Nelson O. Chipchin

Nelson O. Chipchin
Personal details
Born	1911 Warsaw, Russian Empire
Died	17 July 1997 Bethesda, Maryland
Nativity	Russia
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32613840
Rank	Corporal
Camp Ritchie	Class 4 (6 January – 6 March 1943)
Section	9
Enlisted	New York City, New York

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.

Nelson O. Chipchin (1911–17 July 1997) was a Warsaw-born Jewish refugee, Camp Ritchie trainee (Class 4), and later U.S. Information Agency Foreign Service officer in Germany.

Biography

Nelson O. Chipchin was born in 1911 in Warsaw (then in the Russian Empire) and grew up near Minsk in Byelorussia. He came to the United States in 1929, settled in New York, and graduated from New York University. During World War II he served in the Army in Europe as an intelligence soldier after training at Camp Ritchie, Maryland (Class 4); roster research also associates him with Class 10 order-of-battle work. When the war ended he remained in Berlin as a civilian interpreter for U.S. Occupation authorities.

In 1947 Chipchin joined the Voice of America in New York. In 1952 he transferred to the agency’s Russian desk in Munich and later became a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Information Agency, with Washington duty (1963–1966) and further service in Munich and Nuremberg. He retired in 1973 and continued State Department contract escort work until 1976. In later years he volunteered for thousands of hours at the NIH Clinical Center as a Russian-language interpreter and patient escort. Chipchin died of cancer on 17 July 1997 at Suburban Hospital; he lived in Bethesda, Maryland, and was survived by his wife Marilyn and three daughters.

Research notes

• Also Class 10 OB
• Ob 17

Gallery

• 
  Later portrait of Nelson O. Chipchin (RB Archive).
• 
  Bavaria order-of-battle / intelligence sheet naming Chipchin, 9 September 1950 (p. 1).
• 
  Bavaria order-of-battle / intelligence sheet naming Chipchin, 9 September 1950 (p. 2).

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	86
Nara ASN	32613840
Nara Name	CHIPCHIN NELSON
Nara State	23
Nara County	5
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	311042
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	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	O9
Nara Year of Birth	11
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	8
Nara Civilian Occupation	68
Nara Marital Status	1
Nara Height (inches)	66
Nara Weight (lbs)	165
Class_ASN	32613840
Class_Name	Chipchin, Nissen
match_method	pass2_asn_last
row_source	both
Census_HISTID	936EEFC2-2F1E-44DE-BC67-02A05EB6DB3D
Census_State	NEW YORK
Census_Relate	Sibling
Census_Sex	Male
Census_Age	29
Census_BirthYear	1911
Census_Marital	Never married/single
Census_Race	White
Census_BPL	465
Census_MBPL	0
Census_FBPL	0
Census_Citizen	Not a citizen, first papers
Census_Educ	Grade 12
Census_OCC	45

Timeline

• 1911 — Born in Warsaw (Russian Empire); raised near Minsk.
• 1929 — Immigrated to the United States; settled in New York.
• NYU graduate; WWII Army intelligence (Camp Ritchie Class 4).
• 1945– — Civilian interpreter, Berlin occupation.
• 1947 — Voice of America, New York.
• 1952 — VOA/USIA Russian desk, Munich; later Foreign Service career in Germany.
• 1973–1976 — Retired; State Department contract escort work.
• 17 July 1997 — Died in Bethesda, Maryland.

Sources

• NIH Clinical Center News (September 1997) — Chipchin volunteer remembrance
• Washington Post — Nelson O. Chipchin obituary (17 July 1997 death)
• 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 2019-10-26 (1 post)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Nelson O. Chipchin for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Chipchin, Nelson O. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: NELSON O. CHIPCHIN.doc)