About:
The Phantom: The Untold Story of the American Marine the Nazis Could Not Kill by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin is the story of Major Pierre "Pete" Ortiz, a World War II hero that makes all of Hollywood action heroes seem tame. Misters Drury and Clavin are both published authors and journalists.
- 352 pages
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1250285852
My rating for The Phantom - 5
Buy The Phantom from Amazon.com*
More books by Bob Drury*
More books by Tom Clavin*
Thoughts:
I can't believe that Major Ortiz's name never came up (or I didn't notice) in the World War Il books I've read. Mr. Ortiz was born with action in his blood, he always followed a fight, whether it would be with the French Foreign Legion, the US Marine Corp, or the OSS.
Mr. Ortiz was born in Manhattan and educated in Paris, speaking several languages fluently. Before enlisting in 1942 to the Marines, he served eight years in the French Foreign Legion. By the time he started Marines boot camp, he was already a veteran of wars in Africa, Europe, wounded several times and survived German torpedoes as a merchant marine. His name came across the desk of OSS direct "Wild Bill" Donovan, who immediately requested him to join the agency.
One of the few Marines to operate in Europe before the Allies landed, he made a name for himself earning the nickname "Das Fantom" from the Gestapo. His covert missions included organizing and equipping the French Resistance, sabotage, and rescuing downed pilots. He earned two Navy Crosses for his efforts along with 22 other medals from France, England and the United States, making him the most decorated marine serving as an OSS officer.
Man of la Book's Margin Notes: Systems-Level Shadow Warfare and the Human Logic Layer
In cybersecurity we rely on specialized operational architecture when we have a system that operates in untrusted territory. The model we use, called zero-trust, means that we trust no one (machines included), and always verify. Major Ortiz seemed to be the human realization of this model, operating in a localized, zero-trust environment of Haute-Savoie, away from centralized command, always in danger and, of course, always verifying.
When I think back on other books I've read about World War II spies, it's obvious how different operators solved the problem of surviving within a human network.
1. Duško Popov (Into the Lion's Mouth by Larry Loftis): Major Ortiz was deployed deep in enemy territory in combat conditions and isolation. Mr. Popov, a Serbian playboy and double agent, operated in plain sight using his wealth, bravado, and skills as a social engineer to move within Axis high command circles. Mr. Popy intercepted sensitive, accurate, and actionable intelligence passing it along to the allies, while feeding corrupt data to the German Abwehr.
2. Juan Pujol García, a.k.a. "Garbo" (Operation Garbo by Juan Pujol and Nigel West): Major Ortiz's relied on guerrilla fighters from the French resistance, working along side them day in and day out. Garbo, on the other hand, had a virtual network of sub-agents, none of them existed. He wrote thousands of fake reports that made the successfully, and fictitious, made the case to the Nazi high command where they should put their troops on D-Day. He was so reliable, the Third Riech even awarded him medals.
3. Fritz Kolbe (The Honest Spy by Andreas Kollender): A man of action, Major Ortiz attacked the enemies in the field, Mr. Kolbe o the other hand, worked in an office, but risked his life, nonetheless. Leveraging his access to systematically steal thousands of top-secret diplomatic cables, and pass them to the OSS, Mr. Kolbe made a huge difference without firing a shot or hiding in the shadows.
The Phantom by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin is not a run of the mill military biography, but an incredible book which goes into the begins of the OSS (with an honorable mention of lan Fleming), and inner workings of bureaucratic fights which such an agency is sure to encounter.
This biography reads as a cross between an espionage thriller and an adventure story. Mr. Ortiz is described as a man of iron, in body and spirit, not afraid to look Death in the eye, until Death blinks.
And, he was a movie star to boot.
Buy The Phantom from Amazon.com*
More books by Bob Drury*
More books by Tom Clavin*
Ortiz earned two Navy Crosses and led a life that reads like a Hollywood thriller, yet remains relatively unknown compared to other WWII icons.
Who is another unsung wartime hero or covert operative you think deserves more spotlight?
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
