1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and this is short Stuff the greatest generation 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: of podcasts. 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 2: Caught me a mid laugh from a pre recording joke 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 2: from Josh. 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: Thanks for mine ears yep, and Jerry's too. 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 3: That's right, but she's not loving, She's not. 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 2: She's so all right. Shall we talk about the Richie Boys? 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a great way to put it, because 10 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: this is a World War two era story about a 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: generally overlooked group that I was like, I've heard of 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: these guys before, and then sixty minutes was mentioned. I 13 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: was like, that's what it was. I saw, Oh, a 14 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: really cool segment on the Richie Boys. There were twenty thousand, 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: roughly intelligence officers who were trained in the United States 16 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: who may or may not have been born in the 17 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: United States, and we're trained in counterintelligence, aerial photo analysis, 18 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff that you would need to basically 19 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: run an intelligence operation, which the US badly needed at 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: the outset of World War Two because we didn't really 21 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: have a good amount of that. 22 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true. 23 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 2: You mentioned some American born About sixty percent were American born, 24 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: which did include some Native American soldiers. The rest were 25 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 2: It's some pretty incredible story. They were refugees a lot 26 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 2: of times. A lot of times they were Jewish people 27 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 2: from Germany refugees. I think about twenty eight hundred of 28 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 2: which were of that twenty thousand that you know, they 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 2: got out just before or maybe they somehow got lucky 30 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 2: and were granted the right to leave. People who may 31 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 2: have lost their entire families in Nazi death camps, and 32 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 2: so they came to the United sometimes Japanese citizens whose 33 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 2: family were in tournament camps and they signed up for 34 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 2: the US Army to help defeat those Nazis. 35 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, they were in American internment camps and still volunteered 36 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: for the army. That's really something you know. 37 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 2: Also Richie girls, right, Yeah, there. 38 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: Were WAX Women's Auxiliary Corps is what they what WAX 39 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: stood for, but they were called Wax and there were 40 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: I mean just basically anybody you could think of who 41 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: had any kind of specialty that made them kind of 42 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: international to some degree. It was probably recruited to do 43 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: the eight week program at Camp Richie, which was a 44 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: little it started out, I guess a National Guard camp 45 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: in Maryland that the Army took over. The National Guard 46 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: had zero say in that, and they turned it into 47 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: this highly secretive intelligence training camp. It sounds I mean, 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: it's exactly the kind of place that a movie is 49 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: made about. 50 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm surprised there haven't there hasn't been. I'm sure 51 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 2: it's in the works somewhere. 52 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: I believe. So it's Guy Ritchie's The Richie Boys, a 53 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: film by Guy Richie coming soon. 54 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 2: So, like you said, it was an eight week program. 55 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 2: After that eight week program at Richie they were sent 56 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 2: to England to get some more advanced intelligence training going basically, 57 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: and you know, they were in supposedly every battle, every branch, 58 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 2: and every unit that we had in World War Two. 59 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 2: They spread them out. None other than JD. Salinger was 60 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 2: a Richie Boy, among some other notable people. But they 61 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 2: you know, they got a lot of these people spoke 62 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 2: foreign languages or were even taught foreign languages. And that 63 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 2: was one of the big benefits of the Richie Boys 64 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,919 Speaker 2: is they could they could get in there for an 65 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 2: interrogation and they knew the local cultures. They could bond 66 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 2: with someone say hey, you know, let's have a cigarette 67 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 2: and talk about the local soccer team or football or whatever. 68 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 2: They would say m hm, and before you know it, 69 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 2: they're getting more information than they would by you know, 70 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 2: tying someone to a chair and beating them. 71 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: Right. They were also valued, like in the case of JD. Salinger, 72 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: because some of them could really spot a phony a 73 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: mile away. Yeah, so they could suss out spot in 74 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: their own ranks. 75 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 3: Good one. 76 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: So there are a few other things that they learned 77 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: a lot of other things actually, Like I said, aerial 78 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: photo analysis, which is handy if you were a pilot 79 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: or if you were in touch with pilots and wanted 80 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: to tell pilots what to go bomb, or how to 81 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: find things that were camouflage pretty well, like how to 82 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: spot like a I don't know, a plane that was 83 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: under some of that cool like three D camouflage netting. 84 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 3: Huh. 85 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: You would learn that at Camp Riccie. If you wanted 86 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: to learn how to kill a person with your bare hands, 87 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: there was a former wrestler who trained people to do 88 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: that at Campricchie. Like they learned again, anything that you 89 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: can imagine in a World War two training movie montage, 90 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: this actually went on at Camp ricci. 91 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like intelligence was one of the big 92 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 2: focuses I think in the end they got about sixty 93 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 2: percent of all actionable battlefield intelligence came from the richie 94 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 2: boys and girl and that's what they were called. By 95 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 2: the way, the Red Book, aka the Order of Battle 96 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 2: of the German Army was a very big deal and 97 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 2: it was basically just an ongoing list of like everything 98 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 2: they could learn about the German Army. Anytime they would 99 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 2: get documents or any kind of plans or anything, it 100 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 2: would go into the Red Book where they would, you know, 101 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 2: counterintelligence wise, they would get this stuff and it was 102 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 2: you know, every unit that they had, who the leaders were, 103 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 2: where they battles they had fought, how those went. It 104 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,559 Speaker 2: was just sort of the master book called the Red Book. 105 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: I say, we take a break and come back and 106 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: talk some more about the richie boys. 107 00:05:38,720 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 3: Let's do it as w s K as good. 108 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: Tough you should know, all right, check there was something 109 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: I wanted to toss in because I opted for a JD. 110 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: Salinger joke instead of a yes and to yours. That 111 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: interrogation technique he talked about where like they were able 112 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: to speak in like a local dialect and kind of 113 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: commiserate with the prisoner to interrogate them I saw another 114 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: thing that they would use. Would they would dress up 115 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: as like Soviet officers, imposed as a Soviet officer because 116 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: German POWs were scared to death about being handed over 117 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: to the Soviets because there were bad, bad things awaiting 118 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,679 Speaker 1: them in the hands of the Soviets at a pow camp. 119 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: So the like a Richie Boys would show up dressed 120 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: the Soviet officers saying like, I'm going to take this 121 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: prisoner into custody, and the Americans would be like, no, no, 122 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,919 Speaker 1: we think we can talk to him, you go away. 123 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: The German would suddenly be very talkative about whatever the 124 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: American and prrogator wanted to know. 125 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 3: Pretty sick. 126 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, they learned that at Camp Richie. 127 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 2: That's a new T shirt. I learned it at Camp Richie. 128 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: Where where did the name or where did the name 129 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: Richie Boys come from? I mean, obviously it came from 130 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: Camp Richie, But do they call themselves that now? 131 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 2: I think once they got to England it was like, oh, 132 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 2: what of the Richie Boys has come over for more 133 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 2: training that kind of thing. M hm hm, that's not 134 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 2: about right. 135 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: It does. And there were like specific, i mean specific 136 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: stories that emerged from this. Some of the ones that 137 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: like really stand out or where, like you said, there 138 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: were German jewish Men who fled the Holocaust, whose families 139 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: were killed in the Holocaust, who arrived in America as 140 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: German nationals, volunteered for the army, went to Camp Ritchie 141 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: and then went back to Europe to fight the Nazis. 142 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 3: Yeah. 143 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 2: One of those guys name was Ernst Kramer. He was 144 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 2: eighteen years old and he was at Buchenwald or buch 145 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 2: and Fald excuse me, and got out, was very lucky, 146 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 2: got an affidavit for release to go to the United States. 147 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 2: Got here, it was like sign me up, and was 148 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 2: a very you know, valuable richie boy. I guess he 149 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 2: would write these pamphlets in German urging German soldiers to surrender, 150 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 2: and I believe he even set up a couple of 151 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: newspapers that, you know, in these German cities that had 152 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 2: been just wiped out and bombed out after the war 153 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 2: was over. 154 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a big part of liberation was denotification, 155 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: and to get the German people behind the process of denotification, 156 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 1: you basically had to I mean one of the ways 157 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: you did that was through the media, so they would 158 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: set up independent newspapers in different towns that would be 159 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: run by, you know, some of the Richie boys. That 160 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: was a really important part of it. There was another one, 161 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: a guy named David Akira Tommy, he's one of those 162 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: people who's who himself along with his family was interned 163 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: in a Japanese internment camp here in the United States 164 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: who volunteered to fight for the army, and he ended 165 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 1: up going on to become the lead interpreter at the 166 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: Japanese War crimes trials in Tokyo. Yeah, which was a 167 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: really big deal. 168 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 2: Another big deal. You know, we mentioned the Richie Girls, 169 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 2: who are about two hundred of those that were from 170 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 2: the You mentioned the whack the women's Auxiliary Corps. There 171 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 2: were also twenty two women who are instructors at Camp Richie, 172 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 2: and a couple of them, you know, were really really notable. 173 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 2: One's name was Sally Davis. She trained in the Order 174 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 2: of the Battle, served with MacArthur. And then a woman 175 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 2: named Lillian Tombacker in Europe was Eisenhower's Polish interpreter, his 176 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 2: personal interpreter, and got a Bronze star. 177 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's pretty great. 178 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh, bronze star. 179 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: The thing is the Richie Boys were largely I don't 180 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: know if it's secret. They were certainly secret during the war, 181 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 1: but they weren't really well known until the mid two thousands. 182 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: I think there's a German documentary five that really started 183 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: to get people talking about them. So it's only fairly 184 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: recently that they've started to kind of get commendations. In 185 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum presented Richie 186 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: Boys that collectively with the Eli Wiesel Award, which is 187 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: their highest honor. And I think in Congress there's a law. 188 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: Now what's the word of Bill. I had to I 189 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: had to really dig back to my schoolhouse. Yeah, as 190 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: sitting on Capitol Hill that honors the Richie Boys and 191 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: awards all of them the Congressional Gold Medal, and it 192 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: hasn't passed yet. 193 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 2: Strangely, Yeah, well sixty five of them got silver stars, 194 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 2: many many bronze stars. But again at the time, it 195 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,839 Speaker 2: was just like this is just someone else from the unit. 196 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 2: They weren't designated as you know, this special group. 197 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: Right, what else you got? 198 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 3: I got nothing else. 199 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 2: That's a quickie overview on what will surely be a movie. 200 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, look for it and also in the meantime, 201 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure you can find that sixty minute segment somewhere. 202 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: It's definitely worth watching. 203 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 2: On the Richie Boys, Yeah, get ready, Benedict Cumberbatch, you'll 204 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 2: be leading the troops in England. 205 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, can you do your Benedict Cumberbatch talking about richie 206 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: boys coming along to be trained? 207 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,479 Speaker 2: No, I don't even know what he sounds like pretty. 208 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: Much what you did earlier. Oh okay, he sounds like 209 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: whatever you wanted to sound like. That guy can do 210 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: some pretty good dialects in accent. 211 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, although I don't his American accent in the Doctor 212 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 2: Strange stuff is. 213 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 3: A little wacky. 214 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 2: I like this movies, but oh yeah. 215 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 3: I don't know. 216 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: Okay, Well, since we started going way off script and 217 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: talking about Benedict cumber Batch, and since there's not even 218 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: a script in the first place, they think short stuff 219 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: is out. 220 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 2: Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. 221 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 3: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 222 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.