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Ritchie Boys
The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. Many of them were German-speaking immigrants to the United States, often Jews, who fled Nazi persecution. They were used primarily for interrogation of prisoners on the front lines and counter-intelligence in Europe because of their knowledge of the German language and culture. They were also involved in the Nuremberg trials as prosecutors and translators. Camp Ritchie The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 20,000 servicemen, and 200 Women's Army Corps members who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence during WWII at the secret Camp Ritchie training facility. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them were Jewish refugees born in Germany and Austria. Most of the men sent to Camp Ritchie for training were assigned there because of fluenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Intelligence Service (United States)
The Military Intelligence Service ( ja, アメリカ陸軍情報部, ''America Rikugun Jōhōbu'') was a World War II U.S. military unit consisting of two branches, the Japanese American unit (described here) and the German-Austrian unit based at Camp Ritchie, best known as the "Ritchie Boys". The unit described here was primarily composed of ''Nisei'' (second-generation Japanese Americans) who were trained as linguists. Graduates of the MIS language school (MISLS) were attached to other military units to provide translation, interpretation, and interrogation services. Major General Charles Willoughby said, “The ''Nisei'' shortened the Pacific War by two years and saved possibly a million American lives.” They served with the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as with British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, Chinese, and Indian combat units fighting the Japanese. History The U.S. Army long recognized the need for foreign language comprehension g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
