Ritchie Boys Essay

In 1942 the United States Army recruited some of the most upstanding bunch of gentleman that would change the course of the war for the better. Most of these men came from
Germany, they were in fact German-Jewish people which immigrated to the United States following the rise of the Nazi party prior to the start of the war. This group of men were named after Camp Ritchie which was in between the cities of Hagerstown and Frederick City,
Maryland. Thus dubbing these men The Ritchie Boys, their role in the war played a vital part to the outcome of the Allied victory of World War II in Germany.
When Adolf Hitler was elected as the Chancellor of Germany on January 30 1933, the
Nazis became a force that took away the basic rights of mostly every citizen. The Nazi’s rise to power brought an end to the Weimar Republic and the democracy that was
The Soldiers were to report to a Military Training Center at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, to undergo extensive intelligence training that included; understanding Morse code, interrogation methods and combat techniques. Although the exact number of volunteers for this training was unknown it is estimated that about 10,000 men participated between the years of 1942 to 1945. Once the Ritchie Boys were trained and proficient in the skills they learned throughout their time at the camp, they were more than ready to go utilize their new found talents against the
Nazis. Between the years of 1944 and 1945 the Ritchie Boys deployed in support of the U.S. mission in Germany. Their sole purpose of their deployment was to utilize propaganda methods to disrupt the morale and welfare of the Nazi Soldiers. They utilized numerous methods to damage their foes throughout the war; items such as leaflets, flyers, loudspeakers were used to break their enemy’s morale and second guess their leadership. The Ritchie Boys were also tasked with identifying key leadership within the Nazi party and relay the information to