"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)
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Boris Robert Spiroff |
Boris Spiroff, Bari, Italy [1944] | World War II, 1939-1946; Korean War, 1950-1955
Army
Infantry, Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
United States; Panama; Yugoslavia; Italy; France; also: Korea; Fort Meade, Maryland
First Sergeant
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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