Chapter 24

April 3, 1945

Tuesday

Washington, D.C.:

Lt. General Edward Edmondson was in conference with Major General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, the head of the Office of Strategic Services. While no one could hear what was said, everyone in the outer office could hear the tone of the conversation. Make that the tone of the fight between the two generals. And everyone, from the lowest clerk in the mailroom to Donovan's secretary decided they should make themselves scarce. Everyone that is, except for Edmondson's aide, Major Elliot Mason. He alone knew what the fight was about. And he also knew who would win it.

"Now, you listen, Mr. 'Wild Bill', and you listen good!" said the gruff and loud voice of General Edmondson. "I know you've built up one hell of an organization, and I'm not belittling that. It was long overdue, given the almost total lack of intelligence we had before the war(1). But you also made a ton of enemies, a lot of them in the military, doing it. And you fouled up more than once to the point where even FDR isn't happy with you. You also seem to forget what MY specialty is. I know where the bodies are buried. Your bodies! My God, if the President . . . Never mind him, if Hoover(2) heard what you got up to — the name Robert Jared Morrison(3) ring a bell?"

Donovan sat down hard on his chair. "How the hell do you know about Morrison?" he whispered.

"I told you I know where your bodies are buried, Mr. Wild Bill. And you sure as hell buried Morrison deep. So deep I'm thinking you don't even know if he's alive."

"Is he?" Donovan whispered.

"Yeah, he is. No thanks to you! Fortunately for him, he's got good people looking out for him now, so he should stay alive. But what do you think Hoover would say about your little stunt? You broke how many laws pulling it, not to mention what you made that man do for you when he was emotionally broken. If anybody finds out about him, he's gonna be a pariah in the U.S. and a target in Germany."

"You're not going to tell Hoover or the President about him, Teddy. You're too good a man for that," Donovan said.

"Don't count on that, Bill. Right now, I'm more interested in saving someone else. And I've got news for you, Morrison would agree. But I don't need to blow Morrison out of the water. I've got more than enough others to damn you with. And they're not good men like Morrison is." He leaned over the desk, staring at Donovan. "So, Mr. Wild Bill, are you going to back me up?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Okay, Teddy. You've got my vote. But look, there are others with no baggage that could use some help and protection after the war. I'd like something for them too."

Edmondson nodded. "Maybe you're not a lost cause after all, Bill. All right. But I want Dulles(4) to give me a list, not you."

"He's in Switzerland at the Embassy."

"Not a problem. I'll be stopping there shortly after I get back to England."

Donovan grinned. "Good luck with that! You know you'll double or triple your return time, given the restrictions the Swiss have put on crossing their borders by Allied or Axis personnel. Especially since we bombed them a few times!(5)"

A grin. "As I told you before, Bill, my resources are now much better than yours!"

"Don't rub it in! Okay, when are you going to present your case?"

"I see Marshall this afternoon."

"He's not going to be easy to persuade. You can't bribe him as you did me. The man is all honor and integrity."

Edmondson smiled. "I don't need to bribe Marshall, Bill. All an honest man needs is the truth." An inward jolt of pleasure as Donovan winced. "I'll let you know when we're seeing the President."

In his office at the Pentagon, General George C. Marshall(6) leaned back in his chair and put the file down on his desk. He looked at Lt. General Edward Edmondson.

"That is probably the most remarkable story I've heard in this office, General Edmondson," said the very formal and correct General Marshall. "And I have heard more than a few."

"Yes, sir. I know."

Marshall stood and looked out the window. "What you propose is virtually unprecedented, General Edmondson."

"There have been other cases, General Marshall. Perhaps not quite like this one, at least not recently. My aide compiled a list of others — "

"Yes, I saw." Marshall turned back to Edmondson. "The President will be harder to convince. You know he's the one who has to send this to the Senate."

"Yes, sir."

"The good thing is that right now there are so many candidates that the Senate doesn't do more than glance at the names and approve them."

"I know, sir."

A faint smile. "How long have you been planning this coup, Teddy?"

A smile. George C. Marshall was famous for keeping relations strictly formal in the office, even with old friends. So, the use of his name was more than encouraging.

"The truth? It's been in the back of my head for a while. But the last mission and the news from the East — what the Soviets are doing, what they did to the Poles we returned to Poland with the guarantee of protection(7) — the world, Europe is getting too frightening."

"I agree. Even the President is beginning to see the truth about Stalin."

"Is it too late?"

"I pray not. All right, General Edmondson. I have a meeting with Mr. Roosevelt tomorrow afternoon at one. You will accompany me to Warm Springs(8)."

"I didn't know he was there."

"Few people do. The Secret Service and his other protectors don't release information about him until after the fact." He looked at Edmondson. "He will be a hard sell, General."

Edmondson nodded. "I know, sir." A hesitation. "There is one thing that report," he nodded at the file, "doesn't have in it, sir. The only written information on it is locked in my safe in London. If that file and our arguments don't move the President, I will use it."

"I admit I am curious, General Edmondson. But I will respect your judgment regarding its use. We leave at 0500 tomorrow morning for Fort Benning."

"Yes, sir." Edmondson saluted and left the office.

1) Prior to General Marshall's appointment as Roosevelt's Chief of Staff in 1939, the US had an army of 174,000 men and ranked nineteenth in size in the world. Its equipment was obsolete with wooden tanks for training and many planes were biplanes, and its operating divisions were at half-strength. Its officers (14,000 pre-war) needed to wait for years before any promotions were possible. Men like Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley and others languished in low permanent army grades until men above them died or retired. Before WW2, each branch of the military had a tiny intelligence section; there was little funding, little interest, no coordination, no information sharing, and no oversight. When the war began in '39, FDR and Donovan realized the US needed a reliable civilian intelligence agency. With British help and training, COI was set up in 1941, later renamed as the OSS.

2) FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI was charged with domestic intelligence and security, which Hoover jealously guarded.

3) Robert Jared Morrison, real name of Hans Teppel. "A Bad Day in Berlin". Also see Act Four, Scene 1 and Mel Hughes: Dress Rehearsal.

4) Allen Dulles: OSS agent at US Embassy in Switzerland who actively cultivated several high level anti-Hitler contacts. Unfortunately, Washington chose not to believe a lot of their information.

5) There were some 70 incidents where Swiss cities and areas were bombed, mainly by US bombers, resulting in some deaths. Most were attributed to crew error, bad weather, etc. A number of military personnel were court-martialed and reparations were paid.

6) 5-star general of the Army and the president's Chief of Staff

7) They were killed or disappeared into gulags, as did thousands of Poles who had formed an underground army against the Nazis. In defiance of the Yalta agreements, Stalin set up a puppet Communist government answerable to him.

8) Warm Springs, Georgia — site of the Little White House for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (pictures of the simple house are online). FDR first went to Warm Springs when he contracted polio as an adult in 1921, and was a frequent visitor.