Frank Wisner - OSS

OSS

After graduating, Wisner worked as a Wall Street lawyer. In 1941, six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He worked in the Navy's censor's office until he was able to get a transfer to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He was stationed first in Turkey, and then in Romania, where he became head of OSS operations in southeastern Europe. This happened just prior to the Romanian royal coup of August 23, 1944. At Wisner's behest, King Michael I of Romania permitted the United States to fly out Allied prisoners of war. On August 29, some 1,350 American airmen who had been held prisoners in Romania were rescued by an U.S. Air Crew Rescue Unit, with Soviet troops only days away from entering Bucharest. Despite continuing fighting between Romanian and Red Army forces, and the presence of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe in the immediate Bucharest area, the rescue team used the Popeşti-Leordeni Airfield. Twelve B-17 Flying Fortress flew out the prisoners in hourly shifts. In all, some 1,700 American POWs were rescued with the help of the Romanians.

Wisner reportedly grew to hate the Soviet Union during this period, particularly after witnessing a train full of Germans being sent to a labor camp in Russia.

Later, Wisner's main task was to spy on the activities of the Soviet Union. Wisner's agents managed to penetrate the Romanian Communist Party and the Red Army's headquarters in Bucharest. He learned that the Soviet Union planned to take over all of Eastern Europe, and was disappointed at the U.S. failure to move to prevent it. He advised the Romanian royal family to go into exile.

In March 1945, Wisner was transferred to Wiesbaden, where he served as OSS liaison to the Gehlen Organisation. In 1946, he returned to law practice, joining the New York City law firm of Carter Ledyard.