He jumped into Normandy, ran spies in Moscow, retired at 90

Hugh Montgomery, 91, poses for a photograph with the Nazi SS flag which was flying over Buchenwald concentration camp during WWII, in the background in his McLean, Va., home, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Montgomery went behind enemy lines for the OSS, where he was among the first Americans to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp. After returning to Harvard to earn his PhD and teach, he joined the newly formed CIA, where he led spying operations against the Soviets for decades, doing tours in Rome, Paris and Moscow. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Hugh Montgomery, 91, poses for a photograph with the Nazi SS flag which was flying over Buchenwald concentration camp during WWII, in the background in his McLean, Va., home, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015. Montgomery went behind enemy lines for the OSS, where he was among the first Americans to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp. After returning to Harvard to earn his PhD and teach, he joined the newly formed CIA, where he led spying operations against the Soviets for decades, doing tours in Rome, Paris and Moscow. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

By Associated Press November 25, 2015 5 min read

KEN DILANIAN, AP Intelligence Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – Hugh Montgomery never wrote a memoir. That just wasn’t done among his generation of spies.

But his exploits as a World War II combat veteran, CIA cold warrior and Washington power player could have filled a dozen books and made him a revered figure among the insiders who know his story.

Montgomery jumped into Normandy on D-Day with the 82nd Airborne. He went behind enemy lines for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the CIA’s daring and nimble forerunner, where he was among the first Americans to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp. After returning to Harvard to earn his PhD and teach, he joined the newly formed CIA, where he led spying operations against the Soviets in Rome, Paris, Vienna, Athens and Moscow.

“I’d call him one of the founding fathers of the CIA,” said Leon Panetta, who consulted Montgomery occasionally when he was director of the spy agency.