Roger McCarthy

 

Roger McCarthy served 30 years in the CIA (1952-1982). During his tenure, he held several positions including Case Officer, Regional Officer in Charge, Deputy Chief of Station and Chief of Station. He served in numerous countries: Japan, Thailand, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Peru,  Burma and Laos. He was one of the early and few paramilitary trainers that trained many foreigners for a variety of operations. these operations took place in Indonesia, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam & Laos. Most notably, Mr. McCarthy headed a top secret CIA Tibetan Program called "ST CIRCUS", in which the group trained Tibetan Freedom Fighters in paramilitary  and intelligence gathering techniques preparation for parachuting them back into Tibetan order to conduct operations against the Chinese communist forces. In 1959, Tibetan trainee's were primarily responsible for the dramatic escape of the Dalai Lama out of Tibet and into India in order to prevent the Chinese from kidnapping him. These trainees became the Dalai Lama's personal escort to freedom. People later claimed that the CIA were responsible for the Dalai Lama's escape, but McCarthy insisted tat was not the case. He clarified this in his history Tears of the Lotus. According to McCarthy, in 1959, the situation in Lhasa (Tibet's capital and the home of the Dalai Lama), was dire. It was surrounded by 40,000 PLA Chinese troops. They made every indication that they were preparing to kidnap the Dalai lama. It was the Tibetans, previously trained by the CIA, who took it upon themselves to sneak the Dalai Lama out of Lhasa under the cover of darkness and devise an escape route to India. During the Journey, the Tibetan radio team contacted the CIA. The CIA asked if Indian border officials had been advised ahead of time. they had not. It was only then that the CIA assisted in a crucial way. They were able to get the Indian government approve asylum for the Dalai Lama, prior to his arrival. This was crucial, since by that time , the PLA were in hot pursuit and were only one day behind his Holiness. Any bureaucratic  holdup at the border would have allowed the Chinese enough time to catch up with the Dalai Lama, kidnap him and kill him. The items for sale in the Roger McCarthy collection were collected by Mr. McCarthy during his travels abroad. The majority of these items are not only authentic, but they are very old and some of their origins are unknown. Some of these were given to Mr. McCarthy by various foreign government officials.