Amazon customer review of The Assassination of James Forrestal on September 8, 2025
This book is the seminal work on James Forrestal’s death, and in many ways his life and plans after his government service. Martin obtained the crucial “Willcutts Report” from the Navy, which confirmed long-hidden facts about Forrestal’s death, most importantly that the verdict of suicide was never actually medically or legally established, that there was broken glass in Forrestal’s room suggesting a physical struggle, and that the Greek prose transcription supposedly triggering Forrestal’s suicide was not written in his own handwriting. Martin also presents the remarkable finding that Forrestal’s driver and Bethesda hospital employees were forced to transfer out of Washington by the Navy immediately following Forrestal’s death, and that many of Forrestal’s peers within the government lied about or obfuscated the circumstances of his death.
Martin conducted a wide-reaching review of the Forrestal death narrative in various other books, articles and reports that built up over the decades, and he effectively drives home the case that James Forrestal did not kill himself but was very likely murdered. The book cuts through the standard narrative about Forrestal’s death (including the notion that he was suicidally depressed) like a razor blade. Martin even delves into the still unidentified writer “Cornell Simpson” who was the first writer to poke serious holes in the suicide narrative.
Martin’s conclusion is that Forrestal was killed because of the threat he posed (or was considered to pose, rightly or wrongly) to the plans of Zionist partisans primarily, but also Communists and possibly other factions within the government. The book outlines the history of the early Zionist partisans and terrorist groups in this era and recounts their voluminous record of assassinations (attempted and successful), terrorism, and other non-lethal pressure campaigns in the media. He makes a strong case that David Niles was a key player in the fate of Forrestal. Despite these conclusions, which some may consider shocking, Martin is quite cautious and measured in his analysis in the book. The scholarship in Martin’s book is a serious contrast to the various sensationalist disinformation accounts on social media that suggest Forrestal died because of MK-Ultra style experiments, because he knew too much about UFOs or Roswell, that he faked his death etc. Martin’s book cuts through all of this ridiculous noise.
Most Americans- even highly educated ones- have no idea who James Forrestal is, but this book is changing that at a growing pace, especially since Martin’s findings have caught the attention of certain key people in the media. The book is both a forensic investigation and a book of history, and it is ultimately a tribute to the war-time and post-war contributions of our first Secretary of Defense to American security. Forrestal paid the ultimate price and we are still living with the consequences of his untimely death, since Forrestal’s plans to buy or start a major newspaper or magazine ended with his death. Forrestal would have had immense influence on our country in the decades following his government service, but America was robbed of his continuing influence. For this reason, the findings and analysis in Martin’s book make The Assassination of James Forrestal one of the most important historical books written in this century. Every American owes it to himself to at least consider the findings and conclusions of Martin’s book. Earlier this year, Tucker Carlson told people to look into the Forrestal case on their own. There is no better place to start than reading David Martin’s book.
Side Note: The Navy gave numerous reasons for why they wouldn’t release the 10+ photo exhibits of Forrestal’s body listed in the Willcutts report. Ultimately, the Navy told David Martin many years ago that the photos were “lost”. I also submitted FOIA requests to the Navy, and they told me simply that they didn’t have any photos of Forrestal’s body- not those listed in the Willcutts report or any other photo of his body following his fall from the kitchen window. They referred me to NARA, who also confirmed they simply didn’t have the photos. Thus, we in the general public are now forced to conclude that these photos were either lost, stolen or destroyed by somebody in our government. I think in a certain way this tells us everything we need to know. I encourage others to request these photos and other information on Forrestal from the government.