The events described in this book are true, and to the best of my ability I have recounted them faithfully. Although years and even decades separated the events from the writing, my experience throughout was so intense that many of them are indelibly etched into memory. Others that might have required clarification were brought back to consciousness in the course of my two and one half year debriefing by representatives of the former joint Counterintelligence Center. In many cases, they clarified events that had been obscured by the passage of time; and often provided me with additional detail.

The reader will note that I have provided few specific dates in the course of this narrative. For obvious reasons, I kept no written records regarding the operation; and my request for an official chronology was declined. However, I did make cryptic references to most of the major events that I have recounted on my desk calendar, or in a journal I kept for personal purposes. Using these, I have been able to place them in their proper sequence. 

A word about names: I was christened Charles S. Via, Jr., and I used that name throughout Operation Faretheewell. For reasons of my own, I reverted to the more traditional French Huguenot spelling of Viar in 1996; and to avoid unnecessary confusion, I have used this spelling throughout the text.

With few exceptions, all of the other names, dates, and places recorded in From Whence the Darkness are true and accurate. The handful of alterations that appear in the text were made at the specific request of U.S. intelligence officials, and are clearly noted in passing. 

The fact U.S. intelligence officials made such requests implies that at least some aspects of Faretheewell are still in play; and for that reason I would caution the reader that while the events I have recounted above are to my knowledge both accurate and complete, some aspects of the story may still be unfolding.