Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: wooly15 on April 25, 2007, 09:48:31 PM
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I found this on some other forum. Anyone else ever heard this story?
One of the more interesting stories in the MTO was of the phantom P-38, which was causing trouble for many crippled bombers. Beginning on June 4, 1943, a crippled bomber was coming back from a mission against the island of Pantelleria. The crew was considering bailing out of their bomber when they spotted a P-38 coming closer. They immediately relaxed knowing it was coming to their aid. The crew continued to dump extra weight from the aircraft, including the guns and ammunition. Before the crew realized what happened, the P-38 erupted in gunfire and destroyed the B-17. The only survivor was the pilot, Lt. Harold Fisher. Fisher was rescued and was the target of fury from the fighter pilots by suggesting it was a friendly P-38 that shot them down.
Several weeks before Lt. Fisher's ordeal, a P-38 pilot was low on fuel and was lost. He actually made an emergency landing just outside of Sardinia. The pilot was captured before he was able to destroy his aircraft. Italian pilot, Lt. Guido Rossi came up with the idea of using this P-38 against the American bombers. Rossi's strategy was to wait until the bombers made their attacks. Rossi would then take off and scout around for stragglers. He actually used this technique to shoot down several bombers. Until Lt. Fisher, no other crews survived to tell of the P-38 shooting them down. The American commanders were under the assumption that these missing bombers just did not make it back just as many before them. Nobody thought a friendly aircraft was the cause.
After Fisher told his story, bombers crews were alerted to look for a lone P-38, which was posing as a friendly. Fisher came up with the idea of using a decoy B-17 to attract Rossi. Fisher's idea was approved and he took off in the experimental YB-40 gunship. This was simply a modified B-17, which had more armor and guns. He flew several missions lagging behind the rest of the formations, but never encountered Rossi. Intelligence was being gathered and the Allies finally learned the identity of the pilot. They also learned that his wife was living in Allied occupied Constantine. An artist actually used a picture of his wife to paint a nose art picture on Fisher's bomber, and included her name, Gina. On August 31, a B-17 raid struck Pisa. Fisher was flying among the bombers, and was actually damaged by enemy fighters. He recovered at a low altitude and had to feather two engines. Before long, a lone P-38 was approaching and the crew was on high alert. Rossi, using very good English, contacted Fisher, just as he did on previous occasions. Rossi immediately noticed the nose art on the aircraft and spoke with Fisher. Fisher was still uncertain the pilot was Rossi and was chatting with Rossi normally. Fisher decided to bait this pilot to see if it was Rossi or not, and began talking about Gina and her location in Constantine. When Fisher was describing intimate details of their "relationship", Rossi lost his cool. He peeled off and began his attack. Fisher ordered all guns to open up on this P-38, and Rossi had to peel off trailing smoke. Rossi intended to ram the bomber, but began breaking up and could not maintain flight. He was able to ditch in the water and survived. Rossi was later picked up and taken prisoner. Fisher was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross medal for his efforts. Fisher would survive the war, but was killed in a transport accident during the Berlin Airlift. Incidentally, Rossi was one of the mourners at his funeral.
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Sounds almost incredible :confused:
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ah yes the classic phantom P-38 story.. can't get enough of that read lol
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Bogus.
Makes a good story though.
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:O :O :O :O
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Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts
Bogus.
Makes a good story though.
Yeah, Martin Caidin's blending of fiction and fact. This one is generally regarded as mostly fiction.
My regards,
Widewing
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I personally happen to like this one:
http://www.combatsim.com/htm/nov99/p51-hard.htm
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Originally posted by Saxman
I personally happen to like this one:
http://www.combatsim.com/htm/nov99/p51-hard.htm
My favorite part is:
"'My first victory wasn't a kill; it was more of a suicide.'"
haha
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Originally posted by Widewing
Yeah, Martin Caidin's blending of fiction and fact. This one is generally regarded as mostly fiction.
My regards,
Widewing
Isn't that P-38 supposedly used by Rossi the one that Axis forces got when a US pilot defected or did the US pilot ditch and that's how the Axis forces got the P-38?
ack-ack
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At least one P-38 ended up staying in Portugal, because a guy from Ilfrey's squadron was landing as Ilfrey was escaping. But Portugal was neutral, so it was just interred.
As I recall, the Italians did have a P-38 that they captured intact because the pilot landed it bingo fuel and did not get it burning before he was captured. Not knowing how to actually fly it or maintain it, they soon screwed up more than they could fix, and of course, they didn't have any spare parts.
As an aside, Captain Stan Richardson Jr told me that he was once attacked by a P-47, in German markings, and had a brief fight with it in his P-38. Evidently, another pilot from his group was attacked by a Spitfire in German markings as well.
Given that the P-38 groups weren't doing so well with engine and fuel management early on, and that they evidently lost a fair number of P-38's due to them not having fuel to get home, I'd say the Germans may have been able to grab a few that ran out of fuel and ditched. After enough get ditched and salvaged, you have enough to make one or two fly again.
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About Oct '04 (Vol. 40 #9) Air Classics had a story about the only USAAF pilot that defected during the war.
Apparently Lt. Monti was a hard-core catholic who wanted to fight communists, and figured the way to that was to go to the German eastern front. In October '44, he flew a P-38 (F-5E) to the German held area near Milan and landed. Told Germans what he wanted to do - they thought he was either a whack-job or a spy and locked him up 'til the end of the war.
After the war, the US tried him as a traitor, but his former captors testified that he never gave away US secrets or spoke illof his county - just wnated to fight communists. H was found not guilty and stayed in the air force until 1948. When he got out, the FBI arrestesd him based on information that the had aided the Germans with propaganda radio broadcasts. He was given 28 years in prison - got out in 1977.
The article has several pics of the P-38 in Luftwaffe markings - talk about something that looks out of place! No mention of it being used to attack US planes - just used in the role of letting Luftwaffe pilots fly it to get a feel for what the enemy a/c were capable of.
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Italians had one P38G that was landed on Sicily by a lost P38 pilot.
On August 11, 1943 and Italian pilot named Tondi, intercepted B17s of the 301st BG and shot down one in the P38. The P38 was riddled with return fire. It was the only time the 38 claimed an American aircraft. It was flown a few more times but lack of spares and the synthetic German fuel eating through the self sealing fuel tanks, caused it to be grounded.
Caiden as a historian writes great fiction :)
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So what is the story with this Monti guy?
ack-ack
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Who cares.
If i see him in hell, i will spend a good amount of time kickin' his bellybutton in the afterlife.
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Originally posted by Ack-Ack
So what is the story with this Monti guy?
ack-ack
Bits and pieces I've found over the years when trying to know what the story was:
In brief, however, Lt. Monti fled from his unit in India and managed to reach Southern Italy. There, after having tried unsuccessfully to become a member of the 82nd Fighter Group, wandered for a few days, finally reaching an airfield near Naples where, faking to be a test pilot, managed to take-off with a brand new F-5E (a reconnaissance version of the P-38). He flew up to Milan, where he landed at Bresso airfield and surrendered in the hands of the Germans. The plane was later brought to Germany, while Lt. Monti was officially captured, reappearing only after the end of the war again in Milan! This time he reported to have managed to evade from a concentration camp in Germany, having reached the Italian border partly by foot and by train and finally reaching Milan. Nonetheless, he was soon identified and arrested. Submitted to military trial, he managed to convince the tribunal that he had taken off only to see "how the front-line looked like", become lost and then baled out from the F-5E with no more fuel, that he had been captured, imprisoned and escaped at his third attempt. He was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonement. After the war however, it was discovered that after his "capture" he had instead served with the Germans and that he had also been enrolled in the SS and had been a speaker of the German radio propaganda with the name of Martin Weithaupt. He was then arrested again for treason and sentenced to 25 years (only because he declared himself giulty of treason, the only U.S. citizen who ever confessed this crime). He was finally released in 1968.
Martin James Monti aka Martin Weithaupt Part Five of Five 8/19/48 Attorney General requested of the Department of the Army to transport 30 named witnesses to Washington, D.C. not later than 9/7/48. 12/8/48 Monti was committed to the Kings County Hospital of the City of New York for a mental examination by Gladys McDermaid M.D., Senior Psychiatrist, who concluded that, Monti was extremely narcissistic, immature, obsessive-compulsive person who has developed attitudes of superiority and hostility towards people as a self-protective device against inner feelings of inadequacy, emotional conflicts over homosexual strivings and inability to establish ego-identification at an adult male level. His religious and political fanaticism, his highly moralistic concepts and attitudes of racial superiority, conflict with primitive and sadistic impulses that he fears and attempts to control. On intelligence tests, Monti was classified as of superior intellugancem with an IQ of 131 on verbal, and 120 on performance material. Diagnosis is recorded as: No psychosis; not Mental Defective; Psychopathis Personality; paranoid and Obsessive- Compulsive Features. 1/17/49 Day of Monti's treason trial. Monti withdrew his not guility plea. The prosecution would not accept the plea without a complete and full confession under oath, and examined by Mr. Woerheide, the prosecutions attorney. Initially, Monti would not give a straight answer when Mr. Woerheide asked the Judge that the trial begin, that the defendant is not complying at all with the questions. Monti finally answered all questions put to him, over 150 of them. (I would imagine the thought of the 30 witnesses waiting in the side room might have had something to do with this.) Also Best and Chandler got Life imprisonment with out the chance of Parole. Both died in prison. The court accepted Monti's plea of guilty. Monti's attorney, Lloyd Paul Stryker, (also represented Alger Hiss) and Harold Shapiro was also present, moved foe an arrest of judgment on the grounds that the treasonous acts occurred on enemy territory, and that the Court didn't have jurisdiction since the U.S. Constitution guarantees that all crimes be tried in the "State" were they occurred, i.e., Germany, not the U.S. He also pleaded double jeopardy. The Judge denied all motions. The Judge sentenced Monti to 25 years confinement and a fine of $10,000. The Justice Department told reporters that Monti is the only American citizen who has ever confessed to the crime of treason. Monti spent 28 years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. His sentenced was extended for breaking into the mess hall kitchen, with a number of other prisoners and stealing food. He was finally released in 1968.
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A (Very Condensed) Chronological History of Martin James Monti aka Martin Weithaupt Information in this document are from papers collected by T.G. Collins, R.E.Collins, and D. Messimer. Mr. Messimer interviewed Martin Monti in 1982. This document has resulted, in part, from that interview. The documents are from the National Archives, Dept. of War, Dept. of the Army, Justice Dept., JAG, FBI, CIC, CID, SID, German Propaganda Ministry, and Standarte Kurt Eggers Waffen-SS. 10/24/21 Martin James Monti's date of birth, in St. Louis, Missouri 8/24/42 Monti registered for the Draft 10/?/42 Monti made a trip to Detroit to visit Father Coughlin seeking advice, presumably on how to avoid impending military service. 11/?/42 Monti first applied to the Navy to see if he could pass their tougher physical exam. 11/29/42 Monti applied for enlistment in the U.S. Army as an Air Force Cadet. 2/23/43 Monti reported to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as a flying cadet. 6/?/43 Monti was next sent to Santa Ana, California for basic training 3/?/44 Monti graduated with class 44c, as a Flight Officer. Everyone else became a 2nd Lt. Then he was sent to Ephrata, Wa. for training in a P-39. (My brother, Tom, was Monti's roommate in Ephrata.) Then was sent to Van Nuys, Ca. for training in the P-38. 8/12/44 Monti embarked from Florida for Karachi, India, assigned to the 14th Air Force. While in India he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. 10/1/44 Monti deserted the Army Air Force, hitching a ride aboard a C-46 to Cairo, Egypt. 10/4/44 Monti arrives by aircraft at Naples, Italy. 10/10/44 Monti hitched a ride by jeep to Foggia, Italy. He found his friends in the 82nd Fighter Group. He tried to join their unit. 10/13/44 Monti loitered in the hallway at Pomigliano Airport, base operations, then asked Leading Aircraftsman W.S. King, 1373002, 23 AACU, for clearance to fly a P-38, model P-38L-I-LO, AAF #44-23725. Monti said he belonged to the 82nd Fighter Group. Monti filled out the clearance form. His stated purpose for the flight was purportedly to test an engine. (12:20 hrs) Monti walked to the P-38 carrying a parachute and climbed up the wing. Cpl Sam R. Johnston, 354th Air Service Squadron, climbed up on the opposite wing to question Monti. Monti told him he was the test pilot for the plane. Johnston checked the Form with a red diagonal, and the test flight requirements, He watched Monti perform the cockpit check, start the engines, and taxi away, all performed perfectly. Monti took off in the P-38 from Pomigliano Airfield at 12:29 hrs, reporting an estimated 2 hour flight. After Monti took off, he checked a map he had acquired, and noted a location of a small airfield near Milan. He located the small grass airfield behind German lines, and landed. Several Italian civilians and a German soldier came toward his plane, and the soldier took a shot at him, but missed(to bad). Monti was driven to an unknown location and placed in a locked room. Finally, a German ex-fighter pilot, Lt. Friedrich Joseph Boenninghaus, who could speak english, came to see him. Monti was then transferred by train, in the custody of German soldiers going on leave, to a POW camp near Frankfurt. (14:58 hrs) Regional Flying Control (RAF, Pomigliano) picked up an aircraft distress signal from an aircraft 20 miles due east of the Airdrome and two minutes later, another distress signal at only 12 miles from the same direction. No crash site was found. 10/13/44 to 10/31/44 At Oberursel, Germany, Monti offered his services to members of the military forces of the German Government. 10/14/44 Orders for Monti's arrest were sent to all Allied units. 10/?/44 CIC arrested an Italian pilot in the Rome area who had been sent behind Allied lines with specific orders to steal a P-38. German Technical Intelligence had been seeking latest models of U.S. photo Reconnaissance planes, which Monti's P-38 was. 10/25/44 to 11/15/44 At Berlin, Germany, Monti offered his services to a representative of the German Radio Broadcasting Corporation. 11/7/44 Monti was confined in a POW camp in Wetzlar, Germany. Monti was frequently taken from his room for private interrogation and apparently received special consideration. 11/14/44 Monti was taken to Dulag Luft, northwest of Frankfurt, where he was processed. 11/15/44 to 12/15/44 At Konigswusterhausen, Germany, Monti conferred with officials of the German Radio Broadcasting Corporation concerning his future duties as an enplane of that corporation. 11/?/44 Heinrich Maurice Schafhausen, acting head of the USA Zone of the German Short Wave Radio, was ordered by Horst Cleinow, Superintendant of the German Short Wave Radio at Benediktbeuern, Germany, to go to the Hotel Auto in the west end of Berlin for a meeting with Luftwaffe Lt. Bonninghaus and Monti (now known as Martin Weithaupt). (He was given the code name Roberts and didn't like it for the simple reason if he was killed no one would know who he really was, he took the name of Weithaupt, his mothers maiden name more for identification). He found that Monti's ideas were strongly influenced by the teachings of Father Coughlin, and was rapidly anti-communist, but on the whole, Monti was immature and lacking in general education. 11/?/44 Edward Vieth Sittler, (a Polish citizen in some papers a German National in others) commentator for the German Short Wave Radio, USA Zone, was sent by Sendeleiter Herr Houben to interview Monti at an Army garrison. but because of Monti's youth and crazy sincerity, he recommended that Monti be requisitioned. 11/?/44 Monti was released from the POW camp through a Stalag Office in Berlin, Hallesches Tor. Shafhausen was sent to bring him to Konigswusterhausen. Shafhausen arranged food and civilian clothes for Monti, and administered ration cards, and gave Monti his weekly food allowance, and advanced him pocket money against Monti's earning. 11/?/44 Monti met Joachim O. Weidhass on the street in Konigwusterhausen. The last time Weidhass saw Monti was in January, 1945.
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. Monti told Weidhass that Captain DuVaire was responsible for Monti's release from the POW camp, with the promise of civilian clothes and Red Cross rations, if Monti would try to persuade other US POW's to work or fight for the Wehrmacht. 11/25/44 At Berlin, Germany, Monti made a microphone test at the recording studio of the SS Standarte Kurt Eggers, a unit of the Schutz Staffel of the National Socialist German Workers Party, under the direction of Guenter d'Alquen. 11/28/44 American Military Intelligence requested a complete background investigation of Monti. 11/29/44 2nd Lt. Samuel P. Rugh wrote a letter from Assam, India, to 2nd Lt. Eugene Z. Mazurak in Italy, asking him, "Hey why didn't you guys nab Monti? He deserted the Army when he left us in India. When you guys saw him he was on his way to Switzerland. He probably bailed out up there somewhere at the cost of one P-38 to the USA. They are still hunting for his body in Karachi, for they thought one of the natives knocked him off for his dough." (At this time a CIC agent by the name of Cuomo (no known relation to the Governor of the same name) is transferred from India to Italy on the case. He happens to be a key figure later on in tying the facts together of the stolen aircraft and the radio broadcasts.) 11/?/44 to 5/?/45 Edward Vieth Sittler says Monti was a passionate and very adolescent Catholic. He fasted and confessed and went as often to Mass and Communion as he was in the vicinity of a church. During the winter months Monti had taken to dropping into Sittler's apartment whenever, and as often as he liked, much to the surprise of Sittler's wife. Monti walked and lived in the airy realms of a crusade against Bolshevism however, and looked with ill-concealed scorn on all who would venture to doubt that God would sooner or later smite back the heathen into their lair. It gave him a certain feeling of exaltation, to consider himself a bit of a martyr in the holy cause. Monti's passionate opposition to Roosevelt was based on this same principle. He considered him nothing less than an infidel who was leading a whole nation on the path to hell and damnation. Monti and Sittler joined the SS Standarte Kurt Eggers at the same time. The process of Monti's joining the SS as a working member had been going on for at least 3 or 4 months, but it only took Sittler 24 hours because he was a German National. (Some papers I have only indicate that Sittler was a Pole not a German National, in some Justice Files there's is mention of him being a German.) They were both issued uniform at the same time, Monti as a Lt., and Sittler as a private. After a few weeks Monti moved to Berlin. Monti at this time was participating in the making of recordings of "The Roundtable Conferences" in which he was a speaker. Monti did not write many talks, probably about 10 in the entire time he was in Germany. Monti told Horst Cleinow that he was 'put out' that the Germans in Italy seemed anything but glad to see him. He had expected a much warmer welcome, but unfortunately for himself, Monti did not make a good impression on people. Mrs. Day suspected Monti was an American agent, but Cleinow thought him too stupid for that. Monti showed him some broadcasts he had summited, and an eighth grade schoolboy could have written better. (The Germans determined at this time that Monti could not be considered as a radio commentator. He did some short commentaries and skits and later, solely took part in the weekly "Round Table" discussions.) Monti explained to Joachim Weidhaas that he had been offered membership in the SS through the good offices of Captain DuVaire, and that Monti wouldn't start as a low grade private, but that if he joined, he'd get a corresponding rank to his American one, and his job would be to organize a drive among US POW's to join up for the fighting of the Russians on Germany's side. 1/10/45 At Konigswusterhausen, Germany, Monti participated in making a recording of a radio program as "A Musical Program by the MacDonald Sisters." 12/29/44 Monti wrote to his parents from Stalag 3D, the letter showing POW #12924. 1/31/45 At Berlin, Germany, Monti participated in writing and composing a leaflet to be distributed by members of the German military forces, among members of the U.S. and Allied Nations, who were held as POW's. 1/11/45, 1/18/45, 1/25/45, 2/15/45, 2/22/45, 3/1/45, 3/8/45 At Konigswusterhausen, Germany, Monti participated in making recordings of the radio program "Round Table Conference," at the recording studio of the German Radio Broadcasting Corporation. 3/15/45 to 4/5/45 At Berlin, Germany, Monti proceeded to the office of the Administrative Officer of the Standarte Kurt Eggers, for the purpose of turning over an itemized statement of account from the official clothing exchange for articles of a Schutz Staffel (SS) officers uniform and articles of an SS officer's equipment, for his use as an officer of the Standarte Kurt Eggers. 3/22/45, 3/29/45, 4/5/45 At Berlin, Germany, Monti participated in making 3 more recordings of the radio program "Round Table Conference" at the recording studio of the Standarte Kurt Eggers, a unit of the Schutz Staffel of the National Socialist German Workers Party. 4/?/45 Guenther d'Alquen, Commander SS Standarte Kurt Eggers, says that towards the end of March, his deputy, Kriegbaum, must have contacted the Chief of the Personnel Office of the Waffen-SS, both verbally and in writing, and requested Monti's induction into the Standarte. Kriegbaum did not need to have the slightest compunction in accepting the responsibility for doing away with redtape, and issuing Monti a proper 'soldbuch', even though the consent of the High Command had, as yet, not arrived in writing, but had been promised. Only after completed all preliminary steps, was Kriegbaum in a position to comply with Monti's repeated requests as to issue of a uniform and clothing. At the time the enforced checks on the population and the continuous search for deserters in Berlin made it imperative that Monti be furnished with a proper 'soldbuch' for his personal safety, even though the written consent of the SS High Command had as yet not arrived. Had not such a consent been already given verbally, Kriegbaum would never have issued a 'soldbuch' , nor would he have been in a position to have officially requested the permission for the SS clothing store to officially issue Monti any items of a uniform. Without the official authorities of such a uniform request, for instance, it would not have been possible to procure an officer's belt for Monti, as was actually purchased for him. Such belts, to which particular significance was attached in the Waffen-SS, were never to be had without proper authority in any stores. In the middle of April, Kriegbaum received orders from d'Alquen to the effect that he was to 'fell' specified decisions as to the further assignment of all personnel of the Standarte that were still in Berlin. Therefore, when issuing a travel order for Monti's leaving Berlin, Kriegbaum was forced to either specifically order, or to allow, Monti to don the uniform of the Regiment. This was the only way to ensure that--in combination with the proper 'soldbuch'--Monti was able to carry out said order. When Monti rejoined the American Forces near Milan, Italy he was on orders, either to proceed to Unternehaen(?) Suedstern, or its dependent transmission station Viktoria, both in Northern Italy, and both under the command of an officer of the Standarte Kurt Eggers. The period from the middle of April 1945--that is the date of Monti's departure from Berlin--untill toward the end of April 1945, corresponds to the amount of time then actually necessary to cover that distance under the prevailing circumstances. 4/?/45 Monti joined the SS Standarte Kurt Eggers in Berlin Zehlendorf, and received military travel orders to the Kampfsender Viktoria in the Italian Alps. 4/?/45 Monti and Sittler prepare to leave Berlin. They climbed over rail road Station barriers to avoid military police. Monti by virtue of his Lieutenant's SS uniform, battled his way to standing room only by climbing through a window of the train. Several higher ranking officers tried to order him out, but Monti ignored them. Sittler departed from the train later at his stop, while Monti remained aboard. That's the last Sittler saw of Monti. 5/8/45 Monti's father was notified by the U.S. Army that his son Martin was a POW of the German Government, based on existing information. 5/10/45 Monti has now crossed into Italy and has crossed the American lines. 5/13/45 Monti is interrogated by 1st Lt. J.A. Reid A.C., 15th Air Force, U.S. Army. Monti told him he was shot down behind enemy lines and was helped out by Italian Partisans and that why he is wearing a German uniform. 5/14/45 Anthony Cuomo, Special Agent, CID, (the Agent that wasn't doing anything in India) was notified Monti was in the vicinity of Bari, Italy. Monti was arrested by other officers. Cuomo later interrogated Monti. (We haven't heard the last of Inspector Cuomo.) On duty as an MP in Bari, Italy PFC William H. Soloman, 529th Air Service Group, accompanied Major Souder, PFC Stehle and a Captain, in search of Monti, and apprehended him at the Officer's Red Cross Club in Bari. When Monti was arrested in Bari, Italy, he still had his SS uniform on less markings and had in his possession a German P-38 pistol and ammunition.
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He later told investigators that he had no weapons on his person. 5/19/45 Allied Force Headquarters, Caserta, Italy, requested the War Department to check Sam Sorokin since he is the only person Monti recalled being with him at Wetzlar POW camp. 5/21/45 Monti was again interviewed by CIC agent in AAFSC Stockade near Manfredonia, Italy. Monti asserted his rights and said he would say nothing further. Monti wanted to know why, or how long, he could be held without charges being filed. The agent pointed out the seriousness of the violations of the Articles of War. Monti's attitude changed. Monti gave his false story. When asked why he couldn't remember any names of people he met, Monti said he met very few American POW's and they all had been careful in talking. While imprisoned in Gerona, Monti said he was joined by an American bomber pilot, shot down north of Verona, by the name of Jones, from Texas. (He should be easy to track down!) Monti and Jones were taken north by three German soldiers going home on leave. The only other POW Monti said he remembered was Sam Sorokin. (Get This one) Monti said he knew no names because he had been briefed in the U.S. not to remember names of those giving aid, so he had purposely not done so. Private Samuel Sorokin, 39248404, POW of the German Government. Mother's address, Los Angeles, California. 5/31/45 Charges are preferred against Monti. Captain Louis Wilkerson, AC, Hq., AAF/MTO, is designated to investigate the charges of desertion and theft against Monti. 7/10/45 Captain Wilkerson concluded his investigation. 7/14/45 Monti is examined by Captain Henry H.W. Miles, Neuropsychiatrist, who found Monti sane, in the legal sense. 8/6/45 Court Martial begun. Normal procedure for a court martial. Monti challenged no member of the Court. Testimony from all concerned. Monti testified in his own behalf. He admitted leaving his unit without leave, but had no intention to desert. He maintained his false story that he had been shot down, and that after escaping from the Germans, he wandered the European countryside for 4 or 5 months before rejoining Allied forces near Milan. Monti was found guilty of AWOL rather than desertion, and guility of misappropriating a P-38, valued at more the $50 thousand dollars, property of the U.S. Monti's sentence was to be dismissed from the service, to forfeit all pay and allowances due or to become due, and to be confined at hard labor for 15 years. 2/4/46 President Harry S. Truman directed the unexecuted portion of Monti's sentence of confinement to be remitted, effective upon Monti's enlistment in the Army as a private. 5/22/46 Clyde E. Gooch, Special Attorney, Frankfurt, Germany, sent a letter to Theron L. Caudle, Asst. Attorney General in Washington D.C., summarizing Monti's actions in Germany and possible amenability to prosecution by the Army. (This were or Inspector Cuomo comes in while interrogating some Germans on other matters in Germany, he was fortunate to interview Edward Sittler, who knew Monti as Weithaupt, remember, Monti's code name? Sittler asked if Cuomo knew of an American pilot of a P-38, named Martin Weithaupt, who worked for him in Berlin. The lights and fireworks plus a few cherry bombs went off in Cuomo's head. On further interrogation he determined that Martin Weithaupt was no other that Martin James Monti. 11/18/46 Monti was taken to the office of Mr. Woerheide, Room 2313 in the Department of Justice, and there was confronted with Mr. and Mrs. Edward Veith Sittler, Margaret Eggers and Mrs. Loretta Grunau Kapke plus seven others that were over in the U.S. for the trials of Robert Best and Chandler. Monti was visibly astonished to see these people and at first declined to enter the room. (You remember the cartoon were the guy has his heels dug in and is making a groove in the concrete floor while being dragged to his execution?). All these persons identified Monti as the man they knew as Weithaupt while working in Berlin on the "Round Table Conferences" Monti refused to make any statement. and stated that he desired to consult a lawyer. 3/12/47 Best and Chandler, two fellow broadcasters whom Monti knew in Germany, have been indicted in Boston for treason, for similar acts and are awaiting trial. Monti refused to testify against them before the Grand Jury and claimed his privilege against self-incrimination. 11/1/47 Monti lingered in jail while the slow wheels of Justice turned. Drew Pearsons' article in the Washington Post discussed the Monti case and the delay in prosecution saying, "But meanwhile, Lt. Martin James Monti of St. Louis, who did sort of a Rudolf Hess in reverse, landing behind enemy lines in a P-38 in Italy and becoming a member of the elite Nazi SS Corps, is still in the U.S.Army." (I believe personally that Our Agent Cuomo blew the whistle on Monti to Pearson and really got the ball rolling. Up to this time the Government were really dragging their feet.) Other articles appeared in rapid succession after Pearsons. 1/26/48 Monti was discharged from the U.S. Army, and immediately arrested by the FBI. 8/19/48 Attorney General requested of the Department of the Army to transport 30 named witnesses to Washington, D.C. not later than 9/7/48. 12/8/48 Monti was committed to the Kings County Hospital of the City of New York for a mental examination by Gladys McDermaid M.D., Senior Psychiatrist, who concluded that, Monti was extremely narcissistic, immature, obsessive-compulsive person who has developed attitudes of superiority and hostility towards people as a self-protective device against inner feelings of inadequacy, emotional conflicts over homosexual strivings and inability to establish ego-identification at an adult male level. His religious and political fanaticism, his highly moralistic concepts and attitudes of racial superiority, conflict with primitive and sadistic impulses that he fears and attempts to control. On intelligence tests, Monti was classified as of superior intellugancem with an IQ of 131 on verbal, and 120 on performance material. Diagnosis is recorded as: No psychosis; not Mental Defective; Psychopathis Personality; paranoid and Obsessive-Compulsive Features. 1/17/49 Day of Monti's treason trial. Monti withdrew his not guility plea. The prosecution would not accept the plea without a complete and full confession under oath, and examined by Mr. Woerheide, the prosecutions attorney. Initially, Monti would not give a straight answer when Mr. Woerheide asked the Judge that the trial begin, that the defendant is not complying at all with the questions. Monti finally answered all questions put to him, over 150 of them. (I would imagine the thought of the 30 witnesses waiting in the side room might have had something to do with this.) Also Best and Chandler got Life imprisonment with out the chance of Parole. Both died in prison. The court accepted Monti's plea of guilty. Monti's attorney, Lloyd Paul Stryker, (also represented Alger Hiss) and Harold Shapiro was also present, moved foe an arrest of judgment on the grounds that the treasonous acts occurred on enemy territory, and that the Court didn't have jurisdiction since the U.S. Constitution guarantees that all crimes be tried in the "State" were they occurred, i.e., Germany, not the U.S. He also pleaded double jeopardy. The Judge denied all motions. The judge sentenced Monti to 25 years confinement and a fine of $10,000. The Justice Department told reporters that Monti is the only American citizen who has ever confessed to the crime of treason. Monti spent 28 years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. His sentenced was extended for bad behavior, breaking into the mess hall kitchen, with a number of other prisoners and stealing food. He was released in 1975.