As different as all these people were, there were still some common threads that united them – that became a Jedburgh identity. What were they?

I think self-confidence. And trustworthiness. There were some of the Jeds that I didn’t trust; most of them were eliminated before the training program was over. But most all of the others, I felt that they had demonstrated their ability to do difficult jobs and therefore you trusted them – you wanted to have them with you. And I did on several occasions.

Mac Austin was one of the American Jeds – MacDonald Austin – whose path crossed with mine several times over the years. He was one of the ushers at my wedding. We both served in China. Later on, we were together in the 82nd Airborne Division. After that, when I was down in Fort Benning, setting up the Ranger Training Command, he was there. We were on the faculty together at Leavenworth. He worked for me in SOG [Studies and Observations Group] during the Vietnam War. He was very trustworthy and reliable.

I think self-confidence. And trustworthiness. There were some of the Jeds that I didn’t trust; most of them were eliminated before the training program was over.

 

What sort of problems did you encounter as a result of being a Jedburgh, whose operations were classified until relatively recently.

Well, the obvious one was the fact that I could not tell anybody what I had been doing. I went over in 1943 and I didn’t have any assignments in the States until I came back at the end of 1948. I was allowed to return to the Army and take the Advanced Infantry Course. But, when I got into the Infantry School, I discovered I was required to write a monograph on my personal experiences during World War II. Well, all the other infantry officer students there had been in regular units and could write monographs on their experiences, but I could not. I could not get permission from the CIA, which existed at that time, to talk about the Jedburgh activities. Certainly I could not talk about what I had been doing in Manchuria for three years, because I had been transferred to SI – Secret Intelligence.

 

That must have caused your instructors and fellow students to stare hard at you, after seeing the French Croix de Guerre, the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau, and the Purple Heart ribbons, among others, on your chest, because you don’t earn them for simply pushing papers around.

That’s right. But I had to write a monograph anyway, so I did it on the basis of research. I wrote about the 82nd Airborne’s landing at Normandy. I became an expert on that subject, which helped me later when I went back to teaching airborne at Leavenworth.

 

Briefly describe your Team James teammates.

The French officer was Jacques le Bel de Penguilly. He was a reserve officer in the French army. He was in the import/export business before the war and returned to it after the war. We became good friends and have stayed in touch.

The radio operator was Tech. Sgt. Anthony Denneau, from Green Bay, Wis. He was just a high school graduate, a blue-collar guy who really liked radios. He turned out to be a very fine radio operator and an absolutely dedicated guy. He did some very brave things for which I was able to get him a Silver Star. He really set a great standard and was a very, very likeable person. He died early, of natural causes.

During the Vietnam War, I had a joint unconventional warfare task force that had a Navy element, an Air Force element, and a Special Forces element. I was going through the Navy communications facility and I saw a sailor sitting in there with the name Denneau on his uniform. I looked at him and asked if he was from Green Bay. Well, he almost fainted. He couldn’t believe how I had figured that out. I asked him if he knew Tony Denneau. It turned out that Tony was his uncle. Another generation wound up doing commo for me.

 

Describe your emotions on the night you flew into occupied France.

There were some Jeds who made it through all the American assessment, then when they went to Britain, they were taken out of the Jedburgh program and put into a program … to serve as liaison officers in each of the field armies.

I think that foremost in my mind was whether or not I would be able to do what was right. I think everybody has that, initially, when you’re going into combat. You tell them what to do and the assumption is that they’ll do it.

 

Patton came under criticism during this time for his comments about not being concerned about his flanks as his army advanced. Now, of course, we are aware of the role of the Jedburghs and the resistance in protecting his right flank. Were you aware of an OSS member on Patton’s headquarters staff who was able to keep him apprised of what the Jedburghs were doing in support of the 3rd Army and the allied advance?

Well, there should have been. I assume there was. I don’t know from memory who the officer or officers were with Patton’s 3rd Army. By the time my mission was over, I was ordered to exfiltrate through the city of Orleans. I came through and at this time, it was the rear echelon area of the 3rd Army, the combat elements were long gone heading east toward Germany.

There were some Jeds who made it through all the American assessment, then when they went to Britain, they were taken out of the Jedburgh program and put into a program … to serve as liaison officers in each of the field armies.

I remember the 12th Army liaison officer. He was a Jed who had been fine up until the time that we were visiting the British psychological assessment site. He tried to play up to them and gave them answers that would greatly shake them up. They didn’t think that was funny. He was kicked out of the Jed program and became a liaison officer. The idea was that he knew the Jeds and could identify us, if for some reason we came under suspicion by regular army troops who debriefed us and had some suspicion about our bona fides. These guys were able to provide that.