Richard Fecteau

Richard G. Fecteau (born 1927)[1] of Lynn, Massachusetts is a Central Intelligence Agency operative who was captured by operatives of the People's Republic of China during a CIA-sponsored flight over mainland China during the Korean War.[2] News of the capture of Fecteau and John T. Downey reached the United States in November 1954, sparking a nearly two decade battle of wills between the U.S. and the PRC. Fecteau was released in December 1971.[3] He later worked as an assistant athletic director at his alma mater, Boston University, retiring in 1989.

Richard G. Fecteau
Fecteau at CIA headquarters in 2013
Born1927 (age 95–96)
Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materBoston University
OccupationCIA officer (1949–1971)
Known for19 years as a POW in China
AwardsExceptional Service Medallion
Distinguished Intelligence Medal
CIA Director's Medal
Distinguished Intelligence Cross

CIA career

He joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) soon after Boston University and became one of two CIA Paramilitary Officers in Special Activities Division (the other was John Downey, a Yale graduate) who survived the shoot-down of their mission over the People's Republic of China in November 1952. Both were captured and spent approximately the next two decades in Chinese prisons before release.

Due to improving U.S.-China relations, Fecteau and Mary Ann Harbert, who was captured on a yacht in Chinese waters near Hong Kong in April 1968, were released on 13 December 1971, crossing the land border into Hong Kong where they were received by U.S. consular officials. Harbert and Fecteau were flown by helicopter to Kai Tak Airport and then boarded a United States Air Force aeromedical evacuation jet and flown to Clark Air Base, Hawaii and then on to McGuire Air Force Base.[4][5]

Harbert and Fecteau were taken to Valley Forge Military Hospital for medical evaluation. Fecteau was reported to be having difficulty adjusting to his release, being uncommunicative after having spent most of the preceding 19 years in solitary confinement.[5]

Throughout his captivity the U.S. had denied that he was a CIA agent.[5] On hearing news of his release, his ex-wife Margaret (who had divorced him in 1951) stated that "the Chinese haven't been lying" about him being a CIA agent, but she recanted the statement the next day.[6][5] However U.S. officials disclosed privately that they no longer denied the Chinese charges that he was a spy.[7] In a press conference on 15 December he said that he had never given up hope of release, but had got so used to solitary confinement that he was unused to speaking, when asked if he was a CIA agent he replied "no comment."[8]

In an official statement made by Xinhua News Agency at the time of his release, the Chinese government said that Fecteau was a CIA spy but that given that he had admitted his crimes during trial and his behavior was not bad in accordance with the proletarian policy of leniency he was being released prior to the end of his 20 year sentence.[9]

In 2013, the CIA awarded Fecteau the Distinguished Intelligence Cross.[10] The CIA's Studies in Intelligence, vol. 50, no. 4, 2006 included an article describing the mission, the capture, and, ultimately, the release of agents Downey and Fecteau.[2] A related video documentary was placed on the CIA website.[11][12]

References
  1. Burns, Robert (June 19, 2010). "CIA Operative From New Britain Had Role In Failed Cold War Spy Mission In China". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  2. Nicholas, Dujmovic (2006). "Two CIA Prisoners in China, 1952–73". Studies in Intelligence. CIA. 50 (4). Archived from the original on June 13, 2007.
  3. Burt, Andrew (November 19, 2014). ""Your Future Is Very Dark" - The incredible story of former CIA agent John T. Downey, the longest held American captive of war". Slate.
  4. Tillman Durdin (December 14, 1971). "Americans Are Sped to U.S.". The New York Times. p. 6.
  5. "Advances amaze freed Americans". The New York Times. December 15, 1971. p. 3.
  6. "Fecteau ex-wife hints he was spy". The New York Times. December 14, 1971. p. 7.
  7. "No longer deny the charges". The New York Times. December 15, 1971. p. 3.
  8. "Never lost hope, Fecteau asserts". The New York Times. December 16, 1971. p. 3.
  9. "Sentences commuted, reduced for American Prisoners in PRC". Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. Central Intelligence Agency: A1. December 13, 1971.
  10. Kinzer, Stephen (December 28, 2013). "Cold War arrest of US spies offers lesson for Iran diplomacy". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  11. "Extraordinary Fidelity". YouTube. CIA. April 5, 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021.
  12. "Extraordinary Fidelity (transcript)". cia.gov. CIA. June 5, 2013. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013.
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