Ex-Marine Says He Fraternized With Soviet Woman, Wed Her

A Marine assigned to guard the U.S. consulate in Leningrad said he was constantly wary of spying attempts and received repeated warnings against fraternization with Russian women. Nevertheless, he fraternized with--and married--a Russian woman.

Former Marine Sgt. Rodney Pope, 27, said in an interview Wednesday that the Marines did exercise caution, even watching what they said in their rooms.

Pope said he married his wife, Elena, in the Soviet Union in April, 1985, and she joined him in the United States that December. They are living temporarily in Arlington, Va., and she is expecting a child this week, Pope said.

Superiors Stressed Rule

While Pope broke the fraternization rule, it wasn’t because he was unaware of it, he said, noting that it was stressed by superiors.

Pope said he never was approached by the KGB.

“If the Soviets would have approached me and tried to blackmail me, I would have turned myself in,” said Pope, who believes the fraternization rule should be abolished.

“If we didn’t have the fraternization rule, there wouldn’t be anything to blackmail somebody with,” he said. “It puts undue stress on the Marines; it was enforced only against the Marines, not the embassy personnel.”

Later Served in Niger

Pope left the Marines in August, 1984, after completing guard duty at the U.S. Embassy in Niamey, Niger, and now manages a restaurant he declined to name.

He said Monday morning on NBC-TV’s “Today” show that he had called the FBI “and told them I wanted to talk to them, and they don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to speak to me.”

The FBI contacted him Monday afternoon and scheduled an interview, he said.

Asked what he wants to tell the FBI, Pope said: “I just want to make sure my name stays clean. I fraternized and they know it. I married a Russian woman. But that’s it.”