Gerry Droller/Frank Bender Options

[John Simkin]

I have for some time been interested in Gerry Droller (also known as Frank Bender). Very little is known about Droller. So far I have discovered that he was born in Germany in about 1905. He must have fled from Nazi Germany as by 1944 he was working with the Marquis in France. This is when he probably made contact with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

After the war Droller was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency and for a while was a desk officer in Switzerland. According to one undercover report that I found on Droller "he was responsible for the reorganization of West Germany and the consequent strengthening of German-American relations". Later he was transferred to Formosa where he helped Chiang Kai-Shek "organize his government and army".

Droller took part in the CIA covert operation to remove Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. Others involved in this project included Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, E. Howard Hunt, David Atlee Phillips, David Morales, Jake Esterline, Rip Robertson and William Pawley.

According to this secret undercover report I mentioned earlier, in June 1960, Droller was given the “task of binding together a few of the most eligible anti-Castro groups into an organization that could not only oppose Castro politically, but count on a strong nucleus of trained guerrillas for active opposition and sabotage.”

This secret report was written by a man called Dr. Luis Aguilar Leon. It would appear that Leon was working as a spy within the anti-Castro Cuban exiles. His report was sent to Thomas J. Kelly, Metropolitan Sheriff of Dade County on 9th March, 1961.

Leon was not very impressed with Droller/Bender:

“It is the personal opinion of the writer that the personal intervention of Mr. BENDER in the conflict of the groups in exile has been the cause of major dissension's and it has caused conflicts, delays and obstacles that a serene and impartial performance would have avoided. Far from utilizing his privileged position of donor of material, of economic subsistence to unite and enlarge anti-CASTRO forces, Mr. BENDER almost from the beginning, decided on a policy of preferences through a system of not listening to anyone else except those who for some reason he conceded his preference by a method of supporting some against others or of encouraging those more than these. The result of this erratic and incomprehensible policy in a problem as serious as that of Cuba is well described in the picture of the exiles in the first section of this report.”

Jake Esterline revealed in an interview with Jack Pfeiffer on 10th November, 1975, that Droller upset William Pawley and E. Howard Hunt during the planning for the Bay of Pigs operation. This mainly concerned political issues. Pawley thought it was important to get a right-wing government established in Cuba after the invasion. Droller, on the other hand, wanted people like Manuel Ray to be involved in the new administration (as did JFK). Hunt agreed with Pawley but was Droller’s subordinate and could do nothing about it.

It could be argued that Droller reflected the CIA thinking that encouraged them to initially support Fidel Castro in Cuba. Wisner, Barnes and Bissell held similar views. They believed it was in American interests to establish liberal, reforming governments in Latin America, rather than military dictatorships that were unpopular with the people. They took the view that supporting tyrannical and corrupt dictators was not in the long-term best interests of America.

However, it is possible that there is another explanation for Droller’s behaviour. Is it possible he was a long-time Soviet mole. I say this because of his background. If he fled from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and ended up fighting up with the Marquis in France, he almost certainly held left-wing views. It is possible that his views changed after the war. Obviously, he must have given that impression to the CIA otherwise they would not have recruited him.

Luis Aguilar Leon’s report suggests the possibility that Droller was creating disunity in the anti-Castro exile community on purpose. If Droller was a Soviet mole he would have been providing the Soviets (and presumably Castro) with some very important information.

Droller appears to disappear after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Was he sacked for incompetence? Did he flee to the Soviet Union? Or was he dealt with in some other way?

[Ron Ecker]

John,

According to researcher Anthony Marsh, Bender was also known as Felix Drecher. Apparently Marsh has even claimed that Bender/Drecher was one of the shooters:

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/Marsh/Jfk-conspiracy/LIBEL.REP

Felix Drecher is listed on the Cuban JFK Archives site, but apparently as someone other than Bender aka Droller:

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_051-075/doc0068.html

In a book The Great Heroin Coup, the alias Droller is mentioned, as well as a claim that Bender’s real name was Fritz Swend:

http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv....m/msg29601.html

In his book Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Grove/Atlantic, 1998), Jon Lee Anderson refers to “Garry Drecher (aka Frank Bender)” (p. 467).

Ron

[Tim Gratz]

Ron has very interesting information that needs to be evaluated. John's thought may turn out to be most important. May not "pan out" in the end, but certainly merits our careful evaluation!

Thannks, John and Ron!

[Greg Kooyman]

John,

According to researcher Anthony Marsh, Bender was also known as Felix Drecher. Apparently Marsh has even claimed that Bender/Drecher was one of the shooters:

http://karws.gso.uri.edu/Marsh/Jfk-conspiracy/LIBEL.REP

Felix Drecher is listed on the Cuban JFK Archives site, but apparently as someone other than Bender aka Droller:

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_051-075/doc0068.html

In a book The Great Heroin Coup, the alias Droller is mentioned, as well as a claim that Bender’s real name was Fritz Swend:

http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv....m/msg29601.html

In his book Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Grove/Atlantic, 1998), Jon Lee Anderson refers to “Garry Drecher (aka Frank Bender)” (p. 467).

Ron

Ron,
You mention that Jon Anderson's book on Che Guevara refers to a Garry Drecher. Does it mention what Garry's involvement was? This may be where Drecher/Bender ends up next, which is taking some role in the CIA backed capture and killing of Che Guevarra. Seems as though if true that Bender's role in the CIA didn't cease after the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

[Ron Ecker]

You mention that Jon Anderson's book on Che Guevara refers to a Garry Drecher.  Does it mention what Garry's involvement was?

I’ve gone back and looked up Anderson’s references to Drecher (through Amazon.com’s Search Inside the Book). According to his book, Castro agreed to meet with CIA official “Garry Drecher, a German-American émigré who used the alias of Frank Bender,” during Castro’s visit to New York City. They met privately for over three hours on April 21, and after the meeting Drecher told Lopez Fresquet, the Cuban official who had arranged the meeting, that he was convinced that Castro was an anti-Communist, and they had agreed to exchange information about Communist activities in Cuba.

Anderson expresses the opinion that Castro was just saying what his audience wanted to hear. A month later in Havana, Lopez Fresquet was contacted by an American official with a message from “Mr. Bender” for Fidel. Lopez Fresquet gave Castro “the intelligence,” but Castro didn’t answer him and gave him no information to pass on to Bender. Lopez Fresquet was eventually to resign his post and go into exile. (p. 417)

Later, Anderson says that “Garry Drecher (aka Frank Bender), the CIA’s Latin American Communist specialist,” was sent to Miami to recruit Cuban fighters among the exiles for the BOP invasion. (p. 467)

Those are the only references to Drecher in the text. As noted, I found these through the Amazon.com page on the book. I’m unable to check Anderson’s notes on sources without a copy of the book (still in print).

Ron

[Nathaniel Heiden...]

This is from that Max Holland Article called A LUCE CONNECTION..." THAT IVE POSETED SOME ABOUT ON THE LIFE MAGAZINE THREAD

It mentions Droller/Bender working with Pawley and some Cubans under Eisenhower. Then they were still meeting during the Kennedy Admin, but not under the umbrella of any of the approved Kennedy Cuba things like Mongoose etc. Does anyone know where this office building was in Miami, and are there any other references to it?
-------------


". Meanwhile, Pawley turned over the ground floor
of his Miami office building to exiled Cuban groups, keeping intact the organi-
zation he and Droller had assembled before the Bay of Pigs. Three times a
week several hundred Cubans met under PawleyÕs auspices. The plan was to
form a government-in-exile that the majority of the

[William Kelly]

This is from that Max Holland Article called A LUCE CONNECTION..." THAT IVE POSETED SOME ABOUT ON THE LIFE MAGAZINE THREAD

It mentions Droller/Bender working with Pawley and some Cubans under Eisenhower. Then they were still meeting during the Kennedy Admin, but not under the umbrella of any of the approved Kennedy Cuba things like Mongoose etc. Does anyone know where this office building was in Miami, and are there any other references to it?
-------------


". Meanwhile, Pawley turned over the ground floor
of his Miami office building to exiled Cuban groups, keeping intact the organi-
zation he and Droller had assembled before the Bay of Pigs. Three times a
week several hundred Cubans met under PawleyÕs auspices. The plan was to
form a government-in-exile that the majority of the

Hey! That's pretty neat Nate, pulling this back from 2005.

Now if we can only get Gratz to come back.

Bk