Jonas Pleškys

Jonas Plaskus or Jonas Pleškys (10 March 1935 – 14 April 1993) was a Soviet Navy submarine tender captain born in Lithuania. He died in California, United States. [California Death Index [http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi] ]

In 1961 he sailed his vessel from Klaipėda to Gotland in Sweden, not the planned destination of Tallinn. The Soviet authorities sentenced him in his absence to death by firing squad, but the CIA hid him, first in Guatemala and later in the United States. The tender, essentially a barge, was returned to Soviet custody.cite web
url=http://www.liw.lt/archive_vid.php?shid=1125398404&id=1125397744
title=Homo Lituanus
publisher=Lithuania in the World
accessdate=2008-01-19]

It is believed that this incident inspired Tom Clancy, the author of "The Hunt for Red October".

Jonas worked as a programmer/analyst in Silicon Valley in the 1970s. In 1979 he accepted a job in Caracas. He revisited Lithuania briefly in 1992.

References

*cite book| first=Marion |last=Boyle |title=Search For Freedom: The Man From Red October |publisher=Eglės leidykla |location=Klaipėda |year=2005 |isbn=9955-542-21-7