Lee Forman Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Documents detailing early spy network released By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press Writers Wed Aug 13, 7:59 PM ET WASHINGTON - Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world. They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt. The secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives. They were soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. But for several years during World War II, they were known simply as the OSS. They studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops. Among the more than 35,000 OSS personnel files are applications, commendations and handwritten notes identifying young recruits who, like Child, Goldberg and Berg, earned greater acclaim in other fields — Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special assistant to President Kennedy; Sterling Hayden, a film and television actor whose work included a role in "The Godfather"; and Thomas Braden, an author whose "Eight Is Enough" book inspired the 1970s television series. Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police. The release of the OSS personnel files uncloaks one of the last secrets from the short-lived wartime intelligence agency, which for the most part later was folded into the CIA after President Truman disbanded it in 1945. "I think it's terrific," said Elizabeth McIntosh, 93, a former OSS agent now living in Woodbridge, Va. "They've finally, after all these years, they've gotten the names out. All of these people had been told never to mention they were with the OSS." The CIA had resisted releasing OSS records for decades. But former CIA Director William Casey, himself an OSS veteran, cleared the way for transfer of millions of OSS documents to the National Archives when he took over the agency in 1981. The personnel files are the latest to be made public. Information about OSS involvement was so guarded that relatives often couldn't confirm a family member's work with the group. Walter Mess, who handled covert OSS operations in Poland and North Africa, said he kept quiet for more than 50 years, only recently telling his wife of 62 years about his OSS activity. "I was told to keep my mouth shut," said Mess, now 93 and living in Falls Church, Va. The files will offer new information even for those most familiar with the agency. Charles Pinck, president of the OSS Society created by former OSS agents and their relatives, said the nearly 24,000 employees included in the archives far exceeds previous estimates of 13,000. The newly released documents will clarify these and other issues, said William Cunliffe, an archivist who has worked extensively with the OSS records at the National Archives. "We're saying the OSS was a lot bigger than they were saying," Cunliffe said. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-...s/oss/index.htm Will we see any new data relative to David Ferrie and his cronies I wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Thanks for that Lee. I remember reading a lot about WWII when I was a kid, and then, sometime in the early 70s, realizing that with the publication of three books, the entire history of the war had to be reevaluated and rewritten. The Ultra Secret, about breaking the Nazi codes and ciphers, the Double-Cross Committee, about how the MI5 doublecrossed the German spy network in England, and A Man Called Intrepid, regarding Sir William Stephenson and the cooperation between MI6 and OSS, all gave new and strategic insights into how the battles were fought and the war conducted. They kept that secret and went some thirty years, from 1945-1975, before seeing publication of those secrets, and once revealed, changed our outlook on everything that went before. I have the same feeling that a similar radical parallax shift in perspective will occur once the full records of the JFK assassination are released, and the political assassins of the 60s are identified, if not administered justice.\ Certainly many of those involved in the assassinations of the sixties were also active in the 0SS, and some active in the assassination plots to kill Hitler, especially Valkarie. BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Among those who served in the OSS: James Jesus Angleton Winston Scott Frank Wisner E. Howard Hunt J. W. Moore Charles Ford Ernest Cuneo David Bruce Allen Dulles Mary Bancroft Peter Tompkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Forman Posted August 21, 2008 Author Share Posted August 21, 2008 Among those who served in the OSS: James Jesus Angleton Winston Scott Frank Wisner E. Howard Hunt J. W. Moore Charles Ford Ernest Cuneo David Bruce Allen Dulles Mary Bancroft Peter Tompkins Hey Bill - how do we get the rest of the list - any idea? Is it searchable? There's a few folks I would love to see as confirmed. BTW - facinating post - I would like to have a look at that. I really enjoyed the film Enigma. Are you familiar at all with the account of FRANTA - aka Paul Thummel? Large debt owed to that man - amazing how some of his intel was ignored - largely due to arrogance. Also the information about the boardgame Monopoly which I believe only surfaced lately - classic stuff of genius. - lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kelly Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Among those who served in the OSS: James Jesus Angleton Winston Scott Frank Wisner E. Howard Hunt J. W. Moore Charles Ford Ernest Cuneo David Bruce Allen Dulles Mary Bancroft Peter Tompkins Hey Bill - how do we get the rest of the list - any idea? Is it searchable? There's a few folks I would love to see as confirmed. BTW - facinating post - I would like to have a look at that. I really enjoyed the film Enigma. Are you familiar at all with the account of FRANTA - aka Paul Thummel? Large debt owed to that man - amazing how some of his intel was ignored - largely due to arrogance. Also the information about the boardgame Monopoly which I believe only surfaced lately - classic stuff of genius. - lee http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=13852 "Not present secrecy, not merely secrecy until the battle is over, but permanent secrecy of this operation is what we should strive for" - Col. Alfred McCormack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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