9/8/14 Bell Ringer

     Today, World War II veteran Fred Mayer relaxes at his home in Charles Town. Most people don’t know that Mayer fled Nazi Germany for New York City in 1938 to escape Adolf Hitler’s persecution of Jews. He volunteered to join the U.S. Army, then became a secret agent with the OSS, the precursor to the modern CIA. Mayer was caught by the dreaded Gestapo, beaten for days by Nazi thugs, and later released with the help of a sympathetic doctor. Mayer infiltrated the local army barracks, posing as a wounded German officer, and was able to find out important information from the Germans, including a detailed description of Hitler’s secret bunker complex in Berlin.