My great uncle, Henri (Henry) L. Laussucq (French/American 1882-1975) served in occupied Paris where he helped the French Resistance prepare for D-Day. He arrived four months before the Normandy landing and at age 62 he was the oldest OSS agent in the field. Henri was a French national, born and raised in Brittany. Having emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, he eventually became an American citizen and was a patriot, holding a deep abiding love for both the U.S and his native France.
Unbeknownst to everyone that knew him, my great Uncle Henri, apart from being an artist, led a secret and highly adventurist life as a spy for the United States. Four months before D-Day he was put ashore in Normandy via British submarine into Nazi occupied France by the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the forerunner of the present-day Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Given the code name "Aramis" or swordsman, Henri was sent to Paris with Virginia Hall Goillot, a Philadelphia socialite. Recognized today as America's greatest female spy, she had many aliases, including "Marie Monin", "Germaine", "Diane", "Marie of Lyon", "Camille" and 'Nicolas." The Gestapo nicknamed her "Artemis" (Greek goddess of the hunt) and considered her "the most dangerous of all Allied spies". She is reported to have killed 150 German soldiers and captured more then 500 while she sabotaged Nazi communications and transportation. Henri and Ms. Hall worked in Paris with the French Resistance to prepare for the Normandy area landing and the liberation of that city. Both of strong wills, they parted ways with her operations moving to the suburbs and his staying in Paris. (Their relationship is mentioned in the book, "Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy" by Judith L. Pearson.) While there is little public documentation of Henri's exploits, his receiving a Silver Star for heroism (the first civilian to receive the award) and private introduction to President Truman by Major General Donovan suggests they were daring and significant. According to President Truman's daily diary, he met privately with Uncle Henri on 13 September 1945.
The OSS files of Henri Laussucq along with those of many other OSS spies were not declassified until 1980, 5 years after his death. My great uncle kept the secrets of his service to the nation to himself, only telling those who asked what he did during the war, “I was a painter”. About 10 years ago, I was able to obtain several microfiche copies of Henri’s declassified OSS files from a Brit who was carefully archiving the work of hundreds of OSS agents from WWII – sadly, many had been captured and killed. A reading of Henri’s files – though incomplete - provided insight into his work with the OSS during his time in Paris just months before the invasion. Henri and Ms. Hall worked under the very noses of the German high command and the Gestapo, playing an endless game of cat and mouse with them during a time of extremely heightened security. The Gestapo had a price on the head of Virginia Hall. On at least several documented occasions, both Henri and Ms. Hall narrowly escaped detection and capture.
DW & I recently concluded 3-1/2 months of travel in Europe with a visit to Paris in early May and walked many of the same streets as my great uncle did during those 4 months prior to the Normandy invasion. We walked over the same bridge on the Seine that Henri painted - as his OSS cover was that of a Parisian artist. We walked the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe in his honor as Henri’s top-secret clearance at the time did not permit him to join allied troops in their much-publicized triumphant march after the liberation of Paris.
The work of hundreds of these OSS agents during WWII has hardly received the sort of notoriety that is typically reserved for the heroism bestowed upon conventional soldiers. The fact that these spies, while in service to their countries wore no uniform, had no rank, carried no rifles and were without the protections granted by the Geneva Conventions placed themselves at incredible risk. Too many of these brave individuals died horrific deaths at the hands of their Nazi captors and you won’t find their names and ranks engraved upon white headstones in the hallowed cemeteries around Normandy. These clandestine agents have earned their place of honor and though some of them, like my uncle, were secretly decorated for their heroism and quietly went about their lives until they passed away, all of those brave men and women of the OSS deserve the same public acknowledgement and recognition during this week’s 75th anniversary of D-Day as others who served in uniform.
Merci beaucoup oncle Henri. Tu étais un héros!
Unbeknownst to everyone that knew him, my great Uncle Henri, apart from being an artist, led a secret and highly adventurist life as a spy for the United States. Four months before D-Day he was put ashore in Normandy via British submarine into Nazi occupied France by the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the forerunner of the present-day Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Given the code name "Aramis" or swordsman, Henri was sent to Paris with Virginia Hall Goillot, a Philadelphia socialite. Recognized today as America's greatest female spy, she had many aliases, including "Marie Monin", "Germaine", "Diane", "Marie of Lyon", "Camille" and 'Nicolas." The Gestapo nicknamed her "Artemis" (Greek goddess of the hunt) and considered her "the most dangerous of all Allied spies". She is reported to have killed 150 German soldiers and captured more then 500 while she sabotaged Nazi communications and transportation. Henri and Ms. Hall worked in Paris with the French Resistance to prepare for the Normandy area landing and the liberation of that city. Both of strong wills, they parted ways with her operations moving to the suburbs and his staying in Paris. (Their relationship is mentioned in the book, "Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy" by Judith L. Pearson.) While there is little public documentation of Henri's exploits, his receiving a Silver Star for heroism (the first civilian to receive the award) and private introduction to President Truman by Major General Donovan suggests they were daring and significant. According to President Truman's daily diary, he met privately with Uncle Henri on 13 September 1945.
The OSS files of Henri Laussucq along with those of many other OSS spies were not declassified until 1980, 5 years after his death. My great uncle kept the secrets of his service to the nation to himself, only telling those who asked what he did during the war, “I was a painter”. About 10 years ago, I was able to obtain several microfiche copies of Henri’s declassified OSS files from a Brit who was carefully archiving the work of hundreds of OSS agents from WWII – sadly, many had been captured and killed. A reading of Henri’s files – though incomplete - provided insight into his work with the OSS during his time in Paris just months before the invasion. Henri and Ms. Hall worked under the very noses of the German high command and the Gestapo, playing an endless game of cat and mouse with them during a time of extremely heightened security. The Gestapo had a price on the head of Virginia Hall. On at least several documented occasions, both Henri and Ms. Hall narrowly escaped detection and capture.
DW & I recently concluded 3-1/2 months of travel in Europe with a visit to Paris in early May and walked many of the same streets as my great uncle did during those 4 months prior to the Normandy invasion. We walked over the same bridge on the Seine that Henri painted - as his OSS cover was that of a Parisian artist. We walked the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe in his honor as Henri’s top-secret clearance at the time did not permit him to join allied troops in their much-publicized triumphant march after the liberation of Paris.
The work of hundreds of these OSS agents during WWII has hardly received the sort of notoriety that is typically reserved for the heroism bestowed upon conventional soldiers. The fact that these spies, while in service to their countries wore no uniform, had no rank, carried no rifles and were without the protections granted by the Geneva Conventions placed themselves at incredible risk. Too many of these brave individuals died horrific deaths at the hands of their Nazi captors and you won’t find their names and ranks engraved upon white headstones in the hallowed cemeteries around Normandy. These clandestine agents have earned their place of honor and though some of them, like my uncle, were secretly decorated for their heroism and quietly went about their lives until they passed away, all of those brave men and women of the OSS deserve the same public acknowledgement and recognition during this week’s 75th anniversary of D-Day as others who served in uniform.
Merci beaucoup oncle Henri. Tu étais un héros!
