Herbert Natzke
 Herbert Natzke  ( spook, banker) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 March 1924 | |||||||||||||
| Died | 8 July 2017 (Age 93) Belen, New Mexico, USA | |||||||||||||
| Nationality | US | |||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin | |||||||||||||
CIA spook active in Germany, Latin America and East Asia.
| ||||||||||||||
Herbert W. Natzke was a CIA spook active in Germany, Latin America and East Asia. After "retirement" in 1980, he worked as a banker protecting a Filipino-Chinese banking and trading conglomerate on behalf of the agency.
Contents
Early life
Natzke was born March 21, 1924 in Pine River, Wisconsin. He studied to become a Lutheran minister at a seminary in Milwaukee but when World War II began he volunteered for the Air Force. He became a combat navigator and flew 19 missions over Germany. His plane was shot down in December 1944 and he was a prisoner of war until May 1945. Upon return to the U.S. he flew for another year in Asia until discharged in February 1947.[1][2]
Education
Natzke then enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, studying history and political science. He took his BA in 1950 and his MA in 1951. He graduated as the top-ranking student in his class.[1]
Career
In June 1951, he was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency where he worked in the Clandestine Operations Directorate. He spent 14 years in Germany, recruiting agents and running them into Eastern Europe. From 1963-1966, he worked in Munich, working with General Reinhard Gehlen, the founder and chief of the German Intelligence Service. From 1966 to 1969, he was chief of the CIA's Base in West Berlin, one of the top operational jobs in the agency.[1]
In 1969, Natzke volunteered for work in South Vietnam, although his son had been killed there only 18 months earlier. As Chief of the Saigon area, he was responsible for counterintelligence operations in Saigon. Over the next two years, using sophisticated techniques learned in Germany. He received a high level decoration from then-President Nguyen Van Thieu for these accomplishments.[1]
Upon his return to the US, Natzke worked as Chief of Operations for the CIA's Latin American Division for three years and was Chief of Vietnam Operations during the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. Under President Gerald Ford, he sat on the Presidential Committee to resettle Vietnamese refugees in the United States. In 1976, he was assigned to Manila, Philippines, where he was Chief of Station until January 1980 when he retired.[1]
Protecting the Tan interests for the CIA
Natzke then was offered a senior position with a Filipino-Chinese banking and trading conglomerate based in Manila, owned by the tycoon Lucio Tan. In 1981 the New York Times wrote that "State Department officials said Mr. Natzke's affiliation with Mr. Tan was perceived by the Filipinos as giving the Tan interests an indelible association with the United States. One result, they said, is that President Ferdinand E. Marcos thinks the C.I.A. wants to protect the Tan interests."[3]
He worked for this company the next 16 years. When the company opened a bank in San Francisco, he moved to San Francisco to supervise the operation. He played a key role in organizing Oceanic Bank and overseeing the construction of its headquarters building in the financial district of San Francisco. He was Vice Chairman of the bank until his final retirement in June 1996.[1]
