Thread by @CIA

“What the Heck Was I Gonna Do With a Dumb Gun?”
The Wit and Derring-Do of Stephanie Czech Rader

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#OSS75

Stephanie, daughter of Polish immigrants, grew up immersed in Polish language & culture in an immigrant neighborhood in Poughkeepsie.
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Stephanie was surprised by a teacher who arranged a scholarship to @Cornell.
She was 1st person in her family to graduate college.
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@Cornell #WWII: Stephanie joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.
She was one of the first 80 trainees accepted out of 1000s who applied.
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Stephanie was also one of first 440 picked for Officer Candidate School at Fort Des Moines.
She was quickly promoted to Captain.
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1945: Stephanie’s Polish language skills & education caught attention of #OSS.
They assigned her to Poland: 1 of only 2 OSS reps.
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It was an extremely dangerous time to operate in Poland.
Pro-Soviet factions watched all foreigners, including embassy personnel.
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Stephanie posed as a US embassy clerk in Warsaw who spent her spare time traveling in Poland to reconnect w distant family members.
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During her “searches” Stephanie collected intel on:
-Economic & political data
-Russian troop movement
-Security services activities
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Soon after Stephanie arrived in Poland, #OSS was disbanded
She was absorbed into Strategic Services Unit & continued to gather intel
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Beyond her intel gathering duties, Stephanie was also a courier tasked w transporting classified documents between Berlin & Warsaw.
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1946: Stephanie was carrying top secret docs into Poland when she saw Russian security services waiting at border checkpoint for her.
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As she approached on foot, she deftly slipped docs to a less-suspicious traveler & gave them an address in Warsaw to take docs to.
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Stephanie was picked up & questioned, but having no proof, they had to let her go.
However, she fell under increasing surveillance.
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Soon after, her cover was compromised by a superior, yet Stephanie insisted on staying to finish her mission despite extreme danger.
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Stephanie returned to US & was nominated by superiors for Legion of Merit & a Bronze Star.
Both were denied, w no rationale provided.
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Stephanie married famed #WWII military aviator Brig Gen William Rader.
1951: She earned a Master’s degree in Chemistry @GWtweets.
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Stephanie died in 2016. She was 100.
At funeral @ArlingtonNatl, the @USArmy awarded her the Legion of Merit.

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