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[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 349 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

<DOC>

117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 349

            Honoring the contributions of the Ritchie Boys.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 9, 2021

Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Risch, and Mr. 
  Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
            Honoring the contributions of the Ritchie Boys.

Whereas, in 1942, the Federal Government ordered that a Maryland National Guard 
        Training Ground be turned into a War Department Military Intelligence 
        Training Center, which was named Camp Ritchie after the late Governor, 
        Albert C. Ritchie;
Whereas, starting in 1942, more than 19,000 men trained at Camp Ritchie in 
        Maryland and became known as the Ritchie Boys;
Whereas, while the approximately 2,800 refugees who had fled Nazi persecution in 
        Germany and Austria and had come to the United States as ``enemy 
        aliens'' prior to the entry of the United States into World War II only 
        constituted approximately 14 percent of the total number of Ritchie 
        Boys, they had the strongest motivation to return to Europe and fight 
        for their newly adopted country;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys included--

    (1) soldiers of many faiths (including Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic 
soldiers);

    (2) both soldiers born in the United States and foreign-born soldiers 
from more than 70 countries;

    (3) soldiers with German, Japanese (Nisei), and other language skills; 
and

    (4) more importantly, soldiers with general intelligence skills 
suitable for being trained as order-of-battle specialists, 
counterintelligence operatives, photo interpreters, psychological warfare 
experts, and other specialists;

Whereas, during World War II, Ritchie Boys were assigned to every unit of the 
        Army and the Marines as well as to the Office of Strategic Services and 
        the Counter Intelligence Corps;
Whereas, starting in 1942, the Ritchie Boys were sent as individual specialists 
        to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (``SHAEF'') in 
        small elite teams to join combat units in the North African, 
        Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters and to military camps, 
        prisoner-of-war camps, and interrogation centers (such as Fort Hunt, VA) 
        in the United States;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys accompanied the Army on D-Day in Europe as foot 
        soldiers with all Army divisions and as paratroopers with all airborne 
        divisions and were often selected to be the second soldier to land after 
        the commander in order to provide needed immediate interpretation in 
        languages such as French, German, and Italian;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys served as personal interpreters for General George 
        Patton and other military leaders;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys served honorably in the Pacific in the assaults on 
        Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and the Philippines, including 2 Marine 
        Corps Ritchie Boys who died in the initial landing on Iwo Jima and a 
        Ritchie Boy who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for bravery;
Whereas about 140 Ritchie Boys lost their lives during World War II;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys garnered more than 65 Silver Star Medals and numerous 
        Bronze Star Medals as well as at least 5 Legion of Honor and many Croix 
        de Guerre Medals;
Whereas, among the 150-man Second Mobile Radio Broadcast Company of the Ritchie 
        Boys, 6 members received the Croix de Guerre Medal and at least 15 
        received Bronze Star Medals for service and bravery;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys made significant contributions to the success of the 
        Allied Forces on the Western Front through their knowledge and their 
        skills, as demonstrated by a classified postwar report by the Army 
        finding that the Ritchie Boys were the source of nearly 60 percent of 
        the credible intelligence gathered in Europe during World War II;
Whereas many of the Ritchie Boys continued to serve their country following the 
        conclusion of World War II, including through service as translators or 
        interrogators prosecuting war criminals with the Judge Advocate 
        General's Office during trials at Dachau and Nuremberg;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys include such notable figures as David Rockefeller, 
        Archibald Roosevelt Jr, William Sloane Coffin, Philip Johnson, J.D. 
        Salinger, and William Warfield, as well as Senators John Chafee of Rhode 
        Island and Frank Church of Idaho, and the father of the current senior 
        Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden;
Whereas the Ritchie Boys also contributed outside of the military through 
        careers as writers, artists, architects, academics, diplomats, 
        economists, financiers, philanthropists, and psychologists;
Whereas, because the roles of the Ritchie Boys remained classified for decades, 
        the public generally lacks awareness of their contributions;
Whereas Camp Ritchie closed in 1998, and a museum and educational center is now 
        being planned for the location; and
Whereas, approximately 200 Ritchie Boys are still living, ranging in age between 
        95 and 107: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) honors the bravery and dedication of the Ritchie Boys;
            (2) recognizes the importance of their contributions to the 
        success of the Allied Forces during World War II; and
            (3) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate 
        transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to Mr. Landon 
        Grove of the Ritchie History Museum.
                                 <all>
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