HELMS OF CIA: SECRET INTRIGUER AND PUBLIC FIGURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R001200150001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 16, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 19, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80
BUFFALO s N .Y .
11EVS
E - 26].,982
x
WASr1L,:'.t may 19, ?-- In
a recent cciitic,n of ''Who's Who
in Arnzrica," the official
biolranhy 1c P.i._llard I`.IcGar-
rell helm., is less t::- ,n an inch
long. It iden-
tilies h 11n
simply a s
''govt. ofc].,?
lists . prosaic
things like Iii
credentials. (I;: A. 1`W'illiams
.Coil. 153 ), his clubs (Gh('-y
Chase, City Tavern Assli.) v,-;id
his cffice address Central
Intelligence /;n'}'., ti', ssisi li;{U ~,
?205r'5. V
What the sb,.tch doesn't
mention im ever, is tie nt in
tie e~i___ -! czr Ii l? of the tall
.henclsonle *'Jr. ale lens, the n .
tion's cliiei` i l' iii cr.ce officer,
there is e:: fch il;ti and
-derring-do to iii! a c'o en spy
novels.
Take, for instance, the time
in 1953 ji7et after Nil;ita
Iihruishch' had delivered
, his
secret "d. - S*.:.iini:.s tio:i.,
speech to the Communist Party
Congress in hto cow.
As deputy chief of the CIA's
Clandestine Services, Mr.
11e11,15 dir;ctcd the agents who
dummied up a copy of the
speec'1?i7;iiil ,2 derogatory in-
serts abo;:t neutral nations and
their Ie.aders. They then
circulated it abroad - Find
caused rho Russians some
severe embarrassment.
O O o
OR TAI~,E the time Mr.
Helms supervised an operation
that involved digging a tunnel
under 500 yards of East and
West German soil to allow CIA
agents to t, p Moscow's phone
conversation with the East
lull'. H -lmc' c', \','ill re-
r_~~ain cl._s i!eed 'tc seecret'
until long otter his death,
e is exectiy as ha v.oald
have. it. As Ire to'_a a recent
ries'ting of the AnlericP...I
Soci: of J : I dirges
in i'i ashen"tGil; . , it in ax-
io!;'_21tie illat 1111 ?intelligence
scm rice ?-- whatever type of
wrap its '.i in as much secrecy
as puecible in order to operate 11 1
eflectively . . .
Tae s? ech, 1.I r. ileims's
first pu.-,l{~-, ^dcre.; sine he
1':_, named dimectur of she CIA
in l3C6, V.-1 encouraged by 111a
Nixon A h ln;stratioli, w?rlhicih
h. ad bcc". disturbed by
is incompatible
with a dc-:_ccoatic society. ,
After countering several
criticisms 1:'1:'1 cool grace, Mr.
liclai_ snid: `The nation must,
to a degree, t