Guerrilla in Striped Pants: A U.S. Diplomat Joins the Italian Resistance

In Guerrilla in Striped Pants, Walter W. Orebaugh, a former U.S. diplomat, gives an account of his adventures behind the lines in Italy during World War II--a courageous odyssey which won him his country’s acclaim as a hero and the Medal of Freedom, its highest civilian decoration, for exceptionally meritorious and courageous service . . . behind the German lines and for courage, resourcefulness and coolness under fire. The drama of Orebaugh’s capture by the Italian army, his internment in the mountains, and his subsequent escape is punctuated by his heroic smuggling of two companions out of danger, his encounter with a glamorous Hungarian spy, and his treacherous journey through enemy territory to freedom.

Orebaugh’s account is a personal adventure story containing all the elements of danger, intrigue, and courage which will grip the reader’s imagination. The fact that it accurately recounts an important moment in history intensifies the drama, and affirms how ingenuity and daring feats can be performed by ordinary people in times of great peril.

WALTER W. OREBAUGH, born in Kansas in 1910, graduated from Wichita University and was selected for the United States Foreign Service in 1932. He was promoted to consul in 1941 and transferred to Nice, in Vichy-controlled France. His subsequent capture by Italian soldiers, incarceration in Italy, and escape are the subjects of this book. After the war, he worked as U.S. Consul in Italy and as Chief of a branch of the CIA. He later accepted the position as Vice-Director of the Bologna Center of the School of Advanced International Studies for Johns Hopkins University. Orebaugh retired permanently in 1975, and is particularly proud of his Medal of Freedom, three Italian medals, and the President’s Medal of Johns Hopkins University.

CAROL JOSE, a native of New Jersey, attended Miami University, Ohio, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Central Florida, receiving a B.S. in French Literature (1971) and a Masters degree in Business Administration (1976). Now a free-lance writer and journalist, she has colloborated on, and edited, several books, and writes a weekly newspaper column on food and the culinary arts.