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The Phantom: The Untold Story of the American Marine the Nazis Could Not Kill
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26Soldier, spy, scout, saboteur, and French Resistance leader in the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe--the untold story of Marine legend Pete Ortiz.
Major Pierre “Pete” Ortiz was a Manhattan-born and Paris-educated polymath fluent in five languages. An adventuresome French Foreign Legion veteran specifically recruited by "Wild" Bill Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (the precursor to both the CIA and U.S. Special Forces) upon his enlistment in the Marines, Ortiz was the officer “Wild Bill” instinctively knew he needed and could rely on to complete a string of clandestine missions.
While recuperating from gunshot wounds received during a behind-the-lines excursion into enemy-held North Africa, Ortiz delivered his After-Action Report directly to Donovan in Washington. After reading it, “Wild Bill” scrawled across the top of the “Please re-employ this man as soon as possible.” Ortiz’s handlers heeded Donovan’s request. Within a year Ortiz was surreptitiously parachuted into the Haute Savoie region of Occupied France, where he made contact with the resistance fighters who called themselves Maquisards.
By the time he retired as a United States Marine Corps colonel, he received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism in World War II. He was one of the very few U.S. Marines to serve in combat in Europe during World War II, and one of the most decorated Marine officers of the war.
Major Pierre “Pete” Ortiz was a Manhattan-born and Paris-educated polymath fluent in five languages. An adventuresome French Foreign Legion veteran specifically recruited by "Wild" Bill Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (the precursor to both the CIA and U.S. Special Forces) upon his enlistment in the Marines, Ortiz was the officer “Wild Bill” instinctively knew he needed and could rely on to complete a string of clandestine missions.
While recuperating from gunshot wounds received during a behind-the-lines excursion into enemy-held North Africa, Ortiz delivered his After-Action Report directly to Donovan in Washington. After reading it, “Wild Bill” scrawled across the top of the “Please re-employ this man as soon as possible.” Ortiz’s handlers heeded Donovan’s request. Within a year Ortiz was surreptitiously parachuted into the Haute Savoie region of Occupied France, where he made contact with the resistance fighters who called themselves Maquisards.
By the time he retired as a United States Marine Corps colonel, he received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism in World War II. He was one of the very few U.S. Marines to serve in combat in Europe during World War II, and one of the most decorated Marine officers of the war.
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 6, 2026
8 people want to read
About the author
Tom Clavin
44 books523 followersTom Clavin is the author/coauthor of eleven books. His most recent is That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and the Golden Age of Las Vegas.
His articles have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Men's Journal, Parade, Reader's Digest, and others.
He was a contributing reporter for the New York Times for fifteen years.
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