WWII VET’S ‘UNBELIEVABLE STORY’
OSS pioneer remains humble despite lifetime of achievement
HUDSON, N.H. — Martin Gelb can talk computer coding, impeachment and turning 100.
“Getting old is like having a second childhood,” he said Saturday as we sat in his assisted-living complex.
The OSS veteran invited this reporter over for lunch and to read to him Monday’s Veterans Day story on his days working with the French resistance, liberating the Buchenwald concentration camp and going behind enemy lines during World War II.
He’s partially blind, but his mind is sharp. Reading to him was an honor: This centenarian (I read) has seen more than he cares to remember. He doesn’t highlight that he was a Jew fighting against the perpetrators of the Holocaust, but he doesn’t hide the fact that he was driven to succeed. But unlike other World War II veterans, his bravery remained top secret until records from the Office of Strategic Services — the precursor to the CIA — were declassified in 2008. He was recently awarded the OSS Congressional Gold Medal for his service.
“You made me out to be bigger than I was,” he said at theendofthestory.
“I bet I didn’t,” I told him. Martin Gelb remains humble. On the way up the hallway of his complex, staff members welcomed me and noted how intelligent he is. He’s also a very nice guy. It’s easy to see why he was recruited as one of the early members of the OSS.
“I had talent that they needed and I didn’t take any crap,” he said. He was an expert radio operator who knew Morse code and International Morse code who slipped into France and Germany along with the D-Day invasion. He remained in Europe until the start of the Nuremberg trials. He was kept there to set up the OSS office.
“The OSS is an unbelievable story,” he said Saturday. “I did things other guys were afraid to do or didn’t want to try. Now, it’s all just a memory.”
Those memories, he added, come back to him like slow-rolling waves. He told of a beautiful golden retriever he spoke Yiddish to while in Germany. The dog took to him instantly after a German man told him in the waning days of the war that he couldn’t afford to feed the animal.
The dog went back to America with a buddy. He still misses that dog. Those OSS friends — Chuck, Al and Louis — are all gone now. But he speaks of them as if they just left the room.
“I’m the only survivor,” he said. “I sit here and doze off and think of things I couldn’t remember.”
Like the time he was accused of hitting a British officer at a dinner dance; or when his leg got so infected they cut it open in the field to treat it; or working under William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the brains behind the OSS.
“To him, rank was not important. He was down to earth. He spoke about our job helping the resistance,” Gelb said. “I was given my orders every time at OSS headquarters. They never risked assigning me by radio.”
The head office was in Paris, once the Germans were pushed out, and later in Wiesbaden, Germany.
“This country needs to keep up with intelligence, especially with so many advances in technology. Change is so rapid you never know what’s coming next and you need to prepare for it,” said Gelb.
When he wakes up, Gelb added the first thing he says is: “Alexa, give me the current news.”
As for the impeachment hearings, Gelb says it’s a waste of taxpayer money. “Just let the voters decide next year,” he added.
He’s practical and nothing can stop this veteran. His eyesight is just another obstacle to be overcome.
As for his secret to longevity, he said eating properly counts the most then exercise. “Mentally,” he added, “live your life and don’t worry too much. And never be satisfied with an answer someone gives you. Do your own research.”