MICHAEL MCPHERSON DEUEL

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06903487
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: July 11, 2023
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2022
• Case Number: F-2015-02404

Approved for Release: 2022/02/11 C06903487
ST
Michael McPherson Deuel
(13 May 1937-12 October 1965)
(Insert photo. Caption: "Mike Deuel'
Directorate of Plans (now the Directorate of Operations)
Operations Officer
GS-11
.(kff Michael M. Deuel�who was killed in a helicopter crash in the jungles of Laos while participating in covert
operations in 1965�attended Western High School in Washington, DC. He was president of the student council, played
fullback on the football team, and was named to the DC All-Star football team. After graduating in 1955, Mike went on to
Cornell University as one of his high school's 25 National Scholars.
Jiff At Cornell, Mike played lacrosse, was active in the Sigma Phi fraternity, and served as editor of the fraternity
newspaper. He graduated in 1959 with a BS in Chemistry, joined the CIA in 1959, and went through the Junior Officer
Training Program as an Operations Officer. He also completed the highly challenging paramilitary course at the Jungle
Warfare Training Center, located in the Panama Canal Zone.
J,21 Mike joined the Marine Corps in September 1959 as a First Lieutenant and, by pre-arrangement, was
detailed back to the CIA. After being honorably � r om the Marines as a Captain in August 1963, he worked at
CIA Headquarters, where he was assigned to in the Far East Division, Directorate of Operations, then
called the Directorate of Plans. Among his main responsibilities was the preparation of studies, briefing papers, and other
reports for use in evaluating CIA paramilitary programs in Laos. Shortly thereafter he was assigned to the Laotian capital,
Vientiane, and then was sent on to the CIA base at Pakse in southern Laos as a paramilitary operations officer. Mike
spoke French, Thai, and Lao proficiently.
1,21While virm Ithe Agency station in Bangkok, Mike met his future wife a newly assigned secretary at
the station. Mike and were married in Bangkok on 30 October 1964. They returned to Pakse where Mike spent
much of his time crisscrossing the country working with the indigenous tribes fighting against the Communists. He
accomplished this in a variety of aircraft provided by the Agency's proprietary air wing, Air America. elped manage
the Agency's Pakse Base operations.
XBy the summer of 1965, covert operations within Laos were expanding rapidly. Operational help arrived in
September in the person of Mike Maloney, who, like Mike Deuel, was a paramilitary officer and second-generation CIA
professional. Mike Deuel was in charge of a major operational activity in a badly war-torn region.
gif On Sunday morning, 12 October 1965, Mike Deuel boarded a helicopter to survey the region, and make
payroll stops at area villages. He also planned to introduce his new partner, Mike Maloney, to the tribal leaders with
whom they would be working. By dusk, however, Mike and his team had not returned to Pakse. Late that afternoon
villagers had reported seeing a chopper go down in the jungle near a place called Sarvane.
Ai It took Agency rescue teams, working in heavy jungle, nearly two days to find and reach the helicopter crash
site. There were no survivors. Four men died - Mike Deuel and his new friend Mike Maloney, the pilot, and a
crewrnember. Mike Deuel was 28 years old, and two weeks short of his first wedding anniversary when he died.
was expecting their first child.
/ Michael McPherson Deuel, Captain USMCR, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
SET
Approved for Release: 2022/02/11 C06903487