13 May Frank Gleason receives the OSS Congressional Gold Medal
Frank Gleason and Denise Nielsen, his Roswell Rotary Guardian. Honor Air Atlanta 2011.
I met Frank A. Gleason in 2011 when I accompanied a chartered plane of World War II veterans from Roswell, GA to their monuments in Washington, D.C. It was my Rotary Club’s fourth such trip. What I learned is that Frank had worked in China with American’s intelligence agency, predecessor to the CIA. I perked up immediately … my mother also worked for the OSS! Frank and I had a lot to talk about.
Frank was head of a demolition crew whose mission was to make as much trouble as possible for the Japanese. In fact, he told me he had blown up 150 bridges! A few months earlier, I had watched the Jimmy Stewart movie, The Mountain Road. The story sounded so familiar I asked Frank about it. Yes, he was head of the demolition crew on which the story was based, and he was technical advisor for the film!e
74 years later, after surmounting many roadblocks, Congress is honoring OSS Veterans who “performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.”
It’s about time. Few of these men and women who served our country heroically are still alive.
Finally, Frank Gleason of Marietta, GA, has received his OSS Congressional Gold Medal!
The inscription “OSS” reveals three figures – a woman, a paratrooper, and a man in a suit, representing the broad range of work undertaken by the OSS. They were depicted as shadowy figures, hinting that they sought to operate “in the shadows.” The dates “1942 – 1945” are the years during which the OSS operated.
The reverse design features the OSS Spearhead inscribed with code words related to important OSS missions and agents. One of these code words is CARPETBAGGER (third line down), a group I wrote about in connection with the aviator Bernt Balchen.
See also: Frank Gleason Witness to War videos.
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