The irrepressible nature of the OSS – Office of Strategic Services, during World War II, is historically accurate and universally accepted. Recent literary efforts have attributed the death of General George Patton to the rogue agency, in a murderous plot to silence his pending public criticism of the war’s development. After the Potsdam Conference in August 1945, President Harry S. Truman summarily dissolved the OSS upon returning to the United States, even though the war with Japan was still highly undecided. President Truman is believed to have evaluated the OSS and its insolent leader, “Wild” Bill Donovan, as a more serious threat to the American way of life than not operating any American civilian spy agency. Until the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) was founded in 1947, the United States did not have a civilian spy agency. It is also historically accurate to say that “Savage” Bill Donovan campaigned forcefully for the post of CIA Director in 1947, and was solidly and summarily rejected for the post by President Truman.
I know that President Truman was well acquainted with Omar Ketchum, Jack Ketchum’s father and president of VFW – Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, DC. I have a photo of Omar Ketchum standing behind President Truman at the signing ceremony of the GI Bill, fundamental legislation for all American veterans. I also believe that President Truman knew that the OSS caused the death of Jack Ketchum’s crew on their way home on June 13, 1945. Any sane person would consider such a heinous crime committed against Jack Ketchum’s crew as monumentally unacceptable. . Although Omar Ketchum was fed the collective “cover story” about the death of Ketchum’s crew in a C-54 accident that never actually occurred, I contend that President Truman found it increasingly difficult to promote such a farce. He surely regarded the “Savage” Bill Donovan and the OSS as despicable, and although the murder of Jack Ketchum’s crew was “buried” to avoid public awareness, President Truman clearly made a deliberate decision to eliminate the murderers of these innocents. American military from the ranks of the United States government.
Today’s United States Air Force was founded in 1947 during the same time period as the Central Intelligence Agency. To date, the USAF has been totally inert in its efforts to uncover the truth about Jack Ketchum’s crew. For all its bravado, the USAF continues to fully comply whenever the CIA denies it information about the Jack Ketchum crew accident. A crew from the US Army Air Corps, the USAF’s predecessor, was killed on their way home by the CIA’s predecessor, and in response, the USAF would have to band together to appear simply powerless. Justice for Jack Ketchum’s crew remains elusive, although the mystery of his loss has been solved and that truth is now widely shared. His story has become a public affair with a global audience. That audience must now decide whether the latest mission of Jack Ketchum’s crew remains forgotten and whether the OSS, CIA and USAF-led cover-up remains socially acceptable.