John V. Lanterman, OSS Officer; Coordinated security for the Yalta Conference, attended by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
After training and commanding Army antiaircraft troops, he joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943. While in the OSS, he worked in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where the Southeast Asia Command had its headquarters, and where Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten was Commander. Serving later in the Africa Near and Middle East Theater, where his intelligence duties required extensive travel through those areas. During WWII, one of his more interesting assignments was supervising and coordinating security for the Yalta Conference, attended by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin. Col. Lanterman's post World War II assignments with Army Intelligence at the Penta- gon,was the first of five subsequent tours there, followed by three more overseas assignments as Military Attaché (Hungary 1949-52, New Zealand and Vietnam 1966-67), then two tours commanding Nike Hercules anti-missile units first with the 75th AAA Missile Battalion at AFB, then Boston and New York, and finally an assignment at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA. He was the first U.S. Army officer ever to overfly over the South Pole. His assignments and travels included the north pole and all seven continents, where he met Kings and Presidents. After 30 years of service, Col. Lanterman retired from the US Army in 1969.
Jack Lanterman was born on May 22, 1917 in Berwick, Pennsylvania. Mr.
Lanterman is 96 years old and lives in Bethesda, MD. Throughout his life, Mr.
Lanterman has lived and been deployed in many areas all around the world. Some of the places he has lived include: Virginia, California, Budapest, Hungary, New Zealand,
Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vietnam.
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Mr. Lanterman worked as an intelligence officer for the Army and the OSS from
1938 to 1968. Although he did not go to college, Mr. Lanterman was a graduate of three
anti-aircraft schools in the army, a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, and also a graduate of the Army War College. After World War II, he was given credit for a years
training at the Commander General Staff College. When he was in the military he got his commission by attending the Citizen Military Training Camp, for four summers. Mr.
Lanterman came out of the war a Lieutenant Colonel, and the highest rank he ever
achieved was a full Colonel. Mr. Lanterman also worked for Army intelligence (G-2) and
was the G-2 senior intelligence officer in the Middle East Theater. Mr. Lanterman served
the United States gathering intelligence for 30 years, from 1938-1968.
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Mr. Lanterman also worked with the British in Egypt, and he received a
declaration from King William the Sixth, making him an Order of the British Empire.
Mr. Lanterman was also awarded four Legion of Merits, three commendation medals,
and a Bronze Star.
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The First Intelligence Organization of the United States of America
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“Baker and Hayden had their hands full. The newly designated Coordinator of
Information (COI), later redesignated OSS, had the unprecedented task of creating a
world class intelligence organization overnight, from scratch” (O’Donnell 1). The
Coordinator of Information was William J. Donovan, and this quote refers to the day
when Donovan summoned Dr. J.R. Hayden, and Kenneth Baker to his office to develop
“spy schools,” in preparation for the OSS. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), was
the first official intelligence agency in the United States of America. “The OSS carried
out foreign intelligence missions by using guerrilla tactics, intensive espionage, and
intelligence work” (Carr 8). The OSS was founded by a military order in June of 1942
from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for he felt the United States had some intelligence
deficiencies. “There were also several proposals for creating an independent American
secret intelligence system to operate in the eastern European theatre” (Miller 52). To
understand the Office of Strategic Services, (OSS) one must examine WWII and Pearl
Harbor as well as gain a first-hand perspective from someone who was part of this
intelligence operation.
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“Pearl Harbor was an intelligence failure of stunning magnitude. Not only Naval
intelligence but all military intelligence had failed abysmally” (Persico 137). After the
Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was evident that the United
States needed some sort of intelligence agency that could operate behind enemy lines to gain information about the countries the Unites States were at war with. “A few days
after Pearl Harbor, General Donovan summoned two men to his office” (O’Donnell 1). “I
want you to start the schools, the SI training schools” (O’Donnell 1). Donovan
summoned Hayden and Kenneth to create espionage schools due to the outbreak of the Second World War. There had not been any true intelligence agency in the United States prior to the OSS, thus the American government did not know how an intelligence agency should operate and function. “Unlike most of the world’s great power’s, America had limited experience in espionage” (O’Donnell 1). Because the United States had very little knowledge pertaining to intelligence agencies, they needed assistance to lay the foundation for their new intelligence organization. The basic and most rudimentary reason for creating the OSS was “to obtain information and to sabotage the military efforts of enemy nations during WWII” (National Park Service). Britain’s SOE (Special Operations Executive) and SIS (Secret Intelligence Service), having been at war for over two years, had all the experience necessary to lay the foundation for the COI’s undercover training program. (O’Donnell 1)
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President Roosevelt appointed William J. Donovan as the Coordinator of
Information (COI), and it was his duty to work with the SOE and SIS to lay down the
groundwork for a new centralized intelligence organization. “OSS was organized on
similar lines to SOE, as was the recruiting and training” (Miller 57). Although the British
helped the United States form an intelligence agency, they were hesitant to work
alongside the Americans for they felt that if they fought with the inexperienced
Americans, their own spies’ lives could be endangered. By doing this, “the British left the Americans in a somewhat junior position during the majority of the war” (The Offices of Strategic Services), hampering the true progress of the OSS.
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British intelligence services had their own operations and plans to protect
and feared that working too closely with the inexperienced Americans
would jeopardize the safety of their operatives in occupied Europe. This
British caution kept the Americans in the awkward status of junior
partners for much of the war. (The Offices of Strategic Services)
Although the OSS operatives may have been in a somewhat junior position, they were
still able to help the war effort, supplying “liaison officers to both Nationalist and
Communist armies in China. Furthermore, “…the OSS established a presence
throughout Asia early in the war” (Miller 233).
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“The main importance of the whole affair, however, was that it raised the
possibility of a complete dismemberment of C.O.I.” (Smith 119). The “affair” was a
dispute between the FBI and OSS regarding how intelligence was being handled. The
FBI had distrust for the OSS and Donovan, for many felt as though he was a civilian
interloper who was not fit to lead such an organization. If the C.O.I. would have been
allowed to be destroyed, the OSS would have also been dismantled.
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The P.W.E delegation discovered that Donovan and C.O.I. were indeed in
trouble by the spring of 1942. The colonel had managed to survive
confused squabbles with the FBI over poor intelligence coordination.
(Smith 117)
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Throughout the time as COI, Donovan had many troubles including disagreements with
the FBI. The new Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) also shared in this distrust towards
Donovan. However, they felt as if they could control the OSS if the COI was put under
the JCS jurisdiction. Surprisingly, Donovan agreed, for he felt as if the OSS were able to
operate with the protection of JCS, it would preserve their autonomy, and also win it
military resources and support. Unfortunately for Donovan, due to much inner conflict,
the OSS was soon to be part of a full-scale effort to dismantle everything Donovan had
worked for.
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With Donovan and Sherwood at each other’s throats, and with Congress
unhappy about the size, cost, and disorder of government informational
services, the stage was set in March for a full- scale effort to dismember
the COI. (Smith 117)
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After World War II ended, many, including President Truman, felt that the OSS was
unnecessary, for it had only been created as a wartime special operation agency. The fact that many felt the OSS was no longer needed contributed to the dissolving of the OSS, and the creation of the CIA. Following the ending of World War II, there was no need for an intelligenceorganization that was only founded to operate during the war, thus, the OSS was dissolved on September 20, 1945. Aft er much debate and strife, President Truman elected to sign an order that would permanently dissolve the OSS. “On the afternoon of 20 September, the dissolution order was laid before the presidents, and without hesitation, Truman quickly glanced over the documents and signed the order” (Smith 407). With the signing of the order, “the formal end came for America’s first intelligence agency” (Smith 407).
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When The Times and Herald Tribune commented on the subject of the CIA,
they said that the “Pearl harbor investigation pints up again the need for a C.I.A.” (Smith
411). The OSS was never quite able to realize its true goal “of serving as a long-term
strategic service organization” (Smith 407). The OSS was not able to realize its full goal
because it was only created to be a temporary, three-year organization only fixated with
helping to win World War II.
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“At its peak in late 1944, OSS employed almost 13,000 men and women. In
relative terms, it was a little smaller than a US Army infantry division” (The Office of
Strategic Services). Out of the entire 13,000 spies serving in the OSS, about 4,500 of
them were women.1 Maria Gulovich, a female spy is just one example of the struggle,
and the difficulties a spy must face daily. “Maria Gulovich, through her complete
disregard for danger, her faithful and effective performance of duties, which were to
gather information which would be produced and transformed into intelligence, was
instrumental in making these contributions” (McIntosh 198). This was just one of the
many citations decorating heroic efforts by women in the OSS, which truly shows the
magnitude of how helpful and necessary women spies were during World War II. While
serving as a spy behind enemy lines, Gulovich recalls how harsh the conditions were.
“We marched and entire day through rain and gale force winds. We reached bare
mountain cliffs where the wind was bitter. Our wet clothes were frozen” (qtd. in
McIntosh 203). Being a spy was no simple task, as showcased by this quote. Many of
the conditions that one had to endure were extreme. Although spy agencies were
beneficial during World War II, they were also hampered quite frequently. “Meanwhile,
intelligence operations by both British and Americans were hampered by lack of contacts in Nazi-controlled Czechoslovakia” (McIntosh 200).
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The OSS had an immense significance throughout World War II because without
the OSS, it is certain that many allied combat soldiers lives would have been lost.
aound 34% of all spies that were deployed by the OSS were women.
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Although the OSS might not have been necessary to win the war, it both shortened the
length of the war and saved many lives in the process.
OSS is often dismissed by historians as having been of little importance to
the allied war effort. Could the allies have won the war without the OSS?
Very likely. But a balanced assessment of the agency’s substantial
achievements should conclude that the OSS shortened the war, and in the
process saved the lives of thousands of Allied combat troops. (O’Donnell
311)
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Although many had little faith and confidence in the OSS, it is certain that the OSS was
integral in defeating Hitler and the Nazi’s. “An official admiralty announcement today
said that Germany had started construction of a new fleet of 150 ton “vest pocket”
submarines to be used exclusively for extension of Chancellor Hitler’s counter blockade
of Britain and France” (United Press 5). There was an immense interest in espionage
during the Second World War, for espionage and spying were major forms of obtaining
information pertaining to ones enemy. “THE fascination with espionage,
counterespionage and secret intelligence operations of every kind during the Second
World War is endless.” (Szulc).
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This shows how Hitler was trying to control Europe, and the allies needed help, and although the OSS was fairly small, it was able to send spies to gain information about the Nazis and Hitler to try and win the war. Furthermore, the OSS did provide key information throughout the war. For example, “In North Africa, OSS provided crucial intelligence for the “Torch” landings, and undercut Vichy resistance” (O’Donnell 311). Throughout the war, the OSS was a beneficial organization because of all its accomplishments, such as saving troops’ lives and gaining information
from behind enemy lines.
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Throughout its history, the OSS, at its peak, “…was a little smaller than a US
Army infantry division, or a war agency like the Office of Price Administration, which
governed prices for many commodities and products in the civilian economy.” (The
Offices of Strategic Services). Although it was a small organization, it greatly aided the
allies during World War II. Throughout its three years as an intelligence agency, the OSS spent around $1.1 Billion in today’s dollars. “The office spent $43 million, bringing its total spending over its four-year life to around $135 million (almost $1.1 billion in
today’s dollars)” (The Offices of Strategic Services). Although many would agree that
the OSS was not the single most cause that won World War II, many would have to say
that it did play a role, for it helped gather information and deter the enemy in not only
Europe, but all around the world.
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Interview Transcription
Interviewee/Narrator: Jack Lanterman
Interviewer: Ian Decker
Location: Mr. Lanterman’s home, Bethesda, MD
Date: December 21, 2013
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Ian Decker: This is Ian Decker and I am interviewing Jack Lanterman on the topic of the
Office of Strategic Services as part of the American century Oral History project. The
interview took place on December 21, 2013 at 2 pm in Bethesda, MD. This interview was recorded using an apple iPhone 5. So, Mr. Lanterman, what was it like growing up in Berwick, PA? What do you remember?
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Jack Lanterman: Well I remember the very bad economic conditions we had - the big
1928 disturbance with money and people were very, very hard up. Very much more so
than now. And during that period, I was in high school and I concentrated on school
pretty much. I remember the Hoover election in ’28. I very well remember the
Roosevelt election in 1932. And I ended up, I was an eagle scout there at the age of 16 - a year before I graduated from high school actually, I was an eagle scout. And that is
about all I remember - hard times. It was difficult living in that period, of course. And I
was the only child, so that was an advantage to me and my family.
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ID: Could you describe what America was like during your period of when you were
growing up?
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JL: Well, we never heard of a TV (looks at TV), and we never heard of computers and
things like that. Cars - the first car my father bought, new, was three, six hundred dollars.
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ID: Wow.
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JL: It was a Star, and made by Dodge I believe, and it was put aside finally, and later it
was repaired, and they gave it to me as my first car. So here was a car that was made in 1926, a Star, and I was still driving in 1934 when I graduated.
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ID: There you go. Could you describe a little bit what it was like living during the Great
Depression?
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JL: Well, work was hard to get, and my father was, he did not have a good education,
and he took whatever jobs he could get. There were times when he didn’t have any job.
20 dollars a week was a lot of money. And, I did manage to, first year join the YMCA for
three dollars of fee, and later on, because of my leadership ability with others, they would let me have free entry to the YMCA’s Example Core for four years I guess it was - yes. It was the same in Scouts, of course. I didn’t have to pay any more once I got started, and I got my scout uniform free. Somebody years before had said in the church where I had got my Scouts badge, that the first one in the church, he would buy a uniform for them. I got that, otherwise, I wouldn’t have had a uniform to wear.
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ID: What was your schooling education?
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JL: I don’t have much.
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ID: Well, what did you have?
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JL: Well, I’m a, well you call it “boot puller.” I graduated from high school, and I had no
other education until 1960.
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ID: Really?
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JL: Well, I graduated the three anti-aircraft schools in the army. I am a graduate of the
Armed Forces Staff College down in Norfolk. I am a graduate of the Army War College
in Carlyle, PA, and when I came out of the war, they gave me credit for a years training
at the Commander General Staff College. So that was all my education - it was in the
military and I got my commission by attending the central, the Citizen Military Training
Camp for four summers.
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ID: Really? [5:06]
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JL: Starting in Fort Meade. The next three years were down at Fort Monroe, and I was
made a Single Lieutenant on my 21st birthday.
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ID: Wow.
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JL: I was a “strap puller.” I couldn’t go to college. No money.
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ID: How did you end up in the armed forces? Describe how you ended up there.
JL: I went right from high school within two months to attend a months training at Fort
Meade, and I, we had citizen military training camp, there’s a whole book about it there
(glances at fighting book). So it started after World War I to get more people, get more
people into the reserves, and my second, third, and fourth year basic red, white and blue. For the last three years, I trained at Fort Monroe to be in the sea coast artillery. And I, in the meantime, during my third and fourth year, I took extensive correspondence courses, all corrected up in Baltimore, with map making and all kinds of things. And I went before a regular army board, and I was made a Second Lieutenant in the reserve. I wasmade a regular officer ?after World War Two. Carried from the class of ’41 from West Point. So it was all credit, all the credits I got were - I came out of the war Lieutenant Colonel, but I was regular army officer Lieutenant as of 1941, with the class of ’41.
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ID: You mentioned you did a mapmaking when you were training, what was one thing
you found particularly interesting during your training?
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JL: Oh I meant that was Boy Scout training.
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ID: Oh.
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JL: It was in the Boy Scouts. Made boards and people in the Navy up here, in the hostile have even some beautiful ones on the board up there.
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ID: Where were you when you heard Pearl Harbor had been bombed?
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JL: I was at the movies. Sunday afternoon, December the 7th, I was in the movies in
Newport News with my wife. I was at Fort Eustice twenty miles away, and there were
many, many Navy people because ships are all built there in the harbor at Norfolk and so on, and somebody walked in with a newspaper. I wondered why he came in with a paper- he held it up for some reason and read. It said Pearl Harbor had been bombed. The next thing we knew, the movie stopped and we’re given out “All military return to post!” Well, went home, got some clothes and took off - was stuck for fourteen days at the base, nobody knew what to do.
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ID: Really? What do you recall of the day, emotions wise? What was going through your
mind?
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JL: Well, honestly, I didn’t sleep till four in the afternoon, and by the time I got to the
base, the story - we didn’t know what was going to happen. And there is some history of
it. You see that (glances at picture) - that was the Secretary of State going down to tell
President Roosevelt - and that is the Japanese ambassador - and that was when war was declared, one o’clock in the afternoon. I did not know it of course, being in the movies. And no, I didn’t hear it on the radio - did not even have much on radios then.
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ID: Can you describe how you became involved in the OSS?
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JL: In what?
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ID: In the OSS.
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JL: No I can’t. I can tell you that I was, but I don’t know how it happened. I don’t know
how I was selected. All I know is I was at Fort Meade ready to take a
battalion over to Europe, by an aircraft, and I got a call one day from the General,
Colonel and he - I arrived at his door, and he said, “Shhhhh,” and under his breath he said Close the door.” and he whispered to me, “You’re going somewhere very special.” and I had no clue what it was.
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ID: Do you know why they selected you? [10:08]
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JL: No.
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ID: No? What did you think when they told you they had selected you?
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JL: I didn’t know - I didn’t know what OSS was. So, I just reported to Washington here,
and I found out on short order.
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ID: What training did you receive once you were part of the OSS?
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JL: Well, as I have in my notes here, I received a lot of fighting training by Mr.
Fairbanks - Fairburn rather. I had six weeks of thorough training by him - how to lethally
kill people. Lethally is the wrong word, but nonetheless. And I had another week down
at the Congressional Country Club that was taken over by OSS. Full week there - the rest was just in lectures and reading. Our headquarters was at 23rd and constitution avenue.
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ID: What was Mr. Fairburn like as an instructor?
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JL: He was pretty tough.
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ID: Really?
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JL: Couldn’t eat breakfast ‘til I used a knife for ten minutes. I didn’t go as a Lieutenant -
no I was a Major then. I didn’t go as a major - I went undercover down there. I went as a
Sergeant.
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ID: Really?
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JL: When I was training. Well, even in OSS itself, you don’t tell anyone who you are.
So I wore Sergeant’s clothes, and I could swear with the best of them.
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ID: Fair enough. When you were receiving your training, were there other people training with you?
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JL: Oh, there were about, down there, at the national park, south of Alexandria, whatever a bus would hold. I think there were about thirty of us.
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ID: Really? What were the initial goals for the OSS in its foundation?
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JL: Well, you’re getting into - they copied a lot from the British. Because the British had
had central intelligence for a couple hundred years - for all countries they had under the
wing. But that’s a big question - I can tell you some of the terms that were used.
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ID: That would be wonderful.
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JL: Espionage, well any way, the goal was to coordinate intelligence. Are you familiar
with an organization that was formed before the OSS was?
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ID: I am not.
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JL: Well we never had anyone who put everything together. We had people who
collected information, and I was a military on two tours. One in Budapest, Hungary, and
one in New Zealand - and I sent my information back, I did not collect intelligence. I
collected information. A researcher produces intelligence based on all the information.
Now I might have sent something important enough as information that turned out to be
intelligence by itself without any other information. But getting back to your question
again, what was it?
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ID: What were some of the main goals for the OSS?
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JL: To win World War II.
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ID: Of course.
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JL: We trained people in espionage. We trained them on all kinds of things. A lot of
these people were collecting information and sending it back. Some were taking physical action against the “Fifth Column” of gender head running - we trained people, like they were training me initially to go behind the lines and fight, which I did not end up doing. I got another kind of job when I went over-seas.
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ID: What was the other job you were assigned? [15:09]
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JL: This all happened when I started out in November, in ’43, October or November. I
ended up in Ceylon. I supervised training in various camps - we had seven tea
plantations in Southeast Asia. We were working with the British out there. And we
trained agents and put them aboard submarines and dropped them off in Trinkamalie -
where the British submarines were. We didn’t have anyone there. We would put
American agents, or agents from Southeast Asia, aboard and send them in to train here - and send them agents for us. We were really getting ready to go into China so we could help defeat the Japanese based in that theatre. I had seven tea plantations that I
supervised.
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ID: What were your jobs as a supervisor?
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JL: Well, see that everyone was happy, and getting fed, and training was taking place
properly. And that clothes were there - and see that that everything was done properly.
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ID: What was that experience like, being a manager?
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JL: Same as commanding troops. I was a Captain in the junior ring, training 1,000
troops at Fort Eustice. I was commanding a battalion - so what’s the difference between
training 1,000 troops to go to war, or supervising and seeing that any organization is
being run properly? It’s all part of the business.
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ID: Fair enough. What was a typical day for you, working for the OSS?
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JL: I didn’t know where I was going. We had a big trip going out, and that’s a different
story. I could be going over to Trincomalee taking two new people who just arrived. I
never went to Trincomalee unless I had an extra person in the car. It would be in a Jeep, about 100 miles going through the jungle, and I had someone with an elephant gun – just in case we were attacked. It wasn’t an easy place. And I had another camp, in Gaul, which was cleared out by the south call. And they were getting the same training that the British gave me up there. And just a dozen different jobs that’s all. Some with the administration, some supervising, training - some making recommendations about doing it somewhat differently, and making sure all of our foreign agents that we had sneaked in were brought out. We had trained some people who had been in the States - we sent them over and trained them for action against Southeast Asia, and we trained them to go in to convince four or five to come out in a submarine - and bring them back to us and we could train them. We were really getting ready to go to on up to China. I left before we went into China. I decided I didn’t want to be there any more - I wanted to get into combat, and went to back to Cairo, Egypt. I ?idn’t get into combat, unfortunately, but I had a bigger experience back there.
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ID: You mentioned you went to Egypt, what was that like?
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JL: Well, I lived there a year and a half. I was the senior intelligence of the entire
Middle East Theater. I worked with the British very much. In fact, I received a
declaration from the King and Queen, King William the Sixth, and I’m a member of the
Order of the British Empire,
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ID: Really?
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JL: Senior member, yes. And I got that from working with the British in Cairo. We had a
theater there; it was called Unified United States Forces in the Middle East. And then
that was changed, we took over Africa - so it was the Africa middle east theater. I was
the Lieutenant Colonial most of the time I was there. I was G-2 in the Army, and have
done a lot of things. I took care of Roosevelt when he met with Hai Saud, this was after
the meeting. I was in charge for three days, and he wanted to talk to these people about
Palestine - and he died two months to the day later. And that was one of my xperiences
there, very interesting, and I have quite a file upstairs preparing to go to the White House history.
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ID: Really? You mentioned you met with Mr. Roosevelt, what was that like? [21:16]
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JL: We didn’t sit down and talk with each other very long. I was only responsible for
seeing that he had enough food, and that the space was secured. I had about three
hundred soldiers guarding him, all around, and the arrangements were that he would
leave there, we had, no one knew that he was out of the country for three weeks up until
that point.
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ID: Really?
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JL: Took a ship to Malta, then flew to Yalta where Stalin hosted Churchill and Roosevelt
for about a week. Then, flew - he was only on a plane twice in his life - and he flew from
Malta to Yalta. From there to the Suez Canal, and we put him back on the ship he came
over on. He met with these people on the ship, that joined the two parts of the canal. And I was responsible for many, many administrative things. Helped with intelligence. There were really only two Secret Service people there and they moved with the ship. I got on a plane with my General, and three hours later went up and Churchill and Roosevelt shook hands - and he had his daughter with him up in in Yalta - and anyway, I saw them and then I went upstairs which means that I’m responsible for security to the press. 24 hours out of Sri Lanka, past the Straits of Gibraltar, and I worked that out with him and his Chief of Staff. And they would use a code word, and there were German submarines in the Mediterranean and they were free until about 24 hours when he got out. Theoretically, they didn’t know he was there, so I had that responsibility. Public
relations wise, I produced the first intelligence papers that told the world he had been out of the country, by that time almost three and a half weeks. No one knew where he was - never questioned it. Wouldn’t happen today. So I had that on my shoulders until we were out of Gibraltar, and waited 24 hours and he returned to Norfolk. He was on a
cruiser at that time. Anyway, I’ve taken too much time on that. That was one of the more
important things I did.ID: Were there any complications when you were seeing him to his locations? [25:18]
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JL: What was that?
ID: Were there any complications when you were…
JL: No. We had a slight thing happen the night before he landed. The British still had
two or three prisoner of war camps south of us, about eight miles, and one of my
assistants waked me at about four in the morning and said we just had word that four or
five prisoners had escaped. And that was the first time there had been any escapes.
ID: Really?
JL: I got up, and got out of bed and we drove down to the camp, and I was only a
Lieutenant Colonel, and the British - he was quite upset I got him out of bed. I told him
of prisoner, and that Roosevelt was here to meet Churchill. He didn’t know about it. I
said I wanted double guards. And I got back to my little camp, and I went to my assistant
and said what do we do about this? What if they got to - this was only a desert, and there
were two landing spots – the two places to come in, two runways. He knew what I
meant, and we drove every up and down, up and down for about an hour, to make sure
there were no bombs put in the runway by these people who had escaped - we had no
idea. That was the last major act I did before he landed. He landed at eight o’clock, - he
was flying in from Yalta, to get to the Stalin meeting, the Churchill meeting. Anyway,
that’s that.
ID: When you were back in Egypt, what was it like working with the British?
JL: Very good, and I enjoyed it very much. It did me very much good because over the
years I had five tours in the Pentagon, and I was in charge of two tours against the
Soviets. In fact I was there during the event with Cuba, during the missile attack in Cuba.
Working with the British, we had two congresses - here, and in London. I would take
about four or five people over to the British who were developing intelligence, this was
when things were really nasty. Anyway, so my experience with the British was I briefed
the senior sir - I forget his name - but anyway, I briefed him once a week based on
American intelligence on the Far East. They had no one to brief them there, and this was
a four-star General. But it did me a lot of good later when we were working with the
British because they knew I had the Order of the British Empire, and it all worked out
very well down the road.
ID: What role do you feel the OSS had in winning World War Two?
JL: What role did they have?
ID: Yes.
JL: In the United States, or…
ID: In general, anywhere.
JL: Well, they were the only source of finished intelligence that we had. And I was out of
the country most of the time so I can’t tell you whether they had a morning briefing in
those days or not like the CIA has - that sort of thing to the president. I don’t know how
to answer that question. So I learned about CIA after the war when I had all my tours
with the Pentagon. I had five tours there, so by the time OSS was gone - so I had no
experience in the United States. In fact, the first year I didn’t have any experience at all
with anyone like that – the CIA was not formed until 1947.
ID: How many different places were you deployed when you were with the OSS? Could
you name a few? [30:44]
JL: No, just Ceylon.
ID: Really?
JL: Well, I saw India, and went into Burma. We had a group in Burma fighting. I went
in there once behind the lines, but it was a lovely island where the headquarters were.
Just seven miles from where we were we had a tea plantation, and most of our people
were living there. I got to know a lot of people. Did you ever hear of Dylan Ripley?
ID: I did not. Who was he?
JL: Well, he returned, he was an ornithologist, and was one of the people with OSS. I
took a lot of civilians out who were allowing me to go through that. Anyway, he ended
up as the director of CIA for 12 years. And he was one of the civilians that I took out
with me. Took him on the train, and he then spent 28 days on the ship when we were
going out. I met a lot of interesting people, let me put it that way. One of the women I
took was a professor at Harvard. I had nine women including this one (looks at a picture
of Julia Child).
ID: Julia Child?
JL: No, Julia McWilliams was her name then.
ID: Really? What was that like?
JL: What?
ID: To be training with, to have her
JL: Awful.
ID: Really?
JL: I take that back. I can’t talk about that.
ID: Really? You mentioned when you were, you went behind the lines in Burma, what
was that like?
JL: Well we sneaked in one day - went by camel, about two miles, and helicoptered
behind the lines. I had about two hundred men - we picked up a lot of other people to
add - that was run by CIA…OSS I mean. A man by the name of Pears was the
commander, and I just made sure they had everything they needed. They were on my
morning report - I’m sure you don’t understand that, but as the administrative commander
I carried them out every morning, assuming they were still alive. I had a morning report
down in Ceylon, which was two hundred miles away, hundred and fifty miles away.
ID: Really?
JL: But I had to assume, and I hadn’t heard anything, so I had to assume that they were
all still alive.
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ID: Oral historian Studs Terkel was quoted saying World War Two was the “good war,”
what is your opinion on the war?
JL: Who did?
ID: Studs Terkel, he was an oral historian.
JL: I never heard of him. Terkel?
ID: Yes, Studs Terkel.
JL: Never heard of him.
ID: Well, he mentioned that World War Two was the “good war.”
JL: Was he in the war?
ID: No.
JL: Then what the hell does he know about it?
ID: Fair enough. What was it like to be part of the first intelligence organization in the
United States?
JL: Well, I knew nothing about it until I got there, you know. I reported in, and I had
about four years in the Army before I knew about it or arrived there. What was it like?
Well, I don’t know - I just did my job. I was told what to do and I did it.
ID: Fair enough. For your training with the British, what was that like, being trained by a
separate country?
JL: Oh, it wasn’t made by them. Where was this, in Egypt?
ID: No, no for the training you received for the OSS. [35:00]
JL: He was working for OSS (looks at Fairburn’s book)
ID: Oh, really?
JL: Oh yes, yes. Because OSS ran the camps - they ran Congressional. They had the
camp down there - he was just a loan from Singapore. Singapore was where he had been.
He’s now mentioned - there was a big display of him in the British museum. I saw that a
few years ago.
ID: What was that like to see?
JL: Oh, it was quite a display. Showed what he did - they had a lot of copies of the things
he used. He taught really…the, see the hands there?
ID: Yes.
JL: You know what it is? He gets close to you, “You ain’t got no eyes bud!” In training,
he even threw some kind of a plastic person, and your first reaction was to go for the
eyes.
ID: Really?
JL: I never did it of course. Well, I did it on the dummies.
ID: What was that like, going through this type of training?
JL: It was different.
ID: Really? Unlike anything you’d experienced before.
JL: Somewhat. Learned how to use tools, and spring caution.
ID: What different tools did they show you, and teach you how to use?
JL: Pretty much what I have here, (looks at small handgun, brass knuckles and a black
knife about 7 inches long). I didn’t see any of the stuff that was in the book. You know,
what I showed you here.
ID: Right. When the OSS was the dissolved in 1945, what was that like?
JL: Well, I don’t think I even knew it at the time. I was still in Cairo. I was in Cairo
until early ’46. I guess I didn’t even know it had been abolished until June of ’45 by
Truman.
ID: What were your reactions when you did hear it had been dissolved?
JL: I didn’t have any feelings about it. I was running my own intelligence. I was in
charge of all of Africa and the Middle East, and I was in Cairo. I was at theater G-2,
which means Intelligence. Are you familiar with the headquarters G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4?
ID: I have heard about G-2, but I have not heard of the others.
JL: Well, G-1 is Personnel, G-2 is Intelligence, G-3 is Operations and G-4 is Supply. So
there are four senior officers. The other three in this instance were all full Colonels - so
they were a bit older than I was.
ID: Did you ever work with those colonels from G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4?
JL: Oh sure. We attended the generals conference every day. We were together - and I
knew what they were doing, and they knew what I was doing.
ID: What was it like working with them?
JL: I was used to it at that point.
ID: Really?
JL: When I was training battalions back in ’42, ’43, ’44, I was accustomed to dealing
with much older people. And when I got to the Pentagon it was very, very different.
When we had CIA in ’46, I was the Army intelligence.
ID: Wow.
JL: Organization. And I was chief of the Middle East and Eastern Europe - it was twenty
countries I think, that’s what I had. And I was listed under the Eurasian division. There
were only two major sections. I had one in early ’46, and the other one was commanding
the Soviet Union for intelligence.
ID: Wow. So you were part of the Middle East?
JL: No, I wasn’t part of the Middle East. I produced intelligence on the Middle East. I
had twenty countries, and I was Eurasian division, and I inter-commanded that for a year
on my second tour. I commanded the Eurasian division. Then later I took over the whole
world in the Pentagon.
ID: Really?
JL: Well, we stopped having G-2 in the Army in 19…I’ll think of it in a minute. I was in
the first thing that was created in the Pentagon - The Defense Intelligence Agency, and I
had two tours in that. I went into that, and they moved all these people into the Defense
Intelligence Agency.
ID: You mentioned that you worked with a lot of people who were a lot older than you
were. Was there any one who you felt intimidated by, or was hard to work with? [40:42]
JL: I’m sure you find somebody that is hard to you. You fell - so what, you do it.
ID: After serving for the OSS, were you ever awarded any medals of honor or awards?
JL: I hold four Legions of Merits, and I have the British declaration, and I have two or
three commendation medals, and there is a Bronze Star in there. They’re all on the wall in
the living room.
ID: Oh really? Could I possibly take a look at them later?
JL: Oh go ahead.
ID: Oh, could we, right now?
JL: Yeah, if you want to.
ID: Where are they?
JL: Oh, they’re in the living room.
ID: I’ll take a look at them later. What was it like when you were awarded those?
JL: Routine.
ID: Fair enough. So you mentioned before that you were not involved in the CIA, but you
worked for them.
JL: Yes, I’ve been involved with them for many years.
ID: What was the difference between OSS and CIA?
JL: Well, the CIA was far more professional because it had been around a long time.
And, when I military attaché in Hungary - it was behind the iron curtain - and the CIA
man and I were very close together in the country, as well as back here. I worked a lot
with him. When I was in New Zealand they didn’t have an agent - the agent was over in
Australia setting up an office. And I helped them set it up by…it was secret who they
were. So things were sent to my office as a military attache, and I would let them come
and pick it up out of my warehouse.
ID: What were some of the challenges of working for the OSS, or necessarily being a
spy?
JL: Well, there was very little military discipline as I had known it before. I don’t know
if there were very many challenges personally. Just a totaly different kind of work.
ID: What was the difference between the military you served in before, and then the
OSS?
JL: Well, I never got to know very many. I didn’t know any senior people in the OSS.
They were mostly civilians, but I don’t remember. I was a senior going out with a Major
with all these people. I was to be shipped out by plane, and they kept holding me, and
when they got 150 people they decided I should be held back, and take them out by train
and ship to Bombay - which I did.
ID: Really? What was that like?
JL: The trip?
ID: Yes.
JL: Pleasant going out to the country. We got to California… I had done that many
times, four times. So I was permitted to be the conductor, shall we say, leader for the
ship to go over-seas. And out of the baggage car, the Army cooked their food on the
train, and there was no place to sleep. We were traveling first class on the train.
Everyone had a bunk, and we ate in the dining room - and that’s the difference. OSS had
lots of money.
ID: Did you ever have a preference of working for the military or the OSS? Would you
like one better than the other?
JL: Well, I really couldn’t wait to get back into the military. I had been promised a good
job in Cairo, and I decided to go. Actually, I tried to go behind the “Iron Curtain” with a
battalion that was assigned to me, but OSS wouldn’t release me because I knew too
much.
ID: What was that like, when they wouldn’t allow you to take that trip? [45:21]
JL: Took other steps, and they released me and I went back to Cairo. Somebody was
asking for me. Very senior officer - he had me shipped back Cairo, and I became a good
friend of his, and we traveled to Europe a couple of times. And we went to the War
Crimes trials together in early ’46. War Crimes trials were in Nuremberg.
ID: Who was this person you mentioned?
JL: He was the OSS leader in Cairo for the East.
ID: Really? And how did you meet him again?
JL: I had to report to him because I was still on OSS, whatever. And he said, “Do you
know why you’re here?” And I said, “Well, I think Colonel Makin has been trying to get
me transferred” - and he was old enough to be my father - and he said “That’s exactly
right. Makin and I have known each other for many years.” So, I reported to OSS
because I was still on their channel, and I got back in the Army which I wanted to do.
ID: When you went back to the Army, what did you do after you were finished with the
OSS?
JL: I became Senior Intelligence Officer for the Africa Middle East Theater, G-2.
ID: What was that like?
JL: Well, it was a pretty big job for a Lieutenant Colonel.
ID: Did you enjoy it?
JL: Oh I did, yes. I told you, I briefed the British once a week and briefed my own
commander and the staff on what was happening. I did a lot of jobs in Palestine. I was
up in Palestine, Jerusalem probably every two or three months for a while.
ID: Really?
JL: And I know that area thoroughly.
ID: What was that like, being in those two areas?
JL: Well, it was interesting - that’s about all you can say. You might have some hard
times there, you might. You’re not living in the American fashion, you’re living in
difficult areas. That was all part of my job. At that time I traveled to Iran, Afghanistan,
Jordan, and of course I was in Egypt - and what else…Palestine, and Greece and Turkey.
Those are my areas at that time - oh well, and all of Africa. And my commander - some
part of the world were assigned to us - we took take a trip around, and we visited a
country before he signed, and agreed to put them in our theater. It was contingent on
whether he thought he could do it or not. We had a two-week tour all through Africa.
Then I made another trip for CIA – well, it was for the White House, but it was a CIA
committee - and that was much later on, that was my last tour.
ID: What was the tour through Africa like?
JL: Well, I remember standing in South Africa and trying to learn how to pronounce the
word “apartheid”.
ID: Really.
JL: I think most of us got it, one time or another.
ID: You mentioned Apartheid, Nelson Mandela in South Africa just passed away, what
are your…
JL: Oh, I can’t remember now. I was there in ’64, ’65 - he must have been in jail then, I
don’t know. But I remember the word was difficult, and I remember I said to myself,
“I’m gonna learn how to pronounce it before I leave here.”
ID: What was it like being in that environment during that period of time?
JL: What?
ID: What was it like being in that environment of Apartheid during that time? [50:03]
JL: We had a nice hotel.
ID: Really?
JK: I don’t remember anything nasty at all.
ID: How many different places were you stationed throughout your time of service?
JL: Well I had five tours in the Pentagon. Over-seas you mean?
ID: Yes.
JL: Ceylon, it’s now Sri Lanka, Budapest, Hungary for two and a half years, New
Zealand for three years, Vietnam for a year and a half.
ID: What was it like living in Vietnam?
JL: Well again, I was in charge of all intelligence production.
ID: For all of those countries you just mentioned, were you in charge of intelligence for
all of them?
JL: Well, I was military attaché, and I was a senior in Hungary and in New Zealand. I ran
intelligence, and then of course in the States. Commanded troops in New England - that
was after the war college. And I interviewed for troop duty, and we filled in between
Boston and New York City, and I had the big missiles that had, I can’t think of the
missiles now. What’s the big missile?
ID: I’m not sure.
JL: Well there’s the Ajax and Zeus. I’m sure you don’t remember that. I can’t think
what it is. Anyway, I filled out the center between Boston and New York City, and
defend against Soviet Union.
ID: Really?
JL: I had nuclear warheads up there.
ID: What was that like? Commanding that? Being a part of that?
JL: Well, I was damn careful, we had to be.
ID: Right.
JL: I had to be very careful, and it was supposed to be a big secret, but everybody knew
that if I had dogs on the base, they knew very well that it was something special.
ID: What was one of your proudest moments during your time of serving?
JL: They were all the same.
ID: Really? How so?
JL: Hm?
ID: How so, were they…
JL: You just get used to it.
ID: Really? And how long did you serve for?
JL: 30 years
ID: Thirty years, wow. What was that like, serving for that long period of time, of your
life?
JL: That was it. Started another career and got busy.
ID: What did you do afterwards?
JL: I became an appraiser of personal property. Antiques, vexillology, you know what
that is?
ID: Vexillology?
JL: Well yesterday I couldn’t spell it, and today I am one. It’s the study of flags. I love
flags. Civil War flags.
ID: Really?
JL: Only flags a hundred or more years old. I have a lot of the Civil War flags.
ID: You mentioned you had several tours with the Pentagon, what was that like?
JL: Five.
ID: Five! What was that like?
JL: I was in intelligence the whole time. I was the first one, I showed you on the board.
At first I was in charge of the Middle East, and then the Middle East the second time.
And the third time, Soviet Union and the Middle East. And by then, they had formed the
first intelligence agency, and it took over Army, Navy and Air force - worldwide
capabilities. And I had a job for four, five and a half years. Then I went to Vietnam, and
I came back and they gave me the whole Far East back. There are two ways of doing
intelligence. There’s either…it slipped my mind now…either you can be in charge of
intelligence worldwide on a particular subject, or you can be in charge of a whole area.
Before I went over, I had the world, when I came back they went from subject, which I
had then, to geographic. Geographic is all divided up into five parts, and so I got the Far
East since I had been serving intelligence in Vietnam.
ID: What was it like going from a transition of “The world” to just certain sections?
[55:38]
JL: You go on up and accept it. Tighten your belt and do it.
ID: Fair enough. Looking back on your time, what do you feel the legacy is of the OSS?
JL: Well, it got us through the war somehow. I’m not sure how much they did that
helped us, because the fighting was really taking place…General McArthur didn’t want
any part of OSS. In fact, I don’t think he allowed any OSS people to come to his theater.
Some reference to that, I didn’t know it at the time. But, OSS planted the seed of what
CIA would be. And CIA was started in ’47, and when they did away with OSS, they
formed SSU. Are you familiar with that?
ID: No. What was that?
JL: Special Services Unit.
ID: Were you involved with that at all?
JL: I was debriefed by them when I came back from Cairo.
ID: What was that like?
JL: Oh, just a debriefing - talking for half a day to a, in that case, a Brigadier General. In
that case, they were keeping a file for when and if another organization formed. So they
pretty much had everything at a warehouse somewhere, and they would interrogate
people. And when I came back form Cairo, my debriefing that first week was to go see
this General who was head of SSU, the Strategic Services Unit. And I guess he was
holding most of the OSS files, I’m guessing, and in fact, I’m pretty sure I knew that at the
time. And that’s it.
ID: Do you have any particularly strong memories from the OSS or the CIA, with your
work for either?
JL: Well, most of them were pretty good - nothing really special. I remember some of
my CIA discussions where I disagreed with the CIA over how big the enemy was in
Vietnam. I was against CIA, and I was against Vietnam, and against the General -
Westmoreland. I opposed, and that’s when I took over the Far East for CIA and
Pentagon.
ID: So you did disagree with CIA, at times?
JL: Oh yes, oh yeah. Now on this particular thing, I worked with CIA, kind of backroom
type work, to determine the strength of the Soviet Union. Military strength, how many
divisions there were and so on. Published records - years and years with 124, 175
Divisions. And I was instrumental, shall we say, in working with CIA to…and got a little
more power. And the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, not the crap they’re
doing now, but they were working on some things. We put together a much lower figure
on my one tour when I came in, so that they wouldn’t spend so much money on
equipment and stuff. But yes. We worked together, and like I said, I worked with a CIA
agent in Budapest. We made a couple trips together. We shouldn’t have, but we did, and
we were being followed everywhere we went.
ID: Really? What was that like? [1:00:4]
JL: Oh, it was terrible.
ID: Really?
JL: 24 hours a day. Always had a “nice man” across the street reading a newspaper when
it was raining under a street light. He would sit there looking at a Williams Towsow 24
hours a day. I would go out the back way and sneak across the tents, take off in a car
waiting down the street for me, for that block and a half.
ID: Did you ever have to use any of your training you received from Mr. Fairburn?
JL: No. Well, I’m still ready for the guy who breaks in the house. I’ll go for the eyes
first!
ID: Really? That was one of the things they taught you, go for the eyes first?
JL: Well think about it.
ID: It does make sense. Is there anything else that I forgot to ask you, that you would
think would be interesting to share about the OSS or your time serving in the military?
JL: No, it was very interesting to take the women and the civilian men because they were
in civilian clothes. And when we got there, south of LA, Los Angeles, we were all put
through repeat training - gas mask drill, and practiced climbing up and down the net
when the ship supposedly sinking, things like that. But the girls and the men had to do
the same thing, and many of them had never done it before.
ID: Wow.
JL: And, we ended up with 5,000 men on the ship. Sleeping in hammocks, and of course
every time they’d see a girl there would be a whistle - and the girls were all under my
control.
ID: Really? Wow. So was that fairly interesting?
JL: Oh it was, yes. The trip, it was me, and I had been strictly military up until that point,
and I had all these civilians. They even added some more who were waiting to go. I
called them “maws and baws”. They gave me a Coca Cola salesmen, two red cross girls,
and they put them all on my so called list.
ID: Really?
JL: While we were on the ship. That was a 28-day trip.
ID: 28 days, what was that like?
JL: We were being followed by subs, and we zig-zag, zig-zag, and the big ship was a
mariposa - a beautiful liner. And that destroyer we took they later tore apart - and they
had all these extra boats, and so on. And including a lot of hammocks, and it was
different. We put in at Perth for a full day in Australia. That was a nice day. And again
I had the women. And if something happened on deck, and a woman was involved, it
was my fault.
ID: Really?
JL: Oh yes, it was different.
ID: What was that like, having that responsibility?
JL: Take care of it, best you can.
ID: Really? Well, Mr. Lanterman, thank you so much for sharing your story with me,
about the OSS.
JL: What I usually say to people is, “and some of my stories are true.”
(Laughs)
ID: Thank you. (Laughs) Some of them are true.
JL: I like to end my stories that way.
Analysis Paper
According to historian Edward Hallett Carr, “Facts form the backbone of history.”
And while conducting an oral history, one gains those facts, and can then analyze what
has been said, slowly building the “backbone of history” (Carr 1). Oral Historian Donald
Ritchie said that oral history is “Stories that societies have passed along in spoken form
from generation to generation. Oral history interviewing has been occurring since history
was first recorded.” (1). This means that oral histories have been around as long as
history has, and is a great way to gain a first hand perspective on an event, and what
transpired.
On December 21, 2013, Jack Lanterman shared his story working as an
intelligence coordinator for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.
According to oral historian Donald Ritchie, oral history also “…collects memories and
personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews.” With the
benefit of hindsight, critiquing the Oral History Project is much simpler. To analyze and
write about a period in history, one must be objective so you can learn and understand all
the facts, so as to get rid of any conscious preconceptions.
There are both weaknesses and strengths to an oral history. For example, oral
history can give an in depth account of the time period, because the person witnessed the
event first-hand. Furthermore, the interviewee can give a first hand account that may be
fairly accurate, as opposed to one who is only researching the topic, using more
traditional sources, or 10+ years after the event has ceased. However, oral history can
also be difficult because the topic in question might not be exactly what the interviewee
worked on or did. Moreover, oral history can be difficult because someone reviewed and
researched the topic after it had stopped “fuming” to write the history of it, and might not
have necessarily had all the facts about the topic. If someone reviewed the historical time
period after it had stopped smoking, the information might not have been as accurate, as
opposed to someone who was there personally. Historian Barbara Tuchman said, “I’m
not saying that emotion should have no place in history. On the contrary, I think it is an
essential element of history” (6). This quote sheds some light on what history is, and also
what oral history is. Emotion is key in oral history, for while conducting an interview, the
facial expressions and inflection one uses can tell a lot about the interviewee’s feelings of
the time period. Just as Tuchman said, emotion is an “…essential part of history.” Oral
historian Donald Ritchie said, “Oral history is an active process in which interviewers
seek out, record, and preserve such memories” (2). This shows the true purpose of oral
history is to preserve memories that can later be called upon to learn about a historical
time period.
During the interview with Jack Lanterman, he mentioned several dates that
seemed to be particularly important and significant to him. For example, he recalled the
1928 “disturbance with money”, as well as the very bad economic conditions. He also
remembers how hard work was to come by saying, “Work was hard to get, and my father
was, he did not have a good education, and he took whatever jobs he could get, and there
were times when he didn’t have any jobs. Twenty dollars a week was a lot of money”
(Lanterman 16). Mr. Lanterman also recalls the Roosevelt election in 1932, as well as
the year when he received his first formal education in 1960. Lastly, he recalls the year
he came out of the war, 1960, he was a Lieutenant Colonel, but he was regular army
officer Lieutenant as of 1941, with the class of ’41.
One aspect of my interview that my interviewee mentioned that really shocked me
was how disparaging he felt towards Julia Child, or Julia McWilliams back when he
worked with her. Mr. Lanterman also surprised me when he acted very calm when asked
about all the medals he had ever won, referring to them as “Routine.” When Mr.
Lanterman said that working with Julia Child, or Julia McWilliams back then, was awful,
I was quite shocked. Growing up, one always ascribed the name Julia Child to greatness.
However, it was interesting to meet someone who had different opinions on a
“superstar.” It was also interesting to see the nature of someone who had worked with
intelligence and coordination in the war. This was surprising because the nature of Mr.
Lanterman was very nonchalant.
Another aspect of this project that was interesting was comparing the thoughts of
my interviewee to those of historians and researchers who had not only studied the OSS,
but studied WWII as well. For example, one of the questions I asked my interviewee
was, “Oral historian Studs Terkel was quoted saying World War Two was the “good
war,” what is your opinion on the war?” When he heard this, he asked me if Studs Terkel
had been in the war, and when I answered with “No”, he said, “Then what the hell does
he know about it?” (Lanterman 33). Furthermore, in the textbook, it was interesting to
see how the author described the OSS and what it did, and to have a juxtaposition of the
author’s thoughts and the interviewee’s thoughts. It was interesting to see someone’s
thoughts on the topic who had not experienced it first hand. It was an interesting contrast between what Mr. Lanterman thought about the OSS. Mr. Lanterman had experienced the event first hand, and could give in-depth descriptions on what happened, and what was going on during that time period, as opposed to someone who had only researched the topic. Furthermore, it was interesting to have a primary source as opposed to a secondary source.
?
Julianna Barringer, a graduate of St. Andrew’s, also conducted her Oral History
Project on the OSS in 2002, and when I compared the two interviews together, it was
interesting to see that although two different people were interviewed, many of the
thoughts were somewhat similar. For example, Ms. Barringer’s interviewee mentioned
that she had learned map making and that the war influenced her to get involved in the
war. Mr. Lanterman, also learned how to make maps, and his involvement in the OSS
was due to his activity in the war. The war influenced him in his part in the OSS.
There is an amplitude of significance pertaining to the interview I conducted for
this project, and it was interesting to get several different opinions on the topic. For
example, Mr. Lanterman, my interviewee, did not have glowing recollections from his
time on the OSS, while other sources I read considered the work of the OSS as
instrumental in the ending of WWII. During the researching phase, I had initially made
the OSS out to be something it truly was not. I had believed that the OSS was a massive spy organization that was instrumental in fighting the war; however, after conducting the interview, I realized that although the OSS aided in winning the war, it was not an overwhelming force. Moreover, it was interesting to see how may different countries in which the OSS operated. I had originally believed that the OSS strictly operated in Europe and a brought back intelligence to the United States. However, after conducting the interview, it was evident that there were a multitude of countries that hosted spies throughout the war. For example, Mr. Lanterman worked heavily in Egypt, and later was in charge of gathering intelligence in Middle Eastern countries.
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Throughout this arduous process of creating this project, I have learned many
different skills. For example, the Oral History Project has taught me many different
pieces of knowledge. However, the two most important things this project has taught me
are patience and planning. Planning is a crucial element to this project, and if one does
not plan accordingly and procrastinates, the project becomes ten times harder. But, if one is able to plan prolifically and appropriately, the project can be broken down into much easier, more manageable steps, and not seem so daunting. Secondly, one must have patience while doing this arduous project, because without patience, this project can seem much scarier than it actually is. If one can be patient with the context paper, the interview and transcription, the project can seem a lot less overwhelming than it did in the beginning.
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This project not only taught me the life skills of patience and planning, I also
learned more about Mr. Lanterman, and what it was like to be in the OSS. I learned that
Mr. Lanterman has no recollection of how he began serving in the OSS. This shows how secretive the OSS was, for they did not reach out to him before selecting him. All Mr. Lanterman recalls is being called in to see a Colonel at Fort Meade, and the Colonel said,
“You’re going somewherenvery special” (Lanterman 20). It was interesting to see what Mr.
Lanterman remembered, and did not remember, about how he began his services in the OSS.
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Works Consulted
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Decker, Ian A. “OSS: The First Intelligence Organization of the United States that
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