OSS Jedburghs: Team Augustus

Mission Context

Violette A. Desmarais spent much of her life quietly and persistently investigating the story of her brother Roger, who was killed in action while serving with the OSS in World War II. Over the years, she wrote letters, contacted veterans and researchers, reached out to families of men who served alongside Roger, and spoke with anyone who might still remember something or have access to wartime documents.

Her research was not a short project—it was something she returned to again and again, gathering fragments of information whenever a new lead appeared. Instead of letting his name fade into a short military summary, she built a personal archive: a carefully organized binder filled with correspondence, notes, clippings, and whatever scraps of information she could locate. Every page represented another attempt to understand what happened, where he served, and how he died.

For Violette, this work wasn’t scholarly—it was personal. It was driven by a sister’s grief that had never fully settled, and by a quiet determination to honor a young life cut short in service to a mission that was secret even from the people who loved him most. Her binder stands today as a testament not only to her brother’s sacrifice, but to her own devotion: a lifelong effort to preserve a story that history almost allowed to disappear.

After Violette’s death, her grandson Matthew Desmarais became the custodian of her research and continued her pursuit of answers, filing official records requests with multiple archives in the United States and abroad. By building on the foundation she created, he helps ensure that Roger’s service and sacrifice are preserved for future generations.