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“[General William Donovan] wanted to see the beachhead, already nearly two weeks old, to smell powder, to sleep in a fox-hole and eat K-rations. Instead he found our outfit luxuriously installed in the Hotel Luna within rifle-shot of the fighting. Don Antonio, the proprietor, was prowling into no-man's land for good fresh Mozarella cheese. We had, all ninety of us, fresh sheets on our beds. The chambermaids wore spotless uniforms; the waiters served us in dinner jackets. The General was disappointed. He mumbled something about this being a hellova way to fight a war, and added a footnote about congressional investigations. Major John Roller suggested digging him a foxhole under the mimosa tree in the rose garden, but no one quite dared offer to do it.”

World War IiItalyUs ArmyOssAmalfiItalian CampaignWild Bill Donovan
Book:The Scarlet Thread: Adventures in Wartime Espionage
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“OSS, Donovan's own creation, with the stamp of him on it, with the spirit of him in it, became a vivid and compelling force in many critical moments and places of war. He's a great guy, and he did an extraordinary job, and I think I know what gave him the patience, the courage, and the energy to carry on over all obstacles. He loves his country more than any man I know. But, my God, sometimes he can make you want to knock his teeth out, too.”

MotivationPersistencePatriotismWorld War IiOss
Book:The Scarlet Thread: Adventures in Wartime Espionage
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“...I remembered how Philby's enemy, [T.E.] Lawrence, refused his country's decorations, and later even a commission in the R.A.F., and enlisted as a simple airman. In 1940 this seemed irresponsible and hysterical to me. But by 1945 I had seen a score or more British and Americans on the verge of treason through similar bitterness. . . . By 1945 I grew to understand the Philby-Lawrence reaction and to consider such men, and their honour, as casualties of war -- for war cares no more for honour, or for decency and honesty, than it does for life.”

HonorWorld War IiEspionageNature Of WarConflicting LoyaltiesGoing Native
Book:The Scarlet Thread: Adventures in Wartime Espionage
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