William Colby

Overview

William E. Colby (03/13/13-4/28/96) was a WWII parachuter, started in the OSS, served in the CIA in Stockholm, Sweden (1951-1953), in Italy (1953-1958) mainly working against the communists. He was involved in Vietnam from 1959 to 1971, spending time running the Phoenix Program. He was director of the CIA in the early 1970's and oversaw the overthrow of Salvador Allende's democratically elected government in Chile. He served as legal council to Admiral Earl F. Yates who was president of the Nugan Hand Bank when charges of money laundering, drug dealing, and arms transfers surrounded the bankrupt bank. On April 28, 1996, Colby went missing and was found eight days later, drowned, in the Wimocico River, off the Potomac, near his home. He was seventy-six years old.