As the years progress we are all getting just a little bit older.
The years have ended at 101 for Isaac Patch, Cold Warrior.
Why is the passing of this Cold Warrior of note?
He distributed books, yes books. It was, who he was distributing those book to, and for whom he was doing it.
Mr. Patch worked for the CIA and distributed books into the Soviet Union.
He died at 101 years old on May 31, 2014.
His legacy is that he helped educate the communist of what it was like to be free. Literature has a way of causing the reader to think. And we all know what a thinking human can do to a closed, controlled society. It culminated into the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
This excerpt from the Washington Post article defines psychological combat: "Political warfare - to win the hearts and minds of adversaries. . .". That was the goal. Smuggling books, rock and roll music, broadcasting talk radio, blue jeans; all of these "Western" things helped bring the Soviet Union down. Mr. Patch had a role in this.
I recently completed reading the novel Russia House and can't help but make the association between the background in that book and this real life person and his activity. How interesting. If you have not read the book; the main character is a publisher and he agrees to smuggle a manuscript out of the Soviet Union and publish it. Mi-5 then recruits him to spy for them. I enjoyed the novel.
Please link over and read the entire Washington Post article. It is quite interesting to learn of this man, who played such a major role in the Cold War, albeit, behind the scenes, and unknown to most, succeeded in his goal.
In my opinion, he died a successful man.
John Kairis
The Proud Cold Warrior
Click here to access the original article
NOTE: I KNOW WE GET VISITORS FROM RUSSIA AND THE FORMERLY EASTERN BLOCK COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO GOOGLE ANALYTICS.
IF ANY OF YOU RECEIVED BOOKS THROUGH THIS PROGRAM DURING THE COLD WAR, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. WRITE US AND TELL US YOUR COLD WAR STORY!
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