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A Fixer, a Concierge, a Schmoozer
Prior to the army, my father spent five years as a salesman, on the road and in retail, selling men’s jewelry and accessories. To be good at that kind of work, you needed to have some sense about people. But, while making friends with strangers, you still had to remember to “close the sale."
This sales experience was not valuable to Abe, the Motor Maintenance Specialist, but using it to lead the SIAM Company 3151, it was a good fit, on target for this mission.
The primary job was the intelligence piece, gathering and relaying the military information via radio. His second job was that of a Fixer, a Concierge, a Schmoozer to befriend the locals. The third task was to be scout master to his boys. He had to commandeer quarters to set up the radio relay gear, and housing where they all could safely eat and sleep.
And he did this all in several different languages. Wearing the officer’s uniform of the U.S. Army, his very basic French was good enough to get by. German was one of the building blocks of Yiddish, the only language his mom and dad spoke.
He got credit for trying, and many local people gladly gave up their bedrooms, cooked for the SIAM crew, and even did their laundry, underwear and all.
Prior to the army, my father spent five years as a salesman, on the road and in retail, selling men’s jewelry and accessories. To be good at that kind of work, you needed to have some sense about people. But, while making friends with strangers, you still had to remember to “close the sale."
This sales experience was not valuable to Abe, the Motor Maintenance Specialist, but using it to lead the SIAM Company 3151, it was a good fit, on target for this mission.
The primary job was the intelligence piece, gathering and relaying the military information via radio. His second job was that of a Fixer, a Concierge, a Schmoozer to befriend the locals. The third task was to be scout master to his boys. He had to commandeer quarters to set up the radio relay gear, and housing where they all could safely eat and sleep.
And he did this all in several different languages. Wearing the officer’s uniform of the U.S. Army, his very basic French was good enough to get by. German was one of the building blocks of Yiddish, the only language his mom and dad spoke.
He got credit for trying, and many local people gladly gave up their bedrooms, cooked for the SIAM crew, and even did their laundry, underwear and all.
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On this mission, the company leader was also a forward scout:
November 24, 1944 “Dearest, We moved again, and this trip was exciting to me. Whenever I move, I take a jeep with two radio operators and a radio. We set up and transmit the news to HQ by means of the Jeep, until the rest of the outfit comes up. “I look around for quarters for the boys to stay in, before they get to the new position. Well, today I picked a building that was a Kraut post office. I was the first American to go into that place. “A woman greeted me and I told her why I was there. She showed me around. She brought out a Nazi flag about 10 by 6 feet and gave it to me for a souvenir. The boys arrived and I got them set up comfortably situated …. Love, always. Abe” |
Gene Lynch, Abe Sacks, and their Jeep- all part of Signal Intelligence and Monitoring Company 315 - on the road in France 1944.
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