[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 753 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 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;
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
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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors and extends its 
sincere appreciation to the soldiers of Post Office Box 1142 for their 
sacrifice to our Nation during a time of war, their pursuit of 
necessary intelligence through humane means and their service that went 
too long unacknowledged.
                                 <all>