BMT (RIP)
07-29-2010, 05:00
http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20100729/5de4c6c0-f52c-41b5-92da-b158a5c562fd
BMT
I love a good autobiographical mystery book.. This has all the makings of a best seller.. Thanks
From the WaPo this morning.
Some notable exploits involving the Pond from 1942 to 1955:
- 1943: The War Department assigns Grombach to negotiate with imprisoned mob chief Charles "Lucky" Luciano for a plot that would entail the assassination of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the creation of military espionage lines in southern Italy. In exchange, Luciano might be freed from prison. Negotiations fall through when the OSS offered a better deal, Grombach later told the FBI.
- 1944 to 1945: The Pond obtains early notice about the Nazi final offensive, the "Battle of the Bulge," in the forest and mountain region of the Ardennes that covers parts of Belgium, Luxembourg and France, according to the papers at the National Archives. In one document, Grombach told his superior that the Pond had established contacts with Hermann Goering, the Nazi field marshal, and had reported that "Germany was not only capable of strong defense but was capable of offensive action."
- 1947: On Nov. 3, 1947, the Pond helps Zoltan Pfeiffer, a top anti-communist politician, to escape Hungary. Agent James McCargar, working out of the U.S. diplomatic mission, arranged to have Pfeiffer, his wife and 5-year-old daughter, along with another couple, hidden in four large crates in a vehicle that he drove to Vienna, which was controlled by the U.S., the British and the French, as well as the Soviets. They were then flown to Frankfurt. Several days later, Pfeiffer and his family arrived safely in New York.
- 1951: In a report to the CIA director, Grombach said the Pond stole two secret cryptographic systems from Czechoslovakia's embassy in Paris after infiltrating the diplomatic mission with two high-level moles. The systems were used by U.S. analysts to break coded messages and "became a most important and vitally effective lead to the basic system or method used by the Soviets and their other satellites for most of their codes or ciphers," Grombach wrote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072901308.html
I found this at NARA.
Research Aid: Cryptonyms and Terms in Declassified CIA Files
Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Disclosure Acts
John V. Grombach headed the POND, a codename at State Department for an intelligence operation founded in WWII, was conducted jointly by the War and State Departments. GROUNDHOG was cryptonym for the POND. One Foreign Service Officer (FSO) in each US Embassy (in the countries covered by the POND) was the POND officer and was provided with secret funds under his control and secret communications direct to the Department. James McCargar was FSO in Budapest (1946-47) and was also the POND officer in Hungary at that time.
http://www.archives.gov/iwg/declassified-records/rg-263-cia-records/second-release-lexicon.pdf
Richard :munchin