James 'Jimmy' McDermott

[farothel]

Lt. Col. James 'Jimmy' McDermott

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• Full name: James 'Jimmy' McDermott (Lt. Col).
• Date of birth: 3rd Oct 1929.
• Place of birth: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
• Physical Description: 1m80, with a slender build. With his blonde hair and brown eyes he can fit in anywhere in western (and Russian) society.
• Personality: He's very patient and soft-spoken, but if someone screws up by the numbers, he can chew people out like a pro. He tries to take care of his subordinates, whether at an HQ or at the front line.
While he would prefer to have stayed in the 'regular' army, he knows that he can make a much larger contribution where he is now and he feels he has to do his utmost to defend the western world against communism.
• Languages spoken with level of fluency: English (native), Korean (fluent), Russian (fluent), German (conversational), Spanish (conversational, Cuban accent)
• Nationality: United States.

• Background of at least two paragraphs: James was born in 1929 in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, a small rural town. His father was a truck driver for the Four Roses Distillery. His early youth was quite idyllic in rural Kentucky. Things changed when World War two broke out. His father was called up to serve as there was a shortage of truck drivers in the military. He was lucky that he was assigned to the truck company in the European theatre, where he worked amongst other things on the Red Ball express. Back in Kentucky his mother got a job in the distillery while James' father was deployed, meaning James and his two younger brothers often spend time alone. Luckily they got along quite well. It was a very nice time running around in the fields, climbing in trees and getting in all kinds of mischief.

When his father came back a bit before Christmas 1945, he had sergeant's stripes and a whole lot of stories about his time oversea. This set James thinking and when he turned 18 he applied to West Point and was accepted. After graduating, he was placed as platoon commander in the 25th infantry division. When the Korean war broke out, he had just been promoted to first lieutenant. The division was transferred to the Pusan perimeter to withstand the KPA's attacks. During this part of the conflict, James found himself as company commander as he was the only officer still standing after a particular heavy attack. As there were no replacements available, he stayed the company commander through the breakout. He got a battlefield promotion to captain right before the Chinese attack at the Yalu river.

During the Chinese offensive, he was wounded and evacuated to the nearest MASH. As his tour had almost finished, it was decided that he could return to the land of the big PX with a medical evac flight. After revalidation in the US, he requested transfer to army aviation. He had been saved by some pilots in an H-13 helicopter and he wanted to do the same. After initial training in the L-5 and L-19 prop planes, he got dual qualification in the H-13. After a short initialization tour in Europe, he was transferred back to Korea where he would support the actions of a joint US/Korean intelligence operation as he spoke some Korean. There he stayed until the end of the Korean conflict, often operating behind the enemy lines in light aircraft without any weapons on them.

After the war he was transferred to intelligence, first following a number of trainings at the Presidio in Montery and Fort Holabird, as well as parachute and ranger training (he also kept his flying licenses current). His first task was at HQ, where he interrogated Russian defectors about Russian army tactics, so they could see what they were up to and how to counter them. He would also help compare what defectors told with what they saw on pictures taken by spyplanes. During this time he met Jeanne Linsfield and in 1956 they got married.

In 1961 there were signs that the Russians were placing nuclear bombers on Cuba. However, officers who said so (including James) were initially not believed, so when a Special Forces A-team was dropped on Cuba to place a radio-beacon for the Bay of Pigs invasion, James and another officer jumped with them and moved inland to provide the evidence themselves. They managed to get some pictures of the site and followed by Cuban forces, they decided to split up and try to make their way out separately. James managed to get back to the A-team and when they were evacuated right before the Bay of Pigs invasion went tits-up. For this he was promoted to Major and he also was given the Green Beret of the Special Forces (although he almost never wears it). He had also come on the radar of CIA and he was transferred as liaison officer to CIA.

There he would stay for almost 6 years, often going in the field. His specialty was still military intelligence so he was often placed close to Red Army maneuvers to try and see what they were up to and to evaluate the men and machines of the Red Army. He still kept his flight status, adding two-engine planes and an instrument rating. He also did regular intelligence officer work, but he was often used for the more hairy ones, like getting agents and defectors out of Eastern Europe.

In 1967 he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and transferred as CIA and US army liaison to the Covert Action Team. His wife and two children followed him to London, where they lived in a small but nice house not far from CAT HQ.

• Where they live in the UK: 86 De Laune Street, London
• Relations who live in the same house/flat as them: Jeanne Linsfield McDermot (his wife, 35), James McDermott Jr. (son, 10), Lindsay McDermott (daughter, 7)
• extra information:
Medals and badges:
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple heart, Army commendation medal, Presidential unit citation, Good conduct medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, ROK Order of Military Merit, 3rd class

Combat Infantry Badge (with Star), Army Aviator Badge, Parachutist badge, Ranger tab, Special forces tab