I’ve heard my grandfather’s dependable conscionable once. It was connected a 1949 occurrence of the NBC vigor amusement This Is Your Life, recounting his flight from occupied France aft a German nighttime combatant changeable down the level helium was flying connected a concealed ngo a period earlier D-Day. Some seventy years aft World War II, I perched successful a windowless country of the UCLA Film & TV Library Archives, determination connected a extremity from my uncle that my grandpa had shared a portion of his warfare story—which helium different seldom spoke of—on this fashionable mid-twentieth-century vigor amusement a fewer years aft the war.
Patriotic marching set euphony came done my caput phones and transported maine to different era. Then came the deep, emphatic vigor dependable of the show’s host, Ralph Edwards, who teed up the episode’s impermanent of honor: The person-of-the-day whom my grandpa— on with a fistful of others from the United States and France whose lives this leader had touched—had been brought to the Hollywood workplace to astonishment and celebrate. This idiosyncratic was, Edwards announced, “a Marine whose beingness has been packed with capable adventure, thrills, hair-raising escapes, earthy courage, and excitement to marque fractional a twelve movies.” His sanction was Peter Julien Ortiz.
I’d tracked down the This Is Your Life recording to fulfill my curiosity astir 1 Greatest Generation story. After listening to it connected repetition and transcribing each word, I near taken with different thread: Who was this multilingual, Hollywood-handsome fig who had parachuted down force lines with bags of currency and ammunition for the Maquis? Who was helium astatine enactment training, betwixt blowing up Wehrmacht railcars and eavesdropping connected off-duty Nazis astatine pubs? How was this not already a Netflix series? In time, I was introduced to Nicholas Reynolds, a retired US Marine and Oxford-educated historiographer who knew of Ortiz, too, and unneurotic we acceptable retired to reply those questions and however this James Bondesque quality came to cognize my grandpa.
It would beryllium a risky journey. But this mysterious Marine large had much than connection skills and contacts; helium emanated assurance and know-how.
In 1932, a well-to-do American, Peter Ortiz, joined the French Foreign Legion erstwhile helium was 18-years-old. Ortiz, who was besides the lad of the laminitis of Conde Nast’s Paris Vogue, went connected to combat the Germans for the Legion successful France, and aft being captured by the Germans and escaping, helium returned to the US and promptly joined the US Marines. His combat expertise, fluency successful French, and abilities successful Arabic, German, and Spanish made him an perfect peculiar operations enlistee for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) wherever helium served down force lines successful wartime France, blowing up Nazi railyards and grooming Resistance fighters. Ortiz would look from World War II with much combat medals than immoderate different subordinate of America’s archetypal spy agency,
In France, helium besides saved the beingness of my grandfather, Murray Simon, a 23-year-old 2nd Lt. and aviator of a B-24 Liberator that had been changeable down adjacent the French Alps. After bailing retired of the doomed aircraft, Simon recovered himself unsocial hiding successful a shallow ditch by a road. A New-York-born Jew and the youngest lad of Russian immigrants, helium spoke English, Yiddish, and a smattering of German—but not a connection of French. In the daylight helium spotted an aged antheral accompanied by a somewhat younger man. They were walking with intent and stopped close successful beforehand of him. His ditch wasn’t overmuch of a hiding place. “Will you fell me?” the aviator attempted, successful halting French spelled retired phonetically connected his Army-issued connection card. The younger man, amused astatine the stranded pilot’s butchered effort astatine French, changeable back, successful English, “Do not beryllium afraid.”
He was Jacques Madjar, a Bulgarian-born Jew and doc who sneaked Simon into the location helium shared with his large woman and nine-month-old babe girl. He yet got Simon retired of municipality and handed him disconnected to a Resistance web that smuggled him into Valence. There, Simon posed for a photograph for a forged individuality card. He was present Maurice Simon, a deaf and mute Frenchman. Simon’s French helpers assured him that an American cause called Jean-Pierre—or JP—would beryllium arriving successful Valence precise soon. They told him JP was a Marine major. They claimed helium had killed a German with his bare hands and that helium was, astatine that moment, helping different American aviator whose Mustang had been changeable down. JP would beryllium returning immoderate time now, and helium would cognize however to help.
A bid of missed connections had Simon wondering if the mysterious American cause being referred to arsenic “Jean-Pierre,” “JP,” and “Chambellan” was truly coming. Word yet came that JP was backmost successful town. JP was Peter Ortiz. He and Simon chatted, exchanging stories. Before the war, Simon had dropped retired of precocious schoolhouse to enactment his widowed mother. He worked arsenic a dental technician and then, looking for a much breathtaking life, enlisted successful the U.S. Army successful 1940. He finagled his mode from being a backstage successful the infantry to a 2nd lieutenant successful the Air Corps. In precocious 1943, helium volunteered for the Carpetbagger Project, an OSS-led aerial proviso programme that was arsenic concealed arsenic it was dangerous. Carpetbagger crews flew solo, low-level nighttime missions successful specially-adapted B-24 bombers, dropping supplies and agents to Resistance fighters successful German-occupied Europe. Ortiz was pleased to larn that the USAAF was present successful the moonlit driblet business, formerly a sphere of the RAF.
By now, Ortiz had a blueprint for aiding downed airmen: pb them to reliable guides and spot them to instrumentality it from there. This time, since Ortiz had been recalled to London, helium and Simon could marque their mode retired of France together. He was unfastened with the aviator that the Gestapo had a increasing terms connected his caput and that helium was easy identifiable. It would beryllium a risky journey. But this mysterious Marine large had much than connection skills and contacts; helium emanated assurance and know-how. Simon accepted Ortiz’s invitation to articulation him.
When Ortiz appeared successful a large, official-looking car—like the ones the Gestapo drove, but with a Frenchman astatine the wheel—Simon did a treble take. It was 1 of respective unit cars Ortiz had stolen. Simon got into the Gestapo vehicle—an impossibly unusual spot for an American flier whose subject canine tag was engraved with an “H” for “Hebrew.” As helium rode with Ortiz and their operator done the halfway of town, force soldiers waved astatine them, intelligibly mistaking Ortiz for 1 of their own. Ortiz waved back. After dusk they reached Lyon. Ortiz took Simon to an flat helium had the keys to, 1 of 3 helium utilized successful the area. He told Simon to enactment enactment and went retired connected business. Simon noticed Ortiz was wearing parts of his Marine Corps azygous and carrying a paratrooper knife. Always successful motion, Ortiz shuttled successful and retired of the flat implicit the adjacent fewer days, penning reports successful code, gathering with trade-union comrades. A young pistillate introduced arsenic Louisette cooked them lunch. Helping program their adjacent move, Louisette bought Ortiz and Simon 2 first-class bid tickets each, to 2 antithetic stations beyond their destination. If challenged connected the train, Ortiz said, Simon was to instrumentality by his side. They would effort to evade the Germans together.
At the presumption successful Lyon, Ortiz and Simon recovered their bid was moving late. They passed the clip successful a café and noticed 2 men astatine the adjacent array chatting with each different successful a premix of French and German. They did not look to announcement the 2 Americans. Ortiz wore a overgarment zipped implicit his uniform, portion Simon hoped to look casual with a laundry bag. Judging from their apparel and accents, Ortiz was each but definite that the men were Gestapo. He eased Simon retired of the café. It was amended to locomotion the platforms, permission the station, and travel backmost in. It came clip to committee their train—the infinitesimal of maximum risk. No 1 stopped them.
Ortiz vowed to interrogate and, if necessary, termination immoderate traitors who thwarted him and Simon.
For astir 2 days, Ortiz and Simon rode the rails, traveling southbound and westbound to Carcassonne. They went connected to the foothills of the Pyrenees. Lucienne, a upland miss charmed by Ortiz, eased their transition by bribing the close gendarme. Ortiz navigated their mode among Russian escapees, Polish fugitives, and baccy smugglers, each wanting to get to neutral Spain implicit the mountains. Some of the Poles planned to instrumentality 3 days to marque the crossing. Ortiz said that was excessively long. He wanted to determination faster—and not successful a clump with men helium did not know. Was determination a whiff of treachery among this crew, idiosyncratic who mightiness betray them to the Germans? Ortiz vowed to interrogate and, if necessary, termination immoderate traitors who thwarted him and Simon.
With the smugglers and the guides, 2 professions that overlapped, it was much carrot than stick. Tough, mercenary, consenting to get a antheral implicit the mountains if the terms was right, the guides acceptable their ain presumption and schedule. But arsenic hard arsenic it would beryllium to hurry them along, Ortiz knew it would beryllium harder to get to the different broadside without them. Signposts were fewer and acold between. The trails for humans looked much similar goat paths.
At 4 o-clock successful the greeting connected May 18, Ortiz and Simon reached a structure extracurricular the French hamlet of Artigues. They walked 2 much hours to different shelter. The hardest portion was up of them: the hike up to Andorra, the tiny neutral principality successful the mountains betwixt France and Spain. Together they climbed and climbed, making their mode implicit ungraded and scree, astir boulders and up slabs of rock. Forest gave mode to scrub brushwood and grass, a complement to the snow-covered peaks successful the distance. The upwind was harsh, and the aerial bladed astatine 8 1000 feet. Trekkers died of exhaustion and exposure. Simon forced himself to support up with Ortiz, taking Benzedrine tablets from his endurance kit and rationing retired a fewer remaining bits of chocolate.
At 2 o’clock successful the greeting connected May 19, they crossed into Andorra. Simon calculated they had been walking for twenty-four of the past twenty-nine hours. They had covered much than forty miles astatine a punishing pace. It felt luxurious to walk a nighttime successful a edifice earlier taking a taxi to the Spanish borderline and hiding successful the hills until dark. They entered Spain astatine 1 o’clock connected the greeting of May 21 but could not remainder until they connected with a trusted courier from Barcelona. They needed to debar the Spanish police. Patrolling successful pairs and marked by their achromatic patent leather tricorn hats, the Guardia Civil sometimes forced refugees backmost into France but much often threw them into spartan jails until the British oregon the American consul sent for them.
Ortiz and Simon recovered their courier earlier the constabulary noticed them. Within 3 days, they reached the British consulate successful Barcelona. Consular officials confirmed their identities and astatine past the 2 evaders were safe. They went connected to Madrid, wherever they chanced connected a young Pole they had met earlier starting their climb. The lad told them that Ortiz’s suspicions astir a chap trekker had been good founded; upon crossing into Spain, 1 of the different Poles had been unmasked arsenic a Gestapo spy.
A week later, Ortiz and Simon acceptable ft connected Gibraltar, the two-and-a-half-square-mile British territory astatine the confederate extremity of Spain and the rima of the Mediterranean. Its astir salient diagnostic was the Rock, a tiny upland honeycombed with thirty-four miles of tunnels that housed immoderate sixteen 1000 British servicemen arsenic good arsenic an American liaison office. There, Simon signed an statement ne'er to divulge immoderate accusation astir his flight from France.
Below the Rock was a seaport and an airstrip with regular subject flights to London. By June 2, Ortiz and Simon were backmost successful England. They parted ways, each returning to his command. The archetypal subordinate of his unit to flight from France, Simon telegrammed his mother: “I americium good and safe. No request for worry. Write to my aged address.”
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Adapted from Ortiz’s War: The Allies’ Secret Weapon Against the Nazis by Col. Nicholas Reynolds, USMCR (Ret) and Katie S. Sanders, Murray Simon’s granddaughter. Copyright © 2026. Available from Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
English (US) ·