Harvey Hale Dodge

Harvey Hale Dodge
Harvey Hale Dodge
Personal details
Birth name	Helmut Deutsch
Born	29 October 1912; Vienna, Austria
Died	27 August 1995; Virginia
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	39007081
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Camp Ritchie	Class 5 (8 February – 9 April 1943)
Section	1
Enlisted	San Francisco, California

Harvey Hale Dodge (born Helmut Deutsch; 29 October 1912 – 27 August 1995) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 5 in photographic intelligence and served with the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, London, France, and the Mediterranean. Harvey enlisted at San Francisco, California.

Biography edit

Harvey Hale Dodge was born Helmut Deutsch in Vienna on 29 October 1912 into a Jewish family. After school in Vienna he spent two years at the Hochschule für Welthandel (University of World Trade), with training in English, French, bookkeeping, and civil law. He fled after the Anschluss: at the end of 1938 he was in Italy, until February 1939 in Paris, and probably then in Britain; according to Army records, from September 1939 to January 1940 he worked as a German translator for the British colonial government at a camp for enemy aliens in Delhi, India. He entered the United States in September 1940 and lived in San Francisco.

Deutsch was drafted at Monterey, California, in April 1941 under the name Hel(l)mut Deutsch and assigned to Battery B of the horse-drawn 74th Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Ord, California, where he took basic training and from July served as a driver. In November 1941 he was briefly transferred to the reserve; recalled to active duty in San Francisco in February 1942, he rejoined Battery B, 74th Field Artillery Battalion, stationed in the Southern Land Frontier Sector in Arizona, was detached to the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and from April worked as a clerk at its headquarters. In May 1942 he joined Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Southern Land Frontier Sector, and by October the Western Defense Command at Camp Lockett, California. In January 1943 he was transferred to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he attended Class 5 with a focus on aerial photographic intelligence (section 1A; certificate 1252).

Around mid-1943 Dodge was sent to the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (ASTU 3700), and in October 1943 he was transferred to the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., where he trained and served in the Research and Analysis Branch with a focus on North Africa and Southern Europe, from February 1944 in R&A (US). In November 1944 he went overseas to London, where the OSS Field Photographic Branch attached him to the headquarters of the Ninth Air Force for aerial reconnaissance and as liaison to the SHAEF Photographic Project. From December he served in France, and in early 1945 with the Research and Analysis Branch of the 2677th OSS Regiment in the Mediterranean Theater. In October 1945 he was assigned to the Interim Research and Intelligence Service, and in December 1945 he was discharged at Fort Meade, Maryland, as a staff sergeant; his grave marker gives his rank as technical sergeant. He died in Virginia on 27 August 1995.

Gallery edit

Grave marker of Harvey H. Dodge, T SGT, U.S. Army, World War II, 29 October 1912 – 27 August 1995 (Find a Grave, John Evans)

Timeline edit

29 October 1912 — Born Helmut Deutsch in Vienna, Austria.
September 1939 – January 1940 — German translator at an enemy-alien camp in Delhi, India.
September 1940 — Entered the United States; lived in San Francisco.
9 April 1941 — Drafted at Monterey, California (ASN 39007081); Battery B, 74th Field Artillery Battalion, Fort Ord.
February 1942 — Recalled to active duty; Southern Land Frontier Sector, Arizona; 3rd Cavalry Brigade.
October 1942 — Western Defense Command, Camp Lockett, California.
January 1943 — Transferred to Camp Ritchie; Class 5 (section 1A, photographic intelligence). Certificate # 1252.
October 1943 — Transferred to the OSS Research and Analysis Branch, Washington, D.C.
November 1944 — OSS Field Photographic Branch, London; attached to Ninth Air Force headquarters.
Early 1945 — Research and Analysis Branch, 2677th OSS Regiment, Mediterranean Theater.
December 1945 — Discharged at Fort Meade, Maryland, as S/Sgt.
27 August 1995 — Died in Virginia.
Mid-1943 — ASTP, University of Minnesota (ASTU 3700).

Technical record edit

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	83
Nara ASN	39007081
Nara Name	DODGE HARVEY H Z V
Nara State	91
Nara County	67
Nara POE	9175
Nara DOE	90441
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	0
Term of enlistment	Unknown
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N2
Nara Year of Birth	12
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	6
Nara Civilian Occupation	170
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	67
Nara Weight (lbs)	136
Class_ASN	39007081
Class_Name	DODGE, Harvey H.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Research notes edit

OSS
NARA gives enlistment place San Francisco; the Austriansoldiers biography says he was drafted at Monterey, California, in April 1941.

Sources edit

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)
Austriansoldiers biography: Harvey H. Dodge, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)