REMARKS OF WILLIAM J. CASEY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BEFORE VETERANS OF OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES (VSS) ABOARD THE INTREPID NEW YORK CITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R000600980018-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Sequence Number: 18
• Content Type: REPORT

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REMARKS OF WILLIAM J. CASEY
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
BEFORE
VETERANS OF OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES (VSS)
ABOARD THE INTREPID
NEW YORK CITY
THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 1983
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SIR WILLIAM STEPHENSON, HE OF THE GOLDEN TROOPS, FONDLY KNOWN
AS THE BARD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER, MINISTER JERRY REGAN,
AMBASSADOR GOTLIEB, ALL THE OTHER DISTINGUISHED GUESTS ON THIS
SHIP, INCLUDING THE VETERANS OF OSS. THIS IS A HAPPY OCCASION,
HONORING SIR WILLIAM WITH THE MEDAL WHICH COMMEMORATES HIS WARTIME
PARTNER, BILL DONOVAN, AND GETTING TOGETHER WITH SO MANY FRIENDS
AND FELLOW INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS WHO HAVE COME ACROSS FROM EUROPE
AND DOWN FROM CANADA-
TODAY THE FREE WORLD HAS A HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED INTELLIGENCE
APPARATUS TO WATCH FOR SIGNS OF DANGER- IT WAS NOT ALWAYS SO-
WHEN HITLER WAS BUILDING HIS WAR MACHINE AND PLANNING HIS AGGRESSION,
BILL STEPHENSON, ALONG WITH WINSTON CHURCHILL, WERE LONELY VOICES
SOUNDING THE WARNING' BELL IN ENGLAND AND BILL DONOVAN WAS A ONE-MAN
CIA, ROAMING EUROPE FOR FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT-
SIR WILLIAM SAW THAT DONOVAN GOT A THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF THE
INTELLIGENCE SERVICE WHICH ENGLAND HAD DEVELOPED OVER FIVE CENTURIES
AND OF THE WAY BRITAIN WAS NOURISHING RESISTANCE IN THE OCCUPIED
NATIONS OF EUROPE PURSUANT TO WINSTON CHURCHILL'S DRAMATIC ORDER
TO "SET EUROPE ABLAZE-" DONOVAN IN TURN WAS TO TELL ROOSEVELT
THAT INTELLIGENCE, PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE AND IRREGULAR FORCES
DRAWN FROM THE GREAT ETHNIC MELTING POT WHICH IS AMERICA WOULD BE
THE SPEARHEAD TO LIBERATE OCCUPIED EUROPE- OUT OF THIS CAME THE OSS?
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TODAY, OSS STANDS FOR OLD SOLDIERS SOCIETY- IN 1941, BILL DONOVAN
ASSEMBLED WHAT HAD TO BE THE MOST DIVERSE AGGREGATION EVER ASSEMBLED
OF SCHOLARS, SCIENTISTS, BANKERS AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS, TYCOONS,
PSYCHOLOGISTS AND FOOTBALL STARS, CIRCUS MANAGERS AND CIRCUS FREAKS,
SAFE CRACKERS, LOCK PICKERS AND PICKPOCKETS.
ON THIS DAIS AND SCATTERED AROUND THIS SHIP ARE THE REMNANTS
OF THAT COLLECTION- WE HAVE TO ADMIT THIS WAS A BUNCH OF AMATEURS-
IT WAS SIR WILLIAM WHO PROVIDED THE KNOW-HOW AND THE TRAINING WHICH
MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO DEVELOP INTO AN EFFECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
SERVICE- SIR WILLIAM BROUGHT EXPERIENCED INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS
OVER FROM LONDON TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPING THE STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES
OF A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION. EARLY RECRUITS TO THE OSS WERE
TRAINED IN CAMPS WHICH BILL STEPHENSON HAD ESTABLISHED IN CANADA-
HE THEN PROVIDED TRAINERS FOR OSS TO DEVELOP ITS OWN TRAINING
SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. GENERAL DONOVAN SAID IT ALL AFTER
THE WAR. HE SAID: "BILL STEPHENSON TAUGHT US EVERYTHING WE EVER
KNEW ABOUT FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS-"
BUT THERE WAS STILL A LOT OF POLISHING TO DO. A BRITISH
INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, WHO BECAME A RENOWNED WRITER AND PUNDIT,
MALCOLM MUGGERIDGE, DESCRIBED IT VIVIDLY. HE SAID, "AH THOSE
FIRST OSS ARRIVALS IN LONDON! How WELL I REMEMBER THEM, ARRIVING
LIKE YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER STRAIGHT FROM A FINISHING SCHOOL, ALL
FRESH AND INNOCENT, TO START WORK IN OUR FROWSTY OLD INTELLIGENCE
BROTHEL-"
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THE SEASONING CAME WITH ON-THE-JOB TRAINING OBTAINED BY
WORKING DAILY WITH PEOPLE LIKE THE COMRADES OF THOSE DAYS WHO
CAME ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO. BE WITH US ON THIS OCCASION. HERE ON
THE DAIS IS PIERRE Foo-Ko WHO WAS THE FIRST OF GENERAL DE GAULLE'S
FOLLOWERS TO PARACHUTE BACK INTO FRANCE TO BECOME A LEADER OF
FRENCH RESISTANCE FORCES- I SEE DOWN THERE FLEMMING JUNCKER
WHO BROUGHT THE DANISH RAILWAY SYSTEM TO A GRINDING HALT TO DELAY
GERMAN TROOPS IN COMING DOWN FROM NORWAY TO REINFORCE HITLER IN
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE-
IT'S A SPECIAL PLEASURE TO HAVE VERA ATKINS HERE ON HER FIRST
VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES- I CAN ONLY DESCRIBE HER SPECIAL WAR
TIME BY SAYING THAT IN A VERY REAL SENSE SHE WAS THE HEART OF
ALLIED SUPPORT TO FRENCH RESISTANCE- IT WAS SHE WHO SAW THAT
EVERY AGENT WHO WENT INTO FRANCE TO ORGANIZE, TRAIN OR COMMUNICATE
BACK TO LONDON WAS PREPARED, BRIEFED, ENCOURAGED, CALMED DOWN AND
MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THOSE OF US WHO STOOD BEHIND THEM REALLY
CARED AND COULD BE COUNTED ON. THERE CAME A TIME, AFTER THE
LANDING IN NORMANDY, WHEN GENERAL EISENHOWER DECREED THAT A FRENCH
GENERAL SHOULD HEAD UP A NEW ORGANIZATION TO CONTINUE SUPPORT OF
FRENCH RESISTANCE FORCES- WE AMERICANS AND THE BRITISH, WHO WERE
ENGAGED IN THIS WORK, WERE TO GO TO A NEW HEADQUARTERS AND BECOME
PART OF THIS NEW OUTFIT- WE ALL WENT EXCEPT SQUADRON OFFICER ATKINS
WHO ANNOUNCED THAT SHE HAD SENT HUNDREDS OF MEN AND WOMEN TO PARACHUTE
INTO FRANCE FROM BRITISH SPECIAL FORCES HEADQUARTERS AT BAKER STREET
AND THEY WOULD FIND HER THERE WHEN THEY RETURNED AND THEY DID UNTIL
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FRANCE WAS LIBERATED. THEN, SHE WENT OVER TO FIND AND HELP THOSE
WHO HAD SURVIVED THE RISKS THEY HAD TAKEN TO HELP BRITISH AND
AMERICAN FORCES LAND AND FIGHT THEIR WAY THROUGH FRANCE--AND,
INDEED, THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO HAD NOT SURVIVED.
SO, ALL OF US TONIGHT SALUTE YOU PIERRE AND YOU FLEMMING AND
YOU VERA, AS WELL AS YOU SIR WILLIAM-
NOW, IT IS MY PRIVILEGE TO INTRODUCE TO YOU A MAN WHO OCCUPIES
A SPECIAL PLACE IN PRESIDENT REAGAN'S CABINET. As COUNSELLOR TO
THE PRESIDENT, ED MEESE HAS BROUGHT TO OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
THE SYSTEM OF CABINET GOVERNMENT, WHICH AS CHIEF OF STAFF TO
GOVERNOR REAGAN HE HELPED DEVELOP IN CALIFORNIA- IN THIS CAPACITY
ED SITS WITH THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, AS WELL AS THE CABINET-
COORDINATING THE WORK OF THESE BODIES AND A WIDE RANGE OF CABINET
COUNCILS, HE PROVIDES A CRITICAL LINK BETWEEN DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
POLICY- IT IS A SPECIAL PLEASURE FOR ME TO INTRODUCE TO YOU THE
HONORABLE EDWIN MEESE III, MAN OF MANY PARTS AND OUTSTANDING
QUALITIES, AS LAWYER, SCHOLAR, PUBLIC SERVANT AND SPLENDID COMPANION-
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