[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 144 (Monday, August 9, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 349--HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RITCHIE BOYS

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

                              S. Res. 349

       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.

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