William Alexander Robertson Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Rip |
| Born | (1920-08-03)August 3, 1920 Manard,Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | December 10, 1970(1970-12-10) (aged 50) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Marine Corps Central Intelligence Agency |
| Rank |  Major (USMC)Paramilitary Operations Officer (CIA) |
| Unit | Special Activities Division |
| Battles / wars | World War II Korean War |
| Alma mater | Vanderbilt University |
William Alexander"Rip" Robertson Jr. (August 3, 1920 – December 1, 1970)[1] was aUnited States Marine Corps officer—a combat veteran of theWorld War II and theKorean War—and aCentral Intelligence Agency Case Officer in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970, in what became theSpecial Activities Division (renamed Special Activities Center in 2016). Robertson was one of the two CIA officers who commanded the faction of the army that went to war in theBay of Pigs Invasion. The other agent wasGrayston Lynch.
He died in December 1970 ofmalaria he contracted inLaos, and is interred atArlington National Cemetery.
Robertson was born on August 3, 1920, in Manard,Muskogee County, Oklahoma, to William Alexander Robertson Sr. (1893–1952) and Caroline Ellen "Callie" Robertson (née Harris; 1896–1981).[2] After graduating from high school, he attendedVanderbilt University before and after the war.[3] DuringWorld War II he enlisted in theUnited States Marine Corps and served in thePacific Theater as aCaptain and served during theKorean War, retiring at the rank ofMajor.[1][4]
He entered theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1947 and served as a Paramilitary Operations Officer in their famedSpecial Activities Division. In 1954 he was one of a handful of paramilitary case officers assigned to the CIA task force charged by PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower with destabilizing the democratically elected government ofPresident of GuatemalaJacobo Arbenz. This covert action operation was accomplished in a straightforward manner through psychological warfare measures designed and managed by CIA propaganda andpsy-ops experts David Phillips andHoward Hunt. From a secret radio transmitter located onSwan Island, off theHonduran coast, Phillips and Hunt scripted and broadcast a steady and increasingly bellicose stream of false news reports from a so-called "insurgent radio station" that was supposedly located in the mountains ofGuatemala. Meanwhile, Robertson and his colleagues brought a relatively small unit of armed and trained guerrillas into the countryside outside ofGuatemala City to make loud but non-lethal demonstrations of force. The combination of alarmist false radio broadcasts and loud explosions detonated by Robertson in the countryside succeeded splendidly in convincing Arbenz and his troops that a large well-armed insurgent "army" was poised outside the capital preparing to attack at any moment. These efforts, punctuated by the fly-over of the capital by a couple of CIA-controlled fighter-bombers with Nicaraguan Air Force markings and dropping a couple of bombs, convinced Arbenz that his own pilots had defected to the anti-government insurgency and that his capital was about to fall. Arbenz hurriedly fled the country, thus accomplishing President Eisenhower's order with virtually no bloodshed.
In a subsequentCentral American operation, a team of guerrillas led by Robertson mis-identified a British cargo ship for a Soviet freighter at anchor in a Nicaraguan harbor that was thought to be en route toCuba with arms and ordnance forFidel Castro. Robertson's guerrillas mined the vessel, sinking it in the harbor and killing some British seamen, resulting in an international uproar and a diplomatic demarche fromLondon. Robertson accepted responsibility for the operation and although he was dismissed from the Agency by the chief of the CIA's Western Hemisphere Division, Colonel J.C. King—reportedly on Eisenhower's orders—Robertson was never considered to be an outcast by his CIA colleagues.
Robertson remained inNicaragua, where he acquired large tracts of farmland nearPuerto Cabezas on theCaribbean coast and went into the coffee business. He was thus well positioned to provide covert assistance to CIA when it began the search for remote sites to train Cuban exiles. Robertson offered such a site which became the principal training camp for what was to become Brigade 2506, which subsequently landed at theBay of Pigs in 1961. At this time, Robertson was re-employed by the Agency on a contract (vice staff) basis to help lead the 2506 Brigade during the 1961 invasion of Cuba. During the battle he commanded the shipBarbara J whileGrayston Lynch commanded the shipBlagar. Robertson and Lynch both went ashore to supervise the brigade from the beach. Both Robertson and Lynch were under fire for several hours until they were ordered by Washington off the beach—an order which they reluctantly obeyed.
During Operation l'Ommegang, Robertson subsequently led a unit of 17 Cuban exiles in theCongo Crisis.[5] in an attempt to rescue US nationals being held hostage by rebel factions during theSimba Rebellion, including CIA agents in theOrientale Province, and especially around Stanleyville. During Operation Dragon Rouge (Operation Red Dragon) his team managed to rescue 24 of 25 stranded missionaries at the Kilometer 8 mission just north of Stanleyville.[6][7]
Robertson left Laos in November 1970 on an emergency evacuation due to the effects of Malaria.
He died inDallas, Texas, on December 1, 1970.[2] Death was due to the effects ofmalaria. Originally buried atCulpeper National Cemetery, Robertson was interred atArlington National Cemetery on June 14, 1977.[1] He was married to Sara James West (1925–2019) and they had a son together.[2]
