12 LONG YEARS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300170008-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 2, 1998
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: October 31, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

:PYRGHT
BRATTLEBORO, VT.
REFORMER
Sanitized - Ap roved For Release : C
Front
Page
LQ,i. , Years
U. 5. $enator`Dodd of Connecticut was on hand.
He had tried for a long time to gain freedom for the
man. Secretary. of Health, Education and Welfare
j ! Celebrezxe was there. So was U. S. Representative
Grabowski. of Connecticut. And so was Mrs. Mary
Downey.-
~.. It happened last week in New Britain, Conn.
The city was dedicating a road in its.industrial park.
They called.the road John ;T. Downey Drive.
teacher and widow, cut. the ribbon at the ceremo- Red China. The number has dwindled -considerabl
r..ina Srintt she would he off on her fourth., heart- 1 ... _.
CPYRGHT
held territory, and Communist . gtiznf1re brought'l
own. Downey was captured; later to be tried. and,
'was called "ringleader" in an' effort. to "airdrop"` ,
supplies to "other CAA-,r,~n,"
For 12 years, Downey has sat Ina Red Chinese's:
cell, serving a life sentence. For 12 years, diplomatic
maneuvers have failed to free him. And for 12.5
years, Mary Downey has ~een a sympathetically;re-
ceived thorn in the side of the federal government,
making frequent visits to high Washington officials`
Mrs. Downey, a troubles looxmg, retires scnooi Downey is not,the only, American `still held In
nnagaziae eilUrts U1 lqudllby. mas cards: (It takes a long time for the non-air mail'
Rnt_: rrrar]natinn frntn Yale caw him take' em-
demic honors, he was a varsity athlete in footbal , And along about mid - November, Downey's:'
was somewhat of a hero even before his experienceg he, receives mail, books and cigars from his moth'er0.
of the last 1.2 years. Prior to those dozen agonizing 11is friends and the New Britain- folks who remem--,
years he was, a sports figure of some standing.. At her the hometown athlete who hitched a ride on the'`.
:Yale, from which he was graduated with high.aca- {.. t
wrong airplane.
.
.
,
John T. Downey is a hero in. New Britain. He will be freed-if ever-nn one can say Meanwhile
'wrenching journey to a cell oiocx seep in rtes uni-
na. There, she would talk-but only shortly, and on,,
ly in guarded words-with her son. . '
turn lane hap, heaircraftstrayed too close to AUQ
... .. ..~ti i,...~{Z'Ya inr:illW~.. .k{.a ? . lu KI
loo position to,visit & friendon duty tere.. n a re ,~ Red Cross, Peking,China ? ; :
o
was on, an ; owney oppe
a p ane ddress 'Tor each, of them is "c/o C;iainese National
guve1'11n1e11 11 t: Wits ae114 4U "TCUL. LAIC LsVL LL WOA.
gotten at the Yuletide, can do, the same then "The~
rear eche~
d
d D h 1 t
7,764
Edit Other
Pagel Page
' OCT 31 1964
guish in prison there--including at least one man,"
Richard.. Fecteatx of;,Lynn, Mass., who was on ths
plane
with the New Britain man
When Downey