Sentence:  I point now with pride to the fact that , long ere the Committee on Un-American Activities , the Minute Women , the Economic Council and other such notable `` watchdog '' organizations were so much as <WSD>heard</WSD> of , I was Hollywood 's leading bulwark against communism , fighting single-handedly `` creeping socialism '' against such insuperable odds as the Fascio-Communist troops of the NRA , PWA , WPA , CCC and an army of more than twenty-two million mercenaries whom F. D. R. employed secretly , through the transparent ruse of regular `` relief '' checks . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally