BO GRITZ: THE GLORY & THE SEARCH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202390014-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: March 3, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

V I/ \ 1 fl A
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-
I
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON ELI'
E L,...
"Underthe tcw, we w1ll=bearmed:terrorists;>'BeGritz was telling"his
Vnen. "hut because'none of us are in F uniform .rt lets :the U.S. govern
rrrrent off the hook
'If we-get eaught they can say, 4We couldn't. control those crazy -bas
Yards. If,we-self-immoiater, they can say, `They were. just;a: bunch of
crazieswho nevergot over the'war'
we bring back just=one lave American POW, he becomes the
torte for the biggest poker game this n?twn will ever play an this dec=
'EIS A HIGHLY` decorated:Yietnarn. war hero, a. muss
?cled,:six-footer with curly blond hair, hard blue. eyes, a
;black belt.`in karate 'and very little'-self doubt. An ex-
Green Beret officer.' who, scorns ~"faint.. hearts" -.in the
.Pentagon, and:"potbellied" bureaucrats, James Gordon. (Bo) Gritz.
.(rhymes`-with, ights")',is the+new point man for Right Whig Ko-
mance
Sorely,-` God and. Buddha are on. his side, even as he ,sits in'
jail half a?world, away, a soldier -of'fortune under arrest in Thai-
land.for launching his ownrcommando.raid.,into.Laos,to rescueI
'American-prisoners he believes are still being held a decade after a
war as controversial as his exploits.".
It is a modern day holy grail. that Gritz, 44 has chased for
,four.. years;.asswng. press releases from the jungle;on his covert?'
mission] .fueling heroic- fantasies and, most recently,. hustling cash
from movie stars :like Clint. Eastwood and high tech communica-
tions gear, from companies :like. Litton, .ally the' while pitching: for
handouts.. from families of a` few of-about 2,500 soldiers still un
accounted for a decade after the last prisoners came home from
Vietnam..,L~
'
s show. that he,
Acton.William'Shatner said on Johnny Carson
purchased ,"Gritz's life ' story 'a ' modern=daySgt . York'46i I
$tO,000. And in a, curious ,Hollywood twist; Eastwood: anted .up
was planning"a'raid,into Laos to hunt f,
POWs. ia4ob'bied-his fellow actor for
government help;
And why not? Be Gritz is Made for
TV. If ever there were a war of nobil-
ittfull: of imacho-Zen .overtones for.
Pen -like Gritz; !Iiis y is ' it;, a middle-
aged .man going back to. 'Nam to slash
through the jungle and-bring'em back
? alive. Gritz-'calls: :his' POW-hunters.
"the over the hill gang -
"There's' no question' about his
skills" as a soldier," says `.William P;
-Yarborough, 71, a ,retired army gene-
eral, who commanded the Green Be-
rets at .Fort Bragg during Vietnam..
"But his former incarnation as -a
..
Green Beret has. gotten hint .a.little.
out, of phase with reality, I justhope ?
they ' don't hold it -against the breed
because one. guy