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| |surname=Walters | | |surname=Walters |
| |first=Vernon | | |first=Vernon |
| |middle=A. | | |middle=Anthony |
| |class_number=2 | | |class_number=2 |
| |class_rank=2nd Lt | | |class_rank=2nd Lt |
| |birth_year=1917 | | |birth_year=1917 |
| |death_year=2002 | | |death_year=2002 |
| |nativity=US | | |nativity=United States |
| |religion=C | | |religion=Catholic |
| |certificate=815 | | |certificate=815 |
| |photo=Wikipedia_Ambassador_Vernon_A._Walters.jpg | | |photo=Walters_Vernon_A_01284614_portrait.jpg |
| |confidence=medium | | |confidence=medium |
| |class_display=2 | | |class_display=2 |
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| |birth_date=3 January 1917 | | |birth_date=3 January 1917 |
| |death_date=10 February 2002 | | |death_date=10 February 2002 |
| |birth_place=New York City, New York, U.S. | | |birth_place=New York City, New York |
| |death_place=West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. | | |death_place=West Palm Beach, Florida |
| |years_of_service=1941-1976 | | |years_of_service=1941-1976 |
| |rank_final=Lieutenant general | | |rank_final=Lieutenant General |
| |battles=World War II | | |battles=World War II |
| |occupation=United States Ambassador to Germany; United States Ambassador to West Germany; 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Director of Central Intelligence | | |occupation=United States Ambassador to Germany; United States Ambassador to West Germany; 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Director of Central Intelligence |
| |known_for=United States Ambassador to Germany | | |known_for=United States Ambassador to Germany |
| | |awards=Legion of Merit |
| | |awards_grid=Legion of Merit |
| | |awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Legion_of_Merit_ribbon.png |
| | |awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Legion_of_Merit_ribbon.png |
| }} | | }} |
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| <div class="soldier-lead"> | | <div class="soldier-lead"> |
| Vernon Anthony Walters (January 3, 1917 – February 10, 2002) was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany during the decisive phase of German Reunification. Walters rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. | | '''Vernon Anthony Walters''' (3 January 1917 – 10 February 2002) was a United States Army officer and diplomat who trained and taught at [[Camp Ritchie]], Maryland, in [[Class 2]], later serving as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and as ambassador to the United Nations and Germany. |
| </div> | | </div> |
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| == Biography == | | == Biography == |
| | Vernon Anthony Walters was born on 3 January 1917 in New York City. He lived abroad with his parents and attended St. Louis Gonzaga School in Paris and Stonyhurst College in England. He entered the Army as an enlisted man on 2 May 1941, graduated Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning as a second lieutenant of infantry on 29 May 1942, and late in 1942 was assigned to Camp Ritchie (Class 2). |
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| | Walters went overseas with the 9th Infantry Division and took part in the assault landing at Safi, Morocco, on 8 November 1942, receiving the Legion of Merit and promotion to first lieutenant. After service in Algeria and Tunisia he returned to the United States as a section chief at the Camp Ritchie intelligence school and attended a special course for Brazilian officers at Fort Leavenworth. He later served in Italy as an aide to General Mark W. Clark and as combat liaison officer with the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. |
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| Walters was born in New York City on 43 January 1917. Vernon Walters was born January 3, 1917 in New York City. He lived abroad with his parents and attended St Louis Gonzaga School in Paris, France, and Stonyhurst College in England, His military career began on 2 May 1941 when he entered the Army as an enlisted man.
| | After the war Walters built a long career as interpreter, military attaché, and intelligence officer for successive presidents, culminating as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (1972–1976), United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1985–1989), and Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (1989–1991) during German reunification. His memoir ''Silent Missions'' appeared in 1978. He died on 10 February 2002 in West Palm Beach, Florida. |
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| In early 1942 he attended the Officers Candidate School at Ft Benning, Georgia, and graduated as a 2d Lt of Infantry on 29 May 1942, He was assigned to the 85th Division as platoon leader of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of Headquarters Co. Special Course for Brazilian Officers at the Command & General Staff School at Ft Leavenworth in 1943, Subsequently, he returned to Italy, serving as aide to General Mark W. After serving in Algeria and Tunisia, he returned to the United States as Chief of Section at the Intelligence School at Camp Ritchie.
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| Late in 1942, he was assigned to Camp Ritchie, Maryland and went overseas with the 9th Infantry Division, taking part in, the assault landing at Safi in Morocco on 8 November 1942.
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| Vernon Anthony Walters (January 3, 1917 – February 10, 2002) was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. He served there from 1945 to 1948, During the visits of President. In April 1948, he went to the 9th Pan American Conference at Bogota as aide to General Marshall, then Secretary of State.
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| Walters received the Army Commendation Ribbon, In June 1948, he was assigned to Ambassador Averell Harriman as Assistant Military Attache at Large with station in Paris, and in 1949 he was appointed Army Attache at Large. Returning to the United States with Ambassador Harriman in June 1950, he became Military Assistant to the Special Assistant to the President. In January 1951, he accompanied General Eisenhower on his visit to twelve NATO countries, and in February 1951 he was assigned to SHAPE Headquarters in Paris.
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| He also served as Assistant to the President at the Geneva Conference in 1953. Returning to the United States in January 1955, he was assigned to the US Element of the NATO Standing Group as Public Information Officer and Special Projects Officers. He was with Vice President Richard Nixon in 1958 when an anti-American crowd stoned their car in Caracas, Venezuela.
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| He attended courses at Ft Bliss, Texas, and Sandia, New Mexico and in May 1960 was ordered to Rome, Italy as Army Attache, serving there until October 1962, when he was assigned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as Army Attache. In 1961, he proposed an American military intervention in Italy if the Socialist Party had participated in the Government. Walters was sent to Brazil in 1962 after a meeting between President John F.
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| Goulart was eventually ousted in the 1964 coup that brought a military dictatorship to power for the next two decades. While serving as a military attaché in Paris from 1967 to 1972, Walters played a role in secret peace talks with North Vietnam. He had previously been chosen by Richard Nixon to be their translator/interpreter during Pompidou's 1970 trip to the United States.
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| Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany during the decisive phase of German Reunification. He served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany during the decisive phase of German Reunification. Walters himself reflected on those challenging days in his 1978 autobiography Silent Missions:
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| Walters was then United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1985 to 1989 and ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from 1989 to 1991, being responsible on behalf of the United States for the preparations of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany. In 1986, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1987 he visited Fiji, two weeks after Timoci Bavadra came to office.
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| Walters rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. He served as an aide and interpreter for several Presidents.
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| He was at President Harry S. Truman's side as an interpreter in key meetings with America's Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin American allies. His language skills helped him win Truman's confidence, and he accompanied the President to the Pacific in the early 1950s, serving as a key aide in Truman's unsuccessful effort to reach a reconciliation with an insubordinate General Douglas MacArthur, the Commander of United Nations forces in Korea.
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| In Europe in the 1950s, Walters served President Dwight Eisenhower and other top US officials as a translator and aide at a series of NATO summit conferences. During this period he participated in the famous visit of Eisenhower to General Franco. He also worked in Paris at Marshall Plan headquarters and helped set up the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe.
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| Walters suffered facial cuts from flying glass. The Vice President escaped injury. In the 1960s, Walters served as a U.S.
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| military attaché in France, Italy, and Brazil. Kennedy and ambassador Lincoln Gordon, in which they discussed ways to sabotage or overthrow the left-wing Brazilian government of João Goulart. According to political scientist Anthony Pereira, Walters' role in the coup was an important one, yet "one that is still not fully understood due to the persistence of classified documents that have not been made public".
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| He arranged to smuggle National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger into France for secret meetings with a senior North Vietnamese official, and then smuggle him out again. He accomplished this by borrowing a private airplane from an old friend, French President Georges Pompidou. Despite numerous importunings from on high, [Walters] flatly refused to ... | |
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| cast a cloak of national security over the guilty parties. At the critical moment he ... refused to involve the Agency and bluntly informed the highest levels of the executive [branch] that further insistence from that quarter would result in his immediate resignation.
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| I told [President Nixon's White House counsel] that on the day I went to work at the CIA I had hung on the wall of my office a color photograph showing the view through the window of my home in Florida. When people asked me what it was, I told them [this] was what was waiting [for me] if anyone squeezed me too hard. During the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Walters worked as a business consultant.
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| He served as ambassador-at-large, visiting 108 countries. Reagan used prominent Catholics in his government such as Walters to brief the pope during the Cold War. Bavadra wanted to create a nuclear-free zone in Fiji.
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| had said previously about this: "a nuclear free zone would be unacceptable to the US given our strategic needs (...) the US must do everything possible to counter this movement". Walters spoke with Bavadra and Sitiveni Rabuka. Two weeks later Bavadra was overthrown by Rabuka.
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| Walters was a Ritchie Boy. His first assignment was with. the 187th Field Artillery at Fort Ethon Allen, Vermont.
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| Subsequently, he was given additional duty of Regimental S-2. For his part in this action, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and promoted to 1st Lt. While serving there, he attended the.
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| Clark, Commanding General of Fifth Army. Upon the arrival of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Italy, Captain Walters was assigned. as Combat Liaison Officer with the 1st Brazilian Infantry Division remaining with them until the end of the war.
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| He was then assigned as Assistant Army Attache in Brazil. Truman, General Marshall and General Eisenhower, he served as aide to interpret for them. During this conference a revolt occurred in which Fidel Castro was involved.
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| For his work at Bogota, Lt. At this time, he accompanied Governor Harriman to Korea and to the meeting between President Truman and General MacArthur at Wake Island. He served there as Assistant Executive for National Military representatives, and subsequently as Assistant to the Deputy Chief.
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| of Staff for Logistics and Administration.
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| He passed away February 10, 2002 at the age of 85. The election of Ronald Reagan ended Walter's first retirement from public life. During this period, additional duties as Staff Assistant to the President of the United States, accompanying General Eisenhower on all of his foreign trips.
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| == Research notes == | | == Research notes == |
| * Military Intellig Hall of Fame | | * Military Intellig Hall of Fame |
| * Career intelligence officer; Ambassador to the UN and Germany | | * Career intelligence officer; Ambassador to the UN and Germany |
| * Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides ([https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EWiegWT3PMxAFXS7MZLxFFLMZg0265GK5_Axp_XnzWM source]). | | * Prior live biography was a garbled multi-source dump; regenerated chronologically. Middle name Anthony from public biographical use. |
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| == Gallery == | | == Gallery == |
| <div class="soldier-gallery"> | | <div class="soldier-gallery"> |
| <gallery mode="packed" heights="140px"> | | <gallery mode="packed" heights="140px"> |
| 6051362674885603.jpg
| | Walters_Vernon_A_01284614_portrait.jpg|Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters in Army uniform (RB Archive) |
| | Walters_Vernon_A_01284614_MI_Corps_induction.jpg|Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Military Intelligence Corps (RB Archive) |
| </gallery> | | </gallery> |
| </div> | | </div> |
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| | row_source || both | | | row_source || both |
| |} | | |} |
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| | == Timeline == |
| | <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline"> |
| | <div class="soldier-timeline-body"> |
| | * 3 January 1917 — Born in New York City. |
| | * 2 May 1941 — Entered the U.S. Army as an enlisted man. |
| | * 29 May 1942 — Commissioned second lieutenant, Fort Benning OCS. |
| | * Late 1942 — Assigned to Camp Ritchie (Class 2). |
| | * 8 November 1942 — Assault landing at Safi, Morocco, with 9th Infantry Division; Legion of Merit. |
| | * 1943–1945 — Camp Ritchie instructor; Brazilian Expeditionary Force liaison in Italy. |
| | * 1972–1976 — Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. |
| | * 1985–1989 — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. |
| | * 1989–1991 — U.S. Ambassador to Germany. |
| | * 10 February 2002 — Died in West Palm Beach, Florida. |
| | </div> |
| | </div><div style="clear: both;"></div> |
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| == Sources == | | == Sources == |
| | * [[:File:Walters_Vernon_A_01284614_MI_Corps_induction.jpg|Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Military Intelligence Corps (RB Archive)]] |
| | * [[:File:Walters_Vernon_A_01284614_portrait.jpg|Lt. Gen. Vernon A. Walters in Army uniform (RB Archive)]] |
| | * [https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Missions-Vernon-A-Walters/dp/0385135006 Vernon A. Walters, ''Silent Missions'' (memoir)] |
| | * RB Archive CIA FOIA packet (CIA-RDP80R01731R002000110005-7) |
| | * RB Archive, Department of Defense biographic sketch of Major General Vernon A. Walters (CIA FOIA release) |
| * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_A._Walters Wikipedia: Vernon A. Walters] | | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_A._Walters Wikipedia: Vernon A. Walters] |
| * Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file | | * Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data |
| | * Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records |
| * NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present) | | * NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present) |
| * 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present) | | * 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present) |
| * Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-01-15 (1 post) | | * Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-01-15 (1 post) |
| | * Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Vernon A. Walters for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed) |
| | * Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Walters, Vernon A. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: VERNON A. WALTERS.doc) |