EX-SPIES MEET TO POLISH UP THEIR IMAGES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140019-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: June 24, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140019-5
BOSTON HERALD AMERICAN (MA)
24 June 1984
By TIMOTHY
CLIFFORD
NEARLY 40 ex-
spies and code-
breakers, who long
ago left their under-
cover days behind
them, met yester-
day In Vermont to
share fond memo-
ries and boost the
sagging image of
U.S. intelligence
agencies.
"This country has
been savaging the in-
telligence agencies for )
the last 10 to 15 years.
It's time people under-
stand what they are
trying to do," said Bill
Smith, an ex-intelli-
gence -officer from
Connecticut.
To help the public
learn what the 40 or. so
U.S. Intelligence agen-
cles do and why, Mi-
chael Speers of Wes-
ton. Vt., organized
yesterday's first meet-
Ing of the New Eng-
land chapter of the As-
sociation of Former
Intelligence Officers.
For many members
of the the organization
the meeting at the Vil- .
lage Inn in Landgrove,
Vt., was their first op-
portunity to trade
"war stories."
Frank Binder, 62, of
Plainfield, Vt., told
how "the KGB sen-
tenced me to death, but
I failed to show up for
them."
A native Czech who
worked for the OSS, the
forerunner of the CIA
during World War II,
Binder was a spy dur.
ing the Soviet takeover
of his homeland.
"I was a double
agent for about six
months after the war
until the Russians
found out. Then one
morning, I was warned
I was going to die that
day in an industrial
accident.
"I took off in a car
with the KGB right be-.
hind me. Just like on
TV, the KGB agents
tried to ram my car,
but missed, and ended
up crashing on a dead
end street," said.
Binder.
Guest speaker at the
meeting was James.
Bamford of Natick.
who told how he bat-
tled the Justice De-
partment to publish'
his controversial book,
"The Puzzle Palace" -
a first-time ever look
at the National Secur-
ity Agency, the largest
intelligence-gathering
organization in the
Western world.
The top people at
NSA weren't too happy,
with the book." said
Bamford, adding. that
the agency keeps a file'
already six inches
thick on him.
"And the Justice De-
partment at one point
threatened to use the
Espionage Act against'
me If I used some of the
documents released to
me by the Carter Ad--
ministration," said
- Bamford, a _lawyer-
who was in naval Intel-
ligence during the
1960s.
? Bamford: used the
documents, ' he said,
but the no action was
ever taken against
STAT
CIA-morn's. cover
Son's Cantonese
A CONNECTICUT
grandmother was far
ahead of her time near-
ly 30 years ago when
she combined a career
with raising a family
- especially since her
job was spying.
Eleanore Hoar of
Darien started work.
ing for the CIA - for
which her husband al-
ready worked - after
she turned 36 and had
two children.
"People are always
surprised," said Hoar,
at yesterday's Associa-
tion of Former Intelli-
gence Officers meeting
in Landgrove, Vt.
"How do you think
they ran an organiza-
tion like that without a
few Mata Harts?" she
added laughing.
Hoar, in her sixties,
said she spent three
years in Hong Kong
and some time in Peru
during the five years
she worked under.
cover for the CIA.
"I used to take my
son, he was 6 or 7 years
old then, with me on
missions In China," she
said. "He had blond
curly hair and spoke
Cantonese after about
three months - the
Chinese just loved him.
"And, of course, he
got all the attention
and nobody noticed me
- the perfect diver-
sion."
Hoar and her hus-
band, from whom she
Is now divorced, didn't
tell their parents or
children or anybody
else what they did for a
living until long after
their spying days.. .
"We just lived two
separate lives all in
one," explained Hoar.
"My son was so ex-
cited when we told
him," said the youth-
ful-looking grand.
mother of four. "He
kept asking me, 'Tell
me what we were doing
there, mommy: "
Hoar Insisted that,!
"My spying wasn't as!
dangerous as people
think It was. Only a
couple of times did it
get a little scary when
something went bad."
Hoar, who now
works with dyslexic
schoolchildren, said
combining her espion.
age and child-rearing
"wasn't all that diffi-
cult. You got terribly
good at double talk."
She decided to join
the "image-boosting"
spy group meeting yes-
terday because of the
way "the press kind of
pulled us apart in the
1970s."
"People have to un-
derstand that intelli-
gence is eventually the
basis of foreign policy
- like research for a
book," said Hoar.
None of her friends
now Is In Intelligence
work or knows about
her experiences, so for
her, coming to yester.
day's meeting was a
"little like old home
week. A college
reunion."
- Timothy Clifford
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140019-5