You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Hall's book is his funny story volunteering for, training in, and working within America's WWII OSS unit (pre-cursor to the modern CIA). Like all good soldiers, Hall sought to escape the boredom, heat, and humidity of camp life for anything else. So, he volunteered for the OSS - only knowing that at least it was something different and possibly dangerous - oh my!

The book takes us through numerous training assignments of Hall's - patrolling, ambushing, parachuting, espionage basics, infiltration into civilian organizations, and more. Typical of most American WWII soldiers, he spent far more time training than he ever did in combat. The most interesting sections of the book are his parachute and espionage training. He describes both in fascinating detail. It is quite funny to see how amateurish much of his spy training was - I suppose that's why the CIA would have liked for the book not to be published.

Hall writes in an irrevent and playful style that makes his book both fun and easy to read. He is the type of original smart-ass that self-important superior officials love to hate. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially as it pokes fun at a rather serious business.

Sometimes, just sometimes, the things of your youth are

better than when you experienced them the first time: things

like "You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger," Roger Hall's

memoirs of his experiences in the OSS (Office of Strategic

Services, forerunner of the CIA) during WW2.

In 1966 Miss Estele, Greenon High School's librarian, once

very sternly suggested to me that I get my own copy of Mr.

Hall's book. Seems that I had checked out the school's copy so

much that it was in danger of disintegration.

Not wishing to run afoul of the lady with the piercing

eyes which could wound at 50 paces, I broke down and bought a

copy for myself.

I destroyed it with repeated readings.

I bought a second.

I destroyed it. Read the words off the page.

I went for a third copy. But alas the book was not to be

found. Literally for decades I searched used book stores and

book sales. Libraries. No dice. Gone. Phfttttttt.

But the book was always with me. I have never attended a

briefing or presentation without thinking of the great

exploding map overlay caper. Phrases and descriptions stalked

their ways into my daily vocabulary like two great stalking

things. I mean, how can you top, "...the account being one in

which the fact quotient was in inverse ratio to the difficulty

of the feats of derring-do allegedly performed"? I even once

wrote on a subordinate's performance evaluation, "...highly

praised for his capabilities and performance and resoundingly

damned for his irreverence."

Great stuff there.

Then a co-worker, to whom I had mentioned the book, found

that Bluejacket Press had republished it and it was available

through Amazon.com.

So as fast as I could, I got my third copy.

Would it be as funny? Well, actually, it was funnier.

Mr. Hall's wit can be rapier-like and delicately subtle.

Mr. Hall's wit can also cut a swath through inefficient

bureaucratic nonsense like a claymore. His ability to turn

ordinary words into lasting memories would make Mr. Hall a

blast with whom to split a pizza and a six-pack.

It's funnier because having spent 6 years and 3 months on

active duty in the service of His Majesty the Commandant of the

Marine Corps, I have a much deeper appreciation for the surreal

ambiance which permeates the military and which almost seems

designed to impede progress.

It's funnier because in spite of the institutionalized

blood-mindedness, we still manage, somehow, to weave our way

through lunacy's labyrinth.

It's funnier because I've lived in the Slidell, La area;

and, by-jingoes, it IS a place perfectly suited to rot away in.

This time around when I read of his experiences and

friendship with a Major William Colby, I know that William

Colby went on to become the head of the CIA.

If you like memoirs, this is the book for you. If you

like military history, this is the book for you. If you just

like funny books, this is the book for you.

Rick roberts

One of the funniest books I've read in any genre. If Dave Barry had been eligible for enlistment in 1942 this is the the kind of book he might have written. Roger Hall's account of his time in the O.S.S. is full of dry wit, bawdy humor, accute assessments of the Army's intelligence operations during World War II, and his own vivid personality. The pace is fast, people and situations are clearly delineated in a few deft words, and the irreverence only heightens the sobering reality of military life in a time of war. Thirty years after I first read it this book still makes me laugh.