Captain Philip Markopoulos a Patton's Hero

"THE MIGHTY ENDEAVOR" as they call the Second World War, was a conflict that spread warfare from the skies of London to the sands of north Africa, from Scandinavian mountains to Italian farmlands, from Atlantic shipping lanes to the islands of the pacific ocean, from the jungles of south east Asia to the hedgerows of Normandy.

World War ll was undoubtedly the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. However, now that more than half a century separates us from that conflict, time has exacted its toll on our collective knowledge. Even though World War ll continues to absorb the interest of military scholars and historians, as well as the veterans an entire generation of Americans has grown largely unaware of the political, social and military implications of that war.

Highly relevant today, world War ll has much to teach us, not only about the profession of arms, but also about military preparedness, global strategies and combined operations in the coalition war against the enemy. America has already participated in the 50th commemoration of World War ll. Publications of various materials have helped educate Americans about the war.

My effort in writing this book is to commemorate and honor the memory of one soldier, one young man, who so unselfishly gave up a wonderful, promising life, in order to fight for much higher ideals, such as love of country and freedom, my husband Philip Martyn, AKA Philip Markopoulos. 

  Operation " TORCH" with the legendary General George Patton " he was called eccentric, he was called controversial, he was called complicated, unconventional, daring, romantic, and at times ruthless,"  but his men loved him, respected him, and would die for him."

CAPTAIN PHILIP MARKOPOULOS, one of his intelligence officers was quoted as saying:  " If I didn't have a father I would have loved for Pattonto be my father" Patton's secret meeting  with his big adversary Rommel, in the African desert that has created such controversy, is in the minds of many a fact, considering that Patton secretly admired Rommel and had harbored an infatuation for  Rommel's genius in tank warfare.

The Operation "HUSKY" in Sicily and Italy, where Winston Churchill said:" HISTORY WILL BE KIND TO ME, BECAUSE I WILL WRITE IT." finds Philip Markopoulos in the middle of new action. But the operation "ANVIL" in southern France where Philip Markopoulos engaged in a near fatal mission only to be rescued by the French Underground Resistance provides a very dramatic and historical and at the same time human side of the role of the MAQUIS  and F.F.I. . To quote Gen. Eisenhower:" The French Resistance has offered immeasurable assistance and help to the Allies, and without them the war would have lasted much longer and we would have sustained much greater casualties."

Throughout