Mitch Wer Bell the Third is a charming figure and a controversial figure who claimed to be of little fame during the Cold War. History describes him as a mercenary, a spy and a fanatical anti-communist. His early life allowed him to travel the world, and his Scottish mother and Russian father certainly provided him with a unique worldview.
His father was a tsarist cavalry officer who clashed with the Bolsheviks before fleeing to the United States. Mitchell Livingston-Verber III was born in Philadelphia in 1918. He grew up traveling a lot. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in journalism and joined the CIA's predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), in 1942.
During World War II, OSS operated globally, and Verbel found himself in Southeast Asia. There, he served as a guerrilla, fighting Japan while also dealing with China's changing alliances and internal conflicts. His activities at the time seemed to have been delayed by time. He claimed to have participated in the rehabilitation of prisoners and oversaw the surrender of Japanese general Sumita after the atomic bomb was dropped.
Although we know a limited amount of his time in OSS, it wasn't until the end of World War II that it became increasingly unclear who Verbel worked for and what his role was, that the water became almost muddy.
Activities in Verbel after World War II
Mitch WerBell III (Wikimedia Commons)
We know that after he left OSS, he worked in PR in several companies and even formed his own PR agency. According to an interview with the magazine "Saga", he briefly entered the military intelligence reserve.
WerBell never really explained that he left public relations and stuck his toes into intelligence. After re-entering the intelligence community, his new mission was to support Furgencio Batista's maintenance of control over Cuba. In a 1970 interview with Atlanta Magazine, he said, "Our function is to keep Batista in power, even though the United States was optimistic about Fidel at the time." ”
Werbel claims he was never hired by the CIA and never received any money from the CIA. However, according to a 1978 book called Spooks: The Haunting of America, Verbel contracted with the CIA in the '60s to help organize amphibious landings against Cuba. Verbel denied that. He would only imply working for a group of private financiers whose goals are similar to his.
There are no CIA people here
Atlanta magazine and later The Washington Post ran an article claiming that Verbel worked in the Dominican Republic in 1965. The paramilitary operation allowed him to work with the Dominican government to repel the rebels. The article claims that he was in battle and took part in the Battle of the Ozawa River.
In the Dominican Republic, a U.S. ambassador tried to expel Mitch because he did not support an end to hostilities. However, even he could not expel Verbel.
Another story details Verbel's capture of a spy off the coast of Cuba, but Cuban soldiers capture him and his team. Somehow they managed to escape, stealing a boat and taking 16 Cubans with them. However, the veracity of these stories is debatable.
Coup d'état in Haiti
François Duvalier was President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971
In 1966, Verber got into trouble with the Nassau Project, where he worked as a consultant on the invasion of Haiti. The invasion will be launched by Haitian and Cuban exiles against Haitian President François Duvalier. These conspiracies require support and a lot of money, and these people found funding through CBS, which sounds like a cyberpunk dystopian novel. In return, CBS received the rights to the invasion.
If the invasion is successful, the island will be used as a transit port for the invasion of Cuba. The plan failed when customs raided the men's hideout of Koko Plum Island. They found 75 commandos and various small arms there. Verbel and other masterminds of the invasion were arrested.
While most were convicted for their roles, Verber's charges were dropped. In the investigation of CBS, many claimed that Verbel's involvement implied the tacit consent of the United States because of his ties to the CIA.
Vietnam and Southeast Asia
Combat operations in Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. Bruce S. Major P. Klandal's UH-1D helicopter unloaded a group of infantry while on a search and destroy mission and flew into the sky. (U.S. Army)
Vietnam offered Mitch a new battleground, coinciding with his fledgling weapons company, SIONICS, which designed suppressors, including those for the M16 rifle. He teamed up with Gordon Ingram, the designer of the MAC-10 SMG, to mark the weapon to the U.S. military and pair it with a Syonics suppressor.
WerBell is an accomplished suppressor designer with over 25 designs. He invented the WerBell pressure relief valve, which enabled the suppressor to be used with a machine gun, and even pioneered the use of titanium in suppressor construction.
SIONICS sells the suppressor to the U.S. and Vietnamese militaries. According to legend, the US Army granted Major General Vobel a temporary arrest warrant that allowed him to cross Vietnam with ease. This was confirmed by Major General John Singlelaw. Singlaub himself is a former OSS employee and a founding member of the CIA.
Mitch showed weapons and suppressors as well as night vision and surveillance equipment. He took turns, but he had limited success selling the MAC-10.
In an interview with Saga magazine, Mitch claimed that while in Vietnam, he threw rats infected with bubonic plague from a North Vietnamese helicopter. When asked who he was doing it for, he never said.
The Abaco incident
Flag of the Abako independence movement. (Wikimedia Commons)
In the 70s of the 20th century, the interest of American developers in Abaco, Bahamas, made Mitch behind a potential coup.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, WerBell attempted a coup at the behest of a group of American millionaires whose committee is said to have multiple CIA agents. This was not a covert operation, and in 1975 Esquire magazine published articles and articles about this ongoing attempt.
However, this is not a coup d'état with grenades and machine guns, but an ideological coup. WerBell and his colleagues tried to create a kind of miniaturization by trying to persuade the people of Abaco to support the Abako Independence Movement Party and independence. He wrote it all about drinks and cigars in an article in the newspaper Esquire.
However, the Abaco Independence Movement fell apart and interest in the idea of developing tourism-friendly micro-cities waned.
Still, throughout the '70s and '80s, Mitch Verber was busy and seeking permission from the CIA to stage a coup against Omar Torrijos in Panama. The CIA denied the incident and did not take such action. He also claimed to work for Coca-Cola to prevent kidnappings in Argentina, which Coca-Cola denies.
The world that WerBell speaks of
Larry Flint at the 2008 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo
In his later years, he befriended pornographic publisher Larry Flynt. He worked as a bodyguard and was subsequently arrested for carrying a weapon into federal district court in California. There is also an allegation that Flint hired Vilbel for $1 million to kill many people, including Hugh Hefner.
The news became public when Los Angeles Sherman Bullock showed a copy of a check purportedly signed by Flint. Flint denied the allegation to The Associated Press.
A month after receiving the check, Mitch Verber died, although in real Mitch's way, even his death was shrouded in mystery. Allegations of Flint poisoning him were circulating, but appeared to be a fictional work.
Mitch Verber is a charming character. The man was involved in some very fun activities, but also a little loud and proud to be an agent. Mitch repeatedly claimed he never worked for the CIA. One journalist even said he would be angry if someone accused him of not having to.
Perhaps in the next 50 years, as information is declassified, we will have more answers. For now, however, Mitch Werbel is a fascinating figure and a truly international mystery.