L. Fletcher Prouty
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| Leroy Fletcher Prouty | |
|---|---|
| January 24, 1917 – June 5, 2001 (aged 84) | |
| Place of birth | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Place of death | McLean, Virginia |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1941-1964 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Legion of Merit Joint Chiefs of Staff Commendation Medal |
Leroy Fletcher Prouty (January 24, 1917 - June 5, 2001) was a colonel in the United States Air Force, author, banker, and critic of U.S. foreign policy, especially as regarded the activities of the CIA.
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[edit] Early Life
Prouty attended public schools. He was a vocalist with Big Bands, sang in most large dance halls, hotels and colleges in the Northeast. He was a graduate of Massachusetts State College in 1941 with a Bachelor's degree.
[edit] World War II
He began his military career with the 4th Armored Division in Pine Camp, New York. He transferred to the US Air Force in 1942 earning his Pilot's wings in November. He arrived in British West Africa in February 1943 as a pilot with Air Transport Command.
In the summer of 1943 he was the personal pilot of General Omar Bradley, General John C. H. Lee and General C. R. Smith (Founder and President - American Airlines), among others. He flew the U.S. Geological Survey Team in Saudi Arabia, October 1943, to confirm oil discoveries in preparation for the Cairo Conference. He was assigned to special duties at the Cairo Conference and the Tehran Conference November-December 1943. He flew Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese delegation (T. V. Soong's delegates) to Tehran.
An important mission he was involved in was the evacuation of the British commandos made famous by the novel Guns of Navarone involved in the Battle of Leros from Leros to Palestine. In 1945 he transferred to Southwest Pacific and flew in New Guinea, Leyte and was on Okinawa at the end of war. He landed near Tokyo at the time of their surrender with the first three planes carrying General Douglas MacArthur's bodyguard troops. He flew out with American POWs.
[edit] Post-War Years
Between 1946-49 he was assigned by the US Army to Yale University, where he also taught, to begin the first USAF ROTC program. From 1950-52 he transferred to Colorado Springs to establish Air Defense Command. From 1952-54 he was assigned to Korean War duties in Japan where he served as Military Manager for Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) during the US Occupation.
From 1955-1964 he was assigned to U.S. Air Force Headquarters where he directed the creation of an Air Force world-wide system for "Military Support of the Clandestine Operations of the CIA", as required by a new National Security Council Directive, 5412 of March, 1954. As a result of a CIA Commendation for this work he was awarded the Legion of Merit by the US Air Force, and was promoted to Colonel being assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
With the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency by Secretary McNamara and the abolishment of the OSO, was transferred to the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to create a similar, world-wide office and was the Chief of Special Operations, with the Joint Staff all during 1962-1963. He received orders to travel as the Military Escort officer for a group of VIPs who were being flown to the South Pole, November 10-November 28, 1963, to activate a Nuclear Power plant for heat, light and sea water desalination at the U.S. Navy Base at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Retiring as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force in 1964 he was awarded one of the first three Joint Chiefs of Staff Commendation Medals by General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.
[edit] Post Retirement
He was a Senior Director of Public Affairs for Amtrak during the 1970s, and a director of the National Railroad Foundation and Museum. Prouty authored books including The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World, JFK: The CIA, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy and numerous articles on railroads including the entries on Railroad Engineering and Foreign Railroad Technology for McGraw-Hill's encyclopedias.
Prouty served as an advisor to Oliver Stone's movie JFK and was the inspiration for the mysterious "X", played by Donald Sutherland, who assists Jim Garrison in the movie. Although that scene was fiction Garrison and Prouty did meet in person some years after the events depicted in the film.
[edit] Controversial Claims
As a famous critic of the CIA he pointed out its influence in global matters, outside the realm of U.S. congressional and government oversight. His works detail the formation and development of the CIA, the origins of the Cold War, the U-2 incident, the Vietnam War, and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Prouty's book JFK claims that these events are proof of a secret "global elite" at work.
He subscribed to the theory that oil is not derived from fossils but from carbon deposits deep within the Earth (abiogenic petroleum origin theory)[1], and that U.S. Intelligence agencies may have been involved in the deaths of People's Temple members at Jonestown.[2] He claimed that Korean airlines Flight 007 was downed by "an explosive device" planted aboard by the CIA, rather than being shot down by a Soviet interceptor.[3]
He believed that Franklin D. Roosevelt did not die a natural death. Rather, Winston Churchill had him poisoned.[4] He believed that Kennedy was killed by forces allied with the Federal Reserve Bank because Kennedy was moving against them.[5]
