“The Spy and His CIA Brat” is a tale of mystery, bonding, and survival in cataclysmic times. Reviewing historical notes, CIA documents, and letters from his parents, the author seeks to decode the secret life of his father, the mysterious Walter Cini. Walter Cini, a grocer’s son not interested in joining the family business opted instead for the arts and world travel. The turning point in Walter’s life was the attack on Pearl Harbor after which Cini, a man with a knack for languages and who preferred intellectual rigor over physical exertion, nonetheless enlisted in the Army where the ride of his life began. Starting in World War II as an integral part of MIS-Y, the OSS and finally a key agent with the Strategic Services Unit (forerunner of the CIA) the author reveals a world of mystery as he and his family accompany their father as he plies his clandestine activities. The reader is given unusual insight into secret mission which include “Operation Paperclip” recruiting scientists from Nazi Germany for employment at the U.S. War Department, “Operation Sunrise” the long range counter-offensive against the Viet Cong and “Operation Switchback’ the highly classified program recruiting South Vietnamese soldiers for covert operations in North Vietnam. From Paris to Italy to Holland to Vietnam to Honduras and back to Italy, the author recites a tale of family love and bonding all while the covert affairs of the CIA were run parallel to those of domestic life. “The Spy and His CIA Brat” is the tale of a human balancing act. On one side the loving, caring family man and on the other a man risking it all for the dangerous life of a spy.