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Captain Leonard LeSchack |
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March 6, 1935 ~ December 15, 2017 |
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January 25, 2018 |
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By Susan Lucas
It is with regret we wish to inform friends and
the naval community of the passing of Captain
Leonard LeSchack on December 15, 2017: spy; CIA
analyst; U.S. Navy Captain; author. He was 82.
Born in Freeport, New York, March 6, 1935, to
Selma (Kaminsky) and David LeSchack, LeSchack
was encouraged to live a life of adventure. His
father was a lawyer, and his mother a history
teacher, and they read to him daily about
explorers, adventurers and inventors.
Even as a child, LeSchack wanted to travel to
"faraway places with strange sounding names." He
started at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
in Troy, New York.
In 1952, after finishing the first two years in
electrical engineering, LeSchack changed majors
and began studying geology. He graduated as a
petroleum geologist and was accepted into Shell
Oil’s geophysical training program. By the end
of 1957, LeSchack was asked to join the U.S.
Antarctic Expedition as an assistant
seismologist.
Based on the work he did in the Antarctic, he
had a mountain range there named after him:
Mount LeSchack is a distinctive flat-topped
mountain, 2,265 meters, standing on the north
side of Perkins Canyon in the Wisconsin Range,
Horlick Mountains.
Early on, LeSchack noticed a common denominator
about all his favorite explorers: they were
commissioned by the government or had military
training.
Since the U.S. Navy handled most of the
logistics, he got to know the Navy officers and
men, resulting in the Navy’s senior commander in
the Antarctic agreeing to recommend LeSchack for
Navy Officer Candidate School after returning to
the U.S.
LeSchack was the originator of the well known
mission "Project Coldfeet," his brainchild was
to investigate a recently abandoned Soviet drift
station to determine if they had the capability
to track U.S. submarines. The CIA provided the
aircraft with Skyhook Aero-retrieval system; the
Navy and Air Force all were involved in both the
dropping and extraction of both LeSchack and one
other participant.
LeSchack had exactly what he wanted --
adventure!
Operation Coldfeet was a definite success, and
LeSchack received the Presidential Legion of
Merit for his role in it. A painting of the
Project Coldfeet mission called "Seven Days in
the Arctic" by artist Keith Woodcock proudly
hangs in the CIA Museum.
His next assignments included acting as the U.S.
official representative to the Argentine Navy in
the 1962-63 Antarctic Expedition, and studying
in Paris at Les Expéditions Polaires Françaises
and geophysics at the University of Wisconsin
(Madison). He then traveled to Panama, Peru and
Colombia to conduct environmental research under
various U.S. government contracts.
In 1973, he visited Siberia as part of a
scientific delegation to the Second
International Permafrost
The Soviet Academy of Sciences invited him to a
conference based on a paper he wrote on
permafrost in Alaska. The Navy eventually called
him back to active duty to run the Cuban-Haitian
Refugee Center in Puerto Rico, then ordered him
to the U.S. Naval Station at Panama Canal, where
he became that command’s intelligence officer.
After his release from active duty, he moved his
private research office from Maryland to the
Florida Keys and worked with his midget
oceanographic research submarine, fondly calling
it his "yellow submarine."
When the Navy learned that he was still in the
Reserve, they asked him to set up a Naval
Reserve Intelligence Unit to support the
then-recently established U.S. Forces Caribbean
Command in Key West.
LeSchack became its first commanding officer and
served as deputy chief of intelligence for that
command.
After leaving the Military, LeSchack worked in
oil exploration, with several contracts
conducting research with Oil Companies: AMOCO,
ARCO, Chevron, Dome, EXXON, Gulf (US), Gulf
Canada, Marathon, Mobil, Phillips, Shell, SOHIO,
and Sun Oil Companies. These contracts all
involved exploration in the Canadian and U.S.
sectors of the Arctic Ocean.
In Alberta, 2002 Len founded Hectori Inc., an
operating company for finding and exploiting
prolific Devonian reefs in Alberta.
LeSchack was very proud of the books he wrote.
He co-authored "Project Coldfeet" with William
M. Leary and published his memoirs four years
ago, "He Heard a Different Drummer." He also
authored geological reference papers with the
U.S. Geological Society.
LeSchack had also been the subject of many news
articles and interviews.
His favorites were in Eye Spy magazine, and an
episode of "Weapons of the Superspies" by
Discovery Channel.
For many years, Len was a permanent resident and
enjoyed the comradeship of the military
community in Calgary, Alberta.
LeSchack was an active member in the Naval
Officers Association of Canada (the first U.S.
member) and RAUSI. He maintained many
friendships within the naval community,
especially his friend Captain Bill Wilson. He
continued to be active in writing and editing
and he presented lectures on our need for
greater Arctic security to counter the Russians’
activity in that region.
LeSchack maintained a residence in Calgary, and
Parsons, B.C., for a number of years, eventually
moving to Bonners Ferry in 2011.
In Bonners Ferry, LeSchack lived a quiet life
filled with literature, science and classical
music, and kept a keen interest in politics. He
embedded himself in the veterans’ community and
maintained close friendships with many there,
especially Tom Ulappa, Don Solum and Karla
Keller. We thank them for their care and support
of LeSchack during his time in Bonners Ferry.
Despite all his professional achievements,
LeSchack’s proudest achievements were his
children and grandchildren, and he spoke of them
often and with great love and pride.
As per LeSchack’s wishes, he will be buried in
Arlington National Cemetery. It was important to
him to be amongst the brotherhood of those who
served their country. Often bringing a tear to
his eye, he mentioned the names of many who lie
there and honored their service.
He would consider it an honor and privilege to
be amongst them.
Mourning LeSchack’s loss are his sons Chris (Nichola)
LeSchack and Adam (Alyona) LeSchack, and
granddaughters Jade and Lana LeSchack,
stepchildren Joy Elliott (Daniel Charbonneau)
and Christopher Elliott (Bethanne Bell), and
step granddaughter Ivy Elliott, brothers Peter (Arlyne)
LeSchack and Mark LeSchack (Rebecca Block), and
cousin Al LeSchack.
He will be greatly missed by his friend,
confidant, and editor Susan Lucas, as well as so
many other people whose friendships he valued.
A service will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 8,
in Arlington National Cemetery.
“If a man does not keep pace with his
companions, perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer. Let him step to the music
which he hears, however measured or far away.”
— Henry David Thoreau
Susan Lucas is a military historian, and was
a close friend, confidant and co-author with
Captain LeSchack. |
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