Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry : hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session (1951)

130 COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY All during the summer of 1941 I was churning inside, thinking about the war. I would like to claim, but I can't claim, I knew this country was in danger, but I knew something was going on, and I wanted to get in it. In August 1941—I have the date here so I can give it to you ex- actly—it was September 15, 1941, I went to the heads of Paramount and said I would like to break my contract and leave for an indefinite length of time. They wanted to know why. I didn't know what to tell them. I said I didn't want to act, I didn't know what I wanted to do, I just wanted to leave. So I did leave. I went east. I contacted Colonel Donovan, who was then Coordinator of In- formation. I knew him through his son, who had sailed around the world with me in a schooner. He said he was setting up an organiza- tion in which men would be needed to train American troops, or vol- unteers, because this was prior to Pearl Harbor, in guerrilla warfare, and one of the men thought it a good idea to go to England or Scotland. I went to Scotland and trained with the Argyl and Southerland Highlanders 3 months, went to England, went to a parachute school, broke my ankle on the sixth jump, and came back to the United States. I was unable to continue with the training because of my broken ankle, and I did not want to be placed in some administrative capacity, so I went to the Elco Boat Works in Bayonne, N. J., and worked with test crews. Then I was offered a commission as ensign in the Navy, which I declined because I thought I should have a higher rank, since I had been master of ships. I thought I could operate a schooner to the West Indies, because of the shortage of cargo vessels. Mr. Tavenner. Was that during the period when the waters in that area were infested with German submarines ? Mr. Hayden. I think there were quite a few down there, yes. So I went to the west coast, bought a half interest in a schooner, and hauled freight for the War Shipping Administration through the late summer and fall of 1942. This was rather a lucrative thing, really. Mr. Tavenner. How lucrative was it? Mr. Hayden. If things went smoothly and efficiently, without any trouble, which was not all of the time, we stood to gross between $8,000 and $11,000 per voyage. We were taking detonators and explo- sives, the theory being it was better to put them on a small vessel, so if it was lost it wouldn't make much difference, rather than put them with the cargo on a large ship. In October of that year I met with a bunch of marines in the West Indies, and it entered my head to enlist. I sold the schooner, went to New York, enlisted, and went to Parris Island. That started another phase. Shall I continue? Mr. Tavenner. Yes, I would like a full statement of your record. Mr. Hayden. I went through boot camp at Parris Island. At that time two men were selected out of each company for OSS at Quantico. I changed my name to John Hamilton. I changed it because I wanted to get away from Hollywood as much as possible. When I was in boot camp there seemed to be a good deal of curiosity about Hollywood. I changed my name. I was commissioned as second lieutenant. I went back to OSS. I don't know the exact date that the Coordinator of Information became OSS.