American General Charles Willoughby claimed to have been born “Adolf Karl von Tscheppe-Weidenbach”, son of a German nobleman (unprovable, probably untrue) and an American mother (again, questionable.) He also, at times, claimed to have been an orphan who never knew his parents, and at other times claimed he was the son of the American Consul in Heidelberg.
He immigrated to the US and joined the Army, rising to the rank of Sergeant and being honorably discharged in 1913. He then returned to Europe and claimed to have studied in Germany and France, although there is no evidence that this actually happened. He then attended Gettysburg College and was a teacher for three years, during which time he was identified by the government as a potential pro-German sympathizer. His testimonies regarding this period are in the records of the FBI.
Despite this, he re-enlisted as a Lieutenant, rose to the rank of Captain, and served in WWI. At some point, he changed his name to Charles Willoughby, although nobody can say how or when this happened. Despite his new lease on life, he was recalled back to the US in 1917, again under suspicion of spying and having pro-German sentiments. He was also a huge fan of Benito Mussolini, and his remarks at the time indicate that he was something of a white supremacist and a supporter of McCarthyist anti-communism.
Apparently, this wasn’t a huge problem and he used the inter-war years to work his way up the military ladder to become a Major-General and Chief of Intelligence to General Douglas MacArthur (who referred to him as “My Little Fascist”) during WWII and the Korean War. He was holding this position during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It is also speculated that his influence on the decisions during Korea were misleading and caused a great loss of life, although it is unclear whether his actions were intentional, misguided, or simply foolhardy.
Even stranger…Two days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy a long-distance telephone operator in Mexico City monitored an international phone call. She heard one of the voices saying: “The Castro plan is being carried out. Bobby is next.” The telephone numbers were traced. One number belonged to Emilio Nunez Portuondo, the Latin American Affairs editor of Willoughby’s Foreign Intelligence Digest.
After retiring, he became an advisor to Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco, for whom Willoughby had professed great admiration over the years, and was involved with right-wing anti-communist groups. He died in 1972 in Naples, Florida.
Weird.
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