{"id":3351,"date":"2025-09-20T11:56:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T16:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/?p=3351"},"modified":"2025-09-20T11:56:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T16:56:47","slug":"the-beach-breeze-august-4-1993","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/2025\/09\/the-beach-breeze-august-4-1993\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beach Breeze – August 4, 1993"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A History of America, Walton County and Robert Bannerman<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Julie McCoy-Root<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Robert Bannerman is one of those rare individuals who can honestly be classi\ufb01ed as a \u201cmover and a shaker,\u201d not just because of his lifetime of service to his country, but because of his substantial contributions to the communities of Walton County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South Walton octogenarian has indeed led a fascinating life \u2013 if one would consider apprehending spies, wining and dining foreign royalty, or handling top-secret affairs of state exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bannerman\u2019s keen memory recalls some of America\u2019s most historic events, made more interesting because of his role in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He discusses his life experiences matter-of-factly, as if they are really not so special. For example, when he was dressing for a formal dinner recently, his wife inquired about a pair of gold cuf\ufb02inks he was putting on. He nonchalantly explained that the cufflinks were a gift to his father from former Japanese Emperor Hirohito.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in northern Wisconsin, Bannerman moved to Winnipeg, Canada at age two, when his father took over his grandfather\u2019s quarry operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember quite well when World War I started; I was very small, but I can remember the troop trains going from Vancouver, across Canada to Halifax, to go on to Europe, and many of them consisted of labor battalions recruited from Southwest Asia to do work behind French lines.\u201d When the Canadian Government cancelled all military contracts, the Bannerman family left for Washington, D.C., where his father became Special Assistant to Secretary of State Lansing under President Wilson\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from George Washington University, Bannerman took a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He then took a foreign service course that would lead to his employment at the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While recalling fond memories of his college days, Bannerman relates how he met people he is still friends with today, such as Jake Beland, head of St. Joe Paper Company, whom he met as a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity, as well as others from Apalachicola and Port St. Joe. \u201cSo I knew about this area early in the game,\u201d Bannerman said. He \ufb01rst visited the Destin\/South Walton area in 1936, when there was no bridge in Destin (they crossed by ferry) nor passable roads. \u201cThe area was beautiful and untouched at that time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After returning to Washington D.C., Bannerman joined the U.S. State Department staff, where he was one of four special agents responsible for investigating passport\/visa fraud all over the country. As a result, \u201cwe were one of the \ufb01rst to get into Soviet espionage rings in the United States through the investigations of false passports.\u201d Bannerman explained that President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized Soviet Russia in 1933, \u201cand we got into the \ufb01rst espionage case in 1936-37.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Department agents developed the techniques of how to detect a false passport. According to Bannerman, a spy would research American death records, \ufb01nd an infant who had died and use that birth certi\ufb01cate to make an application for a U.S. passport. Then the spies would set up temporary residence \u2013 in this case in New York City \u2013 and make themselves well-known to neighbors, the landlady, postman, etc., he said, because passports were then delivered by registered mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bannerman gained access to city hall records, and when a questionable passport application was presented, he would research old death records and apprehend the suspect. \u201cSure enough, we began catching case after case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI stayed in New York for \ufb01ve years and during this time I did a lot of what you would call protocol work.\u201d In this role, he accompanied guests of the State Department around the country. Bannerman took a number of the royalty and foreign dignitaries to visit President Roosevelt\u2019s residence in Hyde Park, New York. \u201cIn the course of this, I handled the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, the Crown Prince and Princess of Sweden, the Duchess of Luxembourg, the Governor of Canada, I was a member of the team that escorted the King and Queen of England when they were here on an official visit in 1939, and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, together with any number of presidents elected from Central and Latin American Republics.\u201d In addition, Bannerman escorted Prince Edward of\u2019 England, and Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee he abdicated his throne to marry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June of 1941, while Europe was at war, Bannerman moved from New York back to Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to accompany the exiled Polish government officials, a task he undertook for well over a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another job Bannerman and the other State Department special agents were responsible for at the outbreak of World War II was the house arrest of all Axis diplomats, their staff and press corps in the U.S. \u201cWe took over the Greenbriar and Homestead Hotels in West Virginia . . . and this is where we would detain these people. I put all the Japanese in the Homestead Hotel, and at Greenbriar, I put all the Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Bulgarians and any others that served with them.\u201d In all, Bannerman said he handled about 25,000 people who were under detention proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these detainees were exchanged with American citizens being held in Axis counties. He said there was only one incident where a German cursed a guard and stepped out of the restricted area, but the issue was soon resolved and there was very little trouble controlling the detainees. Bannerman said after exchanges were complete with enemy countries, it was found that the Japanese treated their American detainees worse than any of the other enemy countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the end of the war, it became evident that an adequate security control mechanism within the government was virtually non-existent. \u201cThere was no classi\ufb01cation of information, which is con\ufb01dential, secret or top-secret \u2013 that was just being introduced,\u201d Bannerman said. In addition, there was not at that time a background check conducted on government and foreign service employees. To deal with these problems, the State Department appointed Bannerman as Director of Security. \u201cI was the \ufb01rst security officer of the State Department in its history, and I set up this entire program,\u201d he said. Today, the State Department\u2019s security program employs thousands of individuals and includes various departments and authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 18, 1947, the National Security Act was passed. This act included the creation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning, the CIA, explained Bannerman, was a small, investigative entity that had never been tested in the U.S. court system. \u201cWhat we were trying to do is create a secret society within a free society,\u201d he said. So, after eleven years with the State Department, Bannerman became a deputy director of security within the CIA. He was soon promoted to the position of one of four deputy directors of the agency. In that role, he was in charge of personnel, security, \ufb01nance, logistics, communications, medical programs and training, as well as the operation of the CIA\u2019s airline, Air America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advancing rapidly in the CIA , Bannerman reached the senior classi\ufb01ed position attainable in U.S. government \u2013 beyond that he would have had to be con\ufb01rmed by the Senate as a political appointee. Some improvements Bannerman helped make in the agency were the implementation of a computer system and a satellite communications program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most of Bannerman\u2019s experiences within the CIA are secret, he says the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, skirmishes with Cuba and other communist countries made for some interesting tales \u2013 if only he could share them! \u201cThese were truly fascinating days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 42 years in the employment of the U.S. Government, Bannerman decided to retire in 1970. But instead of an end to a lifetime of impacting the environment around him, Bannerman began his vital role in the activities of Walton County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I \ufb01rst came down here, I was a stranger in a strange land, and it was very obvious I was an outsider. I decided the only way to become a part of the community was to volunteer for just about every organization I could possibly think of to do work,\u201d he said. Bannerman subsequently joined the Walton County Chamber of Commerce and the South Walton Lions Club. With the Chamber he worked for a cohesive bond between north and south Walton County, worked to secure a state grant for a billboard advertising campaign, and he eventually became president of the Chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bannerman remembers when a barge destroyed part of the Highway 331 bridge in 1973. \u201cI pushed hard for the Florida Department of Transportation and the Governor to try to organize and do something about it to restore communications (with north Walton).\u201d Thirteen months later the span was repaired. At that time, Bannerman became president of the South Walton Fire District, an entity that only had one small pumper truck obtained from the Forestry Department. With the . . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Clark, the two went to Birmingham, Al., to purchase a \ufb01re engine \u2013 which was eventually paid off by citizens\u2019 donations. Volunteers were organized and a \ufb01re department was born. Bannerman also helped secure a grant to set up an ambulance service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, he served on a Governor\u2019s committee addressing the state\u2019s needs, and in 1983, the Governor created a committee for coastal management to which Bannerman was appointed. On that committee, he worked to outline Walton\u2019s transportation needs \u2013 such as the widening of Highways 98 and 331. \u201cI think we did a lot of good in alerting the DOT to our problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bannerman was also one of the first to attempt to convince state officials, along with Dave Weaver, of the need For a Mid-Bay Bridge. He and Weaver drafted a request to the Okaloosa County Commission, suggesting that they petition the . . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mid-Bay Bridge Authority. The commission honored the request; however, the idea was met with much opposition and failed. Bannerman\u2019s idea is today a reality, and he recently participated in the new Mid-Bay Bridge\u2019s opening events in a walk\/run across the span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, he has served the community here on the South Walton Tourist Development Council, and still does today. He also served four terms as president of the Santa Rosa Beach Golf and Beach Club, served on the now defunct Walton County Airport Authority, as well as various county planning committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, at 81 years old, Robert Bannerman is still a driving force in his environment, whether it\u2019s in making decisions affecting tourism in Walton County, sharing his ideas with local of\ufb01cials. or just enjoying the view of the Gulf of Mexico from the patio of his lovely, secluded South Walton . . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A History of America, Walton County and Robert Bannerman By Julie McCoy-Root Robert Bannerman is one of those rare individuals who can honestly be classi\ufb01ed as a \u201cmover and a shaker,\u201d not just because of his lifetime of service to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2473],"tags":[2474,2475],"class_list":["post-3351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1993-08-august","tag-bannerman","tag-beland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3352,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3351\/revisions\/3352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wcgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}