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"The OG personnel operated under the most hazardous, nerve-wracking conditions against a fanatic enemy, in relatively unknown territory far from friendly troops, and with no fanfare!" ("A Brief History of Pre-WWII and WWII Experience," page 7)

   Boris Robert Spiroff
Image of Boris Robert Spiroff
Boris Spiroff, Bari, Italy [1944]
War: World War II, 1939-1946; Korean War, 1950-1955
Branch: Army
Unit: Infantry, Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
Service Location: United States; Panama; Yugoslavia; Italy; France; also: Korea; Fort Meade, Maryland
Rank: First Sergeant
Place of Birth: Baltimore, MD
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Boris Spiroff was born in the U.S.A., but spent part of his youth in his parents' native Yugoslavia. His language skills attracted recruiters for the newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1943, and he was assigned to be part of a Balkans Operations Group (OG). Spiroff and his comrades were to take back a group of islands off the Dalmatian Coast by practicing the fine and bloody art of guerrilla warfare. Spiroff's 25-year Army career also included a harrowing tour of duty in the Korean War, when he witnessed firsthand the impact of the Chinese entrance into that conflict in the bone-chilling winter of 1950-1951.

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Boris Robert Spiroff OSS Balkan Group: A Brief History of Pre-WWII and WWII Experience Diary of the Korean War 1950-1953 by Boris Robert Spiroff 
  
 Official Documents (2 items)
Headquarters Operational Group Command Office of Strategic Services 8/22/45 Certificate for serving as a member of the Office of Strategic Service durring World War II 
  
 Personal Correspondence (5 items)
Letter from Bob Spiroff to Cassie Spiroff 12/11/50 Letter from Bob Spiroff to Cassie Spiroff 1/3/51 Letter from Bob Spiroff to Cassie Spiroff 10/3/50
Letter from Bob Spiroff to Cassie Spiroff 12/25/51 Letter from Bob Spiroff to Cassie Spiroff 2/51 
  
 
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  May 29, 2007
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