Luciano and Lansky’s Secret Medal

During World War II, American mobsters Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky assisted U.S. intelligence through a program later known as Operation Underworld, helping protect New York’s docks from sabotage and providing contacts in Sicily before the Allied invasion. For their cooperation, the two organized crime figures were reportedly awarded Medals of Freedom by President Harry S. Truman in a secret ceremony after the war.

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