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One Good Mason Save, Another Good Mason Dead
Dean S. Clatterbuck, 32°
Officer Leslie Coffelt lost his life defending President Harry S. Truman during a failed assassination attempt in 1950. Both were Brother Master Masons.
Right: One Good Mason Dead: Announcement from Potomac Lodge No. 5 at the time of the funeral of Brother Leslie Coffelt, White House Police Officer, slain while protecting President Harry S. Truman.
It is Wednesday, November 1, 1950, one hundred fifty years to the day since John Adams became the first president to occupy The White House. Harry S. Truman is the 33rd president, and extensive repairs to The White House have forced the Truman family to move across Pennsylvania Avenue to the Blair House, usually reserved for visiting dignitaries. It was the home for President Truman and his family for almost his entire presidency and was quickly dubbed “The Truman White House.”
Harry Truman’s schedule for the first of November is a bit lighter than usual, and by one o’clock, his appointments concluded, he makes the short trip across the street to Blair House to have lunch with his wife, Bess, and then to catch a nap. The hour is two o’clock. It won’t be a long nap, for he is scheduled to depart for Arlington National Cemetery at 2:50 p.m., but the next thirty minutes will make that Wednesday a day that Harry Truman would remember for the rest of his life.
It would not be forgotten because of an attempted assassination that day by two Puerto Rican nationalists, Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo. On October 30, 1950, an attempt at a coup in San Juan, Puerto Rico, collapsed in a bloody barrage of shots in which Griselio’s sister was wounded and captured. The nationalist cause had become personal as well as political for Griselio. He decided it was time to act, and the deed should be something big—like assassinating the President of the United States.
On October 31, 1950, Oscar and Griselio registered at the Hotel Harris under assumed names. The next day they ate lunch, and Griselio gave Oscar some hurried instructions on the weapon Griselio had purchased for him, a Walther P38. Hailing a cab, the men asked to be taken to the White House to see where the president lived. But the cab driver corrected them, telling them that Truman was living across the street at the Blair House.
Upon arriving in the area of the Blair House, Griselio and Oscar surveyed the situation and formulated an improvised plan, not having known about Blair House until minutes before. As they looked over the scene, they could see two White House Police Officers in their guard houses, one at either end of the Blair House.
One of them was forty-year-old Leslie Coffelt, a native Virginian who had begun his law enforcement career with the Metropolitan Police Department. After eight years, he transferred to the White House Police, the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service, where he now had seven years of service as a Private, except for a break to serve in the army during World War II.
In an ironic twist of fate, he was scheduled to be off that day, but a fellow officer, one of his best friends, needed some time off to paint his house, so Les offered to work in his place. Les was an active Mason and a member of Potomac Lodge No. 5, having been raised on September 28, 1945. Les was faithful in his attendance so far as his rotating shift work at Blair House allowed and had hoped that he might serve as lodge officer in 1951. It would be an unrealized hope.
The two guard houses on either side of the Blair House were on the sidewalk, one at the west end and the other at the east. At 2:00 p.m., Leslie Coffelt was in the west end guard house and Officer Joe Davidson was on duty in the east end booth. White House Police Officer Donald Birdzell was guarding the front door to Blair House.
At about 2:20 p.m., Griselio and Oscar approached Blair House from opposite directions. Secret Service Agent Floyd Boring had just stepped outside of Blair House for a routine check with his detail. He spoke with Les, then moved to the east booth and was talking with Joe in the booth when Oscar Collazo walked by.
Officer Birdzell was facing the Blair House when he suddenly heard a sharp “click.” He recognized the sound as one associated with a firearm and pivoted on the spot. Oscar’s gun had misfired as he attempted to shoot Birdzell from point-blank range. Now, in extreme frustration, Oscar was pounding the Walther P38 with his left fist, which caused the weapon to fire, striking Birdzell in the right knee.
In agonizing pain, Birdzell limped out onto Pennsylvania Avenue, turning to return fire at Oscar, who had started up the now unguarded steps. Officer Davidson began firing at Oscar from the east guard booth area, and Agent Boring also began firing. Oscar sat down on the second step and fired a clip of bullets at the officers, but failed to hit either of them.
Agent Stewart Stout, inside the Blair House, heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire, grabbed a submachine gun, and took up a position inside the house at the door. Agent Vince Mroz emerged from the basement door behind Boring and Davidson and took one shot at Oscar. He then raced back into the basement to guard against any threat at the basement door at the other end of the building.
Simultaneously, Griselio Torresola had been approaching from the west and arrived at the western guardhouse just as the first gunfire erupted. He was directly behind White House Police Officer Joe Downs, who was returning to Blair House after making a run to get lunch for the shift. Accustomed to being frequently approached by tourists seeking information, Coffelt was taken completely by surprise as Griselio walked up. Griselio fired three rounds, hitting Coffelt in the chest, abdomen, and legs. Les sank into his chair, mortally wounded, but still managed to remain conscious and draw his gun. Downs, standing in the doorway, attempted to draw his pistol, but Griselio, an excellent marksman, shot him three times.
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Scene of the Assassination Attempt: Blair House as it looks today. (State Dept. Photo)
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Then, seeing Birdzell trying to shoot Oscar from the street, Griselio fired at Birdzell, hitting him in his left knee and disabling him. It appeared that only Agent Mroz and Secret Service Agent Stout remained to guard the president, but Leslie Coffelt, mustering what must have been a monumental effort before passing out, aimed his weapon and fired. His aim was true. His shot struck Griselio in the head, killing him instantly.
At the same time, Boring took a shot at Oscar, hit him in the chest, and put him out of action. It was over! All of the action had happened in a flash (later estimates ranged from forty seconds to three minutes).
The sound of gunfire roused Harry Truman from his nap. Arising from his bed, he walked to the front window to see what was going on. He looked out before Les Coffelt fired his fatal shot, but Griselio had emptied his German 9 mm Luger and was in the process of reloading. The assassin’s target was suddenly in plain view at the window.
Secret Service Agent Floyd Boring saw Truman and called for him to get out of view. Whether or not Griselio ever saw Truman is unknown, but in any event, Les Coffelt’s final act made the question moot. U.E. Baughman, Chief of the Secret Service was now on the scene, and uncertain if this was an isolated action or part of a larger plot, advised Truman to cancel his 2:50 trip to Arlington National Cemetery. Truman declined this advice and elected to go ahead, under a quadrupled Secret Service guard.
Agent Birdzell’s wounds were not life threatening; Downs was seriously wounded, but survived. Officer Leslie Coffelt died in the hospital less than four hours after being shot. He was the first member of the Uniformed Secret Service to lose his life in the line of duty.
Oscar Collazo also recovered from his wounds and was subsequently tried and sentenced to death. President Truman, not wanting to see him become a martyr, commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. President Jimmy Carter later ordered a now aged Collazo released, and he returned to Puerto Rico where he died of natural causes in 1994.
Three days after the assassination attempt, Harry Truman again returned to Arlington National Cemetery. This time, it was not to make a speech or help dedicate a statue. It was to attend the burial of Officer Leslie Coffelt. A religious service was held in the Fort Myer Chapel conducted by Dean John W. Suter of the Washington National Cathedral. Brother Coffelt was accorded last military honors, and the last observance was a Masonic funeral by Potomac Lodge.
The seven active pall hearers were fellow officers of the White House Police, and all were Masons. Two each were from Anacostia Lodge No. 21 and Potomac Lodge No. 5, one from Petworth Lodge No. 47, and two from other jurisdictions.
Editor’s Note: An expended version of this article was originally published in The Voice of Freemasonry of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, F.A.A.M., vol. 22, no. 3, and is used with their permission. The full and unabridged version of this article is available from the office of the Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of D.C., F.A.A.M., 5428 MacArthur Blvd., N.W., Washington, DC 20016, grandsecretary@dcgrandlodge.org.
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Dean S. Clatterbuck is a native Washingtonian and is in his 48th year of Masonry. He was an attorney with the Federal Government for most of his professional career, and is currently a member of the Grand Secretary’s staff in D.C. He served twice as Master of the former Myron M. Parker Lodge No. 27 under the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M. of D.C., and has been a member of Potomac Lodge No. 5 in D.C. since 1974, serving as its Secretary since 1983. He is a 46 year member of the Scottish Rite as well as a member of a number of other appendant bodies. He and his wife, Sandra, reside in Rockville, Maryland, and his daughter, Kimberly, lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
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