General John P. Smith
Details Of The Artifact
General John P. Smith's original medal group, with documents and named medals
A Bit Of History About General Smith
Sometime the best way to tell the accomplishments of a General is to take excerpts from a known letter. These are just a few highlights on General John Smith from a three-page letter of recommendation from General William Donovan, Director of the OSS (the precursor to the C.I.A.).
Major General John P, Smith was appointed by the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, in January of 1943 as its representative on the Planning Group of the Office of Strategic Services.
As a representative of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, General Smith served continuously on the Planning Group since its inception on January 11, 1943. He was instrumental in developing the over-all and special programs on which all OSS operations and activities were based, in the European, North Africa, Mediterranean, Near East, China, and India -Burma Theaters of Operations, as well as in the neutral countries of Europe.
Because of his demonstrated superior knowledge and background in military affairs he was able to provide the essential knowledge for development of these programs and plans for intelligence, counter-espionage, morals (psychological warfare), strategical Research and analysis, and special military operational activities in which the OSS engaged on a global basis, His untiring and self-sacrificing efforts in personal liaison between the Director OSS and the JCS , as well as the War Department, contributed immeasurably to the cordial relationships among them, a thorough understanding and solution of existing problems, and ultimately to the successful accomplishments of OSS objectives in the field in support of Allied military operations.
His consistent contacts with and advice to key OSS personnel, both in Washington and in the field, materially assisted them in properly integrating their somewhat irregular activities with the operations of U.S. Army field Commander. This integration, as demonstrated by OSS achievements, was successfully accomplished, and contributed materially to the success of the war effort
General Smith’s unusually broad knowledge of the internal structure of OSS, as well as of the Army, enabled him to conceive many of the activities which were ultimately programmed, and then accomplished in the field.