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Colonel Pierre (Peter) Julien Ortiz OBE (July 5, 1913 – May 16, 1988) was one of the most decorated Marine officers of World War II. He served in both Africa and Europe throughout the war, as a member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), operating behind enemy lines several times. He became a film actor after the war. ==Military career== Although born in New York City to a Spanish-American mother and French-American father, Ortiz was educated at the University of Grenoble in France.〔 He spoke ten languages including Spanish, French, German and Arabic.〔 On February 1, 1932, at the age of 19, he joined the French Foreign Legion for five years' service in North Africa.〔〔 He was sent first to the Legion's training camp at Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria. He later served in Morocco, where he was promoted to corporal in 1933 and sergeant in 1935. He was awarded the Croix de guerre twice during a campaign against the Rif.〔 He also received the Médaille militaire.〔 An acting lieutenant, he was offered a commission as a second lieutenant if he would re-enlist.〔 Instead, when his contract expired in 1937, he went to Hollywood to serve as a technical adviser for war films.〔 With the outbreak of World War II and the United States still neutral, he re-enlisted in the Legion in October 1939 as a sergeant, and received a battlefield commission in May 1940.〔 He was wounded while blowing up a fuel dump〔 and captured by the Germans during the 1940 Battle of France.〔 He escaped the following year via Lisbon and made his way to the United States.〔 He joined the Marines on June 22, 1942.〔 As a result of his training and experience, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant after only 40 days.〔〔 He was promoted to captain on December 3.〔 With his knowledge of the region, he was sent to Tangier, Morocco.〔 He conducted reconnaissance behind enemy lines in Tunisia for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).〔〔 During a night mission, Ortiz was seriously wounded in the right hand in an encounter with a German patrol and was sent back to the United States to recover.〔 In 1943, Ortiz became a member of the OSS. On January 6, 1944, he was dropped by parachute into the Haute-Savoie region of German-occupied France as part of the three-man "Union" mission with Colonel Pierre Fourcaud of the French secret service and Captain Thackwaite from the British Special Operations Executive to evaluate the capabilities of the Resistance in the Alpine region.〔〔 He drove four downed RAF pilots to the border of neutral Spain〔 before leaving France with his team in late May. Promoted to major, Ortiz parachuted back into France on August 1, 1944, this time as the commander of the "Union II" mission.〔〔 He was captured by the Germans on August 16. In April 1945, he and three other prisoners of war escaped while being moved to another camp, but after ten days with little or no food, returned to their old camp after discovering that the prisoners had virtually taken control.〔 On April 29, the camp was liberated. He rose to the rank of colonel in the Marine Reserve.〔 In April 1954, he volunteered to return to active duty to serve as a Marine observer in Indochina. The Marine Corps did not accept his request because "current military policies will not permit the assignment requested."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peter J. Ortiz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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