Lucky Luciano and the Invasion of Sicily
Whether Luciano conned his way out of prison by merely appearing to assist the United States Navy in the Normandie affair and its aftermath remains a subject of debate. The postwar investigation into the ship’s unfortunate fire was definite in its rejection of sabotage or arson as the cause of the fire. The absence of further acts of sabotage can be attributed to the efforts of organized crime, or military security, or a combination of both. According to some sources, including New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Luciano’s contributions to the war effort were minimal.
It was Governor Dewey who commuted Luciano’s sentence, although his comments when he did so were less than a ringing endorsement of Luciano’s help. “It appears that he cooperated in such effort,” wrote Dewey upon commutation, “Although the actual value of the information procured is not clear.” Dewey eventually had a 2,600-page report prepared which outlined the deal with Luciano and the information is provided, the Navy requested that it remain classified for public relations reasons. It remained classified until the 1970s.
Nonetheless, Congressman Walter Horan reported that Luciano, who was held throughout the war at Great Meadow Correctional Facility, was visited in prison not less than eleven times by representatives of the Office of Naval Intelligence. These visits led to the identification of native-born Italian Americans in New York and New Jersey, who were then used by ONI personnel as both informants and spies. Luciano also provided information regarding contacts then living in Sicily.
Through the contacts, ONI and OSS personnel were able to implement a plan in which members of the Sicilian criminal element, eager to be rid of the Mussolini regime which was desirous of prosecuting them, cooperated with US military planners and eventually with landing troops. The United States prepared and fully implemented a Special Military Plan for Psychological Warfare in Sicily, which included the use of Mafia leaders (specified by that name in the plan) to encourage resistance to German/Italian troops and cooperation with the Americans and British.
Thomas Dewey had prosecuted Luciano in the case which led to his imprisonment and had indeed made his political career on his reputation of being a hard-on-crime law enforcement candidate. His resentment for Luciano and reluctance to give any credit to his support of the war effort can be looked at through that veil. Equally true though is the amount of hype afforded to Luciano’s contribution by some such as Walter Winchell, who once reported that Luciano deserved and would be secretly awarded the Medal of Honor.