[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 11 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO THE LATE LEE ECHOLS

                                 ______


                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 19, 1995

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, Lee Echols, who served our country in a 
number of hazardous positions, died recently at age 87 at a hospital 
near his home in Bonita, CA. His life proved that truth is indeed 
stranger than fiction, since no fiction has ever emerged that combined 
Lee's true life adventures which included service in the OSS; the CIA; 
special Customs agent for undercover narcotics work; a Navy officer in 
New York City and special State Department operative in Guatemala, 
Bolivia, Uruguay, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
  Along the way, Lee became a member of the U.S. Treasury Pistol Team 
and won the National Pistol Championship in 1941 at the Camp Perry 
Shoot. He served as western field director for the National Rifle 
Association for several years. After retirement from 38 years of 
government service, Lee helped organize the Association of Former 
Intelligence Officers, which had been started by his old friend, Dave 
Phillips, who had been Chief of the western hemisphere section of the 
CIA. Lee became California State chairman of AFIO.
  ``Hilarious High Jinks & Dangerous Assignments,'' the autobiography 
of Lee Echols, was published in 1990, and recounts his amazing career 
as well as outlining some of the many practical jokes he and his 
associates played on each other. In addition to the autobiography, Lee 
wrote a book, ``Dead Aim'' about the various shooting matches in which 
he participated over the years, a book of fiction, and numerous 
magazines articles.
  In his adventuresome career, Lee encountered various smugglers, 
dealers in narcotics, Communists, revolutionaries, corrupt officials of 
Latin American countries and Mexico, and others who would have killed 
him had they discovered his true identity. The amazing thing is that he 
could operate undercover for our Government for many years and still 
survive.
  One factor that sustained him was his great sense of humor, which led 
him to organize and take part in various hoaxes of his fellow workers, 
and for that matter, anyone who came along. It was this facet of Lee's 
life that attracted men of action to him, including the famous Marine 
general, Hollands M. ``Howlin' Mad'' Smith. At one of the international 
pistol shoots, Lee staged a scene where he appeared to have been 
accidentally shot and killed by another contestant.
  In the Dominican Republic, where he worked undercover for our State 
Department, he obtained information from the revolutionaries that was 
of great help in protecting American dependents until the United States 
Government could send in the 82d Airborne and the Marines to evacuate 
them to United States ships. He also later ran a school for Spanish-
speaking countries interested in training efficient national security 
forces.
  His life story, ``Hilarious High Jinks & Dangerous Assignments'' not 
only tells an incredible true story of his life, but also gives an idea 
of the efficiency of our undercover operations, of the CIA, the OSS, 
Customs, and other Government agencies. Having grown up in Calexico, in 
Imperial County, and worked 10 years for Customs along the border, Lee 
spoke Spanish fluently and also understood how to get along with our 
neighbors to the south.
  His work lives on in the lives of the young men, Americans and those 
from Latin America, whom he trained in law enforcement and respect for 
democracy. Like many others who have helped build America, Lee was a 
product of his times and his environment, and an inspiration to all who 
knew him.

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