Kaliste Joseph Saloom, Jr. was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on in May 1919. Prior to the war, Saloom attended college and received his JD law degree from Tulane University. When the Pearl Harbor attack occurred, many people thought the announcement to be a reenactment of the Orson Wells production [Annotator's Note: "War of the Worlds" was a realistic radio broadcast by Orson Wells and his theater company in 1938 which led many civilians to fear that aliens were actually invading the Earth]. It did not take long for all to realize that the attack on Hawaii was a reality. Saloom was allowed by his draft board to complete the work on his law degree because it would make him more valuable to his country. He was not accepted as an officer because of his size. He could have applied for a waiver but decided not to bother. He went into the United States Army in June 1942 as an unassigned individual.

Kaliste Saloom entered service in Louisiana and was routed to Camps Beauregard and Claiborne. He was next shipped to Camp Eustis in Virginia for antiaircraft training. During basic training in Virginia, he was informed that he was going to OCS [Annotator's Note: Officer Candidate School] where he would received an expedited education. He was being considered for assignment to a new section in the military. During that time, he was frozen in place while his background was being checked out. He was sent to Baltimore, Maryland where he was trained in martial arts and subversive type activities. He had various stateside assignments restricted to military matters only. The FBI handled civilian and non-military issues. Saloom's training lasted three or four months and then he was assigned to the east coast of the United States. He became familiar with snow and ice. He had not experienced that before his military service. He was in a group of 30 men who prepared to ship out to an unknown destination. He was deployed to North Africa.

Kaliste Saloom was part of a group of 30 men who landed at Oran in North Africa [Annotator's Note: as part of Operation Torch]. An air raid destroyed much of their equipment. They were routed to the mountains near Algeria and Oran. The group would be attached to General Clark [Annotator's Note: US Army General Mark Clark] and his newly organized 5th Army Group. Soon afterward, he and his group were assigned to General Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton] after the Battles of Kasserine Pass and El Guettar. He was sent to Rabat to work with the French and Moroccan governments. Saloom's main duties involved anti-sabotage efforts and border control. He had to be on the alert for enemy spies and agents transiting his region. It was important to work in cooperation with the local security agencies. Germans particularly attempted to transfer information using the unwitting local population. Most of the time, the Americans working with Saloom wore civilian clothing. Saloom discovered that some American expatriates were sympathetic to the Germans. He had to deal with a multitude of diverse political affiliations and leanings while in North Africa. He kept the military informed of his findings. He spent a year and a half on assignment in North Africa.

Kaliste Saloom was sent to Marseilles and Toulon in the Provence region of France. He and the men with him were the only Americans sent east where French troops had surrounded 50,000 Germans near Bordeaux. Previously in North Africa in January 1944, Saloom was placed on security detail to protect Winston Churchill while he recuperated from an illness near Marrakesh. It was an exciting time for Saloom. It was highlighted by being in the presence of numerous highly influential officials from the United Kingdom. Churchill provided anxious moments for his security people. In Southern France, Saloom and his detail were sent to the Pyrenees and worked with the Spanish and Free French. Much of the weaponry intended for the French to fight against the Germans ended up in Spanish hands. Those weapons were never used against the Germans. Saloom hailed from Lafayette, Louisiana and many of his neighbors back home had ancestors from the regions he was assigned to in France. He was next to join General Leclerc's [Annotator's Note: Free French Army General Philippe François Leclerc de Hauteclocque] 1st Army and the American 7th Army and advanced into Germany.

Kaliste Saloom was attached to the SHAEF [Annotator's Note: Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces], Supreme Allied Headquarters under General Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: Supreme Allied Commander, US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower]. Saloom was in the opposite part of France during the Battle of the Bulge. Nevertheless, they were being bombarded in their village near the Pyrenees. It turned out to be a Spanish action against rebels who were on the French side of the border. It was unsettling for Saloom. The movement into Germany began. Saloom was to interrogate high ranking German officers. There was a concern about a German underground movement that would fight on after capitulation. Those enemy fighters were called Werewolves. They supposedly had caches of arms and would attempt assassinations of high ranking Allied officers and diplomats. Many of the participants were anticipated to be part of the Hitler Jugend, Hitler Youth. Saloom received a tip from a freed Belgian communist that a high ranking German officer was in Heidelberg wearing civilian clothes. Saloom tracked down the officer and apprehended him. Saloon went on to detain at least 300 SS troops who were criminals. There were identified by a tattoo in their armpit showing their blood type. Gestapo and criminals guilty of killing political prisoners were also sought out. Expatriate Americans who were in Germany aiding the enemy were also incarcerated. The FBI assumed jurisdiction over the guilty individuals who were American citizens. Saloom and his cadre were referred to as the "G.I. G-Men" because they did a lot of the intelligence work in support of the FBI efforts. The American occupation of Germany was quite successful largely because the Russians, British or French were the alternative occupiers. Germans preferred the Americans over the others. Saloom was involved with the capture of German scientists such as Von Braun [Annotator's Note: Dr. Werner Von Braun led the German rocket program then later worked on the American space program]. It came to light later that Germany was also pursuing development of an atomic bomb. Coordinating with the excellent British intelligence agencies, the Americans located many of the scientists that had fled to Switzerland. Many of the elderly scientists captured were developers of Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] super weapons. The Russians were seeking many of the same scientists. Captured Germans likely helped the Russians in the development of the Soviet atomic weapons. The Werewolves never got organized because the Americans managed to dismantle their nucleus leadership cadre. Saloom left Germany in November 1945 because he had sufficient points to return home. While in Germany, Saloom learned the organization of the Nazi leadership and thus could determine who to retain and who to release. Nevertheless, many of the guilty leaders of Germany managed to escape through the cracks in security. Saloom would be posted to Bremerhaven prior to returning home. There, he discovered many of the German technological advances intended to create terror had the war continued. Saloom realized that intelligence gathering is decisive in warfare. It is a mistake to divulge informants who work with the Americans. It is a serious postwar crime to do so. Saloom stayed in Germany from early 1945 to November 1945.

Kaliste Saloom returned home after nearly four years in the military. Almost three years were spent overseas. He had been away from home for close to seven years and was ready to return and practice law. He continued his support of the military after discharge. He worked with the Selective Service reorganization initiated by President Truman [Annotator's Note: President Harry S. Truman]. It was a thankless and tough job. He could not find a replacement. He went through the Korean and Vietnam wars. While still in Europe during the occupation, Saloom worked with reconciling any disputes between American forces and the local populace. He worked with the CID, Criminal Investigative Division, in arbitrating volatile issues. Although he had a favorable impression of the Free French Forces, Saloom saw the divisive nature of the multitude of political segments within the French. Dealing with communists in France could be problematic. It took some careful navigating of the waters to be successful. Saloom learned a lot during his military career. He could have progressed further but decided to move on. He does not regret any of it. He had bad experiences with bad food and impure water but it was all part of the process. Liquor could be used to kill the taste of just about anything. [Annotator's Note: Saloom laughs.] The French were good to the Americans except for those leaning toward the communists. The Moroccans and Arabs liked the Americans. His life was saved by an Arab security man. During an incident in Stuttgart, a French Foreign Legion member was mistakenly shot by an American guard. Saloom became involved and helped cool down a volatile instance of friendly fire. Mistakes can happen in the heat of battle. While in Africa or Europe, Saloom and American officers such as Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton] had access to language interpreters and linguists. Saloom never had a dull moment doing his duty.

Kaliste Saloom went through specialized training prior to his assignment to military intelligence. It was particularly necessary when it came to relating to French diplomats and military officers. Saloom prefers to maintain secrecy about much of the specifics. The men that he served with were very brace and committed to the work. He was paired with a partner. The partner changed depending on where Saloom was assigned. His partner was often an expert in the language and history of the assigned region. Some individuals had problems in dealing with the French but Saloom never suffered any issues. A National Guard military police unit from Lafayette, Louisiana served in North Africa and Marseilles. With their command of the French language, they had far fewer problems with the locals than others who could not speak the native language. Although Saloom's intelligence unit would sometimes come in after an invasion had started, he also advanced prior to entry of friendly troops. He entered into Stuttgart using the underground in an attempt to lay the groundwork to round up targeted Nazi officials there. Working with the underground movement, Saloom succeeded in capturing the Gauleiter there. A Gauleiter was equivalent to the Nazi district governor. Saloom and his team were very versatile in doing a multitude of both overt and covert duties. They even tested the security of American bases to check for vulnerabilities. Discovering any problem, Saloom and his team recommended corrective actions in a report to the commanding officer. Problems discovered back then were never as bad as those experienced today. The best informants were the people who had been mistreated by the occupiers of their country. His unit had to be aware of who was moving through their assigned area. Sometimes he used logic and sometimes intuition to determine a person who should be detained for questioning. His focus was on capturing individuals involved in German intelligence or espionage. The fledgling OSS [Annotator's Note: Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA] organization provided beneficial information to Saloom and his cohorts. Donovan [Annotator's Note: US Army Major general William J. Donovan served as the head of the OSS] had just established the OSS a short time before. Saloom saw more of the OSS in France than in Germany. Saloom met enclaves supported by the OSS that had aided downed Allied pilots escape through the Pyrenees to Spain and Portugal. The pilots would travel from Lisbon to the Azores or England. Having reached England, they would be entered back into flight service or released.

The interview of Kaliste Saloom is interrupted briefly.

Kaliste Saloom assisted downed Allied pilots escaping from occupied Europe through Spain and Portugal. Franco [Annotator's Note: Spanish dictator Francisco Franco] never hindered the process even though he had been helped to power by Germany. Saloom also worked in Switzerland. Any work he did in a neutral country was done with the consent of the local authorities. That was true in North Africa as well. There, Tangiers was an international city. Much of the information provided to Saloom was from native undercover agents. The OSS [Annotator's Note: Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA] likely paid for information, as well as, the passing of false information to the enemy. Saloom did not get involved in that side. He was more involved in getting intelligence information for the military. He usually carried a snub nose .38 or in the warzone a .45. In the Pyrenees, he carried a Tommy gun with enough ammunition to fight for a few hours. They were trained in explosives but never carried any. Training on how to properly enter a building and search for booby traps was provided. The Germans were very good at laying booby traps. There was a fear that the enemy might use poison gas. That never happened. Saloom advanced with the troops in Germany more so than previously in France. Saloom's experience in the Pyrenees was that most of the fighters in that region were communists. The weapons provided by the OSS to the French to fight the Germans often found their way into the hands of the Spanish Republicans who were building up caches to fight Franco's forces. The OSS was new and not as effective as the British or French underground systems. The OSS contacts were limited compared to the more mature European organizations. Intelligence is dependent on keeping the names of those contacts secure. It is mandatory for success not to provide those names to the public. Likewise, the military has to keep their movements and details secret.

Kaliste Saloom and his Counter Intelligence Corps, or CIC, detachment was assigned to Allied headquarters in Algiers and then SHAEF [Annotator's Note: Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces] in north Europe. He was with the 6th and 7th Armies during Germany's capture and occupation. His detachment number varied during his military career. Their mission was to support the military in its intelligence needs and simultaneously prevent the enemy from obtaining our military secrets. Some remnants of the detachments still exist today. The identification papers for Saloom always indicated that he was a representative of the War Department and not the State Department. He also carried papers from the local authorities validating his passage through the region. World War 2 was a different type of war. It was different from the wars that followed. Not only did the American forces have the support of the homefront, but our forces had support from the local population where the conflict was fought. Fighting in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan has been much more difficult. During World War 2, the indigenous peoples were inspired by the Atlantic Charter. They felt the Americans would support their freedom and independence. They did not look at the United States as occupiers. In retrospect, the war with Germany has been over since 1945, and we still have troops there. Wars today are not short-term conflicts.