Virginia Hall Biography

Virginia Hall Goillot (born Virginia Hall, April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982) was an American spy who worked with the British Special Operations Executive during World War II. Her effectiveness as a spy earned her the â€Å"honor† of being considered the most dangerous Allied spy by the Nazi German regime. Fast Facts: Virginia Hall Known For: Renowned spy who assisted the French Resistance during World War II, working for both British and American intelligence and becoming one of the Nazis most-wanted enemies.Born: April 6, 1906 in Baltimore, MarylandDied: July 8, 1982 in Rockville, MarylandSpouse: Paul Gaston Goillot (m. 1950)Honors: Member of the Order of the British Empire (1943), Distinguished Service Cross (1945), Croix de Guerre avec Palme Early Life and Education Virginia Hall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Barbara and Edwin Hall. Her name, Virginia, was her mother’s middle name. As a young girl, she attended the all-girls preparatory school Roland Park Country School. She eventually attended Radcliffe College and then Barnard, the prestigious women’s college, studying foreign language including French, German, and Italian. With her parents’ support, Hall went to Europe to finish off her studies. She traveled extensively on the Continent, studying in Austria, France, and Germany in the late 1920s, with the goal of working in the diplomatic corps. In 1931, she began working at the American embassy in Warsaw, Poland, as a clerk for the Consular Service; this was intended to be a stepping stone for a full-fledged career in the Foreign Service. However, in 1932, Hall had a hunting accident that resulted in the partial amputation of her leg. Forced to adapt to life with a wooden leg she nicknamed â€Å"Cuthbert,† her traditional diplomatic career was over before it began. Hall resigned from the Department of State in 1939 and returned to Washington, D.C., where she attended graduate school at American University. Special Operations Executive In 1940, as World War II spread across Europe, Hall was in Paris. She had joined the Ambulance Service to help in the war effort in France, but she wound up in Vichy territory when France fell to the invading Nazis. Hall was able to leave France and get to London, where she volunteered for the Special Operations Executive, the British espionage organization. Using the cover of a reporter for the New York Post, Hall spent over a year in Vichy France, working to coordinate the activities of the French Resistance. In 1942, she worked alongside noted SOE operative Peter Churchill on a couple of missions, involving the delivery of money and agents to the French spy networks. Hall worked primarily in and around Toulouse and Lyon. Hall’s work was discreet, but she quickly got on the radar of the occupying Germans. Nicknamed â€Å"the limping lady,† she was deemed one of the regime’s most wanted. In 1942, Germany seized all of France, and Hall needed to escape quickly. She narrowly escaped Lyon by train, then hiked through the Pyrenees to make it to Spain. Throughout the ordeal, her sense of humor remained intact—she transmitted to her SOE handlers that she hoped â€Å"Cuthbert† wouldn’t give her trouble during her escape. She was briefly arrested for crossing into Spain illegally, but was released with the help of the American embassy. For about a year, she worked with the SOE based out of Madrid, then returned to London, where she was recognized with an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. Continuing Intelligence Career After completing her work with the SOE, Hall’s spy career wasn’t over. She joined the equivalent American organization, the Office of Strategic Services, Special Operations Branch, and requested a chance to return to France, still under Nazi occupation. Granting her request, the OSS sent her to Brittany, France, with a false identity and a code name. Over the course of the next year, Hall mapped out safe zones for supply drops and safe houses, worked with the major Operation Jedburgh, personally helped train Resistance fighters in guerilla warfare, and sent a constant stream of reporting back to Allied intelligence. Her work continued up until the very end of the war; Hall only ceased reporting once Allied forces caught up to her and her team in September 1945. Upon returning to the United State, Hall married Paul Goillot, a former OSS operative himself. The pair both transitioned into work at the Central Intelligence Agency, where Hall became an intelligence analyst, specializing in French parliamentary affairs. Both Hall and Goillot were assigned to the Special Activities Divison: the CIA division focused on covert operations. Retirement, Death, and Recognition After fifteen years at the CIA, Hall retired in 1966, moving with her husband to a Barnesville, Maryland, farm. She died sixteen years later at the age of 76 in Rockville, Maryland, and is buried nearby. During her life, Hall was awarded some of the most prestigious honors in the world. Not only was she made an honorary MBE, but she also received a Distinguished Service Cross, the only such award given to a woman in World War II, from the American government. The French, meanwhile, awarded her a Croix de Guerre to honor her work in occupied France. After her death, the honors continued: she was commemorated in 2006, on what would have been her 100th birthday, by the French and British ambassadors to the United States, and she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2019. She remains one of the most effective and honored spies in American history. Sources Pearson, Judith L. The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of Americas Greatest Female Spy. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2005.Purnell, Sonia. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy, Virginia Hall. Hachette UK, 2019.â€Å"Virginia Hall: The Courage and Daring of ‘The Limping Lady’.† Central Intelligence Agency, 8 October 2015, https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2015-featured-story-archive/virginia-hall-the-courage-and-daring-of-the-limping-lady.html.

The prince Essay - 1526 Words

Niccolo Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† attempts to explain the necessary tactics and required knowledge a ruler must attain in order to gain and maintain a successful reign. The novel serves as an abstract manual, addressing the definition of a good/bad ruler by placing emphasis on the required military organization, the character a ruler must posses, and the success that could be attained if a ruler should follow the guide. The scope in which the book is written is that of a scholarly observant. Machiavelli places his findings and observations of history, as well as the needs of the people so the information may serve the prince as a tool, that once implemented will create and maintain a powerful state. The guide places a particular†¦show more content†¦Warning that â€Å"Mercenaries and Auxiliaries are useless and dangerous...†(40) any use of either will surly hinder, even destroy success. Mercenaries are described to be power hungry, undisciplined an d disloyal; lacking any fear of God therefore, placing no faith in their fellow man. Truly, they are pretenders whom face a friend with bravery, yet are cowardly upon battle. Consequently, Auxiliaries whom are called for defense and assistance are also ill advised by Machiavelli. â€Å"Auxiliaries are the other useless kind of troops...† (44) here he uses the example of Pope Julius II and his failure upon battle, concluding that anyone who doesnt want to succeed should use this form of recourse. With both of Mercenaries and Auxiliaries there is no loyalty nor sense of fellowship, which are essential in military success. The importance of trust and loyalty in a military force must also be exemplified by a leader; â€Å"...armed forces must be under the control of either a prince or a republic: a prince should assume personal command and captain his troops himself.†(41) there must be a relationship that binds soldiers to a purpose. A purpose, that leads to the understan ding that in order for a goal to be attained, a unit must be formed bound by trust and comradeship. If a ruler is able to attain a fighting force to be as one, then he is proven to be a good ruler. Machiavelli uses examples such as RomeShow MoreRelatedThe Prince Of Machiavelli s Prince1186 Words   |  5 Pagesleader that wields his power the most like Niccolo Machiavelli’s Prince, from his book The Prince, that leader is President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation. 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In The Prince, Machiavelli discerns that good acts of cruelties â€Å"are carried outRead MoreNiccolo Machiavellis The Prince810 Words   |  3 Pages Niccolo Machiavelli’s most famous book, The Prince, contains the most valid information for a prince, a president, and even a king, to keep hold of their own power. Machiavelli tells about the importance and power of political action, his opinions, and most of all philosophy at it’s finest. Throughout the twenty-six chapters of this book he describes the bold, brave, practical, and powerful prince and how the prince’s life should be lived. Machiavelli’s view of human nature is used as justificationRead MoreMachiavelli And The Apology Of The Prince1718 Words   |  7 Pages Machiavelli writes The Prince centuries after Plato documents Socrates in Crito and The Apology. Despite the different time periods, both Machiavelli and Socrates experience times of turmoil where the concept of democracy was questioned. However, the different time periods cause the views and purposes of Machiavelli’s writing to largely differ from Socrates. Machiavelli w rites in a time of turmoil where Italy was a bunch of small, fragmented states and when the Medici’s struggled to regainRead MoreThe Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli885 Words   |  4 Pageslived. He was leader of the Catholic Church, controlled his own territory, and had more influence than any prince of any of the other city-states in Italy. Machiavelli was suspected of being an enemy of Medici and was thrown into prison until he was able to prove his innocence. These were the circumstances which inspired him to write The Prince. In The Prince by Niccolo Machiaveli, the prince in which it was so aptly named, securities were entirely dependent on his reputation among his citizens.

Shirley Jackson`s “The Lottery” Free Essays

In â€Å"The Lottery†, Shirley Jackson displays how far people have strayed from the face of humanity through corrupt faddism. The author begins by describing June 27th as a perfectly normal summer day in a small village of only a few hundred people. Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on Shirley Jackson`s â€Å"The Lottery† or any similar topic only for you Order Now Summers, the head in charge of the lottery, goes through a great deal of preparation before the lottery event. He must write up the names of each head member of the family and the family’s members some time before the faithful day and place them in a worn, shabby black box. Although the ritual has become old in its years, the villagers still remember the process and to gather small stones and throwing rocks for the end of the event. The lottery begins with Mr. Summers calling the head of the families to come and pick out a slip of paper from the black box. As each head of the family opens their paper simultaneously, Bill Hutchinson opens his to see that his family has received the marked paper. Tessie Hutchinson, Bill Hutchinson’s wife, becomes slightly hysteric as she begins to claim that her husband has been cheated in this unfair ritual. This bout of hysteria is quickly hushed, and the Hutchinson family individually draws out papers to find the lucky winner. Mrs. Hutchinson is found with the black dot marring her paper. She is then drawn into a circle as the town villagers prepare for the end of their annual lottery. In the short story, Mrs. Delacroix shows how her support and resolution makes her a positive role model. Mrs. Delacroix is portrayed as one of Tessie Hutchinson’s friends of the village, they speak as if there are no horrors to come in only moments after their conversation. The small exchange between the two women shows their close relationship and comfortability around each other. Later, after the Bill Hutchinson receives his marked paper, Mrs. Delacroix tries to sedate Tessie’s whimsical exclamations by telling her to remain calm. Mrs. Delacroix knows all too well that one must not protest or act against this sacramental process. She attempted to diffuse a situation before it got out of hand and disrupted the process of the lottery’s typical ritual. In conclusion, Mrs. Delacroix is one of the most positive role models, in Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery†, which is shown through her support and resolute thoughts. How to cite Shirley Jackson`s â€Å"The Lottery†, Papers

My Family in a Drive-Through free essay sample

My family must be an interesting sight whenever we go to a drive-through. The front of our car always ends up beyond the intercom so that, from my seat in the back of the vehicle, I can order 3 whoppers, a double cheeseburger, and an extra-large fry please. This sentence says a lot about my family besides pointing out that we are big time fast food connoisseurs. The true significance of this phrase lies in the fact that I do the ordering in my family. My mom and dad used to place the orders but became frustrated upon not receiving our food the way it was requested. The problem lies in their accents. Having both immigrated to the United States in their early twenties, my father from Yemen and my mother from the Philippines, their English skills are less than perfect and they pronounce words differently from what is considered normal. Through the years, I have had to act as a spokesperson for my family in drive-throughs and in any other situation where there was a desire to minimize th e impact of accented messages. We will write a custom essay sample on My Family in a Drive-Through or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although many would think that growing up with parents that have below par English skills would be a disadvantage, I believe that this has been of great benefit to me. Throughout my educational career, I took the imitative when ever I had a grammar related question instead of running to my parents. I often found myself relying on myself for answers and I figured that, if I could improve my own writing skills, I would be able to pass along this knowledge to my parents. Besides taking all the AP courses my school offers for English, I have challenged myself by participated in Be Opinionated, Solano Countys teen writing program, and winning grand prize. I am also a member of the LIP Board, a group of local high school journalists who write stories, opinion columns and reviews for the Contra Costa Times. Being on the LIP Board helped confirm that my true passion is journalism. Acting as a representative for my family, however, has always given me the opportunity to rehearse what I desir e to do in the future. Though the action seems small, I am actually doing much more than placing an order at a restaurant when I speak into McDonalds microphone. I am giving a voice to people that normally would not have a way to communicate their needs or requests. Drive-throughs were created to make life more convenient and, in my case, they have done just that. Communicating with my family and reporting what we want to eat will make it easier for me to transition into reporting news in an eloquent manner.