IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 753 

Honoring and thanking the soldiers that served the top secret units for 

the United States Military Intelligence Service under the project name 

‘‘Post Office Box 1142’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2007 

Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. 

WOLF) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring and thanking the soldiers that served the top secret 

units for the United States Military Intelligence Service 

under the project name ‘‘Post Office Box 1142’’. 

Whereas Fort Hunt Park along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Fairfax County, Virginia has a long 

and storied history in the preservation of our Nation’s security and safety; 

Whereas the coastal defenses and cannon batteries protecting 

Washington, D.C. were stationed at Fort Hunt until its 

gradual abandonment after World War I; 

Whereas on May 15, 1942, Harry L. Stimson, President 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Secretary of War, obtained 

from the Department of the Interior a special use permit 


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which gave the United States military virtually unlimited 

use of Fort Hunt for the duration of World War II, plus 

1 additional year; 

Whereas the military immediately initiated construction of facilities to transform Fort Hunt into one of the more vital 

posts for intelligence gathering during World War II; 

Whereas over the ensuing 4 years, two elements of the top 

secret Military Intelligence Service (‘‘MIS’’) operated 

clandestinely at Fort Hunt, the MIS–X program that 

communicated with captured American soldiers to coordinate their escape, and the larger MIS–Y program that 

carried out the interrogation of prisoners of war vital to 

American interests; 

Whereas because of its top secret operations, the post remained unnamed known only to its soldiers that served 

there as Post Office Box 1142; 

Whereas the Army hand-selected intelligence officers for their 

ability to speak fluent German, many of whom had 

friends and family perishing under the tyranny of Nazi 

Germany; 

Whereas the intelligence officers conducted interrogations of 

nearly 4,000 enemy prisoners of war and scientists; 

Whereas these interrogations resulted in the discovery of 

many of Germany’s secret programs, including research 

to develop the atomic bomb, plans for the jet engine, 

blueprints of V–2 rockets, and secrets originally destined 

for Japan before the end of global hostilities; 

Whereas the work at Fort Hunt not only contributed to the 

Allied victory during World War II, but also led to advances in military intelligence and scientific technology 

that directly influenced the Cold War and Space Race; 


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Whereas the detainment and interrogation of high-ranking 

German officials, such as Reinhard Gehlen, a prisoner 

who ran the German intelligence operations in the Soviet 

Union, proved instrumental at aiding the development of 

U.S. intelligence operations on the Soviets during the 

onset of the Cold War; 

Whereas the more effective interrogation techniques included 

entering into discussions with the captives, building up 

trust and not threatening violence or torture; 

Whereas the current intelligence community is interviewing 

former Post Office Box 1142 interrogators to learn which 

humane practices facilitated the best intelligence; 

Whereas the intelligence activities at Post Office Box 1142 

were only recently uncovered after Park Rangers from 

the George Washington Memorial Parkway came across 

former soldiers and reviewed declassified documents 

about the top secret facility; 

Whereas the top secret nature of the activities at Post Office 

Box 1142 remained closely held secrets by the veterans 

of the post, many of whom never told their families, wives 

or loved ones about the invaluable service they provided 

this nation during World War II; 

Whereas under the encouragement of the leadership of the 

National Park Service, these Park Rangers identified the 

veterans of Post Office Box 1142 and conducted professional oral history interviews with over half of living 

members; 

Whereas after two years of research and planning, the National Park Service held the first ever reunion for the living veterans of Post Office Box 1142 on October 5 and 

6, 2007; and 


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Whereas at exactly 11:42 a.m. on October 5, the National 

Park Service and the living veterans of Post Office Box 

1142 raised an American flag in the post’s original flagpole setting, and forever memorialized the grounds as the 

home of Post Office Box 1142: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors 

2 and extends its sincere appreciation to the soldiers of Post 

3 Office Box 1142 for their sacrifice to our Nation during 

4 a time of war, their pursuit of necessary intelligence 

5 through humane means and their service that went too 

6 long unacknowledged. 

Æ 


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