Pierre (Peter) Julien Ortiz OBE (July 5, 1913 â€" May 16, 1988) was a
United States Marine Corps colonel who received two Navy Crosses for
extraordinary heroism as a major in World War II. He served in both
North Africa and Europe throughout the war, as a member of the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS), operating behind enemy lines several
times. He acted in Hollywood films after the war. He was one of very
few U.S. Marines to go into combat in Europe during World War
II.Although born in New York to an American mother of Swiss descent
and a French-born Spanish father, Ortiz was educated at the University
of Grenoble in France. He spoke ten languages, including English,
Spanish, French, Italian, 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 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. As 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 back to the United
States to serve as a technical adviser for war films in Hollywood.With
the outbreak of World War II and the United States still neutral, he
re-enlisted in the Foreign 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.
United States Marine Corps colonel who received two Navy Crosses for
extraordinary heroism as a major in World War II. He served in both
North Africa and Europe throughout the war, as a member of the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS), operating behind enemy lines several
times. He acted in Hollywood films after the war. He was one of very
few U.S. Marines to go into combat in Europe during World War
II.Although born in New York to an American mother of Swiss descent
and a French-born Spanish father, Ortiz was educated at the University
of Grenoble in France. He spoke ten languages, including English,
Spanish, French, Italian, 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 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. As 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 back to the United
States to serve as a technical adviser for war films in Hollywood.With
the outbreak of World War II and the United States still neutral, he
re-enlisted in the Foreign 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.
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