By Kevin Seabrooke

The life and exploits of the U.S. Marine Colonel Peter J. Ortiz read like a role that might be played by the Hollywood actor he eventually became. Born in New York, educated in France, Ortiz joined the French Foreign Legion at 19 and fought bandits and pirates in Morocco, was wounded, and twice received the Croix de Guerre. In May 1940 and was wounded setting ablaze a fuel depot during a French retreat, receiving a third Croix de Guerre. After 15 months in captivity in Germany, Poland, and Austria he escaped in October 1941, and made his way back to the U.S. Ortiz joined the Marine Corps in 1942 and was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), he parachuted into Nazi-occupied France twice to coordinate with the French Resistance, organize sabotage missions, and gather critical intelligence. Ultimately, he surrendered to spare the locals from German reprisals, and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.

Ortiz’s War: The Allies’ Secret Weapon Against the Nazis in France (Nicholas Reynolds and Katie Sanders, Harper Horizon, New York, NY, 304 pp., Aug. 25, 2026 $29.99 HC)