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OSS Agent: Lieutenant Mike Powell
DOB: May 5, 1916.
POB: Rice Lake, WI
Education: West Point, Military History, Languages
Languages: English, French, German
Prior to his entry into military service, Lieutenant Mike Powell
completed a degree in military history and languages at West Point.
He served as a rifleman in the 34th Infantry Division, where he showed
marksmanship and field craft second to none amongst the thousands of
applicants to the 1st Ranger Battalion.
His performance at Carrickfergus
and at the live fire training exercises at Achnacarry, Scotland was
exemplary. The OSS thus internally (and unofficially) designated Powell
as 'special infantry', an elite soldier with Ranger-level training, available
for and subject to flexible and short-term reassignment for specific missions
requiring covert deception and/or sabotage in preparation for major offensives.
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Espionage is perhaps as old as war itself. Knowing as much as you can about
your enemy (and sometimes your allies) is the foundation upon which battle
plans are often prepared. Nonetheless, back in the early 1940's, the idea
of a central government agency responsible for gathering intelligence was rather
new - and controversial. Then something happened on December 7, 1941 at a
place called Pearl Harbor.
The Office of Strategic Services was officially created in June of 1942, under
the guidance of General "Wild Bill" Donovan. If ever the romantic notions of
being a spy actually existed, it probably was with the OSS. Young men and woman,
many of whom were recruited out of Ivy League schools, entered into the sometimes
literal cloak and dagger world of wartime intelligence. It was an exciting and
dangerous time, and as the war grew, so did the mission of the OSS. Sabotage,
subversion, search and rescue all became part of the organization's daily operation.
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