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| After the war, many Ritchie Boys served as translators and interrogators at the Nuremberg Trials and went on to prominent careers in military, intelligence, and civilian fields. | | After the war, many Ritchie Boys served as translators and interrogators at the Nuremberg Trials and went on to prominent careers in military, intelligence, and civilian fields. |
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| For additional information, please visit the rest of our website. A brief, but informative article is on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Boys Wikipedia]. | | For additional information, see [[Introduction]] and the rest of this wiki. A brief overview is also on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Boys Wikipedia]. |
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| == What was Camp Ritchie? == | | == What was Camp Ritchie? == |
| [[Camp Ritchie]], located in Washington County, Maryland near the Pennsylvania border, began as a resort area in the late 1800s before becoming a Maryland National Guard training site in 1926. In 1942, during World War II, it was transformed into the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC), where soldiers were trained in interrogation, counterintelligence, and psychological warfare. | | See [[Camp Ritchie]] for the overview (including founding as a resort and National Guard site, the MITC mission, and the camp motto). For the longer founding narrative, flag and coat-of-arms, and how the school was established, see [[The Stories/Camp Ritchie Background|Camp Ritchie Background]]. |
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| Camp Ritchie is best known as the training ground for the “Ritchie Boys,” a specialized group of intelligence soldiers—many of them European immigrants and refugees—whose language skills and cultural knowledge made them invaluable in gathering intelligence and supporting Allied operations in Europe. The camp’s mission, reflected in its motto “Fas es ab hoste doceri” (“It is a duty to study the enemy”), centered on understanding and defeating enemy forces through intelligence.
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| Today, Camp Ritchie is recognized for its critical role in shaping modern U.S. military intelligence and for preparing the Ritchie Boys, who contributed significantly to the Allied victory in World War II.
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| == How can I get military records? == | | == How can I get military records? == |
| We frequently receive questions about how to obtain military records. Please note that we do not have direct access to official military records. While we do maintain some information related to individuals who were stationed at Camp Ritchie, these records are often limited, and in many cases, families may already possess more detailed information than we do. However, we are often able to confirm whether an individual was at Camp Ritchie.
| | See [[Contact Us]] for the full note on military records (National Archives resource and the 1973 NPRC fire), and for the contact form to reach the project team. |
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| If you are seeking official military records, the following [https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records resource] is typically your best option. Please keep in mind, however, that there is no guarantee records will be available. A significant number of records were lost in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, which destroyed millions of Army and Air Force records from 1912 to 1964.
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| You can also [[Contact Us|contact us]] if you have questions about whether someone appears in Camp Ritchie materials on this wiki.
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| == See also == | | == See also == |
| * [[Introduction]] | | * [[Introduction]] |
| * [[Camp Ritchie]] | | * [[Camp Ritchie]] |
| | * [[The Stories/Camp Ritchie Background|Camp Ritchie Background]] |
| * [[Contact Us]] | | * [[Contact Us]] |
| * [[About the data]] | | * [[About the data]] |