The WWII Commando Who Parachuted Behind Enemy Lines in Europe and China

Francis Lowell Coolidge entered World War II by parachute—twice into enemy-held territory, on opposite sides of the globe. A French-speaking Army Air Forces captain and veteran of the French Foreign Legion, Coolidge joined the Office of Strategic Services, the wartime intelligence agency that preceded the CIA. In August 1944, he accompanied Marine Corps Major Peter J. Ortiz and five other OSS operatives on Operation Union II, a low-altitude jump into occupied France. The team landed near the Col des Saisies mountain pass alongside a huge supply drop intended for the Bulle Battalion, a French Resistance unit led by Jean Bulle. A coded BBC broadcast alerted the resistance fighters to the drop. They greeted the arriving Americans warmly, but the operation quickly became dangerous: Sergeant Charles Perry died when his parachute failed to open, while another Marine suffered serious injuries during the jump. The surviving operatives trained resistance fighters and conducted reconnaissance ahead of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. The following day, German troops attacked the group near the village of Centron. Coolidge was shot in the right thigh but escaped with Marine Frederick Brunner. Ortiz and three others surrendered after securing an agreement that local civilians would not face reprisals. Coolidge then took command of Union II. He continued moving through France with the Bulle Battalion until Allied forces pushed the Germans out. Bulle was later killed while attempting to negotiate a German surrender. Coolidge returned to London in September and received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. His wartime service was not over. After recovering from his injury and being promoted to major, Coolidge volunteered to lead Operation Spaniel in China. On May 28, 1945, he and four teammates parachuted into the Fuping region, then under Communist control. Instead of helping the Americans, Chinese forces disarmed and detained them in caves, saying they were protecting the men from the Japanese. The team was eventually released after American officials negotiated an exchange involving a truck. Coolidge returned to the United States in September 1945. He later worked for the CIA, including as chief of station for North Africa from January 1958 to November 1959, according to CIA historian Randy Burkett. Coolidge died in 1972 at age 65. His wartime goodbye letter to his wife, written before the French mission, remained in the family and was later published by Smithsonian magazine.