World War II Honoree

Joseph Maria Franckenstein

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

New York, New York

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

During the war, he volunteered for the U.S. Army the day after Pearl Harbor. He served in the 87th Mountain Regiment, Company I, and later helped form the 10th Mountain Division. He participated in the Aleutian Campaign in the summer and fall of 1943. In 1944 he was appointed to the Office of Strategic Services and was an espionage agent in Austria in support of the Austrian Resistance against the Germans, working with the Tyrolean group under the leadership of Dr. Karl Gruber. He infiltrated the country in the uniform of a German Wehrmacht sergeant. In late April 1945, after being arrested by the Gestapo, imprisoned at Reichenau, tortured and sentenced to death, he was able to escape and assist in the liberation of Innsbruck by the Americans in May 1945. He stayed until November 1945, assisting with denazification efforts and setting up of Austrian schools and courts.