Lucien Conein
Lucien Conein | |
---|---|
Paris, France | |
Died | June 3, 1998 Suburban Hospital Bethesda, Maryland | (aged 78)
Buried | |
Allegiance | France United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
Service number | 01 322 769 [1] |
Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
Lucien Emile "Lou" Conein (29 November 1919 – 3 June 1998)
Early life
Lucien Conein was born to Lucien Xavier Conein and Estelle Elin in
In 1939, the beginning of World War II, the 20-year-old joined the French Army but switched to the U.S. Army within a year because of the German invasion establishing Vichy France. As a native speaker of French he was asked to volunteer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).[4] According to biographer William J. Rust, Conein was reported to have had a "flair for exaggeration" and his service in the French Army "was sometimes portrayed as a more romantic-sounding assignment in the French Foreign Legion".[7][a]
Military career
External videos | |
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Extended interview with Lucien Conein (May 7, 1981). "America's Mandarin (1954-1963)" [Ep. 3]. In: OCLC 827298014 . |
In 1944 he was ordered to help the French Resistance during the Allied landings in Normandy. He worked with the
It was then that Conein began working and living with the Corsican mafia, then called Corsican Brotherhood, an ally of the Resistance. He was quoted:
When the Sicilians put out a contract, it's usually limited to the continental United States, or maybe Canada or Mexico. But with the Corsicans, it's international. They'll go anywhere. There's an old Corsican proverb: 'If you want revenge and you act within 20 years, you're acting in haste.'
He was briefly sent to Vietnam to help organize attacks against the Japanese Army and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for operations conducted during this period.[1]
After 1945 during the
]In 1954, he was sent to work against the government of
Conein was an intelligence agent in Vietnam in 1961 and 1962. Allen Ginsberg described him as "the crucial person" in the CIA's link with the Southeast Asian opium trade.[8]
During the
In 1968, Conein left the CIA and became a businessman in South Vietnam.[10]
In 1972, President Nixon appointed Conein as chief of covert operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).[11]
He was considered by former CIA colleague
Conein retired from the DEA in 1984.[12]
Personal life
Conein married Elyette B. Conein in 1957.[2] They had three children. At the time of his death, he was survived by six sons, one daughter, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.[2]
Death
Conein died of a heart attack, aged 79, at Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland in June 1998.[2]
Note
References
- ^ a b "Citation." Central Intelligence Agency FOIA Electronic Reading Room.
- ^ a b c d e f Barnes, Bart. "Lucien E. Conein Dies at 79: Fabled Agent for OSS and CIA". The Washington Post, June 6, 1998. p. B6.
- ^ Prados, John (5 Nov. 2003). JFK and the Diệm Coup. National Security Archive.
- ^ a b c d Rust, William J. (December 2019). "CIA Operations Officer Lucien Conein: A Study in Contrasts and Controversy" (PDF). Studies in Intelligence. 63 (4). Washington, D.C.: Center for the Studies of Intelligence: 44. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Assassination Records Review Board (ed.). Form: Personal History Statement of Conein, Lucien Emile(PDF) (Report). JFK Assassination System. National Archives and Records Administration (published July 24, 2017). p. 3. DocId: 32399265. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ^ "Lucien Conein OSS Personnel File". ia801302.us.archive.org. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ Rust 2019, p. 43.
- ^ Long, Steve. "New Light on Leary." Berkeley Barb, vol. 21, no. 15 (Apr. 25, 1975), p. 9, 20.
- ^ Prados, John. "JFK and the Diệm Coup." National Security Archive (Nov. 5, 2003).
- ^ "The Mafia Comes to Asia, Santo Trafficante Visited Saigon in '68". Gangster Report. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- New York Times (Jun. 7, 1998), sec. 1, p. 35. Archived from the original.
- ^ Rust 2019, p. 56.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0688033552.
Further reading
- Fussell, James A. (Sep. 20, 1998). "Conein... Lucien Conein." Kansas City Star [Kansas City, Miss.]. pp. G3, G8.
- Rust, William J. (Dec. 2019). "CIA Operations Officer Lucien Conein: A Study in Contrasts and Controversy." Center for the Study of Intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency.
- Thomas, Kenny. "Lucien Conein and the Prouty Hypothesis." Steamshovel Press. umsl.edu.
- Valentine, Douglas (Mar. 8, 2003). "Will the Real Daniel Ellsberg Please Stand Up!" CounterPunch.
External links
- Lucien Conein at IMDb
- Lucien Conein at Arlington National Cemetery
- Lucien Conein at Encyclopedia Britannica
- Lucien Conein at Military.com
- Lucein Conein at NameBase
- Lucien Conein at Weisberg Collection
- Lucien Conein's OSS Personnel File