Patrick Mozier: The U.S. Navy’s Original Bad Boy

In 1963, Trixie Schubert published a book entitled A Bell in the Heart: The Autobiography of Patty Gardenseed, America’s Ambassador of Good Will. This book was gifted to me by my grandfather at Christmas-time when I was just 14 years old. Featuring a split-pea green cover, with its dust jacket either missing or removed, to me it looked like the most boring book I’d ever seen. Promptly shelved, it wouldn’t be until dozens of years later that I actually decided to read it …

I’ll admit: I mostly wanted to read this book because it was published the year before Joan Merriam Smith’s world flight took place, and theoretically it would have laid the groundwork for Trixie’s interest in wanting to write Joan’s story. My best guess was that it had something to do with spreading seeds around the world. I also assumed Patty Gardenseed was woman. As it turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

If you search for the terms “A Bell in the Heart” or “Patty Gardenseed” on Google, you’re not likely to find much. Mostly, I came across a few eBay pages and historical book sellers carrying old copies of this book. As for Patty Gardenseed, I was only able to find a couple of articles referencing his work as a goodwill ambassador—including this 1952 New Yorker article entitled “Global Johnny Appleseed“—as well a summary of boxing records, and an overview of felonies. But if you were to stop here, that would certainly be a pity.

Patrick Mozier: The U.S. Navy’s Original Bad Boy

As it turns out, A Bell in the Heart is the story of Aloysius Eugene Francis Patrick Mozier, or Pat Mozier, a.k.a. Patty Gardenseed, who is coined in the book as “the U.S. Navy’s Original Bad Boy.” Rather than a cheerful story about gardening, Pat Mozier’s story reads more like a James Bond meets Indiana Jones adventure. The experience of reading the book, in fact, also feels a bit reminiscent of the movie A Night at the Museum, for key characters in history continually pop up throughout and are subsequently brought to life. Adolf Hitler, Chiang Kai Shek (leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975), Mao Tse Tung, Joseph Stalin, Henry T. Ford (Pat was sworn into the Navy on Ford’s recommendation), Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Benito Mussolini, Jim Thorpe (an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist), and others are just a few of the well-known names who make an appearance. Also worth noting, the foreword to this book is written by Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.

With regard to Hitler, for example, Pat recalled:

“I had reached Berlin, heading for a German port, and deviating by train to Berlin so I could meet a friend of mine in that city. I was sitting in the lobby of the Kaiserhof Hotel when Hitler walked through with an entourage of Secret Service men. Ribbentrop, following closely behind him, bellowed in German, ‘The Fuehrer.’ Resentment of Hitler overwhelmed me. Being full of the sailor sap that runs in the spring of the year, I stood up and bellowed back, ‘Ah, the Fewer the better,’ after all, what could happen to an American? I wasn’t long in finding out. American citizenship was no immunity when it came to punishment for insulting the Fuehrer. Promptly I was strongarmed and escorted to jail.”

(Page 253, Schubert)

Pat’s story begins at his childhood home at 27th and Lexington in Newport News, Virginia. He was born on April 20, 1903, the second of 13 children born to Teresa and Alonzo Mozier. Having served as one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish-American war, Pat’s father spent most of his time out at the local docks, gathering stories from the seamen and traders coming into the port, often inviting them to his home to tell their tales of adventure late into the night. As such, Alonzo inspired eight of his own sons to become seamen and no doubt secured Pat’s deep love for adventure.

By the age of 13, Pat was starting to cause trouble in school and continually running away from home. His parents decided to send him to Grand Prairie, Texas to live with Grandpa Ennis at his cattle ranch (an excursion that included transportation by train, horse, buggy and wagon). From there, the two set sail for Alaska where they lived for four months in search of gold. Eventually it was decided that Pat’s wanderlust could not be contained, so his parents next sent Pat to live with his godparents in France. This time, he sailed across the ocean to England with a family friend, a legend known as Trader Horn. Upon arrival to France, instead of going to live with his godparents, Pat decided to run in the other direction and kick off a life-long adventure of his own.

As luck would have it, at the moment Pat arrived to France, WWI was just beginning. As such, Pat decided to join up with the French Foreign Legion as a way of securing food and shelter. But at age 13, he did not quite meet the minimum requirement of being at least 17 years old, so he lied about his age to get in.

In no time at all, Pat became a messenger boy for the French. Everything was going well until he accidentally left behind a notebook of decoded messages. Publicly charged as a spy and sentenced to prison for 20 years, to his surprise, he was next made an offer he couldn’t refuse by the French: go directly to Strasbourg, Germany to find out what happened to five missing French operatives. In this way, because his reputation among the French had already been tarnished, he would not be suspected as a French spy among the Germans.

As soon as Pat got to work, he learned more about what happened to at least one of the missing French spies: he had defected to Germany. Pat soon became friendly with the Germans. He was next offered a job to become a spy for the Germans. From the book:

“It was like the bizarre plot of an unbelievable novel. But the strange coincidence of it all was too real ever to make acceptable fiction. I stood speechless. Able to make myself understood adequately in several languages, I suddenly had nothing to say in any of them. Not by the most exaggerated twist of fate could I have anticipated being in the spy messenger business for two countries at war with one another. Each country expected me to give it an outline of the other’s movements. If either country had reason to doubt my integrity the result would have been the same.”

(Page 71, Schubert)

What ensued was a literal game of cat and mouse while engaged in dual espionage. There were death threats, killings, arrests made in both Russia and France, a prison escape, harrowing travels back and forth across the front lines of war, submarine rides, parachute jumps into enemy territory, and most notably perhaps, time spent with Mata Hari, among the most famous of spies for her time.

Pat Mozier would go on to befriend Mata Hari. Perhaps in part because of his age (she was in her late 30s at the time of his boyhood), and perhaps because Pat never drank, smoke, or gave into tattoos, she was able to trust him, and provide him with valuable info that would ultimately help the French. Though charged as a German spy, it is widely believed that she was setup as a scapegoat. Hari was executed by a firing squad of French soldiers just before dawn on October 15, 1917. Pat Mozier tried in vain to reverse her fate. He was on hand to witness her execution. The night before her death, she told him that she believed that her execution would be faked. From the book, Pat stated the following:

“I witnessed the execution of Mata Hari, the woman who saved my life in Germany a few months back, and I was unable to help her in the least. I wonder if she ever knew what hit her, it happened so quickly. They tricked her into her death. They say it is the best way out. But it is the way of cowards. As the rifles rang out she smiled at me where I stood and her mouth formed the word ‘Adieu.’ Eleven bullets easily found their mark. One of the soldiers near me fainted. Mata Hari was 39 years old. To me she looked 18. A beautiful morning today but I am a little sick. I wonder if the real story about her will ever be told.”

(Page 122, Schubert)

Following the closure of this particular chapter in his life, unbelievably Pat’s adventures were only still JUST beginning. In-between stints working for the Navy, other branches of the military, and taking on odd jobs while stowing away on ships, Pat also gained acclaim for becoming an undefeated boxing champion in the Navy, winning over 220 matches. He was awarded the prestigious Diamond Belt.

Aside from traveling to and through some 36 countries by either ship, plane, train, or automobile, there were also times that Pat traveled by submarine, camel, horse, or parachute. While there are simply too many stories to recount here, some of the episodes from the book that stood out to me include:

1. Deciding to take the matter into his own hands of being the first person to land a plane on the U.S.S. Saratoga, the Navy’s first aircraft carrier. Upon completion of the feat, Pat soon learned that the stunt had been reserved as a honor for ace pilot officer Dave Rittenhouse. Subsequently, at the age of 29, Pat was transferred to the U.S.S. Texas.
2. Following a stint in Hawaii, Pat boarded a Dollar liner bound for the Phillipines. He bribed the gang to bring him on board as an oiler. Once the ship arrived to the port in Manila, he was anxious to find a new adventure. A local suggested visiting the town of Navjan in the northeastern part of Mindoro. A group of three Filopinos agreed to bring him there via boat. Along the way, the Chief attempted to kill him with a knife to avenge his two sisters’ deaths by a white man. Pat sent the chief into the ocean.
3. Stowing away on a ship in December of 1932 en route to China that was believed to be transporting opium, and resisting arrest upon arrival to the British port in Hong Kong, Pat evaded authorities and was chased on Christmas Eve throughout town by the British police. He ultimately hid out in a church during Christmas Eve mass.
4. Fleeing Shanghai to join up with a caravan as a camel driver, crossing the Gobi Desert to arrive in Lhasa, Tibet where he lived for a time among the Buddhists after passing a test of walking across an alligator-filled pond blindfolded to prove his worthiness to the locals.
5. Getting arrested in Germany for disrespecting Hitler as he passed through a hotel lobby with his entourage, and then talking his way out of arrest since he not only spoke German, but explained that he and Hitler shared the same birthday (April 20th).
6. Surviving a raid of rebel forces while aboard a cross-country train in Mexico, having his life spared only because the rebels happened to reach within a pocket to find he was carrying the proper papers.
7. Being arrested in Mexico, feigning injury while imprisoned, knocking out the prison guard, setting fire to the prison and then hijacking a government plane in order to make it back to the U.S., only to run out of gas and land in a peasant’s field where he received guidance and a boat to ultimately make it safely across the border.

In short, there is so much about Pat’s story that I can barely scratch the surface.

Ultimately, a turning point for Pat came a little later in life. While serving in Korea, he witnessed a young girl collapse, whose death was ultimately caused by starvation. From that point forward, he decided to dedicate his life to spreading seeds around the globe in order to teach communities how to grow their own fruits, vegetables, and yes, even flowers. This change of heart is best captured in his own words:

“After half a century of fighting with my fists as a welterweight champion, and fighting with guns and sabres in the French Foreign Legion, fighting with Chinese bandits in the Orient, and in innumerable wars and scraps from Turkey to Tibet, it came somewhat as a shock to find that there were other ways of fighting, equally stimulating and much more rewarding.”

(Page 270-271, Schubert)

He also offered these valuable words of advice:

“I’ve not been able to accomplish alone what needs to be done in each of the underprivileged countries. But my procedure is always the same. I go to the top man in the country. I always go to the top man; it is only through the pinnacle that individuals, or governments for that matter, can escape needless red tape. In this manner of always going to the top I’ve met every president of the United States from Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman to Eisenhower, and most of the heads of other world governments.”

(Page 278-279, Schubert)

In summary, for anyone interested in history, WWI history in particular, and adventure in general, this is a book that would be well worth anyone’s time to read.