By Roger Williams / The fellowing {4 erjerpled by ‘pee. MHisaitread fr tpn Atlanta ma wine, / POPS THE pRavEWay. nat / +9) aie eee bred the foun relate / wane lta Veen age bis They, were Cearvleut arnt harelsemne in the tradi. tiene eullece fash, and they fouked 8 Home on the auier, dealy setting But a Se Cainanfinge suit and car. vied @ lars soln esech hand. the one hadt-en M a ease pun tueKaed wiliser One arm feed @ ade reay ey ppest 6 Diges tif le under the other, hehind Therm, brepelling himeelf vig. PSONely dB wheedy hatr, Came their fo. The, MW heH Lisinyentan We rttett in ef Powter Surin Gao Sultier af fare tune. tiblitone anticommunist and one af the Nelo es leading devel a of “Puivary weapons and Beces ores, Mitch $V aad Geaff chatted ecoul the weapwine they were carrying. VWheir father, temporary iminabilized uy P fractured heel, punctured the con: sertation Bh pref hype of informa. fiom about the seiper ne, one of bas Matt howe produrts “This weapon Had killed 1 tals Raid prevdly. “Thase VC took only FA Pounds per hall Twenty-seven cents aniere they cou Cnele Sam, That's the RIOACTAT Coat offertivenossy the Army's ever known” "trp hates ehure Nt hay iff pins ped frets Ble? found from Hhe weapung ante the butler shattered ua of ag aftotidhile that rerver an. The priniary Jaret on the Werbell fir. - PA cause. Then Miteh bevan firing 9 metal a atshdard Athy 43. The gun ‘creeds uvaard: Bred the neipe ec heeed je Gels and treetyns de then Aed up a strange, Smoothly rectan. : handcun,.an Incram Moder Hi, Dped with a fash and-muyzie Sup. eosor” and hézan tirsng it-The mut. ve Darel moved. and the only sound. “atk metallip chek, ‘followed by the EE af the bullet and the pop as it hie € Parect, eeriuas at ay Phe effet was eet almas: chal teneeal ec SHeM \ouns Mateh hut Sh on tall automatic and w hipped off Scirkiss rounds in One second. Geate . “ended the sanie kind: of demonstra. rowith the grease. gun) a standard “ary cubmachine pun and the snip. FrouMe acti Wer Bel eatte the NAL? Sow fin on pan TyWwpped with a aup. tt iia Pet tue was hack te the house, Wer. a aT Teas Peat whe the AUDDPessor, erottunis called 8 silencer, is sa effec. 78 tine arn, aveussary, “Tt hides the thet aR ceduense the ring Ta hast meatal oan mp You thy * VO in six months.” he” nip weapobe given ty him by friendly forces jn Vietnam, he- aaid, and they were thipped to the States four display in military AUAZPUMB Not surpicisinaly: Werliell ‘has often. been -calles Ah: Operative of the Centray Intelixence Axenry, a chare that’ angers him ‘only when it fs. fay. tied ton vehemently. - It ig mot that he has Bnything against the CIA. He juat dovsn't, he says, happen to he oneal its ty His-paramilitary work, which consicta of ady sing-and some: what he éalls at independerit Reestagy: af SeNuntintioned, “patriotie Ameri rons” The Direh: Society? The Min Utemen? A bunch of far-right: Texas millionaires? WerBell ws -88Y,-other than to insist thatit is nol the CLA. It _hardly- matters, ¢ according tp Werke iti stl ferth eriee-not only of freedom and’ anticommunism. but: of the US “kovernmient: he does not supply or ‘advise ‘or firht for Fecimes not bearing the State Department-seat of approval, Acheayy ‘pereeitage of his merchandise ‘gors directly ta the a kovernment, which distributes it to its own forces -that ‘need -silent-of exotic ” wrapons, The halanee is sold to fWlendly sovernments,. elther directly oF through the Hold offices of the “in. depentent #roup.? He gaye he does not tell ta individuals, not’ ven Hf they're certified’ antlenmmuniaty, : Werbel-tikes Dalne te palm out that. he ts nu srdinary acme broker, Thal te, “he te nitone of thene shadowy ficuren who sell Weapunsto hath ‘sides at exor- Ditant Prices or who take-possession of contraband shipments on the high seas, “We've always adhered to 8. basic pal. ity: There “is only. ane “friend of ‘the United States in a fiven area, and we deal only with that igri.” What does. WerBell peddle? 4 range Of firearms -fram machine guns to desk-sired cannons. from the meanest. looking ®CAaPONS fo innocent looking SWARSED sticks that fire a» bullet or even a small rocket: an array of tech. MQUeS Hg): that will help an American soldier.or a foreign army‘hold: off insurgent forces, and occasionally, his Personal. services, These Services, present ‘WerBel! at most’ shadowy Serving ag a com. at in the armed farces of a foreign Ration‘ ts. avainat US.law, and WerRell Is understandably: reluctant. lo admit having -dpie’ so. He, describes -himscit hy i bs vin such Sterms as “patamilitacy’ an “adviser,” but arquaintances. suspe” * he has been in the thick of the fight. a number of times. He ; iatiig foreign gov-\ 75 eramenta. is done cin the employ. of StOMS" he calls them — t may even have. . ae Pevational ert gas ee GPE Srl lees Mae arent idee! CA fp eit turt eet ote iV wad <too pm cman f PUB yep kee ges SRERT em be ae we, fhe Sdeaaesy TS Fiche iets ai ns Oc rr mired aut cpp toch Father toa bye ty Soa, Sie but toe utane fasta, One fay test ony, frente ivthosenh ore Viinenent nie tn yg bret out Somes BEDE tye be rae vee | PD Lop rede e tt en CAT ON RUF pre 8. Saal ler ete fa. if Loe ever athe ty. a Sind ane car fag wie wah meteb oa oe ae ear dae tt NAMtter bade oes : ' Sd Re re ayn ‘} hee Saye ae ar PMN Sipe og APE frp welds TSB me POP PNL, B Duealle a oredees one milometer fie that the ese yt ur meters The buinx or “wage » SOUR Marmure cae g arsed fr submactine , used oon lars ons and in i tively an tie. Machine ciyae helieestess in Army Jy Stones Cer fhow frow1 WHEN usne 5 Worley fede ane Prepamy \wte, ae, are twe @&,,, eartrid, be mremiualhy =, Nidgat wegs ce Aeran fa 4.
74-90000 } ; j i | f t ' | i | i | © ciaheratl *y ‘Meth, and it's.not © “th it. | ~ Cyt can't hear’ the bolt noise, pway in a, ‘combat, situation, ao for a prae- tical purposes the firing Hs soundyess. Ohien, Nabe leadest noise is when the bullet hits home. If it hits ahuman. it’. rakes: peculiar, thunking sound, like Une ) watermeion:” ‘Compulsive Warrior VI ITCH WERBELL sounds com ~ ip tetely|. matter-of-fact. when he sarks| about fitearms, and death, and with reason] He has beens in the mill. tary hardware ‘business for years.. and te has euther heard ar pratuond-- ar. _ bornkahe- tHunking: watermelon-sound many times —-in Latin America and seotheast asial in He tx a compulsive warrior, an armed: crusader Aicht: NE aamst. comtninisn.” Ww erBell ls not alone in this- ‘oveupa: Lion, but he practices it im a unigue © -. snanner. Must aoldiera of fortune are nothing: eise, and they live from one bile war] to. the neat, ‘brawling and is toouing uieir way through a tough and h nancially unrewarding life. WerBell, By contrast, is a business maa wha dabbles in military adven- usre ‘only When‘ and as.far ag it suits fim. Tf combat didat titillate him, he wouldn't [partake . ot it. Hig business is - nur plying, weapons, not using them dn: anger He specializes in ihe weapons and techaigues of counterinaar: sency, which may be rouchly defined us" the iarceful suppreanon' of coups “ eat, rebellians and the like. The pray WerBell operates, this Intans defending established regimes; . tame of them dictatorships, against armed lrevolt, This potitical posture ‘rset only does not trouble WerBell, it pleases! him. "have no objection to aictat ofship if it. serves the interests of - Inne country,” he says. Particularly if lube threat to those intéresia is from lehe ett: “Communism has no place in the hemisphere Lam totally opposed to it, | jena TS the spread of: ideological Rerina and “ith that it brings.” ~ and acelin, WerBell's name she newe. The first lasueof the US. armed. toteee and asa paramilitary “ads iser. “unpodiy ~ Western Hemisphere—or - in ary | wren ee: cones grein aoe. Corporate’ Setap HE” HEADQU ARTERS ‘for he, ‘work, the former Dobbs estate, is on Highway 360: just outside of Pow- der Springs in’ ‘a remote section -of Cob}. County. Actually. ‘carporate. “headquarters: is’ ‘it Washington, in.a firm called Environmental ‘Industries, ine.—a, neat euphemism for a company dedicated to killing people. Environ mental Industries, WerBell says, is hankrolied by some of the East's mest Prominent investment houses: “he. is ite — directar of international | operations, — He is atsu president, ‘of a “subsidlary called, Military, “Armaments Coa, Ine, and because, he is in: Dourder Springs, iMitiiary Armaments is there, toa (Be hind Environmental Industries, Wer Bell says, is va third Shadow of which E‘L. is @ subsidiary “=—another tantaliz- ing hintlof the. CRAY 4 , “Militare:. Armaments vinay: ‘well be a - unique American: _ enterprise. Nobody 1 else, WerBell says. isin the: business af designing’ special ‘purpose weapons “on such a geale. A food deal. of its de. signing and manufacturing -is done uncer federal Neense-Sulencers, for ex- ample, are outlawed. by ne, National, Firearms Act, along shoiruns, submachine rguing: and: other vestines af Probiibition era "gangland: wark, Te roaimifacture ‘his. suppressors, WerRell must pay-a special: tax of $300 a year, collected -by the “Treasury Department; ‘The T-tnén. alig check pe. _ THodically o ‘ste - ‘that hls awesome | ‘eallectio: “firearms—over, 200: indi... vidual pi oA properiy) régistered:": Apparently ‘the market’ for | suppressors . is not very large because , according te- WerBell, his - firm, is the: only One gti thorized: to manufacture, them, “WerBell will not disgtiss’ the sales‘or . ‘profits. 6f. Military ‘Armaments, except — to say that... ‘afer ‘two’ yéars. of- exten. give. research: and development (result. -ing.dn “a-tax loss of.a, hall, million dale. tars"), the company is. now doing very + Well, It has about AQ employees, inelud- ing. four’ machinists. who itrork under: the direction Of orden: ngram, who! anna Miteh demon. his anticommunism honestly. ‘Mitchell WerBell dresses the pare at his, .private are senal in: Georsia, where he makes spericlized licks weapons for the ELS + “ Werhell. six. ‘children and’ (pat up with - his rather: unusual sway of life. (When helefi for: abe. Yar. Fast Inct9e8 he said. he'd, be: pone: for’ ayear or mare he Was.) A Military. Profile ITCHEEL. -WERBELL is: ‘a short, N wiry man of 52, “quick | ‘with a quip. arid | quit ¢ sensible until’he begins talking, about communism or-other se cial issues. He has-the face ‘and bear. ing ofa Prussian officer, an, made he cultivated ty wearing a mustache and oecasionally (x monocte, Me vdiresses in midlit ary: louis | al imidvters minate origin, and he embellisties the ‘image: ‘by talkin in slightly cl sentences peppered . at with - military “phrasca, There is nothing phony in this, W eee has-a strong attachment to Weapons and to warfare, andl fe tas been around theny so Tong that the ideas-and- ‘styles. they foster are an in. _ gtained part of his personal! 7 e-comes by both his-mill tarishy ‘ara : father, was an officer Inthe Ry ‘Imperial ‘army. even thourh che was ‘born in the United: States. “it wi tricky situction.” ‘says Mitch, “Ho was a.citizen of both the. U.S, and Russia, : Inthose days or could do. that.” ~The elder w erBell. fought against the Bolshev ks; but before the collapses of-the ezarist. regime he wisely see uted ‘an appolniment as liaison’ Offiver he. tween the Russian and American ‘forces—gtatinned dn the US: -He ied ia-this country for the rese ‘of his fe, putting his early, “medical (rainins ta ‘use in cancer research. A legacy from father ta Mitch's _ barely disguised’ aris Moeratic sympa. . army end other COUR ter! owas milites ofte ni a ped! ‘anth 2oprin oy Fo saa eda dette gen son, Geoff, « tertising in a department store, Soon hewas head of the department, and Son ater that he went on dis awn, | Bathe mids WerBell salva out wd anne then furmodl nis man public ms firm. clad already teen drifti o infetnational PR,” WerBell says. curing my family back: ground. I hal wre Jous contacts in tampe, amd To roved into the Far East, too." How much of (his moving y. WerBell son's say, na twek en oimare and of what he valis a Ugeopeleai™ he was de} aR dn “Yefore MY were WMiista." He adds at inc tlon waste keep Baasta in rower, aithsaish the Us, SONEFEMP AL Wes lowing favorably ga Hidevat what Fra sll 0) wer king clos & paAsshina “ET deel ided ever ‘ ne ol seul to “he says, y, but mea “tamnned stood living. las met woy ido it.” The Heart of ft. N rash} ] atillhah ao att VIGLE anticommunism was albeit a paying Robby, iad the Dobbs eat: He udiner deste factli- ‘yes AO began experimenting with - arapona sf counterimsurgeney, weap ons he neloved had preven’ Commu the Eat, best chaner af takeheers in pndderdove: one hd onaiiany of HY nmatbend ev foress around the world. Reude hin: is his The hrcees were only temporary, while WerBeld recovered from @ leg injury. who bad both the’ savvy arr] the guts to help preserve them, Yis- first major paramilitary opera: Cen owas in the ‘Peasigivan Republic cluging Whe i964 ervolt He was, of course, an the gofthe povernment, whoo was fending off allegedly Com- murs insuraente: waisonid fo, ton. WerBell wound up In the midst of the fichting. He wae the secend Demin Iman to reach the (Yama River, scene of the major battle. Eligwerth Bunker, thes U.S, ambas- fader ta the Oryanization of American... States, became tigaly exercised over WerBel’s aetivittes and hin hawkish Views on the conthet (WerBell oppayed ® cessallon of hostilities and establian ment of a  coallivun gevernment!. Rusker ocenstieres) tevin te toss Webel) ont of the oountey, but notle lng come of Weelclls independent group" CTA, Tokas millionaires or whatevers.aay to tbat. Werlell was atready active ja the ami-Casira movenernt, and he treught ta ita sense of dash and discipline that the ractas. bickering bunch of Cuban exiles had seldam seen. Perhaps his major ouu-Castro exploit was a apend. boat foray into Camarioca, on Cuba's southern ecvast. The mission was te @rop a swimmer, apparently 3 spy, off shore, and to pick up the faraily of an exile leader. The boat, flying the Con federate flag on the radio antenna, foundered tt high seas, and the ruding party was captured The Cubans, the atery xois, did pot knee what to make of the bean Werkell, avd he and his pals wound up aresling a Caytro baat wad spiniting come 35 anti Castraies eut of the country before they (her telcos returned ta the United States a Po. the United States. an government” pia aditeeeh: + mee meee mt cenee emeper fully atthe Ingram models @} toward faking teers ata esse, medt of “ yeriwean voltieds, if pens, t imanrial RuCTeAS Oo Armaments wid gtesumah! _ bured. Accurding ‘oe data put the firms, the bogram ron Shorter, Usher and capatie-¢ ing More flrepowser than on the market. They are alse, bays, ideal {ne sevret Bgeru anugly inte a disyatch case Armoueats makes the case, plete with suppreswer and | einen. Brisinens fe Raciness bp WERDELL fend gt sonsience aheut pro: sorid with such deadtsy gad We prerys Au “i oee toe ges. "Re saya We pw a certain pratuct that te Gass apart of the chstleed wortd. propie eniet, there's Pore arent husiness. [dort see ani ence beteern our cumbatants and oa suncica hows supptying couse tp bor wounds inflicted " There ts Kin oliver ment, too, Werlell ie fig! Communist menace: {i iy a. miuat be won and weapons @ to win it, Sa gepy: y tnt, Contrary & cynical epinine Springs waa mot named te Werlell end his estersrise in fort, ptayt as aloo! fram COMMMURItY AS oneaible. Pls t wel-atecked, if sa gractinglly cient save for orracionas to grocery pad |iquar stare. 4 been, from time te time! an feeling in Powder Springs ‘elares, “The bell wile te Wh tell em im prepared te puree property if they don't lume wh Ste doen pat safer fram | however. There ia @ stead; wistlome apd guatacerra, face well as Ameneone & fer Wer fhetiy som on taw, an Gir] tenant eculopel, ftew in de Mainly ts see whet wes ae the ahog: he Gace t bron Sy monihe, he sat, ‘and this awfully quakly aroncd here bowaa there, the eulnned en. awepped teas oa ristfiog tne PRIMES fel Merce ls. pesbiay at On dovimstag tse ee my fy at