Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-15


of his attributes was level head.
Maj Gen. William wild Bill
Donovan picked him for the mis-
sion command.
/ The Government says LoDolce
was fluent in Italian. Icardi
says LoDolce could not speak it
at all. Icardi was fluent in
Italian. Maj. Holohan was not.
Icardi, known for his daring,
was % years old.
The Defense Department charge
against Icardi said hostility de-
iveloped between the major and
his lieutenant almost as soon
as they got out of their para
lchutes. The report said
"Holohan was moving slowly
in order to secure the most &C
curate information and to limit
sharply the Communist strength
OF operations.
"Icardi, on the other hand,
was willing to assist any parti-
san group . Icardi resented
the fact that Holohan had been
put in command of this group,
He continually told the other
members of the group. as we'll
as Italian partisans with whom
they were working, that Mai.
Holohan should be put out of
the way"
Supported PartiSanS
The OSS called their opera
ton the Chrysler Mission. It's
No. l purpose was to make sure
help would go to the partisanS
that would put up the best fight
against the Germans. Accord
ing to the Defense Department,
the missions appearance stirred
a bitter quarrel between Com
munist and Communist fac
tionS.
The mission kept touch with
headquarters by radio. From the
time he parachuted into Italy
until he disappeared more than
two months later, Maj. Holohan
radioed but single request for
an air drop of supplies for par
itisanS. the Defense Department
said. 1cardi says the major re-
quested four. and two were
droppedD
4 Focal point Of the entire case
is what happened the night of
December 6. 1914, in Villa Cas-
Itelnuovo, the missions head
quarters.
Icardi claims the mission
broke up en- route to new
headquarters. Leaving the villa,
the men scattered when they
heard a volley OF shots, appar-
emily by enemy guns. his account
goes.
Mission Steps Up Work
In this version, Maj. Holohan
never reappeared and the mis-
sion assumed he had been cap
ltured or killed. Icardi took over
the mission and 1t became much
more active. the subcommittee
says. Between December and
April, Icardi called for so air
drops of arms" the Defense De-
partment reported. q. After
the war. Italian police. searching
for buried Communist arsenals,
dug up quite a bit of this ma
terial."
The Pentagon's version OF
what happened at Villa Castel-
nuovo is enough to raise the
hackles on a Bluebeard.
"Icardi organized the death
plot which first called for the
poisoning of Holohan," the re-
port said.
AT dinner on the night OF
december 8, Mannlni confessed
he put potassium cyanide into
the majors soup" (The refer
ence was to GuiSeppi Mannini.
a partisan present in the villa
and later acquitted in the Italy
trials "Holohan quickly be-
came Ill and went upstairs to
lie down.
/ Cut Of Cards
Fearing the poison would not
now be effective and that Holo-
han would discover the plot,
Icardi decided that he would
have to be shot. The conspirators
drew cards and LoDolce drew
the two of spades. Tozzini
handed him a Beretta automatic. 4"
. (Gualtiero TozZini also was &C
: quilted in the Italy trials.)
"LoDolce then proceeded up
stairs, followed by the others.
who were afraid he might lose
Z his nerve.
"Holohan was grooming in
r main but raised I'D in bed when