OSS Commando Francis Coolidge Parachuted into France and China During WWII

Francis Lowell Coolidge, a descendant of President Thomas Jefferson, was an OSS commando during World War II, operating in both the European and Pacific theaters. In August 1944, he parachuted into Nazi-occupied France as part of Operation Union II, under the command of Marine Major Peter J. Ortiz, to support and train the Bulle Battalion of the French Resistance. Despite being injured, Coolidge took charge after Ortiz was captured, earning the Purple Heart and Silver Star. In May 1945, he led Operation Spaniel in China, where he was captured by Chinese Communist forces and released in September 1945. After the war, he joined the CIA, becoming chief of station in North Africa from 1958 to 1959, retiring in 1963. His granddaughter, Lucy Coolidge Trout, shared his wartime letter in a recent Smithsonian magazine feature. On August 1, 2026, ceremonies in France commemorated Coolidge and his fellow commandos, attended by his grandson Curtis Lowell Bogetto.