[国会记录第159卷，第58号(2013年4月25日星期四)][参议院][S3023-S3024页]主席女士，我今天想谈谈我的一位杰出的选民，弗雷德里克·梅尔先生。他的故事是一个真正令人难以置信的勇敢故事，梅耶尔是二战中伟大的无名英雄之一。他无私的爱国主义精神和对美国的独特服务值得我们的认可。梅尔出生在德国的一个犹太家庭，由于纳粹主义在自己的祖国兴起，他被迫逃离，年轻时随家人移民到美国。珍珠港遇袭后，梅尔加入了美国陆军。在那里，他的才能很快得到了认可，很快就被招募到战略服务办公室(Office of Strategic Services, OSS)——中情局的前身。一进入战略情报局，梅尔就面临着一项难以想象的危险任务——被秘密地送回纳粹领土，从敌人后方收集关键的军事情报。梅尔先生接受了他的任务，他完全知道，作为一名犹太裔美国间谍，如果他被捕，他几乎肯定会被杀死。几年前刚刚逃离纳粹德国的他，怀着对纳粹军队所造成的不公正的独特欣赏，怀着帮助他的新祖国——美国——结束这些不公正的强烈责任感，接受了这项使命。 What happened next is perhaps best told in the words of Mr. Mayer's commanding officer in a May 31, 1945, written assessment of Mr. Mayer's performance: Technical Sergeant Mayer parachuted into enemy occupied territory and remained there for three months, gathering secret intelligence and rallying Austrian resistance elements. During this period Technical Sergeant Mayer exhibited not only the highest degree of courage under constant risk of his life, but remarkable qualities of leadership and organization which made it possible for him to contact and win the support of anti-Nazi elements of all classes and walks of life, and eventually to arrange the surrender of Innsbruck to American troops. Ultimately, Mr. Mayer spent nearly 3 months living behind enemy lines, often wearing a German officer's uniform and using forged papers to move openly without capture. In that guise, Mr. Mayer covertly organized a network of anti-Nazi Austrians and clandestinely collected vital intelligence that was then relayed by his radio operator to OSS headquarters in Italy. According to now unclassified documents, Mr. Mayer collected and relayed information on a wide array of critical subjects--important Nazi war factories, schedules relating to the movement of Nazi troops and material to and from the battlefront, the status of Nazi defenses at key tunnels, bridges, and highway bottlenecks, and the whereabouts of Mussolini, Daladier, and Hitler. In one case, intelligence gathered by Mr. Mayer about the assembly and schedules of 26 military trains that were being sent to the Italian front led to the trains' destruction and blocked the Brenner Pass completely until well after the war ended. After months of successful operations, Mr. Mayer was betrayed by one of his contacts. He was then arrested by the Gestapo and brutally tortured while in captivity. Nevertheless, throughout the harsh interrogations, Mr. Mayer refused to give up the location of his radio operator. As a prisoner, Mr. Mayer was able to use his language skills and quick thinking to convince his captors to grant him a meeting with senior Nazi officers, and as American troops approached, he helped persuade the Nazi [[Page S3024]] commanders to surrender Innsbruck--likely preventing a final battle with U.S. forces that would have resulted in even greater casualties. In the end, Mr. Mayer led what is now regarded as one of the most successful OSS covert operations of World War II--Operation GREENUP. His bravery, remarkable in any context, is even more noteworthy given his willingness to selflessly return to enemy territory, not far from the childhood home he was forced to flee. He did this to help win the war, and he did this in service to the United States. Mr. Mayer is now 92 years old and lives in Charles Town, WV. He is a very humble man who does not brag about his wartime accomplishments. Thankfully, that deep humility does not mean that his amazing story has been lost, and I am honored to recognize Fred's service here today. ____________________