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

(Hardback)

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In this account, Walter W. Orebaugh, a former US diplomat, tells 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. 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 female companions out of danger, his encounter with a glamorous Hungarian spy, and his treacherous journey through enemy territory to freedom. Orebaugh's account underscores the courage, hope, and ingenuity of ordinary people in times of peril.

Reviews

"A gripping adventure and a wonderful love story . . . . [Orebaugh has an] understanding of and deep affection for a simple, courageous, and stubborn people struggling against oppression. It is a very personal account of real people; the kind you can't put down. . . ."- Stephen Low, Director The Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
"I have read many books authored by American scholars on the unique world of Italy's peasants, yet none of them have so intensely or so lucidly understood the men and women of this world. . . . The world of those peasants has disappeared. Your witness is a classic in human anthropology. Not many scholars [have] brought to us descriptions of certain civilizations that can match yours."-Dr. Fabio Luca Cavazza Milan, Italy
"Important is the rich, full description of the Italian peasant customs and culture. . . . Orebaugh brings an understanding of Italian peasant culture that is lacking in even the best accounts by Americans."- Warren Armstrong, President Wichita State University
"This American diplomat dared to smuggle the young women to freedom, and . . . instead of escaping with his hide, shared with the Italian peasants in their resistance to the Axis powers. . . . Through dangers that beggar the imagination, he succeeded, and will forever remember the peasants who shielded him at their own peril. It is a hair-raising story no reader will ever forget."- Dr. Perry Gresham President Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Humanities Bethany College

Author Bio

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.