29 Oct Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs

The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of WWII’s OSS, by Patrick K. O’Donnell

(2004) This book by Patrick K. O’Donnell is subtitled, “The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of WWII’s OSS.”  I have looked at other books which describe the origins and the intrigues of the OSS but this one has been the most useful, and it also has the most information I’ve been able to find so far about what was going on in Stockholm.  O’Donnell interviewed hundreds of OSS veterans so his chapters read more like spy stories than history lessons.

This impressed me: The author spent nearly a thousand hours reviewing documents at the National Archives! After spending a mere 16 hours there, I can believe it.

What I have learned from this book and from Hedvig Johnson’s personnel file (obtained at the National Archives) is that on December 16, 1941, she applied to work for the COI, Coordinator of Information, an intelligence organization created by President Roosevelt on July 11th , earlier that year.

The President chose war hero and former U.S. attorney general William J. Donovan to lead the COI.

Then on June 13, 1942, the COI’s name was changed to the Office of Strategic Services, the OSS.

Hedy’s roommate Thelma explained to me that although she worked in the accounting part of the organization, Hedy worked on the “quiet side.” “She was right there with Donavan … couldn’t talk about her life because everything was so secret.”

Neither one of them could ever tell anyone where they worked.

Personal note: Okay, so I’m reading this book and thinking, “Egad. Our Mother was right there, in the beginning of the creation of the OSS. And why didn’t we ever talk about this?

Thank you, Mr. O’Donnell, for helping to put this together for me.

Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of World War II’s OSS on amazon.com

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