Sarasota MOAA: Happy Hour Feb 8, 2016 Geckos with Major Caesar Civitella

To Caesar Civitella, 93, a St. Petersburg resident and former OSS member who helped the French resistance and chased Italian despot Benito Mussolini, the December vote to approve the OSS Congressional Gold Medal, and its signing into law by President Barack Obama, was overdue

"He helped French resistance fighters and Italian partisans fight Nazis and fascists when he served with the storied Office of Strategic Services. He was instrumental in the creation of the Green Berets and Delta Force. As a CIA operative in Vietnam, he devised a plan to stop the advance of Viet Cong forces using Calgon dish soap."

"More than six decades after the Office of Strategic Services conducted spy missions and commando raids during World War II, Congress has finally acknowledged the organization's work."

"The award honors the men and women who performed dangerous missions, under the cloak of secrecy, that helped turn the tide of the war, Civitella said. It was the precursor of the modern day Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Special Operations Command."

Major Civitella came to our Happy Hour and regaled us with great interesting stories. Click to read more about Major Caesar Civitella

soc.mil/SWCS/RegimentalHonors/_pdf/sf_civitella.pdf

afsoc.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/5003/Article/741695/air-commando-inducted-into-socom-hall-of-honor.aspx

shadowspear.com/2016/07/special-ops-patriarch-civitella-receives-prestigious-french-legion-of-honor/