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Greek / American Operational Group Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
Memoirs of World War 2

Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

Embarkation, Esprit de Corps

The Greek-American Operation Group was finally on its way overseas; we boarded the liberty ship, Pierre L'Enfant, on December 23, 1943. I remember climbing the gangplank with my rifle and my duffle bag, and recalling the newsreel photos of the GIs who had preceded us overseas. I had just turned 19 years old on December 6, 1943; our unit was anxious for overseas duty and for the unknown

It is impossible to describe the esprit de corps of the Greek/USOG. During the group's first reunion in 1991 in Denver, Colorado, Communication Officer First Lieutenant Theodore Russell of Dearborn, Michigan, was interviewed by Denver's Television Channel 9. The following is an excerpt from that interview in which First Lieutenant Russell related his thoughts about the Greek/USOG when the unit was at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, preparing to embark for overseas:

The unit confirmed in my lifetime what determination and devotion was to duty. These guys [the Greek OG] were the toughest men and best trained unit in the army. To sum it up, I will never forget when we were at the port of embarkation at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, where thousands of young and ill-trained soldiers were being sent into combat.

At the camp, our boys would march and sing both in English and Greek, and the entire camp would say, Who are these guys? We were dressed smartly, had new experimental clothing, including jump boots, and were the first unit to be assigned the new Eisenhower jacket. We looked good, acted good, and the biggest thing, we felt good. Officers from other outfits would ask me, Who are you guys? Security told us to say that we were truck drivers. They knew that wasn't the case.

As I speak now, I vividly recall a dreary day in Virginia when many units were marching, including the 88th and 45th Divisions, slated for combat duty in Italy. Standing aside as communicating officer, I could see these poor soldiers in these infantry outfits scared and ill prepared for combat duty. Our group was marching with joy. We were hyped up and ready for combat. We wanted to go into battle. We were not forced to go into battle. We were prepared to go into battle.

We had a good group of commanders who were all young men. I had been in the infantry since 1939 when I joined the Michigan National Guard. Later, I graduated from infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia, class #12, and had been in many infantry units. I had seen people with whom I said I would not like to go into battle. But with the Greek/US Operational Group, you don't go into battle, you go for an experience. We were told that it would be a one-way trip; no one was required to go. They told us that we should expect 90 percent casualties. That was not a deterrent for me or any other member of our unit. Every man knew what he had committed to do when he volunteered for the OG, and this is the inspiration that I hang on to in life.

I knew a lot of guys who tried to find ways to stay out of the army or, at least, to see no combat duty. They did things that, unfortunately, were dishonorable.

You couldn't stop our guys; these guys would only say, Let's go! We boarded our transport ship, the Pierre L'Enfant, on December 23, 1943. Our enlisted men told us that if we did not leave immediately for overseas, they would go AWOL and spend Christmas in New York. The officers in charge of the convoy told the captain of the USS Pierre L'Enfant to get the Greeks out of here and leave the port immediately. On Christmas Day, we met up with one of the largest convoys to cross the Atlantic at that time.

The TV moderator ended the interview by asking Russell if they were all volunteers, and he answered in the affirmative.



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