OSS Agents: Kill or be Killed
By Patrick J. Chaisson
In utter silence, the saboteurs carefully wired their target for demolition. All knew even the slightest noise might alert sentries to their presence underneath the Occoquan Creek bridge in northern Virginia. Finally, with explosives and detonators in place, the team of infiltrators made their escape undetected by patrolling watchmen.
During World War II, thousands of would-be secret agents roamed rural Maryland and Virginia while learning the “ungentlemanly arts” of espionage, covert action, and irregular warfare. These operatives in training belonged to the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the first national-level intelligence organization. Soon they would put their skill and nerve to the ultimate test—as clandestine warriors fighting far behind enemy lines.
On July 11, , President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a momentous step toward centralizing America’s intelligence-gathering efforts when he authorized the office of the Coordinator of Information (COI). In doing so, FDR hoped to create a single agency responsible for sorting and analyzing reports collected by more than a dozen U.S. diplomatic, law enforcement,
William &#;Wild Bill&#; Donovan: America&#;s Spymaster in WWII
By Peter Kross
On July 14, , William Donovan stood on the pier fronting New York harbor and waited to board the Pan Am flying boat named the Lisbon Clipper for a flight that would take him to Portugal and then to London, his ultimate destination.
Donovan—a former college football star (Columbia, class of ), highly placed Republican lawyer, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroic service in World War I, a schoolmate of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Columbia University—called his wife Ruth and told her that he would be leaving that day for a trip to Europe. He did not tell her why he was going, only that it was on “private business” and that he wouldn’t be gone long. Ruth Donovan knew not to question her husband too much on his business dealings; even if she asked, he probably wouldn’t have told her anything. Among the passengers on board were two members of the French Purchasing Commission and Charles Goetz on a Portuguese arms mission.
As the Lisbon Clipper took off from New York, no one on board, even Bill Donovan himself, knew the ramifications his trip would have in the outcome of World War II. During
Cloak and Dagger Army:
The OSS
Spies and saboteurs, rakes and femmes fatales, scientists and radicals: they all fought for Allied victory under the Office of Strategic Services.
by John E. Stanchak
Sixty-one-year-old Major General William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan and Colonel David Bruce found themselves pinned down by Nazi machine gun fire after jogging forward with the Allied troops invading France in June Bullets were picking apart the hedgerow that covered the two Americans, and Donovan and Bruce were armed only with Colt s.
“I must shoot first,” said Donovan.
“But can we do much against machine guns with our pistols?” Bruce asked.
“Oh, you don’t understand,” Donovan replied. “I mean if we are about to be captured I’ll shoot you first. After all, I am your commanding officer.”
Such grim resolve was a little over the top, even for a blood-and-guts American general. But in this instance, it was what the job required. Donovan was chief of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the American government’s unified espionage arm, and Bruce was head of the OSS’s London station. He and Donovan we
The &#;Wild&#; History Behind America&#;s Counterintelligence Service
William “Wild Bill” Donovan is widely known as the “father of American Intelligence.” His determination to create a centralized counterintelligence unit paved the way for the modern CIA. Despite pushback from various government agencies and personnel, he persevered, showing everyone the meaning behind his infamous moniker.
Bill Donovan was a decorated war hero
Bill Donovan fought with the th Regiment during the First World War. He’s said to have been a demanding leader who often pushed his troops to the limit. His team was an integral part of the Second Battle of the Marne in July , and their presence was noted during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October
It’s rumored that Bill got his nickname during the war. Legend has it that he made his battalion run a three-mile obstacle course, after which the men fell to the ground, out of breath. The year-old chastised them, saying, “What the hell’s the matter with you guys?” to which a soldier responded, “But hell, we are not as wild as you are, Bill.” From that day on, he was known as Wild Bill, a moniker he publicly denounced, but secretly loved.
When the
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