Local resident speaks out in new book

In 1971, Roland Haas was just like any other college student on the Purdue University campus, or so it seemed. That was the year Haas’ life changed, and in his own words, it was the year the Roland Haas of the previous 18 years ceased to exist. In a moment, Haas went from a diligent but introverted student to an undercover operative for one of the most notorious and mysterious government organizations in the United States: the Central Intelligence Agency.

Now, 36 years later, Haas is currently a resident of Peachtree City with his wife and two children. He is coming clean to his friends, family and community about the double life he lived during the 30 years of service in which his life was not his own. His new book, “Enter the Past Tense: My Secret Life as a CIA Assassin,” hit shelves last month to positive reviews. The autobiography deals with Haas’ life from a very young age including his experiences as a young German American growing up in a working class neighborhood in upstate New York.

Born in Buffalo, New York to German immigrant parents, Haas grew up in the 1950s in a time when the wounds of World War II were far from healed. His father wanted to prove the family’s pride in being Americans and so joined the New York State National Guard. Unfortunately for Haas, that wasn’t enough to shelter him from years of abuse.

The racism and prejudice passed down from parents to children of the neighborhood had all eyes on the scrawny kid who primarily spoke German.

His German heritage branded him unfairly and Haas describes the torturous results of an excruciating childhood in his book. Haas was abused by bullies on a daily basis, and it was these constant attacks that initially paved the way for Haas’ future.

The only way Haas knew how to survive was to stick to himself. A job transfer took the Haas family to Ohio and it was there that he threw himself into athletics. He participated in more than a half dozen sports, all of which, with one exception, were individual rather than team sports.

It was during this time Haas became a star goalie for the ice hockey team, a top gymnast and a weight lifting fanatic, but despite all of his successes he never felt that his parents were proud of him.

Haas, who recalls the smallest details throughout the book, says of his exceptional memory, “It was definitely something I was born with. I found that all the way through my education, all the way through high school and even into college, I never took a book home to do homework. I took AP classes in high school. I took AP calculus, physics, English, and I tested out of multiple credits in college, and I never opened a book to study. It was something that I was able to just remember things that I saw, heard, and use them later.”

Something else that has always come easily to Haas is the ability to learn foreign languages. “I’ve always found languages very simple,” he stated. By his freshman year in college, Haas knew, in varying degrees, German, English, Russian and Latin. Now he adds to that list Afrikaans, Dutch and Slovenian.

His loner lifestyle, his emotionally distant relationship with his parents, his strength and agility, his intelligence and memory and his ability to quickly learn new things all together made him a prime candidate for what the CIA had in mind.

On March 17, 1971 Haas was approached by a man he only refers to as “Phil” in the Naval ROTC facility on the Purdue campus. Haas was on full scholarship with the ROTC and had plans to enter the Navy upon graduation.

Up until that fateful day, Haas had only heard rumors of CIA recruitment on college campuses. His past experiences had all led to that one moment, one that would shape the rest of his life.

In his book, Haas describes in great detail what transpired during his first meeting with Phil. Haas states that he signed up for the job Phil proposed with little hesitation and almost no knowledge of what he would be asked to do. In order to maintain his cover, Haas’ life would have to change.

In a short period of time, Haas had been dismissed with an honorable discharge from the Navy and expelled from Purdue - all part of the master plan to put Haas under cover.

His new situation allowed Haas the freedom to train with the CIA in a variety of weapons and operational tactics as well as gave him reason to make the move to Germany where he could be of service to the agency while posing as a student living with his extended family.

His first mission led Haas through the Middle East and Asia where he hitched rides along the Hippie trail headed to India.

After taking out a powerful drug lord and two of his men in Afghanistan, Haas spent time taking in all the experiences India had to offer before making his way back toward Germany.

It was on his return trip to Germany that things went horribly wrong.

Haas was detained in an Iranian prison after a poor choice in travel partner resulted in his arrest under the accusation of drug trafficking. His horrific experience in the prison was Haas’ worst experience working for the CIA and one that nearly resulted in his death.

“The only time I thought that I was really through was in the Iranian prison,” Haas stated. “When you’re in this business you always keep hope, because there’s always...I always held out hope that I would somehow be able to get out of there. It’s just the opportunity never presented itself for me to do something dramatic and get out.”

Luckily for Haas, his CIA contact, Phil, was able to bring a halt to what was meant to be Haas’ execution. After his release from the Iranian prison, Haas embarked on his second assignment in Turkey and headed back to Germany to recover. Despite his nightmarish and nearly fatal time in Iran, Haas never sought to leave the agency and, after some time recovering, he participated in an extraction of a man from East Germany.

After everything that had transpired, Haas began to evaluate his life and decided that he wanted to complete his education back in the U.S. With help from Phil, he was re-accepted into Purdue and earned both a bachelor of arts and a master of arts in German with a minor in Russian.

The call to pursue a doctorate in comparative literature led Haas and his new wife Dale to move to Oakland, California. Dale and Haas met in graduate school and dated steadily throughout. At the time, it seemed to Haas that the next logical step was to marry, despite the fact that he “considered marriage to be a social obligation rather than a lifelong, total commitment to another person.”

The move to Oakland revealed many things to Haas, including the fact that his search for a “normal” existence outside of agency life was easier said than done. After a job as a carpet salesman nearly cost him his life, Haas opened a health club with two other partners. Thus began a harrowing chapter in Haas’ life involving the leader of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Ralph “Sonny” Barger, and the dark dealings within the corrupt world in which he operated.

While still involved with the health club, which he helped to build into an incredibly successful business before being “bought out” of his share, Haas divorced his wife and met the love of his life, Marilyn, who was an aerobics instructor at the club.

When Haas was left with no choice but to get out of town or lose his life to the Hells Angels, he and Marilyn packed up and moved to Germany.

This time, Haas would remain in Germany for a much more extended stay and it was at this point he began working as a civilian for the United States military in his public life in addition to his secret employment with the CIA.

Because Haas had earned security clearances with the job Marilyn knew about, it was not unusual to her that she could not speak to her husband about his job: it was a way of life. His lack of communication did cause problems in the marriage, however.

“If you would have known me before, I was a man of very, very, very few words. Maybe ten words a year or something, which was always a bone of contention in the marriage because I didn’t communicate,” admitted Haas. “Most men say, ‘I’m doing fine, leave me alone’ or something. With me it was just ‘I’m fine,’ ‘OK,’ ‘Yes,’ ‘No.’ You learn not to speak because you don’t want to blurt out things you’re not supposed to, and the safest way to not do that is simply not to speak.”

Both of Haas’ jobs caused him an extreme amount of stress and pent up knowledge and emotion. His only outlet was to talk to Phil, the code name he gives to a series of men who acted as his CIA liaison.

Over the course of 30 years Haas worked on an as-needed basis as a trigger man for 18 assassinations and aided the agency in other non-lethal missions, working primarily in West and East Germany.

Haas’ life work finally took a toll on him in an undeniable way. After years of living a secret life in the work arena, Haas began to live a secret life at home: that of a functioning alcoholic.

Roland Haas’ journey continues in Part 2 of this series, which will be published in The Citizen on August 22. The Fayette County Public Library will host an author talk and book signing with Haas on Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. Books will be available for purchase at the event and are also available at Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com.