Boston Herald
MAY 1, 2019: Congressman Stephen F. Lynch presented the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Congressional Gold Medal to United States Army Private Semeon ‘Sam’ Simollari of the Albanian Unit, Company B, 2677th Regiment, for his remarkable courage and service in World War II. As the only surviving American member of his Unit, Sam played a vital role in the United States Army’s quest to defeat the Nazis in the German occupation of Albania. The intimate ceremony was held at the South Shore Rehabilitation and Nursing Center with Sam’s family in attendance. Courtesy of the office of Rep. Stephen Lynch
By PETER LUCAS |
You must admire a man who can keep a wartime secret — especially for a lifetime.
That man is Semeon “Sam” Simollari, 94, formerly of Wayland — and Boston’s old West End — who served with the OSS behind enemy lines in Albania fighting the Nazis during World War II.
The OSS — Office of Strategic Services — was the wartime organization that secretly parachuted soldiers like Sam into countries occupied by the Germans. The OSS became the CIA after the war.
Their goal in countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, Albania and elsewhere was to arm and train partisans, gather intelligence and generally wreak havoc in countries occupied by the Germans.
Sam is one of those vanishing soldiers of the Greatest Generation who for years chose to remain unrecognized for his service during WWII. Like many wartime veterans, Sam did not talk about what he did or what he saw — not to his wife, his children or to me.
I intrude into Sam’s story only because I wrote a book called “The OSS in World War II Albania,” published in 2007. Back then Sam was as closed mouth about it all as he is today.
But the other day, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of South Boston sought Sam out to present him with the OSS Congressional Gold Medal at the South Shore Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Rockland.
Lynch said, “His courageous actions during World War II helped Albanian partisans and the Allied forces defeat Nazi occupation of Albania and eventually overcome the Axis powers in Europe.
“We tend to forget that this was a time when democracy and the very freedoms we enjoy today hung in the balance. Victory was only possible because of patriots like Sam Simollari, who showed unwavering strength and bravery while serving our country.”
Sam was but one of millions of young men who volunteered for the U.S. Army upon the outbreak of the war after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,1941.
The newly formed OSS, headed by Army Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan, sought to recruit ethnic Americans like Sam to fight in the countries of their origin that were occupied by the Germans.
The theory — which worked out in practice — was that highly trained soldiers would be effective because they knew the language, culture and history of their ancestral homes. In Sam’s case, the country was Albania, from which he emigrated as a boy.
Sam was assigned to the 35-member OSS Albanian Unit — most of whom spoke Albanian — that was stationed in Bari, Italy. From there the men were parachuted into southern Albania, or inserted by boat, to join forces with the partisans.
One of the men was Hollywood actor Sterling Hayden, who was already famous for starring in two movies before the war. He previously worked as a seaman on the Boston waterfront.
Besides gathering intelligence, another important duty was to keep the Germans busy enough to think that the Americans were an advance party for an impending major Adriatic/Mediterranean invasion. That forced the Germans to keep more forces in Albania than necessary.
The Albanian mission was classified, as all OSS operations were at the time. Even after the war, nobody knew that the U.S. had helped partisans in Albania take over the country afterward. That is because the partisans were communists, led by communist dictator Enver Hoxha. Nobody in the U.S. wanted to take credit for that.
The Albanians did not know anything about the American presence either since Hoxha wrote the U.S out of the story, claiming the communists had ousted the Germans on their own.
The secret was kept by both sides. So when I stumbled upon it, I knew I had a book.
After months of research in Albania and the U.S., I sought to interview Sam, who was one of only four survivors of the Albanian OSS mission. The other three have since passed. Of the four, Sam was the only one who would not talk, keeping his pledge of silence.
In vain I brought up the late Sterling Hayden and the names of the three men who did talk, as well as the names of others, and what they did, which were the same things that he did.
“Oh, I remember him,” he said of one of the men, “He was drunk most of the time.” That’s all he told me.
I left chuckling. Some guys can keep a secret. For that alone he deserves a medal.
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