After Dick Hansen graduated from the University of North Dakota Law School 50 years ago, his classmates knew he joined the FBI. What they didn't know - not even his wife knew - was he became the handler of one of history's most significant spies for the United States. The following is from the UND Alumni Review:by Brenda Ling
Richard W. Hansen never made a secret of working for the FBI. He just never talked about his cases.
For more than four decades, Hansen, a 1949 UND School of Law graduate, tightly guarded one of the most important FBI espionage operations. To protect the identity of a man known only as undercover agent CG-5824S*, Hansen often placed his own life, career, and reputation on the line.
The man was Morris Childs, considered one of the greatest American spies. Beginning in 1958 through 1977, Childs conducted 57 missions into the Soviet Union, risking his life on every one. His time behind the Iron Curtain, when all added up, totaled three years.
Childs, during a 19-year period, stole secrets from the Kremlin. He was the second-ranking figure of American Communism and an intimate friend of Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov.
His reports back to the United States gave American leaders unprecedented insight into the thoughts of the Russians in power. It also allowed the Americans to anticipate their actions and to exploit their problems, most notably the rift with China.
It was called Operation Solo, because Childs worked alone.
Operation Solo has been selected as one of four major FBI cases for the History Channel. Two years ago, author John Barron published Operation Solo, The FBI's Man in the Kremlin.
Hansen, now 76 and residing in Fargo, can be seen in the Operation Solo segment on the History Channel. Although he was never interviewed for Barron's book, Hansen is mentioned four times.
Since learning the FBI has opened its files and allowed agents to talk about the case. Hansen has come forward with the details of Operation Solo and the remarkable people involved.
For eight years. Hansen worked closely with Childs. They became like brothers. "He was a rarity. We will not be able to repeat it," he said. A kind and gentle man, Childs also was brilliantly self-educated. He had a prodigious memory. Although he spoke fluent Russian, Childs never let the leaders in the Soviet Union know he understood their language.
Without his information, the events during the Cold War could have been altogether different, Hansen said. "He produced information that was very critical to our foreign policy. It was the basis for opening relations with China and for Nixon and (former National Security Advisor Henry) Kissinger's trips over there."
Childs and his wife Eva (who joined Operation Solo after they married in 1962) worked as a team. On their missions to Moscow, they often hid underneath bed covers to copy secret Soviet documents - one held the flashlight while the other wrote. Eva would then wrap the plastic-encased copies around her body and smuggle them out of the country.
Hansen, a spy handler, said every precaution had to be taken to protect Childs and Eva. "Their lives would not have been worth a nickel had it been disclosed publicly and it came close to happening on one occasion. They were just tremendous people."
Hansen worked with Childs beginning with mission 2 and ending with mission 24. Childs, who habitually replied, "just in case," whenever asked by FBI agents why he packed peculiar items, sent Hansen postcards during his travels, with "Justin Case" as the name on the return address. This let Hansen know he was safe. If there were problems, Childs would use "Justin N. Case."
For Operation Solo, Hansen once carried half a million dollars in a briefcase on his lap during a train ride from New York City. These funds were provided by Soviet representatives at the United Nations for financing the operations of the Communist Party, USA. He and a small group of FBI agents learned about the way KGB or Russian agents communicated, including the number of cigarette puffs or squeaks emitted when a small rubber doll was squeezed.
After the completion of every successful mission, one with no "tie-ups," Childs presented Hansen with a custom-made silk tie. Hansen received about 18 ties and has since given them away to his sons and son-in-law.
In 1967, after working with Childs for eight years, Hansen received orders for a new assignment in Minneapolis. The break was difficult and sad. "I have destroyed every record I had of my involvement of this operation because of my concern for security. I severed all connections with them, for their sake. I would like to have continued my relationship with them. I was very close to them, and they to my entire family. But every time there was a possible contact by me or him with me, there was a danger of disclosure and the jeopardy on his life and all the people involved."
They last spoke in 1972. Hansen did not want to compromise Childs' safety. "After that happened, I sent word back to the agent who had been my assistant, that was handling the case, that in my judgment. the safest thing and best thing for me to do was not to have any contact with him, because of the danger to him."
Childs and Eva went into hiding in 1981, when FBI headquarters realized they were in danger. In February, 1988, Childs was awarded the National Security Medal, becoming the fifth man in history to receive the honor. In 1991, Childs, at age 88, died. Eva died in 1995.
Hansen was never contacted about their demise. He received a call from a former agent in 1998 about filming for the History Channel and only then found out about the last years of his friends' lives. "I would have traveled from the ends of the earth to see them," he said.
Hansen, a West Fargo, N.D., native, joined the FBI after graduating law school. "In those days, you had to pretty much buy into a firm or invest in a firm. Of course, after three years in the military (Marine Corps during World War II) and finishing college and being married, there was very little in the pockets." He decided to interview with the FBI and drove to the field office in St. Paul, Minn. "Out of the clear blue came an appointment."
The job took Hansen and his family to many regions around the country, including Washington, D.C., Mobile, Ala., Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis and Fargo. He moved 17 times.
FBI work was so time-consuming and intense, Hansen missed the birth of his second child. His wife, Doris, had to take a taxi to the hospital for the delivery. They raised four children and today have five grandchildren.
The FBI was a much different organization then, Hansen said. "Back in my day, I was a proud person being in the FBI. I respected the leadership. (J. Edgar) Hoover had discipline, respect for the organization, maintained and required you to maintain fiscal responsibility and that you did not embarrass the Bureau and its reputation."