Martin James Monti

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Martin James Monti

Place of birth	St Louis
Allegiance	United States Army Air Force, Waffen SS
Rank	Second Lieutenant, SS-Untersturmführer
Unit	SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
Battles/wars	World War II

Martin James Monti (Born 1910) US Airman, who enlisted in the USAAF as a pilot and was at the rank of second lieutenant when he defected to Germany, taking his P-38 Lightning aircraft {#44-23725 used by KG 200 as "T9+MK", See [[1]]} and landing at Milan on October 13,1944. Monti gave propaganda speeches on German radio, using the alias "Martin Wiethaupt", but was regarded as a poor broadcaster and little used.

He joined the SS in the last weeks of the war and was given the rank of SS-Untersturmführer before heading to Italy, where he surrendered to the Americans. In 1946, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the charge of desertion, but was pardoned within a year on condition he join the army. He was serving as a sergeant when the FBI rearrested him in 1948. He was charged with treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Monti was paroled in 1960.