Martin James Monti

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Martin James Monti
October 24, 1921 (1921-10-24) – September 11, 2000
Place of birth	St Louis
Place of death	Missouri
Allegiance	United States of America Germany
Service/branch	United States Army Air Force Waffen SS
Years of service	Army Air Corps 1941?-1948 SS 1944-1945
Rank	United States Army Air Corps-Second Lieutenant SS-Untersturmführer
Unit	SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
Battles/wars	World War II

Martin James Monti (October 24, 1921 – September 11, 2000) was a United States airman who enlisted in the Army Air Force as a pilot and was at the rank of second lieutenant when he defected to Germany, taking his P-38 Lightning aircraft and landing at Milan on Oct. 13, 1944. Monti gave propaganda speeches on German radio, using the alias "Martin Wiethaupt", but was regarded as a poor broadcaster and was rarely 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.