Julia Child, Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg are among the names that have been released as spies working for the Office of Strategic Services during WWII.
There were almost 24,000 spies working for the predecessor of the CIA created during the war by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The secret documents consisting of 750,000 pages was released this week by the National Archives.
The
OSS consisted of soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. They studied military plans, met with the enemy, stirred up resistance among foreign troops and created propaganda.
Some of the names had been released before but not the details of their involvement. Now from the reasons they were hired to the role they played have been revealed.
The list of OSS operatives is a who's who on the 20th century. John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police and Thomas Braden, an author whose "Eight Is Enough" book inspired the 1970s television series were all part of the spy network.
The OSS was disbanded in 1945 to make way for the CIA but during its short run played a vital during WWII. The operatives had remained a secret, keeping their mouths closed for decades. Now at last the remaining members can speak of their time in the agency.
"I think it's terrific," said Elizabeth McIntosh, 93, a former OSS agent now living in Woodbridge, Va. "They've finally, after all these years, they've gotten the names out. All of these people had been told never to mention they were with the OSS."
Julia Child Was More Than A Chef, She Was A Spy
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