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The OSS in World War II
Non-fiction. The story of the WWII espionage agency.
405 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Edward Hymoff
10 booksMr. Hymoff was born in Boston. He began his career as a reporter at The World-Telegram and Sun in New York City. He covered the Korean War for 15 New England newspapers and for the International News Service, and later worked for CBS.
During World War II, Mr. Hymoff served in the Office of Strategic Services, which he made the subject of one of his several books.
As an NBC news manager, he helped create "Monitor," the Peabody Award-winning radio program. He was also a consultant to the United States Information Agency, the Voice of America, the Department of Defense and the League of Women Voters, for which he helped produce the 1980 Presidential debates.
Earlier, as the communications and public affairs director for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, he developed the satellite broadcasting system used by 500 radio and television stations.
At the time of his death Mr. Hymoff was the vice president of communications and marketing for the National Security Institute, a defense industry security firm.
During World War II, Mr. Hymoff served in the Office of Strategic Services, which he made the subject of one of his several books.
As an NBC news manager, he helped create "Monitor," the Peabody Award-winning radio program. He was also a consultant to the United States Information Agency, the Voice of America, the Department of Defense and the League of Women Voters, for which he helped produce the 1980 Presidential debates.
Earlier, as the communications and public affairs director for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, he developed the satellite broadcasting system used by 500 radio and television stations.
At the time of his death Mr. Hymoff was the vice president of communications and marketing for the National Security Institute, a defense industry security firm.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 2, 2017
Leonardo da Vinci's notebook entry on what eventually became airborne operations: "If a man have a tent made of linen of which the apertures have been stopped up, and it be twelve bracchia across and twelve in depth, he will be able to throw himself down from any great height without sustaining an injury."
December 12, 2019
Interesting read, especially as the author has personal ties to it. Interesting topic and explanation of the OSS in some of the less talked about areas they fought.
May 9, 2015
This book isn't all that well written, although the author was actually an OSS agent, so it's not really possible to fault him for not being a literary genius - and he got the job done.
But there's an aspect to this book that makes it highly significant... He documents the total failure of U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia, where the OSS saw the picture on the ground very clearly and desperately attempted to force the U.S. to align with Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese Nationalists - something that could have deflected Ho - an admirer of Thomas Jefferson - away from Communism, certainly would have averted the Vietnam war, and would have made a goldmine of the region for U.S. business interests, to the benefit of both America and Vietnam.
But instead, John Foster Dulles and Eisenhower sided with the infernal, worthless, useless Colonial French, to whom we owed *nothing* after we were forced to pull their degenerate European chestnuts out of the fire - a catastrophic foreign policy failure which resulted in the death of millions and our turning the region into an obliterated, poisoned horror - for *nothing*.
The author is clearly frustrated that a lot of the records and documentation of all this was still classified at the time of his writing, too. One wonders if they've yet been declassified and studied - which they should be, and in detail, if we're to avoid such stupidity in the future.
But there's an aspect to this book that makes it highly significant... He documents the total failure of U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia, where the OSS saw the picture on the ground very clearly and desperately attempted to force the U.S. to align with Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese Nationalists - something that could have deflected Ho - an admirer of Thomas Jefferson - away from Communism, certainly would have averted the Vietnam war, and would have made a goldmine of the region for U.S. business interests, to the benefit of both America and Vietnam.
But instead, John Foster Dulles and Eisenhower sided with the infernal, worthless, useless Colonial French, to whom we owed *nothing* after we were forced to pull their degenerate European chestnuts out of the fire - a catastrophic foreign policy failure which resulted in the death of millions and our turning the region into an obliterated, poisoned horror - for *nothing*.
The author is clearly frustrated that a lot of the records and documentation of all this was still classified at the time of his writing, too. One wonders if they've yet been declassified and studied - which they should be, and in detail, if we're to avoid such stupidity in the future.
March 30, 2014
This is a re-read from more than a decade ago. The OSS was the predecessor to (primarily) the CIA; the content provides insight into the means by which the OSS came into being, and various of the activities thereof.
The author was a member of OSS; some of the operations described show the best of humanity (Rejdova, Czechoslovakia) - in spite of having German troops garrisoned there, the townspeople fed & hid OSS operatives, and insisted upon NOT taking any money for doing so. This seems to have been rather different than the 'get every bit of their money' approach taken by many partisans during the War.
In the Balkans, there were a number of partisan groups, with conflicting long-term goals, resulting in the various groups often fighting each other when not fighting the Germans.
The author does not simply focus on the successes, but also notes some of the notable failures - in particular, the OSS failed to actually get any hard evidence about concentration camps. When the senior ranking Allied Generals first visited a concentration camp at Ohrdruf Nord, Patton (known as 'blood and guts') vomited. Eisenhower made the statement "I want every American unit not actually in the front lines to see this place. We are told that the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. Now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against"
The author was a member of OSS; some of the operations described show the best of humanity (Rejdova, Czechoslovakia) - in spite of having German troops garrisoned there, the townspeople fed & hid OSS operatives, and insisted upon NOT taking any money for doing so. This seems to have been rather different than the 'get every bit of their money' approach taken by many partisans during the War.
In the Balkans, there were a number of partisan groups, with conflicting long-term goals, resulting in the various groups often fighting each other when not fighting the Germans.
The author does not simply focus on the successes, but also notes some of the notable failures - in particular, the OSS failed to actually get any hard evidence about concentration camps. When the senior ranking Allied Generals first visited a concentration camp at Ohrdruf Nord, Patton (known as 'blood and guts') vomited. Eisenhower made the statement "I want every American unit not actually in the front lines to see this place. We are told that the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. Now, at least, he will know what he is fighting against"
March 25, 2014
Pretty good, although does sort of ramble
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews