From a reader:
I know you’re tired of my e-mails, but I thought I’d add to the Charles Dean theory. Dean firmly believes his brother was NOT an agent, even though some of his family members believe Charles Dean was a member of the CIA. As for me, I find it odd that he would take a river rafting expedition in the middle of a war zone with an aussie photographer, who was killed with Charles Dean. Whether he was a CIA agent, possibly a communist sympathizer, or even a tourist, nobody knows. There is as much evidence that he was a sympathizer as there is evidence that he was a CIA agent. He worked for McGovern and was staunchly anti-war. Could that have been cover? I guess so. But could he have had a great stoner moment (pure speculation) and decided to help those Laotians realize their socialist utopia? That’s possible too. Tragically, he turned out to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost his life.