Sidney Mashbir

Sidney Forrester Mashbir
Colonel Sidney F. Mashbir, 1951
Nickname(s)	Sid
Born	(1891-09-12)12 September 1891 Manhattan, New York
Died	13 June 1973(1973-06-13) (aged 81)
Buried	Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, Point Loma, California
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1904–1939; 1942–1951
Rank	Colonel
Service number	O-191029
Unit	Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), Military Intelligence Service
Battles/wars	Border War World War II
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal Army Commendation Medal (6)
Other work	Executive Officer for the Army Adjutant General's Office in Washington

Sidney Forrester Mashbir (12 September 1891 – 13 June 1973) was a senior officer in the United States Army who was primarily involved in military intelligence. Born in New York, he served in the Arizona Army National Guard during the Mexican-American Border War. Mashbir then held several posts in intelligence positions, taking credit for catching the first German spy in the United States, before departing for on a four-year assignment as a language officer to Japan in 1920. He resigned from the army in 1923 in an attempt to execute his own master plan devised to extract intelligence from Japan in event of a war. His plan failed as a result of the Great Kantō earthquake in September 1923 and he was left bankrupt; he consequently returned to the US as an engineering businessman.

In 1937, Mashbir returned to Japan in a second attempt to activate his plan on behalf of the Office of Naval Intelligence; it again failed, and Mashbir was dis-enrolled from the reserves in 1939. However, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mashbir was re-enrolled in January 1940 to lead the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section of Southwest Pacific Area, where he quickly rose to the rank of colonel. He later served as the executive officer for the Army Adjutant General's Office before retiring in 1951.

Sidney Mashbir was born in Manhattan, New York, on 12 September 1891, but moved to Safford, Arizona in 1899. Sidney's father was Professor Eliazar S. Mashbir, a Russian immigrant who was well-educated and became the first Russian-speaking attorney to practice law in New York City. Sidney's mother, Frieda Freudenthal was also well-educated, and in 1906 became the postmistress of Safford, which included the area of Solomonville.