Frederick Mayer, a World War II veteran who spied on Germany and singlehandedly negotiated the surrender of a Nazi-held Austrian town, died Friday at 94.
Mayer had lived in Charles Town since 1977.
Mayer's family immigrated to America in 1938, shortly after Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Mayer, a German Jew, attempted to sign up for the U.S. Army, only to be turned away for being an "enemy alien," according to Patrick K. O'Donnell, an author whose book "They Dared Return" featured Mayer.
After he was turned away, the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA, recruited Mayer to be a part of their German Operational Group.
While in the service, he returned to Nazi occupied territory and lived for three months behind enemy lines, working in Innsbruck, Austria.
While in Innsbruck, Mayer talked to one of the engineers who had worked on Hitler's bunker in Berlin. He learned the exact location and dimension of the bunker and radioed them back to headquarters, according to an article by O'Donnell in Breitbart.
Eventually he was betrayed by one of his contacts and arrested, interrogated and tortured.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement Friday that Mayer, after his capture, "exemplified what it is to be a true American hero."
"Mr. Mayer refused to give up sensitive information and instead convinced his captors to arrange a meeting with senior Nazi leaders," Manchin said in a statement. "The subsequent meeting led to the surrender of a key Austrian post. His valor is an example to all who serve."
Mayer's Nazi captors surrendered as American troops approached, avoiding a battle.
After the war, Mayer worked for the Voice of America radio station in the Philippines. While on leave, he picked up his daughter, Claudette, and drove along the eastern panhandle, "falling in love with the beauty," he told the Gazette-Mail in 2014.
He bought a piece of land along the Shenandoah River and contracted a house to be built shortly after that trip.
In 2013, Mayer received 10 medals for his service from then-Sen. Jay Rockefeller, including the Prisoner of War medal, the Legion of Merit and the World War II Victory medal.
At the time, Rockefeller said that Mayer was "one of the great unsung heroes of World War II."
"Gayle and I join all West Virginians in keeping Mr. Mayer's entire family in our hearts and prayers during this difficult time," Manchin said in a statement.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.