Memorandum. Margarita Jerabek, Chris Taylor

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Bruce Ford
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1 TO: Scott Albright DATE: February 05, 2015 CC: FROM: RE: Margarita Jerabek, Chris Taylor SHANGRI-LA LANDMARK DESIGNATION AMENDMENT The United States Navy Seals and special operations groups like them have been a popular subject in today s news headlines. Media coverage of their successful operations in a variety of locales overseas has provided unprecedented exposure to the capabilities of these special units. Recent films like Act of Valor, Captain Philips, and Lone Survivor not only entertain us but also honor the heroic actions of our nation s bravest citizens. Where did the idea for these elite units come from? New information has surfaced suggesting the Shangri-La Hotel and Santa Monica Beach played key roles in the early development of the Office of Strategic Services Maritime Unit, the precursor of military special operations units like the Navy Seals. Based on biographies on William Donovan, the first Chief of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and an oral history provided by Erick Simmel, it appears that Donovan generated the idea for using swimmers in covert operations after witnessing the techniques and tools used by Jack Taylor and members of the Santa Monica Lifeguard Service while staying at the Shangri-La Hotel. 1 In August of 1940, a series of four articles written by William J. Donovan and Edgar Mowrer were published in the Los Angeles Times, exposing Hitler s use of what the authors termed the fifth column, or clandestine operations such as propaganda, espionage, sabotage, and psychological warfare. 2 These were topics of particular interest to Donovan, a Medal of Honor recipient and World War I hero, and would eventually lead to President Roosevelt appointing Donovan as the coordinator of information (COI) in July, Donovan maintained his political connections throughout the world during the 1930s, allowing him to observe the developing situations in Europe and Asia in the years preceding America s involvement in World War II. In June of 1942, Donovan was named Chief of the newly formed Office of Strategic Services, an organization charged with developing fifth column capabilities for the United States. 4 A clandestine service in war time has two main interests: Intelligence concerning the enemy and operations against him. 5 Donovan was busy seeking solutions to America s deficient 1 Erick Simmel Interview, Margarita Jerabek and Christian Taylor, PCR Services, Shangri-La Oral History Project, January 27, Colonel William Donovan and Edgar Mowrer, Fifth Column Masterpiece Seen in French Debacle: Colonel Donovan Declares Hitler Carried Out All His Promises With Mathmatical Precision. Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1940, 2. 3 "William J. Donovan." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., Web. 02 Feb < Donovan>. 4 Ibid. 5 Wild Bill Donovan s Improvised O.S.S.: Story of Our Romantic, Hard-Working War-Time Secret Service, New York Herald Tribune, February 24, 1946, G Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 500, Santa Monica, CA INTERNET TEL FAX

2 intelligence and operations capabilities when tragedy struck his family. In April of 1940, while returning home from visiting a friend at Duke University, Donovan s daughter Patricia was fatally wounded in an automobile accident. According to Corey Ford, author of Donovan of OSS, Patricia s death devastated Donovan, and in an effort to avoid the harsh reality of her loss, he focused all of his efforts towards preparing the United States for the impending war. 6 A month after Patricia s accident, Donovan traveled to Los Angeles to meet his wife, Ruth, who had been on a Pacific cruise when their daughter passed away. It took three agonizing weeks for Ruth to return to the mainland and lay her daughter to rest. 7 Although there is no record of Donovan s stay at the Shangri-La Hotel, the hotel opened a mere two weeks before Donovan met his wife in Los Angeles. The biographies on Donovan do not provide details of his stay in Los Angeles; however the Shangri-La hotel advertised itself as an apartment hotel with rooms for extended stays. 8 The Shangri-La would have been the ideal place for Donovan to stay while he waited for his wife s ship to come in. According to the oral history provided by Erick Simmel, it was around this time when an acquaintance named Jack Taylor introduced Donovan to members of the Santa Monica Lifeguard Service. Taylor, a dentist whose office was located along Second Street near the Shangri-La Hotel, was an avid waterman and adventurer. He spent countless hours skin-diving in Santa Monica Bay alongside members of the Santa Monica Lifeguard Service, including Robert L. Butt, Arthur O. Garrett, Frederick Wadley Jr., John McMahon, and Frank Donohue. Santa Monica s Lifeguard Service always prided itself on employing skilled water athletes. The organization s earliest members were recruited from the plunges of Ocean Park and Venice where they competed with each other in swim contests and water polo matches. These strong swimmers were asked to volunteer their time as lifeguards providing a safe environment for beach visitors. By the early 1930s, Santa Monica had an organized year-round modern lifeguard service. These men were some of the very first people to use rubber fins and faceplates (masks) for underwater skindiving. According to Simmel, Jack Taylor and the Santa Monica Lifeguards were using prototype designs of Owen Churchill s rubber swim fins (Figure 1). Churchill filed an application to patent his design in September of 1940, which was granted in December of the same year (Figure 2). 9 6 Corey Ford, Donovan of OSS, (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1970) Douglas C. Waller, Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage, (New York : Free Press, 2011) The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel, Evening Outlook, April 30, 1940, Owen P. Chruchill, Design for a Swim Fin. Owen P Churchill, assignee. Patent 124, Dec Print. PCR Services Corporation Page 2 February 05, 2015

Figure 1. Early Swimmers with Churchill Fins, date unknown (http://www.

3 Figure 1. Early Swimmers with Churchill Fins, date unknown ( PCR Services Corporation Page 3 February 05, 2015

4 Figure 2. Patent for Churchill s Swim Fin, Filed in September 1940 (Design for a Swim Fin. Owen P Churchill, assignee. Patent 124, Dec ) PCR Services Corporation Page 4 February 05, 2015

5 How Taylor and Donovan came to know each other remains a mystery. Simmel states Donovan met Taylor through his daughter who was in Hollywood hoping to make it in the film industry, and that the men often met while Donovan was visiting at the Shangri-La Hotel. However, biographies on Donovan state his daughter was studying at Wellesley University in Massachusetts, before transferring to George Washington University when she was killed in a car accident. Regardless of how the two men met, Taylor and Donovan developed a relationship. After meeting the lifeguards and witnessing their capabilities, Taylor and Donovan met in the Shangri-La where they discussed how this equipment and the underwater techniques could be used for covert operations. 10 In 1942, after being named Chief of the OSS, Donovan established a special operations component known as the Maritime Unit (MU). Taylor, one of the first officers assigned to the MU, played a key role in the development of policies and training programs for the new waterborne units and is largely recognized as one of the first Frogmen. 11 CONCLUSION In summary, based on the above historic context, the Shangri-La Hotel appears to be identified with historic personages and important events in local, state or national history. The Shangri-La Hotel meets the City of Santa Monica s Landmark Criteria under section (a)(3). Landmark Criteria: (a)(3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history. Unfortunately there is no documentation of Donovan s visit to Los Angeles or his relationship with Jack Taylor, however the oral history provided by Erick Simmel and documentation of Taylor s involvement with the Maritime Unit demonstrate that there is a connection between the two men. Taylor went on to become one of the first members of Donovan s Maritime Unit, establishing training doctrines for the unit s underwater operations, as well as taking part in many covert operations. Regardless of how the two men met, it is reasonable to assume Donovan was exposed to the capabilities of Taylor and his friends with the Santa Monica Lifeguard Service while staying at the Shangri-La Hotel. Taylor s dentistry practice was located near the Shangri-La hotel and Santa Monica Beach where, along with the local lifeguards, he often went skin-diving using innovative equipment. After introducing Donovan to his friends in the lifeguard service, Taylor met with Donovan in the Shangri-La Hotel where they 10 Erick Simmel Interview, Margarita Jerabek and Christian Taylor, PCR Services, Shangri-La Oral History Project, January 27, Thomas L. Hawkins, America s First SEa, Air, Land Commando: Lieutenant Jack Taylor, USNR, Blast Magazine, Third Quarter Edition, September Web. 2 Feb < PCR Services Corporation Page 5 February 05, 2015

6 discussed the use of underwater diving techniques and equipment in covert operations. 12 The Shangri-La Hotel was where Donovan was inspired to eventually assemble the clandestine Maritime Unit. Therefore, it appears that the Shangri-La Hotel is associated with historic personages in William Donovan, first Chief of the Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the CIA), and Jack Taylor, widely recognized as the first Navy Seal, and with important events in local, state or national history, primarily the eventual formation of the O.S.S. Maritime Unit, a forerunner of today special operations organizations. 12 Erick Simmel Interview, Margarita Jerabek and Christian Taylor, PCR Services, Shangri-La Oral History Project, January 27, PCR Services Corporation Page 6 February 05, 2015

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