Marion Davis Estate Docent Julia Denholm shows historic photos to World War II, Veteran Walter L. Mess, 99, at the Annenberg Community Beach House on Friday, October 12, 2012. Mess is here Fall Church, Virginia for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) 70th Anniversary Celebration. Mess was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to run power boats out of Trincomalee Harbor, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Mess and his team navigated the Indian Ocean in secret, installing operational groups on the beaches of Burma and Thailand, picking up downed Allied fliers, and running intelligence for their section of Southeast Asia, which also included ground operations. During World War II, operating behind enemy lines he rescued over 200 downed American aviators, earning a Purple Heart and more recently the OSS Distinguished Service Award.