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