They Passed Through Ritchie
World War II
Albert G. Rosenberg
Rosenberg spent two months in intelligence training at the Military Intelligence Training Camp at Fort Ritchie, Maryland, then followed this up with a short period of intense psychological warfare training at Camp Sharpe in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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World War II
Frank Leavitt "Man Mountain Dean"
For a few days in 1943, the rumor rocketed around Camp Ritchie... A famous and cartoonishly muscled professional wrestler would be giving the new soldiers a crash course in hand-to-hand combat before their dispatch to the Western Front; the WWII equivalent of, say, The Rock, suddenly showing up at basic training as an instructor.
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World War II
Arthur Jaffe
He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in March, 1943, then made Executive Officer of the 104th Infantry Division. In October of that year he was transferred to Camp Ritchie, “probably,” he said, “because of my language skills.” Upon his arrival he was sent on to the Camp Ritchie sub-camp, Camp Sharpe, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company was being developed.
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World War II
Simon 'Si' Lewen
With the outbreak of World War II, Lewen enlisted in the U.S. Army. Lewen and other émigré European Jews like himself, fluent in German, were trained in psychological warfare, intelligence gathering, and interrogation techniques at Camp Ritchie in Maryland. Lewen was then sent to Camp Sharpe for specialized training as part of the Third Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company.
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World War II
Daniel Skinner
The Army took note that Daniel was conversant in French, Spanish, German, and Italian, and he was called to Camp Ritchie to train with its 7th class in interrogation of German and Italian prisoners of war. He was one of only two Black trainees in the 7th class.
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World War II
Stephen Mosbacher
Stephen was well-liked by his teammates and his fellow soldiers. Already at Camp Ritchie fellow soldiers shortened his family name and called him “Moose.” It was common for soldiers to shorten family names to nicknames in this manner, but Stephen reportedly acquired this particular name for another reason: he had a voracious appetite, and was always first in line at chow time in the mess hall. Click to Read More...
World War II
Eric Waldmann
He initially joined the U.S. Army 1942, where he graduated from OCS in the Field Artillery, where he was sent over to Northern Africa. There he was injured and returned to the U.S. to recover at the Walter Reed Hospital. He was transferred to Camp Ritchie's Military Intelligence Training Center where he graduated from the 10th Class and specialized in German tactics. As a second Lieutenant, he then became an instructor at Camp Ritchie. Click to Read More...
World War II
Klaus Mann
At the end of his basic training, he was sent to Camp Ritchie, to train in psychological warfare and propaganda services. He was part of a new venture, called the First Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company. Klaus was no longer among American infantrymen; in fact, he said, “The place is jumping with old friends from Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and Budapest; it is almost as if one is in a club or one’s regular coffeehouse.”Click to Read More...
World War II
Fred Fields (Siegfried Dingfelder)
We always made fun of the cadre at Camp Ritchie, as we had Turks, Egyptians, French, Russians, Poles, and nearly every other ethnic group. We were in classrooms a lot of the time and there was just a lot of training. I was trained as an interrogator. In the training battalion there were dozens of German Jews in my class. Click to Read More...
World War II
Ruth Brylawski (Jere Knight)
Jere threw herself into her work, was commissioned a lieutenant and, after working at the Pentagon under Oveta Culp Hobby, and completing her stateside service at Camp Ritchie, was sent to England to work at SHAEF headquarters. Here she directed a team of cryptographers active in translating decoded messages into English; she reported directly to General Eisenhower. Click to Read More...
World War II
Rubén Cobos
Rubén was called up for army service in January 1944, had his basic training at Fort Sam Houston, and then was sent to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie. as a member of its 18th class (April 13-June 10, 1944). Here he specialized in French. During his time at Camp Ritchie he was a frequent performer at the area USO clubs.
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World War II
David Itami
Akira came to Camp Ritchie as part of PACMIRS. He had already made himself indispensable by starting to file and index Japanese reference material in Washington; at Ritchie he was transferred to the Operational Intelligence Section, or Japanese reference library. He was the only Nisei, and the only noncommissioned officer, to be mentioned by name in the official history of PACMIRS.
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