In 1941, the U.S. went to war with Germany and I was drafted. I went to Spartanburg, South Carolina for three months of basic training. When I completed that, I talked to an officer who said I could stay there and get into a unit or I could take an exam for Officer Candidate School. I said I'd like to take the exam, which was fairly simple; I passed and was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia. That training was quite difficult and lasted three months. The aim was to find out how well we functioned without eating or sleeping. We started with about 150 candidates; only around 80 graduated.

After finishing, I became an officer in the United States Army. I stayed in Fort Benning for a year and was in charge of all of the Free French officers. I was visited there by Colonel Serge Obolensky, a cousin of the Russian Czar, who told me he needed people like me who spoke French, German, and English. He asked if I would like to work for him without the uniform, and I replied that while the war was on I had no intention of working without a uniform. A short time later, he came and told me I'd be transferred. I did not know where I would go; it turned out it would be to military intelligence school in Hagerstown, Maryland (between Baltimore and Washington). I went through the course there and eventually became an instructor. One day, we went on a maneuver and I was injured and sent to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, General Eisenhower gave an order that all officers had to be fully fit for field service. I had already had cartilage removed from my knee and the joint was very swollen. The doctor said I had to leave the army, and I did, in 1944.