Guardian Spies: The Story of the U.S. Coast Guard and OSS in World War II

The Story of the U.S. Coast Guard and OSS in World War II

Guardian Spies

Introduction

In the buildup to America’s entry into World War II during the summer of 1941,
President Roosevelt empowered William J. Donovan of New York, a highly decorated
World War I veteran and recipient of the Medal of Honor, with a directive to stand up
the office of the Coordinator of Information (COI). In 1942 the COI became the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS), laying the foundation for what would later become the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The men and women of the COI, and later the OSS,
were recruited from America’s elite colleges and universities, federal agencies, and
military services to collect and analyze information as one of the primary directives
provided by the president. Equally important was the "supplementary activity that
would facilitate securing information important for national security…,"[1] meaning the
responsibility to conduct covert, counter-intelligence and espionage operations.

The history of the Office of Strategic Services has been well documented throughout
the years. What is little known, however, is the relationship between the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS) and U.S. Coast Guard, including the formerly Classified history
of the Coast Guard men attached to the OSS during World War II in Europe and the
China, Burma, India (CBI) Theater of Operations.

The story begins with the creation of the office of Coordinator of Information (COI)
and its use of Coast Guard signals intelligence intercepts, and then moves to the
SECRET "Philadelphia Plan" negotiations. This important dialouge facilitated possible
OSS cooperation with the Coast Guard as a source for training its newly-created
Auxiliary and a goal of enhancing domestic port security operations. Even less known,
many of the Coast Guardsmen recruited for their swimming, diving, boat handling and
signaling skills were at the heart of OSS Maritime Unit (MU) and Operational Swimmer
Group (OSG) operations.

Lieutenant John Babb (USNR), Chief of the OSS Maritime Unit in the India, Burma
Theater said in his July 1945 report to OSS HQ in Washington D.C. that:

Enough cannot be said in the praise of these [Coast Guard] men and the

remainder of the group which joined on 13 January, for the spirit in which they

took

up their new assignment and the cooperation and loyalty that they gave

us. Their

lot was not an easy one, but their previous training proved invaluable.

They were

engaged in the infiltration of agents where the existence of the

enemy was known

and in working their way many miles into enemy lines

through mangrove swamps

under enemy outposts, and dodging enemy M.L's.

We can be thankful that no men

were lost through enemy action.[2]

This research documents and analyzes not only the archived history of these
operations, but also the stories of the 120 Coast Guard men who were pioneers of
the OSS to include OSS/USCG Domestic Coordination; OSS Detachment 101, 404, and
505 Air and Maritime Unit operations; UDT 10 in the Pacific; and the Operational
Swimmer Groups referred to as "Frogmen," which later became the foundation for
Central Intelligence Agency covert dive operations, U.S. Navy SEALS, and Special
Operations Command Combat Swimmers.

On September 11, 1941 President Roosevelt directed in Executive Order 8895:

"the Coast Guard, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall,

during

the period of the present unlimited emergency, operate as a part of the

Navy,

subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Navy..."

Admiral Waesche, the longest serving Commandant of the United States Coast Guard
and the first Coast Guard officer to achieve three and four stars, oversaw the
transformation of the small peacetime Coast Guard fleet into a force of 160,000 men
manning 30 destroyer escorts, 75 frigates, 750 cutters, 290 Navy vessels, and 255
Army vessels, among scores of smaller craft.[3]

Not mentioned in any formal history of WWII, the Coast Guard or the OSS was the
unprecedented cooperation between General Bill Donovan of the Office of Strategic
Services and Commandant Waesche of the United States Coast Guard. Under the
leadership of both men the Coast Guard provided significant support to OSS
operations on the Potomac, the Maritime Unit in Europe and the Burma India theater,
and West Coast Schools and Training until the OSS was disbanded under Executive
Order 9621 on October 1, 1945 by President Harry Truman.

By August of 1944 there were 226 men in the Maritime Unit of the OSS. Almost half of
those men were Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has long been known as "guardians
of the sea." These Coast Guard men are part of the long blue line of Coast Guard
Operational and Intelligence history. From their development of SIGNALS Intelligence
during the Rum War through their support to the OSS during World War II regarding
Covert, Counter Intelligence, Espionage and Sabotage Operations in the maritime
environment, these Coast Guard men, these Guardian Spies, were a unique
instrument for National Security Policy during World War II domestically and abroad
and helped to lay the foundation not only for future Coast Guard Operations, but also
for organizations not yet formed.

[1] Roosevelt, Kermitt. "War Report of the OSS." Originally published in 1947 at the Top Secret
level and declassified in 1976 and published in an unclassified version. The original was part of
the History Project of the OSS Strategic Services Unit. Kermitt Roosevelt was the Chief Historian.
The declassified version released in 1976 was published by Walker and Co of New York.

[2] National Archives. OSS Files. Record Group 226-92-549-13. "Burma War Diary." Drafted by LT
Jon Babb, Chief Maritime Unit, India, Burma Theater. July 1945. The "Burma War Diary" provides
a summary of the activities of the MU in Burma, listing names, missions and responsibilities of
the men conducting covert and sabotage operations in that theater up until the MU was
disbanded after D Day. Many of the men from Operational Swimmer Group 2 (OSG) were Coast
Guard members. LT John P. Booth (USCGR), recipient of the Bronze Star for his service with the
OSS in the Burma Theater, was the Commanding Officer in the field of OSG2. These "Frogmen"
from the OSG later became the foundation for CIA covert operations, the U.S. Navy SEALS and
Special Operations Command.

[3] Information on Admiral Waesche was obtained from the Arlington National Cemetery web site
at: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/waesche.htm and the U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office at:
http://www.uscg.mil/history/people/RRWaescheSRBio.html

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