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Photos |
2007
Left-wing group' behind attack on Athens US
embassy (2nd Roundup)

Counter-terrorism officers gather evidence on the street opposite the
US embassy in Athens following an attack with a self-propelled
projectile that left a hole in the building's third floor facade, just
missing the embassy's emblem, on Friday 12 January 2007. Police believe
the projectile was launched from across the boulevard passing in front
of the compound. Minor damage but no injuries were reported. EPA/SIMELA
PANTZARTZI
Jan 12, 2007, 13:15 GMT
Athens - Leftist guerrillas who last year tried to assassinate the
country's culture minister were blamed for a rocket- propelled grenade
attack Friday on the US embassy in Athens.
'We received one or two anonymous calls this morning that a left- wing
group, Revolutionary Struggle, was behind the attack,' Public Order
Minister Byron Polydoras told reporters outside the embassy.
The blast shattered windows of the embassy, one of the most heavily
guarded buildings in the city and the scene of repeated protests, and
in various buildings nearby, causing panic. However, no one was injured
in the pre-dawn attack.
The rocket grenade was launched from across the street of the embassy,
which is surrounded by a three-metre high steel fence, probably from a
nearby apartment building or a van.
The attack was seen as the worst assault on the embassy in the last 10
years. In February 1996, unidentified assailants fired a rocket at the
embassy compound, causing minor damage to diplomatic vehicles and
surrounding buildings.
Polydoras said that one of the telephone calls was made to the company
responsible for securing the embassy. He also said that a special task
force would be set up to lead the investigation.
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni went to the embassy to speak with
US Ambassador Charles Ries, and condemned the attack.
Greece's opposition parties also denounced the attack, saying it would
hurt the country's image abroad.
The grenade, said to have been of European manufacture, reportedly
landed inside the toilets on the third floor of the building, slightly
damaging the ceiling and glass panelling.
Ries told reporters that there were no injuries from the blast. 'We did
not expect anything like this,' he said, adding: 'I am treating it as a
very serious attack.'
Dozens of police cars had cordoned off all roads around the embassy,
including a major boulevard outside the building, immediately after the
attack occurred just before 6 a.m.
Almost five hours afterwards, roads around the embassy were open for
traffic but pedestrians were denied access. Greek anti-terrorist police
were at the scene.
'We heard a loud explosion a little before 6 a.m.,' said one resident.
Another witness said his car rocked from side to side as he was driving
to a nearby hospital. The explosion caused glass to shatter in several
homes opposite the embassy.
Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility last May for a bomb
attack on Greece's Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, and had warned
at the time that more attacks would follow.
The remote-controlled bomb, which was planted near Voulgarakis' home
was apparently intended to kill the minister as he went to work, but it
caused only extensive damage, with no injuries.
The group said the attempted assassination was for Voulgariakis' role
in two scandals which rocked the country during his term as public
order minister.
These were a phone-tapping scandal, and accusations by 28 Pakistani
immigrants that they were abducted and tortured by Greek and foreign
intelligence agents following last year's London bombings.
The Revolutionary Struggle group has emerged as the country's most
dangerous organization since the arrest of members of the deadly
November 17 terrorist group prior to the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The group staged similar attacks in June and December 2005 on the
labour and economics ministries in Athens injuring three people and
causing extensive damage.
The economics ministry, located in the city's main Syntagma Square,
approximately 100 metres from parliament, was closed at the time of the
blast.
Anti-terrorism experts suggest that the group is composed of 'a younger
generation of terrorists' imitating the methods of the defunct Greek
extremist organizations November 17 and the Revolutionary People's
Struggle.
November 17, which has killed US and other foreign diplomats in the
past, was dismantled in 2002.
1999
Huge March In Athens Protests Visit By
Clinton
·
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: November 18, 1999
Giving a sample of the kind of resentment President Clinton can expect
on Friday, more than 10,000 Greek protesters marched in front of the
American Embassy today, many carrying banners branding Mr. Clinton a
murderer.
The noisy demonstration, which began at the Polytechnic University to
commemorate the brutal crackdown on student protesters there by the
American-supported military dictatorship on Nov. 17, 1973, is an annual
ritual. But this year's march was lent new vigor by the imminent
arrival of an American president who is sardonically referred to by
Greeks as the planitarchis, the ruler of the planet.
''I want him to come, so I can express my feelings,'' said Dimitris
Vagas, a 26-year-old dentistry student who attended the embassy
protest, and who listed the division of Cyprus, the military
dictatorship, the Greek civil war and the bombing of Kosovo among the
reasons he passionately opposed American foreign policy. ''He is the
planitarchis, so of course he should visit Greece. It's a province of
his empire.''
It was demonstrations like this, as well as bomb explosions and even a
mock trial and public lynching of Mr. Clinton earlier this month, that
caused the White House to postpone and scale down a two-day visit.
The Greek government, embarrassed by the postponement, now plans to
prohibit any demonstrations in central Athens on Friday and Saturday,
the broadest such ban since the days of the junta.
The government initially promised American officials that it would
prohibit protesters from holding demonstrations at presidential stops
during the visit planned for Nov. 13 to 15, then backed down when
left-wing parties and even opposition leaders complained. That
about-face, in turn, angered the White House, which had viewed the
first presidential visit to Greece in eight years as a reward, not a
provocation.
When Mr. Clinton arrives on Friday for a pared-down 24-hour visit, he
will stay at the Intercontinental Hotel, far from the fortress-like
American Embassy and the ambassador's nearby residence, under tight
security.
Egg-throwing protesters are likely to be kept out well out of range,
but the commotion surrounding the visit will nevertheless give Mr.
Clinton a taste of how some Greeks perceive the United States
government.
The kind of left-wing anti-American sentiment that was rampant
throughout Europe and Latin America during most of the cold war still
thrives in Greece. It is a small, insecure country of 11 million people
that still nurses grievances over the United States' support of the
military junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974, and blames the
United States for not preventing the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in
1974. Most Greeks believe that the United States favors Turkey, its
historic enemy -- and the country where Mr. Clinton is spending several
days before coming here.
Anti-American protests and riots are a mainstay of Greek public life,
but they gained new fervor during the war in Kosovo. Greece is a member
of NATO, and the Socialist government of Prime Minister Costas Simitis
felt that it had no choice but to give NATO planes access to two air
bases and allow NATO supplies to be transported through Greece to
neighboring Macedonia.
But more than 90 percent of the Greeks opposed the NATO bombing
campaign, siding with the Serbs, historic allies who share their
Eastern Orthodox faith. There were other grievances, as well. Greeks
complain that the United States has a double standard, punishing rights
violations against Kosovo Albanians, but turning a blind eye to
assaults by Turkey on its Kurdish minority.
There were 52 protest marches in front of the American Embassy during
the war, some of them organized by hard-line Communists and anarchists
armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails, others led by nurses' unions
and pensioners chanting slogans. A Greek bystander was killed when a
bomb went off near the Intercontinental Hotel, where Mr. Clinton will
stay. Greek television helped fuel public outrage, giving far more
coverage to the plight of Serbian bombing victims than to the forced
exodus of Kosovo Albanians.
That war is over, but in Greece, the Clinton visit appears to have
unleashed pent-up rage.
''It's almost as if we are having some kind of breakdown, an
accumulated frustration that is spilling over," said Alexis Papahelas,
a foreign policy columnist for Vima, Greece's largest morning
newspaper. Mr. Papahelas said the anti-Clinton emotion had roots in a
national "identity crisis.''
He argued that Greeks are torn between allegiance to Western security
and lifestyle, on one hand, and deep resentment of a superpower that
still has an overwhelming say in Greek affairs. ''Greeks feel the
benefits of globalization. Our stock market is booming, we are
incredibly consumerist, we rely on the protection of the U.S. and
Europe, yet we enjoy telling America to go home and get lost,'' he
said. ''Somehow we feel we have the right to do both at the same
time.''
The handling of Mr. Clinton's visit has been deeply embarrassing for
Mr. Simitis, whose government faces an election next March. A stolid
and pragmatic figure who has largely avoided the colorful anti-American
rhetoric of his best-known predecessor, Andreas Papandreou, Mr. Simitis
is frequently criticized for being too accommodating toward the United
States.
Mr. Simitis's last-minute decision to ban protests has enraged many
Greeks, who fiercely defend their right to demonstrate in central
Athens. ''This is a democracy, the government cannot ban people's
feelings,'' Vasilis Constantinou, the manager of Ginger, a chic Athens
bar and restaurant, said. He said he was pleased that Mr. Clinton is
coming to Greece, but was angry with his government for seeking to
silence those who disagreed with him.
Seeking to justify the ban, Mr. Simitis explained that it would not be
in the country's interest ''to blacken Greece's image'' with violent
demonstrations. ''President Clinton's visit is well understood to be
important for our country and it gives us the opportunity to promote
peace and cooperation in the region.''
But terrorism is another issue that causes tension between Washington
and Athens. A shadowy left-wing terrorist group called 17 November,
which has claimed responsibility for dozens of assassinations including
five American Embassy officials, has operated for 23 years without a
single arrest. The White House is pressing the Greek government to sign
a bilateral cooperation treaty during the visit that would legitimize
existing ties between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Greek
antiterrorist police, but even that issue is complicated by prickly
national pride.
''The weight of terrorism on American perceptions is another issue that
meets with Greek incomprehension,'' Thanos Veremis, a professor of
political science who runs a foreign policy institute in Athens, wrote
in a recent newspaper editorial. Noting that the Oklahoma bombers
''scored 10 times more victims in one operation than all the grim
harvest of 17 November put together,'' Mr. Veremis urged the American
president to view the world with more humility.
1991
March 13 1991:
Remote controlled bomb kills US Army Sergeant Ronald Stewart in Glyfada
1988
January 21 1988:
Failed assassination on US official George Karos
July
7, 1988:
A U.S.
Naval Officer killed by a car bomb last week in Athens was buried at
Arlington
National Cemetery yesterday, July 6, 1988, with full military honors.
Captain
William E. Nordeen, 51, of Centuria, Wisconsin, was interred after a
brief
graveside service that followed a private ceremony in a cemetery
chapel. About
400 people attended, including Nordeen's widow and 12-year-old daughter.
Nordeen,
defense and naval attache at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, was killed
June 28,
1988 by a car bomb detonated by remote control as he drove by.
Nordeen's
armor- plated sedan was thrown across the street, where it lodged in
a steel fence,
police said. He was thrown from
the car by the blast.
After
the reading of the Lord's Prayer, the firing of a 21-gun salute by a
Navy honor
guard and the playing of Taps, the American flag over Nordeen's casket
was
folded and handed to his widow, Patricia Anne Nordeen. She briefly
clutched it
to her chest, then put it in her lap and placed her daughter's hand on
it.
Nordeen's
mother, Edna Helena Capello, sobbed as she was handed a second flag by
an honor
guard. Also attending the funeral were Nordeen's brother, Navy Captain
Michael
Brent; Navy Secretary William Ball and Greek Ambassador George D.
Papoulis.
A
left-wing Greek terrorist group known as November 17 asserted
responsibility
for the bombing. The group, which is accused of 11 other assassinations
in the
last 13 years, also threatened to kill more Americans until the United
States
abandons its four bases in Greece. The two countries are negotiating a
new base
agreement. The United States is offering a reward of $500,000 for
information
about the person or persons who killed Nordeen. Nordeen's family said
he was
due to retire in August after 30 years in the Navy.
1987
April 24 1987:
Bomb attack on US Air Force bus. 16 American soldiers and the driver
are
injured.
August 10 1987:
Remote control car bomb injures 11 American soldiers on a bus in
Kavouri.
1983
A
commemorative murder
in 1983
As
he did every weekday
at 7 a.m., Captain George Tsantes stepped into the back seat of a black
Plymouth sedan outside his home in Kifissia, a northern suburb of
Athens, for
the 30-minute drive to his office in downtown Athens. This time,
however, two
men on a Vespa motor scooter were shadowing him. When the car stopped
for a red
light, the scooter zoomed alongside, and a gunman fired seven shots
from a
.45-cal. pistol, killing Tsantes instantly and fatally wounding his
driver.
Tsantes,
53, was the
first American to be killed by terrorists in Athens since Dec. 23,
1975, when
CIA Station Chief Richard Welch was shot down outside his home by a
gunman with
a .45-cal. pistol. Hours after last week's shooting, a man telephoned
the Greek
daily Elefterotypia and claimed responsibility for the killing on
behalf of the
17th November Revolutionary Organization, the group that took
responsibility
for Welch's assassination. Ballistics tests later showed that Tsantes
had been
shot with the same gun that killed Welch.
Tsantes,
however, was
not so obvious a target. Born in New York City of Greek immigrant
parents, the
highly decorated Viet Nam veteran was eager to be posted to Athens.
Since
arriving there last March, he had been chief of the naval section of
the Joint
U.S. Military Aid Group, Greece (JUSMAGG), which administers American
military
aid programs. Established after World War II, JUSMAGG acquired a
reputation
among Greeks for working with the CIA to influence domestic politics,
though in
recent years its activities had been sharply curtailed. Left-wing
Athens
newspapers said last week that Tsantes was a CIA agent, perhaps even
the
agency's Athens station chief. The U.S. embassy denied the report.
Greek
authorities know
little about the 17th November group except the origin of its name: a
bloody
1973 uprising by students at Athens Polytechnic School against the
U.S.-backed
military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. The Tsantes slaying
was
clearly timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Polytechnic
rebellion. Greek authorities are worried about the rise of Athens as a
focus of
terrorism. Tsantes' killing was the third political murder in the city
since
August. The other victims were an aide to P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat
and a
security officer at the Jordanian embassy. In each of the
assassinations, the
killers left behind little evidence.
1984
August 3rd 1984: Failed attempt against
JUSMAGG
officer Robert Judd near the US Airbase at Hellenikon
1975
It
is now fashionable
among columnists supporting the Bush administration, New York Times
journalist
Judith Miller, Robert Novak and the increasing network of senior
administration
officials implicated in the Valerie Plame Wilson outing to say, "So
what?
Where's the crime?"
The
federal statute
making it a criminal penalty to knowingly divulge the identity of
anyone
working undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency was not enacted
in a
vacuum.
In
the early 1970s, in
part as a result of the radicalization of individuals and groups over
the
Vietnam War, a former CIA employee named Philip Agee wrote a book
revealing the
identities of several dozen CIA employees, many under deep cover and
some
including agency station chiefs in foreign capitals.
Many
of the countries in
which those CIA employees were working themselves had extremely radical
and
violent elements stirred to hatred over their opposition to America's
conduct
in the Vietnam War. So, by revealing their identities, Agee had
knowingly and
willingly placed these American citizens at risk. Violent consequences
were
predictable.
Richard
Welch, a
brilliant Harvard-educated classicist, had been stationed in Greece as
CIA
station chief only a few months before he was murdered, by a radical
Greek
terrorist organization called the 17th of November, in the doorway of
his house
in Athens on Dec. 23, 1975. Had Agee not divulged his name, there is
every
reason to believe that Welch would be alive today after decades of
loyal
service to his country.
Largely
as a result of
Agee's perfidy and Welch's unnecessary death, the Intelligence
Identities
Protection Act (IIPA) of 1982 was enacted, making it a felony to
knowingly
divulge the identity of a covert CIA operative. It carries penalties of
10
years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each offense. There are those
who
dismiss the crime by saying, "Oh, Wilson only had a desk job." That
is not a defense under this felony statute. It is for the CIA, not Karl
Rove or
Robert Novak, to determine who requires identity protection and who
does not.
The
political irony of
all this is that conservative elements in America have always
proclaimed
themselves more concerned than anyone else with national security, the
sanctity
of classified information, protection of sources, support for our
intelligence
and military services, and so on. At radical times in our past,
irresponsible
leftist groups thought it was their duty to try to reveal the names of
CIA
agents. Now, under a conservative administration, it is these
conservative
national security champions who are saying, with regard to the
"outing" of a CIA undercover officer, "Where's the crime?"
There
is further irony
in the fact that now the premier intelligence agency of the United
States, the
CIA, is in utter disarray. Morale is desperately low. Many of the best
career
officers are leaving. As the source of unbiased professional
intelligence, the
CIA has been diminished and pushed aside by the Department of Defense.
This at
a time when it is critical to national security to have the best
possible
intelligence to protect us from terrorism.
I
served on the first
Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee in the late 1970s and have
continued to
be a strong believer in and supporter of the CIA. I deplore those who
want to
diminish it, politicize it, or require it to produce bogus intelligence
it
would not otherwise produce simply to fit some preconceived political
or
ideological agenda. In almost every case where the CIA has
malfunctioned, it
did so under pressure from one political administration or another.
So,
there's the crime.
To casually and willfully endanger the life of an undercover CIA agent
is a
felony. You either believe in taking the laws of the United States
seriously or
you do not. Citizens - even highly placed ones - do not get to pick and
choose
which laws they will obey and which they will not. Miller and her
publisher may
think she's a hero, but I don't. It is well established that there is
no First
Amendment protection for a journalist or anyone else to withhold
evidence of a
crime.
There
is one final irony
to this story. On Christmas Eve in 1975, I got a call at my home from
the
director of the CIA, William Colby. He asked if I would intervene with
the
White House to obtain presidential approval to have Welch buried at
Arlington
National Cemetery, a hero fallen in service to his country. I quickly
called
President Ford's chief of staff on Colby's behalf and made the request.
Within
two hours, the president had agreed to sign the order permitting Welch
to be
buried at Arlington.
The
chief of staff's
name was Richard Cheney.
Update:
I incorrectly stated
above that Philip Agee included the name of Richard Welch in his book
naming
CIA operatives. That statement was inaccurate. Mr. Agee did not
identify
Richard Welch, but other sources did. Nevertheless, the Agee book and
subsequent Agee actions did contribute substantially to the passage of
the
Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. I apologize to Mr. Agee
for
this incorrect assertion.
1970
Swedish
IN 1970 it was still possible to park legally in Athens. The blue
Volkswagen
Beetle with plates, purchased from a used-car lot four days before,
had its nose innocently pointed down the grassy slope behind the US
embassy.
Late in the evening of 2 September 1970, if all went well, a timing
mechanism
would disengage the hand brake. The car would roll forward. A few
seconds
later a small but powerful bomb would detonate. Greeks and the world
would
take heart from the courage and ingenuity of the anti-Junta resistance.
And
Giorgos Tsikouris and Maria Elena Angeloni would be safely in Italy,
back from
an innocent three-week Greek vacation.
Something went wrong. Tsikouris was a Cypriot maths student at the
University
of Milan, not an electrician. At 3.45pm he was crouching over the bomb
trying
to fix the timing mechanism. His old associates suspect he
short-circuited the
clock by using the too-powerful battery of the car. The blast threw his
mangled body 10 metres from the car. Angeloni died in the twisted
metal. The
windows of the embassy all shattered.
The Junta, however, did not shatter. Its official communication gloated
that
"the wakeful eye of Divine Judgment annuls the dark plans of the
enemies of
the Greek people". The spokesman pointed out that no Greek - only a
Cypriot
and an Italian - could be found to carry out so dastardly a deed.
Authorities
pledged "strictest measures against the stealthy importation of
explosives by
tourists".
For diplomats and politicians, tragedy is opportunity. The street of the
explosion, securely fenced off, became reserved parking places for
senior
embassy staff. Andreas Papandreou claimed the martyrs to boost the
revolutionary credentials of PAK, his rather academic resistance
organisation.
But Tsikouris had been the Milan chief of the Patriotic
Antidictatorship Front
(PAM), a rival resistance group headed by Mikis Theodorakis. PAM's
student
militants had not informed the sensitive composer and Nobel Peace Prize
nominee that they had moved beyond playing his stirring anthems with the
volume cranked up. Still, he would not yield them to Andreas. Actress
Melina
Mercouri flew to Milan on behalf of PAM and gave a fiery speech at
Angeloni's
funeral, surrounded by Italian dignitaries.
If Tsikouris and Angeloni had survived, it would have been a disaster.
Blowing
up an embassy designed by Walter Gropius is bad manners as well as a
violation
of international law. PAM claimed feebly that the US embassy was "the
brain of
the military dictatorship" and thus a legitimate target, but its
occupants
knew otherwise. Greek authorities, with help from their shaken US
counterparts, would have solved the puzzle of Angeloni's forged Swedish
passport and followed her trail to the Greek student's club in Milan.
Italian
authorities would perforce have agreed this abuse of hospitality needed
to be
punished harshly.
Wise officials do not delude the public or themselves that they can
divide up
the world tidily between good and evil, "with us or against us",
terrorists
and freedom-fighters. By dying, Tsikouris and Angeloni eliminated any
political or moral obligation to make the attempt. Theodorakis,
Mercouri and
Papandreou were not kidnapped off the streets of Milan and sent to
Athens or
Guantanamo for providing "material support to terrorists". Instead they
toured
the United States raising money for their resistance groups and
preaching the
downfall of the Junta to enthusiastic American audiences. When Andreas
Papandreou was elected prime minister in 1981, American diplomats
winced at
the revolutionary past of some of his associates, but they did business
with
them. No one knows or cares that the Greek embassy in Nicosia sends a
representative every year to the memorial service of the first man who
bombed
the US embassy in Athens.
In August 1972, to honour the memory of Angeloni and Tsikouris, another
young
leftist placed a small bomb in the women's lavatory of the US embassy.
It
exploded, damaging the washbasin irreparably. Alexandros Giotopoulos
spent the
next 30 years in hiding under a false name. Arrested in 2002 as the
November
17 terrorist group mastermind, he claimed his fingerprints and the other
evidence against him were planted by the CIA as retribution for
America's
damaged plumbing. Based on how Tsikouris and the PAM leadership were
treated,
it would be hard to quibble with the judges who rejected Giotopoulos's
argument. Revenge is sweet, but a sensible state has other priorities.
At
approximately 1600 on 2 Sept. 1970, a bomb exploded in the parking area
on the North side of the embassy. No alert had been issued and no
preparation had been made. NCOIC (Hirst) and Sgt. McDaniels, who was on
duty at post No. 1, were in guard office, room 101, AmEmb. NCOIC
ordered Sgt. McDaniels to contact RSO (Mr. Durfey) and call in all
MSG’s and proceed immediately to blast area to investigate.
NCOIC
noted on arrival at parking area, one car almost totally destroyed and
two adjacent cars burning. In grassy area between parking lot and the
embassy, a distance of approx. 25 yards, was a man’s body. Close
inspection revealed that the head, hands and clothing (except for
shorts, socks and shoes) had been blown off by the explosion. As the
flames subsided, NCOIC checked the cars for possible injured persons
and discovered a woman’s body, whose hands and clothing were
blown off, in the front seat of the car in which the blast occurred. At
this time, RSO and Admin Officer, arrived at the scene.
NCOIC
then joined RSO and Admin Officer on the Embassy grounds. At approx.
1730, at the request of the RSO, NCOIC escorted three (3) members of
the Athens Bomb Squad to the roof of the Embassy to search for bomb
fragments. Fragments of the bomb and car were found scattered over
rooftop, even to far side of building, nearly a block from site of
explosion. Also, NCOIC discovered a small portion of the man’s
head, which was later identified as part of the jawbone. At conclusion
of search, NCOIC escorted the Bomb Squad back to the parking area where
blast occurred and returned to Guard Office….
At
approx. 1830, RSO ordered and extra guard be posted, because almost all
the ground floor windows and most of the second and third floor windows
on the North side of the Embassy had been shattered by the blast. NCOIC
then set up a special guard roster to maintain two men at Sentry Post
No. 1 during non-working hours; one man to act as continuous roving
patrol of ground floor offices. All personnel were informed of duties
of special Guard and assignment of watches. Extra guard was posted and
remaining MSG’s relieved and returned to the Marine House at
approx. 1900. This Special Guard was maintained until the morning of 5
Sept. 1970 when all openings on the ground floor of the Embassy were
closed. No MSG’s were injured in this incident.
Excerpt from the 2009 book by GySgt. Leo J.
Daugherty
1967
Using
a NATO plan to protect Greece against a communist invasion, a handful
of junior officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos, fearful of
the upcoming election and the rise of the left, overthrow the Greek
government and declare martial law, outlawing strikes, labor unions,
long hair on men, mini-skirts, the peace symbol, the Beatles,
Sophocles, Tolstoy, Aeschylus, Socrates, Eugene Ionesco, Sartre,
Chekhov, Mark Twain, Samuel Beckett, free press, new math and the
letter Z
Military Coup in Greece:
 During
George Papandreou's eighteen month reign as prime-minister the problems
between the Greek-Cypriots and the Turkish minority on the island of
Cyprus come to a head. The island has been under British rule since
1878 and granted independence in 1960. There are some who want the
island to unite with Greece (enosis), others who wanted to
partition the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and some who believe the two
peoples could live together peacefully. In 1963 Archbishop Markarios
(photo), the President of Cyprus, stirs up a hornets nest when he
attempts to reduce the power of the Turkish minority in the Cypriot
government. Turkey reacts with saber-rattling and prepares to invade
the island when fighting breaks out between the two groups. This is
brought to an end by President Lyndon Johnson who tells the Greek
ambassador: "#@%$ your Parliament and your Constitution. America is
an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If those two fleas
continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the
elephants trunk. Whacked good....We pay a lot of good American dollars
to the Greeks, Mr. Ambassador. If your Prime Minister gives me talk
about Democracy, Parliament and Constitutions, he, his Parliament and
his Constitution may not last very long." The UN sends in a
peace-keeping force and the Turkish-Cypriots are sent to enclaves,
instead of being spread all over the island. The US proposes a union of
Cyprus with Greece in exchange for the Turkish-Cypriots having their
own self-governing areas protected by Turkish bases. (Turkey would also
get the island of Kastellorizo in the bargain.) This proposal is
rejected by George Papandreou which does not win him any brownie-points
with the Americans. He aggravates them even more when he begins
releasing communists who had been languishing in prison since the end
of the civil war.
 The US also
is nervous about his son the Harvard-educated Andreas, who after
leaving his job as head of the Department of Economics at University of
California at Berkeley, has returned to Greece with his American wife
and his family to take part in his father's government. According to
de-classified documents the CIA wanted to spend several hundred
thousand dollars on candidates to defeat the Papandreou. In their
words "we have kept an eye on Andreas Papandreou long enough to
know, realistically speaking, that he belongs to the camp of
individuals opposed to US interests. In contrast with the other
candidates, Andreas is particularly strong in his views". Some
officials in the Johnson administration believe the United States
should take drastic measures to support a moderate government and
weaken the political influence of the Papandreous to avoid a resurgence
of the communists. The State Department is not convinced that Andreas
Papandreou is such a threat that they should funnel money into Greece
to help defeat him. According to Secretary of State Rusk "the risk
of the covert operation being revealed is much greater than the
political gain it predicted".
As for the
US embassy, a declassified memo states they believe that if elected
Andreas Papandreou would "...greatly reduce military spending,
will gradually direct Greece away from NATO, and will gravitate to the
Soviet block to promote Greek products. In this policy, he has found
natural allies in the Leftwing and the Communists. In view of this, I
believe it is highly critical for us to look more closely into Andreas'
relations with the extreme Leftwing and the communists, find out how
much money he has and where it comes from, and to the degree we are
able, limit his real and potential political influence." In other
words the US Embassy wants to find some dirt on the Papandreous and
destroy them, at least politically. To be fair to the Americans, they
have spent millions upon millions in Greece to keep the Greeks from
becoming communist and now here comes Andreas, after two decades in
academic America, who wants to have friendly relations with Russia. But
the fact is that Papandreou is not a 'commie-lover' or 'left-wing
fanatic'. In his past life in the United States he had been a supporter
of Adlai Stevenson and Hubert Humphrey and worked on their campaigns.
He is an economist and a visionary who wants to do what is best for
Greece, not what is best for the USA. And what is best for Greece is
getting the country out of the cold war and the pointless waste of
money on defense. The Americans' fear of Papandreou is the kind of
fear-induced Pavlovian, knee jerk reaction that turns intelligent
people into closed-minded fanatics and creates problems in
relationships between countries that take generations to heal.
 In the
meantime King Paul has died in 1964. He is succeeded by a very young
King
Constantine (in photo
with Queen Anna Marie) who on July 5 1965 deposes the popularly
elected government of George Papandreou which had found itself
increasingly at odds with the Americans, the establishment and the
King. A group of officers including Petros Garoufalias, the Minister of
Defence had claimed to have discovered a conspiracy of young
officers within the military, led by Andreas Papandreou who were
planning to overthrow the government, kick out the king and establish a
dictatorship. The organization is called ASPIDA or 'Shield'.
|
Whether
this conspiratorial organization actually exists is debatable, but it
is used to create a constitutional crisis that brings down the
Papandreou government. The senior Papandreou requests that King
Constantine allow him to take over the Ministry of Defense from
Garoufalias who has refused to step down. The king, whether he was
within his rights or not, denies his request, stating that the
investigation of Andreas for ASPIDA makes this a conflict of interest.
Papandreou offers his resignation, not really expecting the King to
accept it. But his resignation is accepted. Several members of
Papandreou's Center Union, which is really just a coalition
of parties and personalities, are convinced to defect and attempt to
put together a puppet government that is more acceptable to the
oligarchy. This group are known as the Apostates (defectors). The
Palace, the Greek Military, the American military and CIA stationed in
Greece finally have George Papandreou where they want him: Out of
power, leaving Andreas exposed, without parliamentary immunity, to face
charges in the ASPIDA affair.
The Greek
people however, at least those who support the Center Union which
happens to be the majority of the people, see the whole thing as a big
farce and another example of the lack of true democracy in Greece. On
New Year's day of 1966 the King gives his annual address and says the
communists are responsible for the political agitation. Perhaps as a
consequence of the king's speech the music of Mikis Theodorakis
is banned on Greek radio. In March thousands of Greeks and foreigners
take part in the annual peace march from Marathon to Athens to
commemorate the third anniversary of the assassination of Lambrakis.
Demonstrations gather momentum, as the Papandreous begin another Anendotos
(unyielding fight) traveling around the country raising support while
criticizing the Apostate government which lacks any popular
support and is basically unable to govern. A caretaker government is
finally appointed to take the country to new elections to be held on
May 28 of 1967. (In the Greek constitution appointing a caretaker
government is seen as the only way to have a fair election since
a party in power would have an unfair advantage with the apparatus
of the state at his disposal.). By the end of 1966 it is obvious
to all that the Papandreou's revitalized Center Union is going to
win this next elections by a landslide. When attempts to convince the
Papandreous to agree to a postponement of the elections fail, King
Constantine, Queen Frederika and a group of generals plan a coup for
May 13th. The name of this organization is IDEA.
 Unknown to
the members of IDEA, another group led by Colonel George Papadopoulos,
the liaison officer between the CIA and the KYP(The Greek CIA) and his
cohorts Nikos Makerezos and Stylianos Pattakos have planned their
own coup for an earlier date. These Junior officers had worked closely
with the members of IDEA and had used their information and
influence to occupy critical military and intelligence posts. On
April 21st, using 'Prometheus' a NATO plan for
neutralizing a communist uprising in case of an attack by a Soviet bloc
country, they overthrow the government and declare martial law. They
begin arresting hundreds of known and suspected leftists, as well as
politicians and public figures. They justify their coup by declaring
that it is necessary to stop a communist threat and to cure the society
of the cancer that threatens to destroy its Hellenic values.
Thousands
of communists are thrown into prison or internal exile on islands
like
Makronissos. Martial
law, censorship, arrests, beatings, torture, and killings are all part
of the cure the colonels have in mind for Greece. Andreas Papandreou is
imprisoned for his involvement in ASPIDA and would have most
likely been executed except for the pressure on US President
Lyndon Johnson by American academics. Despite his opinion that Andreas
Papandreou benefited from his years in America and then betrayed it,
Johnson orders the leaders of the colonels not to kill him. Papandreou
is released eight months later and leaves the country to spend the next
6 years as a critic of the junta. The Junta claim to have truckloads of
evidence that the communists were planning to take over the country.
This evidence is never produced.
 Even though
there are close ties between the Colonels and the US intelligence, the
belief that the CIA was behind the coup is difficult to completely
accept much less prove. From all appearances the US Government and the
CIA were also caught by surprise. Perhaps they had their money on the
King's coup, and knowing this, the Colonels were careful in masking
their intentions to their American counterparts since they did have
close contact on a regular basis. Four of the five officers who took
power on the 21st of April 1967 were closely connected to the American
military or to the CIA in Greece and if George Papadopoulos was on the
payroll of the CIA then he was the first CIA agent to become Premier of
a European country. But that still does not mean the Americans planned
or ordered the coup, just as the members of IDEA had no idea that their
junior officers were up to something.
 Regardless
of whether or not they knew about it the US government does not
take long to recognize the dictators as the legitimate Greek
government, just one week after the coup. The British are not so easily
convinced and take an extra day before they recognize the Junta as
well. The Americans continue the massive military and economic aid
to go with a growing military presence in Greece. If it is not an
American imposed dictatorship it sure looks like one to the people of
Greece. On May 5th US Secretary of State Dean Rusk declares that the
Truman Doctrine does not permit interference in the internal affairs of
Greece, a surprise to anyone who was around in the forties. Shortly
after the coup a photo is released showing King Constantine with the
leaders, as a sign that it has the blessing of the palace. The King
sends a sign to the Greek people that he is doing this against his will
by clasping his hands in front of him. But for a country in which more
than half the population don't even want a king it is a pointless
gesture. The King, like the dictators is seen as a tool of outside
interests or what in Greece is known as 'the foreign factor'.
In June of
1967 the Junta announces Army Order No.13 which states that it is
forbidden "...to reproduce or play the music and songs of the
composer Mikis Theodorakis, the former leader of the now dissolved
communist Organisation, the Lambrakis Youth because this music is in
the service of communism ... to sing any songs used by the communist
youth movement which was dissolved under Paragraph Eight of the Decree
of 6 May 1967, since these songs arouse passions and cause strife among
the people. Citizens who contravene this Order will be brought
immediately before the military tribunal and judged under martial law."
A short time later Theodorakis himself is arrested. After a
few months in prison he is sent with his family to the mountain
village of Zatouna in Arcadia. The banning of Theodorakis music at this
moment is a crime in itself. He has been working with the poet
Manos Eleftheriou on a series of songs in the laika or popular
music style, which are simple and direct. The collection is called Ta
Laika and to this date is perhaps the best music of his career.
Unfortunately it would be eight years before the people of Greece would
be able to hear it.
|
1965
I arrived
in March after serving one year in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The other
three who arrived with me were Russell, Thomas and Roberto. A few days
after I arrived, I was told not to unpack because I was being sent to
Saigon for temporary assignment. The next day, Gunny Johnson came into
my quarters and told me to give my tropical uniforms to my good friend,
Cpl. Larry Gregory. So, Larry left for a month or two and returned
safely to complete his long Athens tour.
It was a big change coming from a small African city to the very
large Athens. It did not bother me that much since I was born and
raised in Boston. There were similarities between the two cities not
counting AGE. We lived in an apartment building within walking distance
of the embassy. We actually had three apartments with modifications to
connect all three. We did not stay there very long before we moved to
the suburbs. A very fine home was leased at 25 Twenty Fifth of March
Street in Psyhico. This was an affluent area as the Queen Mother lived
just down the street. King Constantine would fly by the house often
with his security trying to keep up!! The very modern embassy had
opened a year before. It was and still is considered "earthquake
proof." However, I was not impressed with the large amount of glass. It
seemed like a fish bowl.
When I first arrived, I would venture into the city in my off time. We
were required to wear civilian close. I felt that I was being watched
for the first few weeks. I believe Marines can tell when they are being
followed. I was always at ease since I believed that this was a routine
by the Greek Government when any new foreign service people arrived for
duty. However, there was anti-American sentiment in the country. There
seemed to be a large communist contingent at this time period. The big
problems then were Cyprus and Vietnam.
I recall one incident when the communist group of 25,000 marched on the
embassy. The government knew ahead so all the Marines were on duty that
day. They were protesting Cyprus and Vietnam. I did not know what
eleven Marines would do to defend the Glass Embassy, but I soon found
out. We always had uniformed (and concealed arms) Greek Police outside
the embassy. Normally there were three or four patrolling 24/7. On this
day, all 25 assigned officers were at the embassy. The odds are still
not good. Then, the buses started to arrive. Now, we had four thousand
Greek Army Troopers surrounding the embassy as the marchers went by.
There were no problems as the government handled the situation very
well.
Memories from Cpl. Richard
McGuinness
1951
I have many
mistakes in this. We all made SSgt in Dec
50. Hahn made SSgt in about spring 50. he was what is
now a 0100. I made TSgt in 11/51. Ranks came fast in
those days as the Corps was down to about 70,000 when
we went on embassy duty.
I hope this can be of use to you. I am at library
using their computer. Just came from Dr, good news I
dont have to go back to him for 6 months but I have
other drs I see on regular basis. dam diabetes is
worst, plus my sleep apnea and other med problems.I
will look in some of my folders and see iof I hae some
pics that someone else sent me. If I dont I will arite
a ote to man who sent them to me and include your
address. He came to Athens in about Apr 51 and went to
Salonika for six months with Risser. Risser stayed in
Corps and got out after 27 years. They wanted him to
stay longer and he turned down SgtMaj. he knew he was
going to nam again and his previous tour was very
rough. He got a security job with IBM in N.Va. They
promoted him and sent him to Louisville, KY after some
years they sent him to N. New Jersey where he was in
charge of the whole security operation. He retired and
came down with colon cancer and ended up with a
colostomy. He lived a rough few years before he died.
Hope this comes thru ok...S/F Frank
. Our training was 2
1/2 days at Fgn Institute on C St NW, now
near main part of DOS. They were old brick apt bldgs
that DOS took over
>> and was using them as offices. People who had not fired pistols
for
>> awhile had to go to Quantico and qualify. Early in 48 I was
at Great
>> Lakes working in the indoor range training Navy recruits. Fire
pistols
>> and had them fire 22 rifle. In good weather we took them out to
Foss
>> Park and fired 30cal on regular rife range. They for most part
couldn't
>> hit the butts. On qualification day we would take they rifle away
from
>> them and fire most of their rounds so they would qualify. Pistol
we had
>> our hands right near them to keep them from turning around with
live
>> rounds in the pistol. One company we didn't do it for them. Less
than
>> 20% qualified. The Navy Capt in charge of recruit training
said he
>> didn't care how we did it he wanted and demanded to have at least
90%
>> qualify. We fulfilled his wishes.
>> I was transferred to CLNC in summer of 48. I Heard about some
special
>> duty from some of the guys in the barracks talking about it after
lights
>> out. Next day I put in for the "special duty." Had to go to Div
G2 and
>> fill out the papers for a BI. had a couple pictures taken to be
put on
>> the papers. That way the Agent had a photo of us and could show
that to
>> person who he was interviewing to jog their memories about who he
was
>> asking questions about. I got to WashDC with my car and they
asked me
>> why I brought a car as I was going overseas. Rumor was we were
going on
>> "courier duty." Three of us from 1st AAABN Courthouse Bay
at CLNC were
>> selected. TSgt John Braley went to Tangiers, after a year he said
he had
>> more important things to do than be a dam guard and asked to
return to
>> US. He had been the Bn Operations Sgt , Calvin Clark was a Cpl he
went
>> to Stockholm. I was a Sgt and went to Athens. I stayed in contact
with
>> them by mail for a year or so.
>> I will try and come up with some info for you I will have to look
for
>> it. I still have my original orders they were "Restricted" that
was the
>> lowest security classification at the time. During Eisenhower
days they
>> did away with it, came around later with Confidential Modified
Handling
>> and also used a protective marking For Official Use Only. You
younger
>> fellows probably never ran across Restricted it is not the same
as
>> Restricted Data for nuke materials. The orders are in very poor
shape
>> and will almost fall apart when handled. I tried some years
making
>> copies of them they came thru a little better than originals and
they
>> are still hard to read. Seems like I sent them to someone about
the time
>> I sent in some email stuff about my days in Athens.
>> It is highly unlikely I will be in San Diego. I have multiple
medical
>> problems. For starters I have sleep apnea, diabetes, degenerative
disk
>> disease, high every thing BP, Cholesterol, thyroid problems.
every thing
>> high except income. It looks like a dam pharmacy around here.
Thank god
>> for he Army they sure take good care of me. I tell them the
Marine Corps
>> got the work and the army gets the bills. Been here for more than
41
>> years. I was working for army intel in E Tenn when my name came
up on a
>> register for a job at Ft. Rucker. I came thought I would be here
for
>> three years. When chances came along for transfer and promotion I
turned
>> them down. When they civilianized the Defense Investigative
Service they
>> took me on as Senior Resident Agent covering SE AL and part of NW
FL. I
>> retied 30 June 84 with total of 42 years 18 days Fed Svc. Went
back to
>> Greece to do some studying for three months to catch up on he
political
>> things that happened since I was last there. Also to see some of
the
>> Greeks I knew. Came home then worked as Independent
Contractor with
>> many agencies doing BI's throughout the south plus Calif, HI, ND,
MD and
>> a few other places. I traveled the world Africa S.America, SE
Asia, NZ,
>> Australia. I have been in more than 90 countries.many of them
while I
>> was in Athens. Took time off when we wanted to go someplace and
we
>> covered for each other. We had a couple guys who were involved
with the
>> ball teams in Athens. We had a very large military Mission, Plus
ECA
>> and JAS and one of the largest CIA Stations in the world at that
time.
>> We wore uniforms on duty and civilian clothes even if we were
working
>> outside of the embassy. I would make courier runs to the
Consulate in
>> Patras once in awhile. They paid us an extra $6.60 a day.
consulate
>> picked up hotel bill. I was the only Marine that I recall who did
that.
>> Leave 0800 or so one day drive down there. This was during he
Civil war
>> days. had to go thru about half dozen check points, So they would
stop
>> us check out ID and let us go. get to Patras about 13/1400 turn
over the
>> materials to the Consulate they would try and answer it best hey
could
>> and we would leave he next day about 1100 and go back to Athens.
We had
>> Jeep station wagons with DPL plates. I would go up to the Clauss
winery
>> in Patras. I would have a list of wine that folks in the Embassy
and
>> other agencies wanted and I would buy it The winery would give me
an
>> extra case for me..Consulate was closed in 1954. Our per diem was
$19.50
>> last year or so we were there. Don't sound like much now but it
was a
>> lot in those days. I rented a small apt about three blocks from
the
>> embassy, Paid equivalent of $60 a month. That was 600,000
drachmas. A
>> couple months later it went from 10,000 to dollar to 15,000 to
the
>> dollar so I was paying $40. a month. we had a large commissary in
Athens
>> so I would buy a lot of my food there. always had embassy folks
inviting
>> us to their homes for dinner etc. Some of the guys would go to
some of
>> the clubs pay $6. for a drink. not me. I didn't drink very much
and
>> after getting ill I quit drinking period. My two week stay in a
greek
>> hospital was not much fun. Toward the end I had a 48 Ford I went
up to
>> Brussels and bought it off the Labor Attache. My old buddy was
stationed
>> in Brussels. He is still alive and lives in J'ville. We have been
>> friends since we met in June 47 at Yorktown VA when he came back
in the
>> Corps. He looked the 48 Ford 4dor over and got the LA down to
$700. I
>> came up bot it drove it to Naples and let Dick Schaben the Consul
in
>> Naples, formerly in Athens, take care of shipping it to Athens
for me. I
>> flew back to Athens. When I left Athens I sold it for $2100.
Most of us
>> had cars and on weekends we could check out embassy cars, we
didnt do
>> that much. Couldnt drink and drive etc. It wasnt worth the hassel
you
>> would have if you had an accident. I did do it a few times.
You could
>> not take greek friends in the car. We were like civilians, no Mar
Cor
>> BS, no inspectors. get a letter every few months from HQMC. We
would
>> have a group meeting about once every 3 months. If something came
up it
>> would be passed on either in writing or word of mouth. started
working
>> six hour shifts then tried 8 hour then 4 hour and decided we
liked 6 the
>> best. covered 24/7 in the lobby. At end of working day one man
would
>> come in and check all the offices before the char ladies would
enter to
>> clean them. We used a Detex Clock to check in to ensure
that we made
>> our hourly rounds at night. I would change it around maybe go to
one
>> floor skip the next go to the next and catch the ones I missed on
the
>> way down. Use the small 3 peron elevator to some floor get
off maybe
>> walk up to the next or down to the next. we had the
landlord living in
>> a pent house on top of the bldg. He and his quests would come
into the
>> embassy lobby and get on the elevator. He did not ring the bell
for the
>> lower street door for us to come and open it for him. He had a
man who
>> lived in an basement apt who worked for him come open the door
for him.
>> it was not a very good security operation. One Sunday morning I
see some
>> men from the telephone company up stairs going into embassy
office
>> areas. I grabbed them called Securiy officer at home he got down
there
>> and they were told they could not work on the lines until Monday.
The
>> landlord was POd. Actually he was a nice guy. He would walk out
with a
>> suit case in one hand and tennis racket in other he would be on
his way
>> to Switzerland to play tennis. He would sell us the building.
many
>> years later hey built the new embassy about mile up the street.
It was
>> interesting. I didn't plan on writng all of this. As I am
writing
>> things just come back to my mind. I went to Athens a Sgt left as
TSgt,
>> actually was back at HQMC and they told me had been promoted. I
got out
>> on 15 Oct 52, Civilian life didnt work out for me so I went back
in as a
>> Sgt, refused to take test for SSgt as I was in a mos I didnt
like.
>> Stayed Sgt for end of two year enlistment still in Miami, moved
to
>> another MOS. Then went to Counter Intelligence. Stayed
their until I
>> retired as SSgt E6 type. Nam came along and I recd three letters
wanting
>> me to come back on active duty. I was working fo Amy Intel and
said
>> forget it. Let me cut this off.
>>
>> All the best and Semper Fi, Frank
1950
This
is something that I ran across in my saved file. The other two of
us are Clifford Janusz and myself Francis K. Wetzel are still above
ground. O'Farrel was NCOIC TSgt, Creager was SSgt, Dave Archer was Cpl,
rest of us were Sgts. Hahn and Risser came out two weeks after the rest
of us did. We arrived in Athens on Feb 15, 1949. we had another guy name
on our orders dated 1/31/49 his name was SSGT Robert M. Gayton. he was
pulled off the day before we left his Wasserman test came back positive
for syphilis.
Hahn was his replacement. They took the civilian clothes away from
Gayton and went around finding someone who they would fit, it was Hahn.
Creager went to states in April 49 for surgery for hernia. Upon his
recovery he was sent to Caracas. SSgt Raymond Steward was sent down from
Paris as his replacement. When I met Stew i asked him the usual
questiion 'Are ya gonna stay for 20?" He said no I am going to stay for
30. He came in Jan 42 and retired as a SgtMaj in Jan 72. He would get
pissed when I told him he was just a boot as i came in DEC 41. Talked to
him about two weeks ago he is in very poor health. He is
surprised he
is still alive he is in bed 12-18 hours a day. He married the gal in
charge of code room. She died in Jul 95 with cancer. I last saw him in
Oceanside in Jul 96.
Archer screwed up ran off his mouth in a bar one of the CIA folks was
there and reported it. he was shipped home. A few months later Korea
broke out and he was with the first bunch. When the death ntotices came
out by state he was first under CALIF. he married three dqys before he
left CamPen. I hope she spent the insurance money wisely. In
about Apr
51 when they opened Salonika Risser went up as NCOIC. He, Ness, Janusz
and I made SSgt in DEC 52. O'Farell and Ness lived in same apt. O'F
asked me if I
wanted to go and I said no. I was in a good apt at low money and was
happy with my living arangements. in 51 Janusz came in drunk for duty.
The man on duty notified 0'F who brought Ness with him and sent Janusz
home. A while later O'F went by Janusz apt he and his car was not there.
Next day O'F told Cliff he was going to get him orders from HQMC
. when
cliff left via military aircraft he got to frankfurt and told the sgt
that he had never been in germany before. sgt told him enjoy
yourself
and when you are ready to go stop by and we will put you on a flight.
cliff came back three weeks later. when he got to hqmc he went on 30
days leave he had such a good time he stayed 30 more, came back, was
court-martilaled busted to cpl an sent to clnc. got there his WWII co
cdr was now his bn cdr every time a order came in for so many mos so and
so came in the bn cdr would not put cliff name on it. cliff got out on
15 oct 52 like i did when the stopped holding folks beyond their
enlistment for the so called truman year. i got out as tsgt came back a
year later as sgt and stayed that refusing to taake promotion exams untl
i could shed a crappy mos and ended up in counterintelligence. retired
as ssgt e6. O'F retired as a sgtmaj with 20 years. he married a gal from
canadian embassy in athens, they had one child after his death she went
back to canada. she had been married beofre and was a widow when o'f met
her.
cliff went in mar cor reserve as a cpl for a couple years while working
for city of milwaukee were he was from. then went in army reserves and
stayed retiriing as1stsgt with 34 years service. retired also from city
of milwukee. he told me this more than two years ago. he still puts
together gambling tours. hadn't talked to him for more than year he had
open heart surgery so it is a coin toss who will last the longest.
we are in contact with bob hanh's widow. he married her before he left
athens where she was in the labor attache office, she was from
louisville. they lived in silver spring md for a few years After he got
out of the corps. he left Athens in june 51 to go to ocs. got to
quantico and said this crap aint for me and dropped out and went to
brooklyn navy yard where i saw him on my way back to hqmc from athens. i
was later living in miami so he and mary and their first two children
moved down to be near us. after some years of miami and then working for
contractors up at the cape on nasa contracts he could see it was not a
long time career thing so he went to spartanburg sc and worked with a
plant up there. he was in marcor reserve and retired after 20 as 1stsgt.
he never lived long enuf to get pension he died from lung cancer he was
a heavy smoker i was also but i quit in jun 55. mary gets a small
pension based on his marcor service. she is now living with her daughter
and family. her health is poor. mary was always a religious person. in
athens they had a big catholic wedding. the oldest son richard born
christmas day 52, i can recall his birthday better than my own kids, he
is a delta airline pilot after flying c141's in usaf for 12 years.
this is far too much it is now 1000 and i havent been to bed. i think i
will do my blood work for my diabetes, take my bp and go to bed for a
few hours have dr appt later in the day. I hope this will be of some use
to you.
someone sent me some pictures of the old embssy on line i havent been
able to find them i can't send photo's or load them i guess it is on
webtv. we never had any photo of all of us as we never had a marcor
ball. have a few pics of some of us . maybe i can do something
with
them, maybe send you copies.
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1949
Yes we were the first Marines in
Athens. Those of us who went out were
the first at all the places we went to. We had total of 2 1/2 days
briefings at FOREIGN Service INSTITUTE, tOOK US TO bONDS STORE DOWN TOWN
on E ST TO GET OUT $300 of clothes. TOOK US ON A BUS PRIOR TO OPENING OF
THE STORE. our orders had the security classification of Restricted on
them. THAT CLASSIFICATION WENT AWAY IN THE EISENHOWER DAYS. wE WERE NOT
TO TELL ANYONE WERE WE WERE GOING AND WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO. WE FIRST
HAD HAD PRIORITY TWO FOR MILITARY FLIGHTS. sINCE HE BERLIN aIRLIFT WAS
GOING ON THEY HAD TO CHANGE IT TO priority one. They told us it was the
same as a CONGRESSIONAL PRIORITY. aH CRAP i AM NOT MUCH OF A TYPIST AND
i HAVE THIS IN CAPS. GONNA LEAVE IT THAT WAY. It is 0330 and I havent
been to sleep tonight. Did fall asleep in my Lazy Boy as usual. I use a
mask when I am in bed as I have sleep apnea.
When we got to the Embassy we got to meet a bunch of women who worked
there they were all single they picked out our names. I got a gal named
Virginia Workman, in her 40's, a nice gal my mothers age. Some of the
guys got younger ones. I forgot who got Imogene Ficklen. She was about
50, nice but had some problems. I was taking some courses from MCI
history etc. She would always volunteer to help me. I think she was
medically retired after Athens. She lived in WDC. We were the
Ambassadors Marines. Orders read to report to US Amb and remain there
until we recd orders to return to HQMC. there was a Marine LtCol with
the US Military Mission to Greece. He came by and told us that we would
be in dress blues and take part in the Greek holiday ceremonies at the
Tomb of their UNKNOWN SOLDIER in front of the Parliment. we tried
to
tell him wecouldnt do it. He told us that were Marines and he was the
senior Marine in country and we would do as we were told. We went to the
Amb and bitched. He had his seceretry Helen, forgot her last name now, a
great gal we got along real well together.Amb was president of Dollar
Steamshipline in San Francisco and he brought Helen with him. He was Amb
in India before Greece and went to Iran as Amb from Greece. To get
MajGen Van Fleet the head of the Military Mission on the phone. He told
Van Fleet to get the Marine LtCol over to his office NOW. LtCol came
over to the Amb office and was told by the Amb that these are his
Marines and they only took orders from him. If he had a problem with it
he would have orders removing him from the country within the week. The
LtCol never spoke to us again. I think the asshole went on to make
general. We wore blue trousers, khaki shirt on duty with white
cover
and had one 45 cal pistol. Also had 38 cal pistols, some made out a of
stamped metal that was given to the underground in WWII.
I hope I havent told you this stuff before.I sent you ome emails from he
library yesterday. I told you tht I lot all my photos due to yahoo
making some kindof change. I had photos of he old Embassy etc. A man
named Don Brown who came out in about aPR 51 AND WENT TO SALONIKA WHEN
HEY OPENED IT SENT THEM TO ME. h RETIRED DURING nAM DAYS AS 1ST LT i
BELIEVE. hE LIVES IN cALIF. HE IS NOT COMPUTER LITERATE AND HIS WIFE
SENT THE THING TO ME. i SENT THEM SOME EMAILS AND THEY BOUNCED BACK.
aPPARENTLY they have me blocked. I'm gonna leave this in caps. I sure
loved my days of doing investigations when all I had to do was dictate
the reports. Let some GS-3 do the typing. Need to read some of the 18
unread emails I have on webtv. Nuff for now. 0420.
All the best and Semper Fi, Frank
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