John Marthinsen

Record status: unconfirmed. Class-roster match confidence is medium-high. Correct the infobox if you have a source, and note it on talk.

John Marthinsen
Personal details
Born	17 August 1917 New York City
Died	5 December 2002
Nativity	United States
Religion	Protestant
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Corps of Engineers
ASN	0389164
Rank	First Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 14 (2 December 1943 – 31 January 1944)
Section	5D

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

John Marthinsen (17 August 1917 – 5 December 2002) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 14.

Biography

John Marthinsen was born on 17 August 1917 in New York City and was adopted by an aunt and uncle after his parents died. He graduated from Easton High School in 1935 and Lafayette College with a civil-engineering degree in 1940.

Marthinsen served in Army engineering assignments at Fort Indiantown Gap, Camp Hill, Richmond General Depot, Fort Monroe, Camp Pickett, Fort Belvoir, and Camp Ellis. A first lieutenant fluent in Norwegian and German, he trained as a German intelligence interrogator at Camp Ritchie (Class 14) and led a prisoner-interrogation team. He retired from the Army on 21 October 1944.

After earning a master's degree from the University of North Carolina in 1946, Marthinsen joined Lafayette College's engineering faculty and taught graphical arts until 1975. He also served as an assistant city engineer for Easton and died on 5 December 2002.

Research notes

• Packet text separately gives 27 August 1917, conflicting with the existing 17 August date; retain 17 August pending stronger document review. No overseas mission is claimed.

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	85
Class_ASN	309164
Class_Name	MARTHINSEN, John
match_method	asn_near_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 17 August 1917 — Born in New York City.
• 1935 — Graduated from Easton High School.
• 1940 — Earned a B.S. in civil engineering from Lafayette College.
• 1941–1943 — Held Army engineering and construction assignments in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• 1943–1944 — Trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 14) as a German intelligence interrogator.
• 21 October 1944 — Retired from the Army.
• 1946 — Earned an M.S. from the University of North Carolina and joined Lafayette College's faculty.
• 1946–1975 — Taught on Lafayette College's engineering faculty.
• 5 December 2002 — Died.

Sources

• RB Archive family service summary (engineering assignments, languages, and Camp Ritchie role)
• Orlando Sentinel — John Marthinsen obituary
• The Morning Call — John Marthinsen obituary
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-11 (1 post)