Nicholas Reynolds and Katie S. Sanders – Ortiz’s War

About this episode

From 1932 until the end of World War II, Peter J. Ortiz was almost constantly involved in international warfare—13 years of it—either fighting or gathering intelligence about fighting. He started in the French Foreign Legion, moved to the U.S. Marines when the United States entered the war, and was one of the first people to serve in America’s fledgling spy network, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He was invaluable. He had grown up spending a lot of time in Europe and spoke at least five languages; some reports put the number as high as 10. By the end of the war, he had been decorated with two dozen medals from three countries. The subtitle to the book offers some insight as to why…