are of a quality and dedication that are rare by most standards, and at no time have I intended to represent myself to be of those standards.
What I’m saying is this: myself, the members of “Spooky 8″ and probably hundreds of others were, and many probably still are, employed by certain members or representatives of the United States Government’s Intelligence Community to perform tasks OUTSIDE normal operating procedures, retained by those groups as members of civilian, paramilitary teams. I believe some of these people were not acting under the authority or supervision of their host agency, but rather, acting on their own, outside their respective agency’s charter.
Putting it simply: we believe that these rogues had their own agenda going on the side. They were running their own operations without permission. These few believed they are so “Above The Law” that they could have their own unauthorized “sub-organizations” in place, and didn’t have to account to anyone for them. Ideally, we would like to think that they had a task to perform but because of the political arena in which they were forced to function, they were so severely restricted that they had to resort to the use of contracted civilian teams. More that likely, they were so motivated by a lust for power and overwhelming greed, that they used expendable, unaccountable civilians to do their dirty work for them.
There will be those that will take what I say and twist it to fit their narrow-minded, self-indulgent point of view. They will refuse to look at the “whole picture” but rather, take only part of my words and twist them to fit their pathetic little sense of what is real. To those I say you are cowards, afraid of the truth. Take your head out of your ass and start looking at what is going on around you. To those who read my words with an open mind I say don’t take my word for anything other than what they are. Always seek the truth for yourself! Make up your own mind! Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you have to believe! That choice is yours!
Now, with that said, I will tell you how “Spooky 8″ came to be:
In August of 1993, I had just returned home from a job as a security consultant for a company based in Washington, D.C. A very good friend of mine named Laura, showed me an article in the local paper about a movie, “Surviving the Game,” that was being filmed in the Wenatchee area. The article was explaining why local law enforcement was not going to provide any security for the movie because of one of the actors named “Ice-T.” Ice-T was a rapper that had recently recorded a hit rap song titled “COP KILLER.” Because of the song, the local authorities felt it wasn’t appropriate to provide “on-duty” personnel. The article went on to say that the movie producers were forced to hire “Hells Angles” to provide security for the notorious singer.
Since one of my professions was that of an “Executive Protection Specialist,” more commonly known as a “Bodyguard,” I went down to the production office to offer my assistance. I met Mr. Fred Caruso, the producer. After introducing myself I showed him my credentials, we talked for awhile and I was hired. It was agreed that the “Hells Angles” would not be appropriate security, so I was hired to handle it myself. The producer told me of a pre-production meeting that was going to take place in a few days and that I would be starting then.
The day of the pre-production meeting I was there, in the background. During that meeting, the director, Ernest Dickerson, the writer Eric Bernt, the Property Master and other production department heads were going over some of the “props” that would be used in the movie. As they were going over the weapons that were going to be used, the writer, Eric Bernt, noticed me quietly shaking my head and grinning. Eric soon came up to me and asked me if there was something I wanted to say. I explained to him that I was just there as security and I apologized for the interruption. He was very nice, and really wanted my opinion. I explained to them that if these “hunters” were spending $10,000 apiece to hunt, they weren’t going to be using a $200 rifle from K-Mart. They would be using custom or more “high-tech” exotic weapons. Eric asked me if I could give him an example, so I did.
We went to the back of my Pathfinder, where I opened a rifle case revealing a Steyr Aug, semiautomatic rifle. I explained that weapons of this type would be more the weapons of choice. It wasn’t long before my title was modified from Security to include “Technical Advisor” as I suggested several weapon changes, “hunting” tactics and other “technical” aspects to consider. I spent several days with actors Rutger Hauer, Charles “Roc” Dutton, John McGinley, Billy McNamara and F. Murray Abraham at the local shooting range showing them several exotic and unusual weapons. From a full automatic Mac-10 to a suppressed .308 sniper rifle, they were introduced to a world of weaponry they had not experienced before in an effort to enhance their ability to portray the characters in the movie.
It was summer in Washington, and I spent a lot of time wearing shorts, and Eric had noticed a circular scar on my right thigh. He recognized the scar as that of a bullet wound and it wasn’t long before he asked me what had happened. At first, I sidestepped the question with vague stories which Eric didn’t buy. It wasn’t until we were on location at an emergency airstrip near Lake Wenatchee that I started to open up to Eric.
We had been at the airstrip for several days shooting when one day, Eric and I were walking back from the “mess hall” along the grass runway. Eric again questioned me about my scar and to shut him up, I told him that I had been wounded in South America the year before. Needless to say, this wasn’t going to be enough of an answer for Eric, and he began to nag me about the rest of the story. Eric and I had become good friends by this time but not good enough for me to trust him with a part of my life that was very private. I didn’t tell him the complete story then, in fact, it took a couple of years of his nagging before I opened up to him completely.
The following year, Eric was hired by Paramount Studios to write a movie screenplay he named “Patriots.” The set was a closing of a military base and the disposal of its “highly trained and specialized” troops. I was hired as technical advisor for that script, so Eric and I spent a lot of time talking on the phone and corresponding. On several occasions, I had gone to Eric and his wife Heather’s house in Los Angels to work on the script. As we worked, Eric would make it a point to have plenty of cold Corona beer on hand, and in time, I opened up to him and told him some of my secret past. He could sense my anger and frustration and he knew that talking to him was doing me a lot of good. He could tell that I needed to get a lot of things off my chest and Eric gave me the opportunity to do so.
In November of 1994, Eric and I were preparing to give the final touches to the screenplay “Patriots.” One day as I was sitting in my room at Eric’s house, Eric brought in a Laptop computer and sat it down on the desk in front of me. He told me that he wasn’t going to let me leave until I started writing down some of the stories I had told him over the past couple of years, specifically, about the events behind the bullet wound in my leg. I sat there looking at the compute for a very long time, then began typing. Ten pages turned into fifty and eventually into five hundred.
At first, I hadn’t a clue where my writing was headed. Soon, almost magically, it started taking shape and I knew exactly what I wanted to say. The writing came easily but the feelings behind it were hell. Old wounds were reopened and the demons of my past once again showed their ugly heads. I met with the surviving members of Spooky 8 to get their opinions, their permission and their blessing. At first, not all were in favor of revealing our past to anyone, but in time, it was decided that the story needed to be told. It was decided that I would be the instrument of revelation and I alone would face the consequences. It was under the condition that all the “insurance” that I had in my possession would be divided among the team and only certain items and events could be used in the making of the book.
It took from November of 1994 to the end of November of 1995 to complete Spooky 8. At times, the emotions were so powerful, I seriously considered suicide. I met with my team on several occasions to make sure I wasn’t over stepping their wishes. In the end, the manuscript I called “Spooky 8 The Final Mission” was a reality.
At first, only Eric, his wife and our friend and producer Kevin Messick had read the manuscript. I looked at it as what it was, a closure of my past. They, on the other hand, saw it as something much more. Immediately they asked me to consider turning the manuscript into a movie and book for publishing. I wasn’t very comfortable with that idea and frankly, never thought anyone would want to read it anyway. Through Kevin and Eric’s efforts, several people did read it and liked it. Before long, I was presented with an offer to make it into a major motion picture. Shortly after that, I was contacted by a New York Literary Agent wanting to represent me to the publishing industry, and the rest as they say, is history.
