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DESCRIPTION
SECRET HISTORY In the 1950s, the CIA’s air proprietary, as it was known in the lexicon of intelligence, was used for a variety of covert missions. During the Korean War, for example, it made more than 100 hazardous overflights of mainland China, airdropping agents and supplies. The CIA had been intent on destablising the fledgling communist regime on its own soil. Through a well established network of spies and Snoddy and his wife Charlotte S P Y ISSUE 3 3 , 2005 E Y E S P Y ISSUE 3 3 , 2005TRANSCRIPT
E Y E S P Y I S S U E 3 3 , 2 0 0 5 E Y E S P Y I S S U E 3 3 , 2 0 0 564 65
DOWNED IN 1952, CIA SPYPLANE GIVES UP ITS SECRETS
OPERATION TROPIC
fficials at the Pentagonhave finally confirmedthat human remainsuncovered in a remotearea of China last year,are those of pilotRobert Snoddy, whoseO
work for the CIA was kept secret fordecades. Scientists at the US Army’sCentral Identification Laboratoryprovided the DNA match.
On 29 November 1952, Snoddy and hiscolleague Norman Schwartz, embarkedon a highly dangerous mission overChinese territory. During the overflight,their C-47 transport plane, owned byCivil Air Transport (CAT), a CIA frontcompany, was shot down.
Snoddy and Schwartz were flying CIAagents John T. Downey and Richard G.Fecteau, to rendezvous with a Chineseagent near the North Korean border inthe region formerly known as Manchu-ria. Their C-47 came down following aburst of heavy ground fire.
Agents Downey and Fecteau survived,but were arrested and detained for over20 years, until President Nixon admittedthey were CIA operatives. Before this,Washington had claimed the men wereArmy civilians. However, the fate androle of Snoddy and Schwartz wasunknown. A tentative enquiry made in1975 by President Gerald Ford wasrebuffed with a short reply - “it isimpossible to locate them now.”
In 1999, Defense Department officialsagain spoke with the Chinese about themissing men. A team from the CentralIdentification Laboratory were givenpermission to visit the crash site in July2002. Chinese villagers led US investiga-tors to a remote location where the twoflyers had apparently been buried bylocal tribesmen. The joint POW-MIAAccounting Command, based in Hawaii,excavated an area near the town of Antuin China’s Jilin province. They foundonly aeroplane wreckage from the twin-engine C-47. In July 2004, determinedinvestigators tried again - and this timethey found bones and clothing.
“It’s nice to finally bring him home(Robert Snoddy),” said Ruth Boss, whowill bury her brother at the cemeterywhere their mother and father areburied. Boss had received a telephonecall from the CIA to confirm that DNAtesting of bone fragments had beenmatched to samples held on file. “Anynews is good. The bad had alreadyhappened,” Boss said.
Unfortunately, Norman Schwartz’srelatives were told that CIA forensicspecialists had failed to match his DNAwith items recovered at the scene.
The Civil Air Transport, performedmany dangerous missions on behalf ofthe CIA in the Far East and southeastAsia. Regarded as ‘contract workers’ -not officers or agents - CAT employeesdaring was finally recognised by the
agency in 1998, when the names offallen operatives were added to theBook of Honour at CIA headquarters. Itwas the first time that the CIA acknowl-edged that CAT had a strong connectionto US foreign intelligence gathering.
The CIA had been intent ondestablising the fledgling communistregime on its own soil. Through a wellestablished network of spies and
The story of the real Air
America begins in 1950, when
the CIA decided that it
required an air transport
capability to conduct covert
operations in Asia in support
of US policy objectives. In
August 1950, the Agency
secretly purchased the assets
of Civil Air Transport (CAT),
an airline that had been
started in China after World
War II by Gen. Claire L.
Chennault and Whiting
Willauer. CAT would continue
to fly commercial routes throughout Asia, acting in every way as a privately owned
commercial airline. At the same time, under the corporate guise of CAT Incorpo-
rated, it provided aeroplanes and crews for secret intelligence operations.
In the 1950s, the CIA’s air proprietary, as it was known in the lexicon of intelligence,
was used for a variety of covert missions. During the Korean War, for example, it
made more than 100 hazardous overflights of mainland China, airdropping agents
and supplies.
Snoddy and his wife Charlotte
CAT employees daring was finally
recognised by the agency in 1998,
when the names of fallen operatives
were added to the Book of Honour at
CIA headquarters - Langley
The secret civilian heroes of the CIAAIR AMERICA AND CAT
SECRET HISTORY