04 Nov Thelma Kane
Roommates in Washington DC 1942. Hedy is on the far left.
“ … Office of Strategic Services, not yet two years old and already regarded as the most exciting place in Washington.” William Casey in “The Secret War Against Hitler.”
Hedy had three roommates in Washington D.C. I have talked with all three of them in the past few months. Thelma Kane now lives in Washington State, and she has shared many stories with me.
“I worked for the OSS in finance and accounting, and Hedy was in the building next door. She worked on the ‘quiet side.’ ”
The quiet side? What does that mean?
“She could never talk about what she did. She was right there with Donavan. Everything they did was mysterious and secret.
One of my jobs was to help the people who worked there fill out their travel vouchers when they returned from a trip. I remember once Hedy brought Donavan’s papers home so I could help her finish them.”
Why do you think Mr. Casey said that the OSS was the most exciting place in Washington?
“There were so many well-known people coming through. They wanted to do their duty for the war. Do you remember the movie Sergeant York? I did the paperwork for the actor who played the Sergeant. He didn’t talk much, and he wore a funny hat, I think hoping that nobody would recognize him?.”
You don’t mean Gary Cooper, do you?
“Yes, that’s who it was. He had been on a trip for the OSS.”
Thelma, what else was exciting?
“Do you know about the places around Washington where they brought in Italians, the French, to train them and teach them to parachute so they could go in ahead of the troops? Places that no one knew about. We would go on a bus to dance with the soldiers there.”
Did Hedy go with you?
“No … that was after Hedy left for London to be trained to be a spy. Now, that was exciting.”
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