Pf mails 20 + Insight January 4, 1999daredevil, adventurer writer, monar- chist and spy who has seen more of this century than most ofthe rest of us and ‘experienced it more deeply: What is more, he stillisat work, look- ing forward toward the ‘illennivan He was born of Jifth-generation ‘Huguenot parents in 1906 at Flasher; N.D, H ilaire cu Berrier isa pioneer aviator, old Albert Wind-Did-Blow; whose squaw ‘puta new pair of beaded maccasins on the tiny fet ofthis fist white baby born inthe county while uttering a prayer that the papoose would grow up to be a great war rion His parents gave him the name Harold, which he hated and shortened to Hal. Always acontrary child, Hal du Berrier was shipped off to military school at the tender ‘age of 1] to get straightened out, lating until a month before graduation Trwas the beginning ofthe Age of Flight, and dtu Bervier desperately wanted to go 10 fving school. Instead, his mother sent him to study art. He worked as a commercial artist for a while in Chicago, but at he age of 20he threw itall over and ran away with the circus —a fhing circus, Barnstorming around the United States, dtu Berrier learned how to do the loop-the- loop in a biplane before learning how 10 land, walked onthe wings, jumped from one plane to another and hur by his toes from a rope ladder. He started his own “Du Berrier’ Flying Cireus:” But inthe end it as foo tame, 100 much of the same-old January 4, 1999 get some action, Hilaire du Berrier: Spy From North Dakota. “Tex and Photograph by James P Lucier _ ‘The boy who was raised on the American prairie became the Confidant of kings, and lived a life of incredible adventure. And after nearty a century of work he calmfy looks to the future. same-old. What he wanted was action, When his uncle was appointed as the US. representative to a commission in Paris, Hal jumped at the chance to go along for three months. In France, the bureaucrats said it would beillegal to register some- | ‘one named "Hal," because the name wasn't on the official roster of saints. They agreed that St. Hil- aire, the name of one of in what was then and is Napoleon's generals, now a tiny town on the would be the closest legal prairie (pop. 300). A ‘match, with the appropri {friend of his father was ate saintly cachet, Now Hilaire du Bervier, he didn’t return to the United States fr 16 years. While in Paris, he learned that the Emperor Haile Selassie needed afew good ‘men, especially aviators to stave off the impending invasion of the Mussolini war ‘machine. By now the transplanted Ameri- ‘cart had become a committed monarchist, responsive to the call of gallantry and honor The emperor’ army and air force (ou planes) wereno match for the mighty Italian jeggernaut, and in 1936 du Berré- cer found himselfin an lalian truck being, driven into Addis Abba, Ethiopia, as a prisoner of war Bua he was in buck. The lta ian newsreel propagandists couldn t get the camera shots quite right, and the victor ‘us forces had to reenter the capital three times, celebrating over and over wt the ‘film wasn the can, Inthe hub, du Beri er escaped on the overnight rain to Djt- bot. Returning to Europe, he was relaxing at the castle of Baron Banffy at Cl, Tran- sylvania, when he read inanewspaper that Spanish military forces under Gen. Sanjuro Prowsonal Bio DuBervien: Nov. 1, 1942, five days before being captured by the Japanese, Born: Flasher, N.D, Nov. 1, 1906, Profession: Journalist, Soldier of Honor. Poltties: Monarchist Home: Monaco, attr: Background to Betray al, 1963; L'Echec Americain ‘au Vietnam Vu Par un Ameri- ‘cain; The Spy from North Dakota (in process). Dauginor: Jeannette, a regis- tered nurse in Massachusetts. ere: “Each year I celebrate Napoleon's victory atthe Bat- tle of Austerlitz on Dee. 2. ‘When I was in prison camp, a Jot of my mates were sailors. I started telling them stories about Napoleon and, within a ‘month, I converted them all” Favorite reading. The 11th Edi- tion of the Encyclopedia Brit- tanica, 1912 — the lat edition Published in England. “When T was running my spy ring Vad plenty of time on my hands, so Tread all 30 volumes.” Insight «24‘were organizing to restore his hero, King ] Alfonso XUN, to the Spanish throne. Arriv= ing in Spain on the ubiquitous overnight train, he promptly ran intoa grave person al defect in his situation. Gen. Francisco Franco, the conmanderin chief desperate for aid had accepred assistance and advis- ers from the fralian army. Alas, the lalians | had escaped-prisoner du Berrier on their | bad list. Sourned, he decided to do his bit | forthe king as a spy by signing up for the Communist (or so-called Loyalist) side | During the period of his one-month con- | ract he flew missions while making exten- | stenotsofte ops and quality ftir craft supplied by the Soviet Union, secrets | he intended to pubiish afterward in news paper articles — and did. Unfortunately he snus denounced by US. Communists fight ingon the Loyalist side, and was taken out to be shot. But when his name was called, higher officers decided thatit would be bad form to shoot an American, since it might ‘offend Eleanor Roosevelt and other US. patrons of the Communist forces. He was allowed to escape on the overnight train. For a while du Berrier was a familiar sight in the cafés of Paris, sporting spats, ceane and monoele, seen in the company of ‘other expatriates such as Ernest Heming- way; Man Ray, Louise Bryant and Kiki of ‘Montparnasse, and writing for the French newspapers. Then one of his fvboy buddies ‘came with the news thar there was going to bea “show” out in Asia, and he hastened there to fly for Chiang Kai-shek There was much to do in China, and soon du Berrer was in Japanese-occupied Shanghai ranning a Nationalist spy ring making covert radio transmissions to Chungking vice a day: To protect himself. he allied and trained with a supersecret alternative wing of French intelligence, a tit directed by Gen. Raul Salan, the Ren- seignement Guerre Numero Un. Du Berri- er set the ring up in a large house in the French quarter of Shanghai and 10 cut t0.an actress estranged from her husband. | One day the actress disappeared, fled to the north, married Mao Txe-tung and became beter known as Jiang Qin When the Japanese artacked Pearl Har- bor the French spirited away du Berrier’s radio and incriminating papers, but his position became more tenuous every day: ' Finally the sound of heavy boots came on thestairway inthe night and he was hauled 22 + Insight expenses rented outa room on thefirstfloor | may as a spr: Japanese interrogators took him o their torture chamber to make him ‘dentfy the members of his spy ring. He never broke, butte torture lefths face par tially paralyzed, and ended his fring davs. After five years in a Japanese prison ‘camp near te River Kiva, he was liberat edby advance forces ofthe American OSS. The Chinese Nationalists gave him a spe- ial eitation. The French decorated him with the Croicde Combattant Vountaire and the Croide Combatant de la Resistance and, vears ler, awarded him amilitary pension. Leftists in the US. State Department, how «ever spent years daning him for $600 for food the US. government supplied through the Swiss Embassy while he was starving in the Japanese camp and denied him a passport until the bill was paid. Eventually returning to Paris, du Berri- cer fllinagain with his alsin French intel- ligence circles. t was a critical moment Salan and Jacques Soustlle, then the op intel chief first maneuvered Gen. Charles cde Gaulle into power to save Algeria as a part of France and then tried to overthrow him when he moved o turn the country over to Ahmed Ben Bella and the Algerian ter- rorists. Salan and Soustelle went into hid ing, and de Berrier performed critical ser- vices for them in raising fnds and serving as a courier to their hideous. When the ‘coup plotters were arrested, du Berrier scurried back o the United States but final- Iysetled in Monaco, where he has lived and written ever since — publishing a monthly inelligence newsletter with subseribers all caver the world (FiduB Reports, 20 Blu Princesse Charlotte, Monte Carlo, Mona- 0: $75 the year). ‘DuBervier was an adviser and friend 10 the Emperor Bao Dai, the eviled Viet rnamese leader then living ina small house innearby Cannes. France had gone through the agony of Algeria onty to enter the agony cof Vietnam. In 1963, du Berrier published ‘the most important altemative history of the Viemam war, Background to Betrayal, @ book that received worldwide attention. Writing from his detailed experience. he denounced lefst in the US. government for supporting frst Ho Chi Minh and later Ngo Dink Diem, preparing the way forthe Communist takeover of Viemam. Tash fun Bevery in his | spacious modern apartment in Monaco sining before a large bay window over- ooking the famed casino, the palm trees ‘and the sparking blue Mediterranean. His desk is covered with files no just about the ‘past but about the new Amsterdam Treaty. | Ken Starr and the latest economic reports. | Here, too, he is writing his memoirs on a | ‘computer that the boy from Flasher never | could have imagined. | Insight: You proudly call yourself a | nationalist, amonarchistandan American. | Yet few men could claim to havea broad- cer experience in international events than ‘you. How did you become a monarchist? Ailire du Berrier: When I was 9 years ‘old I was given a book on Napoleon's eav- alr, and my mind was made up. Oneof the | first things I did when I came to Paris was | to join the French monarchist party. T think that one of the most sublime speeches head of state evermade wasthe | reply that King Alphonso XIII gave to the } ‘men from Madrid who came to ask him to abvlicate. His Majesty was in the Maurice | Hotel in Paris, heard them through and | when they were finished he stood up, | addressed them and said: “You have asked. me to abdicate. But abdicate I cannot. For Lam not only the King of Spain, but [am the King ofall he Spaniards. And I notoniy have my ov reign, but those of my fami- ly who have gone before me, for which I | ‘must someday givea rigorous accounting.” | Twas walking inthe Rue de Rivioli one day, and there was a tall man approaching {recognized him, and I tipped my hat. He tipped his hat. was Alphonso. After that | | would have followed him anywhere. Insight: What does that mean to usas we enter the 2st century? | HduB: Did you ever read [Oswald] Spen- | ler? He putt this way: “Tradition is eos- ‘mic force at its highest energy.” And he said, “Modern man rejects everything he does not understand and destroys with an epigram institutions reared by the inartic- ulate wisdom of the centuries.” Insight: In a lie filled with adventure, ‘what was your most critical point? HB: was in Shanghai in 1941, and I ‘was sill running my spy ring. One momn- | ing I was awakened by a telephone call from John, my No. | Chinese agent. He said, “Youu better get out. The Japanese have just declared war on America.” said, "You're crazy, John, it's justanother Chinese ‘rumor went back to bed, but the noises inthe street didn’t sound right to me, so 1 ‘got up and looked out the dormer window: As faras could see were trucks, unload | January 4, 1999 _ REESE EEE EEing the Japanese naval landing party — blue-uniformed Navy men wholooked like toy solders each the same height each with the same wooden expression. One group | vas putting sandbags on the stretsatinter- sections, Others were drawingarope across the steet so that they could paralyze aic ifthe siren sounded, Andi sat down on the exigeof my bed thinking about the gravity ofthe situation: me witha transmiter and receiver in my place, me running this rng and at the same time being paid a retainer by Chiang’s general Tealled Capt Reseau Mingant, my No. 1 inthe French service, andl sid, "What 1 do?" He said, “Don't worry, it will ake them two or three days to get settled. We'll take care of that radio Tater in the day” He came in a car fying the French flag and took away the trans- ‘miter. Bu there was only one thing that neither the French nor I had thought of France was neutral then and the Japanese couldn't torture a Frenchman, but ifthey found outthat | an American was inthe French resis- names out of him. And that what | caused my paralyzed face | Now you have heard about men } under pressure, was under pressure all those years — 1939, 1940, 1941 | —when the Japanese eyes and ears | were all ver, looking for that trans- mitterand receiver. And Iwas. cool ing by my toes on the plane — thinking nothing could happen. ‘Now. 1, 1942, was my birthday, and a fiend had a birthday party for me. 1 was | thinking, Cool! Perfectly secure! But not five days later I was hearing steps coming up the stairway just before dawn — heavy boots —and knew the game wasup. I was taken to a POW camp and. after about six months the men from the Kampeita, the | secret police. came.and took meaway tothe | torture house. I wasina cage. And day after | day, between sessions, I would sit onthe concrete floor and look atmy shoes —they hadtaken my shoelaces —andI wouldask my fect how they brought me there. } insight: Your unique experience has given you a deep power of analysis. What do you see asthe future of Europe? Hida: Well, onthe ist of January Euro- peansare supposed to ge the cura, an lose | their national currencies. When the pro- January 4, 1999 ponents of European integration ist setup that European movement at the end of ‘World War I, they told Europeans it was ) just common market in ordrto drop ade | aries and eliminate customs duties. Then ‘when they got the European countries inso far they couldn't back out, they tld them it was to form a Republic of Europe — & country, a supcmation, with a parliament in Strasbourg and Brussels and a central bank in Germany. Now they have gone so far that 1| nations are committed to this new money — and are being tld that itis ‘political move and they are going o be governed by a central periament “The men who sett up did so in secret meetings in the US. Embassy in Paris the American ambassador then, and his ‘wile, Evangeline, in her memoirs said that | she saw the European movement take | shape before her eyes. She said “It could have been done elsewhere, but it was done there, and one could actually see the idea crystallizing, The talks went on daily, and inthe end they beat out what was really the original plan forthe Common Market.” Dean Acheson from the United States and Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman from France did the planning. George Bal, an American, was a lawyer for Monnet. John Foster Dulles was part of it, too. Insight: Will this superation be @ stronger entity ora weaker entity? HiduB: Well, these countries that have ‘gone into it will see that their sovereignty ssbeing taken over because te Parliament ‘of Europe, tis supestate Europe, isto take precedence over their native parliaments, laws and constitutions, So the once-inde- Hanging by hs toes: FZduB barnstorms in 1928 asa cucumber, ust like when [was hang- | shortly afer the war. David K. Bruce was | are bringing a war down on their heads ——<———<—$——————— pendentcountriesare becoming provinces. | ‘The US. had its first example of what | this will mean about two weeks ago when you had the trouble over the banana trade ‘The Europeans threatened to bring the United States before a Furopean court fit insisted on letting South American bananas. compete on equal footing with bananas coming from countries in the European Union’ sphere of influence. So what you are going to see now is, after it gets tough, thatthe euro becomes the reserve curren- cy for Europe as the dollar is the reserve currency now. Well, that’s going to have an effect on the dollar. People will unload it The European Union's trade rules and reg- ulations are biased against America. In time you will hear voices raised that the United States must come in, too. Insight: What is the view from Burope of what's happening in the United States (HOUB: In Europe everyone thinks that America is crazy, that any peo- ple who wouldelect Clinton and then reelect Clinton has lost all common sense, The United States is becoming more and more isolated. When the ‘issue came up in the United Nations last month fo censure {Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu for expanding the settlements on the ‘West Bank, only the United States, Israel and Micronesia voted against it The Europeans fee that Americans But the Islamic war will not be a war of armies against armies. The Islamic anti- Israel coalition has no common front were they can fight Israel. The only thing they can doisto have Muslims attack Isracl friends. ‘There are 15 million Mustims in the seven so-called Schengen treaty countries that agreed to open theirborders allowing mil itants to travel without restriction Insight: What's going to happen tothe ‘euro? Will it be a strong currency or will it cause a depression in Europe? HduB: The best authorities in Europe are divided. Some say that it will cause trouble: some say that it will beso strong that it wll cause loss of confidence inthe pound ster- ling and the dollar. Wat ths is going to do isto strike at tradition. Atthe very same time that Europe is hit in the solar plexus of is traditions, youare going to have the startof the Islamic war. Between the two, Europe, isgoing tohavea rough ide ° Insight - 28