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TERRORISM
"Police! Marvelous!"
In a dramatic raid, Italian commandos free a kidnaped U.S. general
28 JAN 82
A
t precisely 11:28 a.m. last Thurs-
day, an unmarked van carrying
ten special agents of Italy's Cen-
tral Operative Security Nucleus,
a tough antiterrorist squad known collo-
quially as the "leatherheads" for the tight-
fitting leather hoods worn during special
operations, pulled up behind a modern
eight-story apartment building in Padua.
Police had quietly cordoned off
the Via Pindemonte, the normally
busy street out front, and shoppers
in the supermarket on the ground
floor were startled to find them-
selves locked inside for their
own safety. Then the commandos
rushed inside the building, carry-
ing machine guns and dressed in
blue jeans, bulletproof vests and
masks to prevent identification by
terrorists.
As police outside started up a
bulldozer to cover the sounds of
what was to come, the squad
rushed quickly to the second-
floor apartment of Emanuela Fra-
scella, 21, a history student at the
University of Venice and a Red
Brigades terrorist. One comman-
do opened the steel-reinforced
door of the apartment with a skel-
eton key, and his colleagues burst
inside. In the hallway they en-
countered Giovanni Ciucci, 32, a
Red Brigades member, who had
heard the key turn in the lock and
was rushing, pistol in hand, to in-
vestigate. Before he had a chance
to fire, one of the leatherheads
knocked him flat with a karate
chop, and the others scrambled
down the hallway.
ment the leatherheads first entered the
building, barely 90 seconds had elapsed.
Thus ended the 42-day captivity of
U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier,
50, as well as the largest man hunt in Ital-
ian history. A dramatic and unexpected
triumph, it was only the second time in
the Red Brigades' decade-long reign of
terror that one of the group's kidnaping
E
Dozier happily embraces Wife Judith after meeting the press
In a room on the right they "On the receiving end of prayers, you sure as hell can feel it."
found the leader of the terrorist
cell, Antonio Savasta, 27, standing next to
a pup tent pitched in the middle of the
room. Inside the tent, chained to a cot,
was a shoeless, bearded man in a dark
blue jogging suit. Savasta was holding a
silencer-equipped pistol to the man's
head. Before Savasta could pull the trig-
ger, however, a commando hit him from
behind with the butt of his machine gun
and knocked him to the floor.
The rest of the squad continued to the
rear of the five-room apartment, where
they found the three remaining terrorists:
Frascella, Savasta's girlfriend Emilia Li-
bera, 26, and Cesare di Lenardo, 22. The
three put their hands up immediately.
Not a shot had been fired. From the mo-
victims had been rescued by police .* Said
a somewhat shaken Dozier to his Italian
liberators: "Police! Marvelous!"
Indeed it was. Dozier, who had been
abducted on Dec. 17 from his Verona
apartment by Red Brigades members dis-
guised as plumbers, seemed to be in a con-
dition that was one part shock and two
parts euphoria immediately after he was
rescued. That was understandable. For
six weeks he had been held hostage in the
Padua apartment, apparently never leav-
ing. He was often blindfolded, and his
ears were stuffed with wax to ensure
*On June 5, 1975, Italian Industrialist Vittorio Gan-
cia was freed by police during a raid on a Red Bri-
gades hideout near Turin.
that he would be unable to identify his
surroundings.
But Dozier, deputy chief of staff for lo-
gistics and administration and the highest
ranking U.S. officer at NATO's Southern
Europe land forces headquarters in Vero-
na, recovered with remarkable speed. At
Padua police headquarters, the Florida-
born career soldier insisted, "I'm fine,"
VITTORIANO RASTELLI and called his wife Judith in
Frankfurt, where she was visiting
her daughter Cheryl, 24, an Air
Force second lieutenant. Then he
called his boss, Admiral William
J. Crowe, commander of NATO's
Southern Region. Speaking by
telephone to U.S. Ambassador
Maxwell Rabb in Rome, Dozier
recounted the final seconds before
he was freed. Said he: "At the mo-
ment I was rescued,. a gun was
pointed at me and I didn't know
whether that was my last mo-
ment. You must realize my feeling
of relief when I was taken in hand
by Italian authorities."
D
ozier was then taken to
the U.S. military hospital
at Vicenza, where he was
declared in good health.
With a six-week growth of beard
and shaggy, tousled hair, the
normally crew-cut general made
several special requests to hospital
personnel. The first: a haircut.
The
second: a cheeseburger,
French fries and a Coke. He got
both wishes, but not before he was
tearfully reunited with his wife
and daughter, who had by then
flown in to meet him. Declared
Judith Dozier: "We want to say
thanks to all the people in the
world for their love and their prayers."
The general echoed that sentiment at
a no-questions press conference the next
afternoon. He praised the Italian police
effort for its "speed and precision," then
added, "When you are on the receiving
end of prayers, you sure as hell can feel
it." He also presented Judith with a belat-
ed Christmas gift: a gold chain with a pen-
dant of the Lion of St. Mark, his head-
quarters emblem.
News of Dozier's rescue spread rapid-
ly. President Reagan was awakened by
National Security Adviser William Clark
at 6:50 a.m. Thursday, 40 minutes before
he normally rises. Said the President later
that day: "The same courage and resolve
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Felled by a karate chop, Terrorist Giovanni Clucel
lies in hallway of the Padua apartment as the
commandos move in to rescue Dozier
CONTUL
ILLUSTRATIONS FOR TIME DY BURT SILVERMAN
In the living room, Red Brigades Cell Leader Antonio Savasta hears the commo-
tion and trains his pistol on the general, but Is clobbered from behind by a mem-
ber of the ralding squad
that James Dozier demonstrated on the
battlefield in wartime have seen him
through this new test with flying colors."
Added Reagan, describing his own brief
phone conversation with Dozier: "He
sounded as if he'd just gone down to the
corner for five minutes." Defense Secre-
tary Caspar Weinberger received a call
from his Italian counterpart, Lelio La-
gorio, who speaks little English. Weinber-
ger, who speaks little Italian, broke the
language barrier with an exultant "Mag-
nifico!" Answered Lagorio happily: "Sì!
Sì!" In Dozier's home town, Arcadia, Fla.,
(pop. 6,047), townspeople draped century-
old oaks with yellow ribbons and declared
a day of celebration in honor of their na --
tive son.
The Italians were especially jubilant
at having cracked the case. Exulted Prime
Minister Giovanni Spadolini: "General
Dozier has been liberated. The soldier of a
friendly nation has been returned to his
loved ones." In Rome, Pope John Paul II
expressed "relief and satisfaction" at the
rescue. Spontaneous cheers echoed during
a session of Parliament in Rome. Excited
Italians dialed the emergency police num-
ber, 113, just to offer congratulations. The
outcry put to rest a growing impression
abroad that the Italian public had become
inured to the country's seemingly perpet-
ual terrorism. Summed up Oscar Mammi,
a member of Parliament: "The liberation
of Dozier represents an outstanding suc-
cess in the fight against terrorism and re-
inforces the prestige of our nation."
ANSA
At Padua police headquarters after rescue
congratulation. After years of impotent
anguish, watching helplessly as terrorists
kidnaped and killed prominent business
and political leaders almost at will, the
government had finally won a major vic-
tory against terrorism. There had been
too many losses. In 1978 former Prime
Minister Aldo Moro was found shot to
death in a car trunk after nearly two
months of imprisonment by the Red Bri-
gades. Industrialist Giuseppe Taliercio
was brutally murdered last year after his
brigatisti captors had held him for 47
days. In all, three Red Brigades abduc-
tions have ended in death and a dozen or
so in the victims' release.
T
his time, after a series of police ar-
rests over the past year had de-
pleted their front ranks, the mili-
tant Brigades faction apparently
decided to reassert its strength with an es-
pecially bold gesture. For the first time,
they kidnaped a non-Italian. It proved to
be a mistake. Prodded by the U.S., the
Italian government threw some 2,000 in-
vestigators on the case. The dragnet was a
success. Besides freeing Dozier, the police
netted between 60 and 70 suspected ter-
rorists, discovered 16 of their hideaways
and unearthed key documents and plans
for future guerrilla actions. In its broad
sweep, the police search managed an un-
precedented penetration of the Red Bri-
gades, an organization of a few hundred
hard-core activists and several times that
many sympathizers.
The It
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police roadblocks and searches began
producing arrests of both confirmed and
suspected terrorists. Leads and clues pro-
liferated, among them an unfortunate
number of bogus tips and hoaxes. Four
weeks ago, for instance, an anonymous
call prompted police to drain a lake about
30 miles from Pescara on the Adriatic
coast, where Dozier's body was supposed
to have been dumped. But while Dozier
endured the taunting leftist rhetoric of his
captors, the case began to break open.
On Jan. 4, two suspected terrorists,
Stefano Petrella and Ennio di Rocco,
were arrested near Rome's famed Spanish
Steps. Those arrests led to raids on three
Rome apartments, where police turned
up Brigades documents and weapons and
ten more Red Brigades members, includ-
ing Giovanni Senzani, a former criminol-
ogist who became leader of
the Brigades' Rome column.
Less than two weeks later, af-
ter a bank robbery in Siena,
police arrested two members
of an ultramilitant Red Bri-
gades splinter group called
Prima Linea, or Front Line.
Those arrests in turn led to
the discovery of a secret
Rome hideout, which, re-
markably, was used as a
medical facility where ter-
rorists wounded in police
shootouts could come for
emergency care. Soon after-
ward, police discovered an-
other rich lode of Prima Li-
nea documents and photos in
a Naples safe house.
The national police, in
conjunction with local anti-
terrorist task forces and the
Interior Ministry, sensed that
they were getting close to After the raid, police guard entrance to the Via Pindemonte building
Dozier. But ironically, their A textbook operation: people talked and every lead was followed up.
successes played only a mi-
nor role in finally locating him. A major
forced to hold up for photos released dur-
ing his captivity. The Red Brigades flag
that Dozier stood before in the photos
hung in the living room. Also discovered
were pistols, plastic explosives, grenades
and photocopying equipment for faked
identity cards.
drug bust in Verona last Wednesday
seems to have yielded the final link to Do-
zier's whereabouts. Among those arrested
in the raid was Paolo Galati, 22, brother
of Michele Galati, who is currently in
prison for terrorist acts. Sources said Ga-
lati's name had been mentioned by Stefa-
no Petrella after that brigatista's arrest in
Rome. Police flew Petrella to Padua to
confront Paolo Galati. Somehow, that
meeting led police to the apartment on
Via Pindemonte. As early as Tuesday, the
U.S. embassy was informed that some sort
of action to rescue Dozier was imminent.
P
olice began moving in on the Via
Pindemonte building early Thurs-
day morning. A former plan for a
nighttime raid on the apartment
was rejected because streets in the partly
commercial area would be too quiet then,
and Dozier's captors might notice any un-
usual activity. At about 10 a.m., 28 police
and unmarked cars surrounded the area.
Half an hour later, members of the special
antiterrorist force took up their positions
in the street, ready to intervene in case of
trouble. Moments later, the truck carry-
ing the ten leatherheads pulled up behind
the building, and the raid was on.
Four of the five terrorists arrested
were taken to an undisclosed location.
Ciucci was rushed to a nearby hospital in
serious condition after sustaining the ka-
rate blow in the hallway. All but Ciucci
and Frascella, whose father is a respected
Padua doctor, were well known to antiter-
rorist specialists. Indeed, Savasta and Li-
bera were recently convicted in a Cagliari
court and sentenced to prison in absentia
for several bank robberies and their in-
volvement in a 1980 shootout with police.
In the apartment, police found large num-
bers of Red Brigades documents and the
two slogan-filled posters that Dozier was
From the beginning the U.S. Depart-
ment of Defense had supplied a team of
counterterrorist experts to aid in the
search for Dozier. The U.S. and Italian
governments worked together closely,
agreed not to negotiate with the terrorists
and were both faithful to a news blackout,
but the Americans played only a minor
role in the operation. There is also little
reason to believe that the $1.6 million "re-
ward" put up by anonymous donors was
used to loosen the tongues of terrorist in-
formers. Said an admiring U.S. official of
the Italian police effort: "It was a text-
book operation. They cracked the col-
umn, the people talked and they followed
up every single lead." Added another
American on the case: "It was just damn
good police work."
Still, few in Italy believe they have
seen the last of the Red Brigades. Both
U.S. and Italian officials are concerned
that the terrorists received at least some
assistance from foreign radicals and Sovi-
et-bloc governments. Indeed, a Brigades
communiqué in December called for uni-
ty with the terrorist West German Red
Army Faction, the violence-prone Irish
Republican Army and ETA, Spain's mili-
tant Basque-separatist organization. A
188-page document issued later declared
that in capturing Dozier the Red Brigades
were making their struggle international.
The tract seemed to lend credibility to the
idea that the recent upsurge in attacks on
U.S. military and diplomatic personnel
around the world is a coordinated effort.
In fact, Dozier was the fifth American of-
ficial to fall prey to a terrorist threat since
ANSA
September 1981, when U.S.
General Frederick Kroesen
miraculously escaped harm
during a grenade attack on
his car by unknown assail-
ants near Heidelberg. Since
then, two American diplo-
mats, Christian Chapman in
Paris and Ambassador Rabb
in Rome, have been targets
of apparent assassination at-
tempts. Only two weeks ago,
U.S. Military Attaché Lieut.
Colonel Charles R. Ray was
fatally gunned down outside
his Paris apartment.
Officials of the Reagan
Administration say they have
"no direct evidence" of for-
eign involvement in Dozier's
kidnaping. But they point out
that Soviet-made weapons
seized in the Jan. 9 Rome
raid bore "certain modifica-
tions" that suggest they were
funneled to the Red Brigades
from Palestinian sources.
Moreover, the Americans suspect that
"external" intelligence information was
supplied to the Red Brigades in selecting
targets.
Dozier may be able to shed some light
on the Brigades' international connec-
tions once he is fully debriefed on the sub-
ject. Publicly, he described his captors
only as "a bunch of dedicated people."
For the moment, Administration officials
are assuming that U.S. Government em-
ployees in Italy are still in danger from
the Red Brigades. Says one American of-
ficial: "We don't want to get creamed by
the euphoric aftereffects of the rescue."
Though extra security has been thrown
around the U.S. embassy in anticipation
of terrorist reprisals for last week's dra-
matic bust, U.S. officials seem philosophi-
cal about living with renewed threats.
Among them is James Dozier, who last
week told reporters that he was "proud of
my assignment at NATO"-and obviously
more than ready to get back to his office
in Verona.
-By Russ Hoyle. Reported by
Barry Kalb/Vicenza and Wilton Wynn/Rome
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