Former spies for OSS, precursor of CIA, still fighting — for recognition
Efforts to honor dwindling group get hung up in Congress
McLEAN, Va. — Spies don’t work for fame or acclaim. But, after 75 years, the men and women who served behind the enemy lines in Nazi Germany and the Pacific theater during World War II wouldn’t mind some recognition.
Legislation to award the spies the Congressional Gold Medal has passed the Senate and has more than 300 sponsors in the House, yet the bill is being held up by House Republicans, who recently enacted rules that require a special waiver to grant the medal to groups of people.
“I would be extremely proud to get a gold medal for what we did for our country,” said Frank Gleason, 96, one of the few remaining veterans of the Office of Strategic Services, the World War II-era forerunner to the CIA. “What we did was a little exciting.”
The holdup frustrates a group of veterans whose numbers continue to dwindle as time marches on.
“We’re all in our mid 90s,” said Irv Refkin, 95, who was recruited by OSS because of his German language abilities, which he used to gather intelligence. “We’re not going to be here that long.”
Refkin, of Hillcrest, Calif., said he called the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to lobby for the bill, and talked to “some kid intern.”
“I asked him, did he know what OSS was? He didn’t know. People haven’t heard of us,” Refkin said.
Of course, the nature of spy craft is secretive so, for many years, the stories of the OSS were classified. It was formed in 1942 and at one point employed almost 13,000 men and women, recruited from all branches of the military. Famous members include actor Sterling Hayden and director John Ford, baseball player Mo Berg, chef Julia Child and future CIA director William Casey.
Estimates of how many OSS members are still alive range from a few dozen to 100.
Refkin recalled a mission to Germany where he had to gain intelligence on the Nazis’ plans for defending against what ultimately became the D-Day invasion. Refkin, dressed as a German corporal, rode the train behind enemy lines with forged documents. He posed as an office cleaner at German headquarters in Hamburg.
“Nobody looked at a corporal. You carry a garbage bag, put some smelly stuff in it and they waive you right through,” Refkin said. “Nobody pays any attention to the guy emptying the ashtrays.”
Gleason’s group was tasked with halting the Japanese advance into China. Gleason, who grew up in Pennsylvania coal country and knew about explosives, helped detonate bridges, railroad tracks and anything else.
“We just blew stuff up left and right,” he said.
Patrick O’Donnell, a military historian who has written several books on OSS missions, said he has interviewed hundreds of members. They tell stories that sound almost implausible and, when he verifies them in old mission reports, “You find out that it’s completely understated.”