WEBVTT - Short Stuff: The Ritchie Boys

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and this is short Stuff the greatest generation

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<v Speaker 1>of podcasts.

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<v Speaker 2>Caught me a mid laugh from a pre recording joke

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<v Speaker 2>from Josh.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for mine ears yep, and Jerry's too.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right, but she's not loving, She's not.

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<v Speaker 2>She's so all right. Shall we talk about the Richie Boys?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that was a great way to put it, because

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<v Speaker 1>this is a World War two era story about a

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<v Speaker 1>generally overlooked group that I was like, I've heard of

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<v Speaker 1>these guys before, and then sixty minutes was mentioned. I

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<v Speaker 1>was like, that's what it was. I saw, Oh, a

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<v Speaker 1>really cool segment on the Richie Boys. There were twenty thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>roughly intelligence officers who were trained in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>who may or may not have been born in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, and we're trained in counterintelligence, aerial photo analysis,

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of stuff that you would need to basically

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<v Speaker 1>run an intelligence operation, which the US badly needed at

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<v Speaker 1>the outset of World War Two because we didn't really

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<v Speaker 1>have a good amount of that.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's true.

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<v Speaker 2>You mentioned some American born About sixty percent were American born,

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<v Speaker 2>which did include some Native American soldiers. The rest were

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<v Speaker 2>It's some pretty incredible story. They were refugees a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of times. A lot of times they were Jewish people

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<v Speaker 2>from Germany refugees. I think about twenty eight hundred of

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<v Speaker 2>which were of that twenty thousand that you know, they

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<v Speaker 2>got out just before or maybe they somehow got lucky

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<v Speaker 2>and were granted the right to leave. People who may

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<v Speaker 2>have lost their entire families in Nazi death camps, and

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<v Speaker 2>so they came to the United sometimes Japanese citizens whose

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<v Speaker 2>family were in tournament camps and they signed up for

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<v Speaker 2>the US Army to help defeat those Nazis.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they were in American internment camps and still volunteered

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<v Speaker 1>for the army. That's really something you know.

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<v Speaker 2>Also Richie girls, right, Yeah, there.

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<v Speaker 1>Were WAX Women's Auxiliary Corps is what they what WAX

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<v Speaker 1>stood for, but they were called Wax and there were

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<v Speaker 1>I mean just basically anybody you could think of who

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<v Speaker 1>had any kind of specialty that made them kind of

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<v Speaker 1>international to some degree. It was probably recruited to do

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<v Speaker 1>the eight week program at Camp Richie, which was a

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<v Speaker 1>little it started out, I guess a National Guard camp

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<v Speaker 1>in Maryland that the Army took over. The National Guard

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<v Speaker 1>had zero say in that, and they turned it into

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<v Speaker 1>this highly secretive intelligence training camp. It sounds I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's exactly the kind of place that a movie is

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<v Speaker 1>made about.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm surprised there haven't there hasn't been. I'm sure

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<v Speaker 2>it's in the works somewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>I believe. So it's Guy Ritchie's The Richie Boys, a

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<v Speaker 1>film by Guy Richie coming soon.

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<v Speaker 2>So, like you said, it was an eight week program.

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<v Speaker 2>After that eight week program at Richie they were sent

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<v Speaker 2>to England to get some more advanced intelligence training going basically,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, they were in supposedly every battle, every branch,

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<v Speaker 2>and every unit that we had in World War Two.

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<v Speaker 2>They spread them out. None other than JD. Salinger was

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<v Speaker 2>a Richie Boy, among some other notable people. But they

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<v Speaker 2>you know, they got a lot of these people spoke

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<v Speaker 2>foreign languages or were even taught foreign languages. And that

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<v Speaker 2>was one of the big benefits of the Richie Boys

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<v Speaker 2>is they could they could get in there for an

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<v Speaker 2>interrogation and they knew the local cultures. They could bond

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<v Speaker 2>with someone say hey, you know, let's have a cigarette

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<v Speaker 2>and talk about the local soccer team or football or whatever.

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<v Speaker 2>They would say m hm, and before you know it,

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<v Speaker 2>they're getting more information than they would by you know,

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<v Speaker 2>tying someone to a chair and beating them.

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<v Speaker 1>Right. They were also valued, like in the case of JD. Salinger,

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<v Speaker 1>because some of them could really spot a phony a

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<v Speaker 1>mile away. Yeah, so they could suss out spot in

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<v Speaker 1>their own ranks.

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<v Speaker 3>Good one.

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<v Speaker 1>So there are a few other things that they learned

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of other things actually, Like I said, aerial

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<v Speaker 1>photo analysis, which is handy if you were a pilot

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<v Speaker 1>or if you were in touch with pilots and wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to tell pilots what to go bomb, or how to

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<v Speaker 1>find things that were camouflage pretty well, like how to

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<v Speaker 1>spot like a I don't know, a plane that was

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<v Speaker 1>under some of that cool like three D camouflage netting.

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<v Speaker 3>Huh.

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<v Speaker 1>You would learn that at Camp Riccie. If you wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to learn how to kill a person with your bare hands,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a former wrestler who trained people to do

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<v Speaker 1>that at Campricchie. Like they learned again, anything that you

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<v Speaker 1>can imagine in a World War two training movie montage,

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<v Speaker 1>this actually went on at Camp ricci.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it seems like intelligence was one of the big

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<v Speaker 2>focuses I think in the end they got about sixty

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<v Speaker 2>percent of all actionable battlefield intelligence came from the richie

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<v Speaker 2>boys and girl and that's what they were called. By

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<v Speaker 2>the way, the Red Book, aka the Order of Battle

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<v Speaker 2>of the German Army was a very big deal and

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<v Speaker 2>it was basically just an ongoing list of like everything

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<v Speaker 2>they could learn about the German Army. Anytime they would

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<v Speaker 2>get documents or any kind of plans or anything, it

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<v Speaker 2>would go into the Red Book where they would, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>counterintelligence wise, they would get this stuff and it was

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<v Speaker 2>you know, every unit that they had, who the leaders were,

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<v Speaker 2>where they battles they had fought, how those went. It

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<v Speaker 2>was just sort of the master book called the Red Book.

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<v Speaker 1>I say, we take a break and come back and

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<v Speaker 1>talk some more about the richie boys.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's do it as w s K as good.

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<v Speaker 1>Tough you should know, all right, check there was something

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to toss in because I opted for a JD.

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<v Speaker 1>Salinger joke instead of a yes and to yours. That

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<v Speaker 1>interrogation technique he talked about where like they were able

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<v Speaker 1>to speak in like a local dialect and kind of

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<v Speaker 1>commiserate with the prisoner to interrogate them I saw another

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<v Speaker 1>thing that they would use. Would they would dress up

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<v Speaker 1>as like Soviet officers, imposed as a Soviet officer because

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<v Speaker 1>German POWs were scared to death about being handed over

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<v Speaker 1>to the Soviets because there were bad, bad things awaiting

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<v Speaker 1>them in the hands of the Soviets at a pow camp.

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<v Speaker 1>So the like a Richie Boys would show up dressed

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<v Speaker 1>the Soviet officers saying like, I'm going to take this

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<v Speaker 1>prisoner into custody, and the Americans would be like, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>we think we can talk to him, you go away.

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<v Speaker 1>The German would suddenly be very talkative about whatever the

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<v Speaker 1>American and prrogator wanted to know.

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<v Speaker 3>Pretty sick.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they learned that at Camp Richie.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a new T shirt. I learned it at Camp Richie.

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<v Speaker 1>Where where did the name or where did the name

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<v Speaker 1>Richie Boys come from? I mean, obviously it came from

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<v Speaker 1>Camp Richie, But do they call themselves that now?

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<v Speaker 2>I think once they got to England it was like, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>what of the Richie Boys has come over for more

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<v Speaker 2>training that kind of thing. M hm hm, that's not

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<v Speaker 2>about right.

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<v Speaker 1>It does. And there were like specific, i mean specific

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<v Speaker 1>stories that emerged from this. Some of the ones that

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<v Speaker 1>like really stand out or where, like you said, there

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<v Speaker 1>were German jewish Men who fled the Holocaust, whose families

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<v Speaker 1>were killed in the Holocaust, who arrived in America as

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<v Speaker 1>German nationals, volunteered for the army, went to Camp Ritchie

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<v Speaker 1>and then went back to Europe to fight the Nazis.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>One of those guys name was Ernst Kramer. He was

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen years old and he was at Buchenwald or buch

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<v Speaker 2>and Fald excuse me, and got out, was very lucky,

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<v Speaker 2>got an affidavit for release to go to the United States.

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<v Speaker 2>Got here, it was like sign me up, and was

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<v Speaker 2>a very you know, valuable richie boy. I guess he

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<v Speaker 2>would write these pamphlets in German urging German soldiers to surrender,

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<v Speaker 2>and I believe he even set up a couple of

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<v Speaker 2>newspapers that, you know, in these German cities that had

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<v Speaker 2>been just wiped out and bombed out after the war

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<v Speaker 2>was over.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that was a big part of liberation was denotification,

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<v Speaker 1>and to get the German people behind the process of denotification,

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<v Speaker 1>you basically had to I mean one of the ways

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<v Speaker 1>you did that was through the media, so they would

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<v Speaker 1>set up independent newspapers in different towns that would be

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<v Speaker 1>run by, you know, some of the Richie boys. That

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<v Speaker 1>was a really important part of it. There was another one,

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<v Speaker 1>a guy named David Akira Tommy, he's one of those

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<v Speaker 1>people who's who himself along with his family was interned

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<v Speaker 1>in a Japanese internment camp here in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>who volunteered to fight for the army, and he ended

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<v Speaker 1>up going on to become the lead interpreter at the

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese War crimes trials in Tokyo. Yeah, which was a

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<v Speaker 1>really big deal.

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<v Speaker 2>Another big deal. You know, we mentioned the Richie Girls,

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<v Speaker 2>who are about two hundred of those that were from

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<v Speaker 2>the You mentioned the whack the women's Auxiliary Corps. There

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<v Speaker 2>were also twenty two women who are instructors at Camp Richie,

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<v Speaker 2>and a couple of them, you know, were really really notable.

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<v Speaker 2>One's name was Sally Davis. She trained in the Order

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<v Speaker 2>of the Battle, served with MacArthur. And then a woman

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<v Speaker 2>named Lillian Tombacker in Europe was Eisenhower's Polish interpreter, his

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<v Speaker 2>personal interpreter, and got a Bronze star.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, that's pretty great.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Oh, bronze star.

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<v Speaker 1>The thing is the Richie Boys were largely I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know if it's secret. They were certainly secret during the war,

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<v Speaker 1>but they weren't really well known until the mid two thousands.

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<v Speaker 1>I think there's a German documentary five that really started

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<v Speaker 1>to get people talking about them. So it's only fairly

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<v Speaker 1>recently that they've started to kind of get commendations. In

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty two, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum presented Richie

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<v Speaker 1>Boys that collectively with the Eli Wiesel Award, which is

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<v Speaker 1>their highest honor. And I think in Congress there's a law.

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<v Speaker 1>Now what's the word of Bill. I had to I

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<v Speaker 1>had to really dig back to my schoolhouse. Yeah, as

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<v Speaker 1>sitting on Capitol Hill that honors the Richie Boys and

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<v Speaker 1>awards all of them the Congressional Gold Medal, and it

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't passed yet.

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<v Speaker 2>Strangely, Yeah, well sixty five of them got silver stars,

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<v Speaker 2>many many bronze stars. But again at the time, it

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<v Speaker 2>was just like this is just someone else from the unit.

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<v Speaker 2>They weren't designated as you know, this special group.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, what else you got?

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<v Speaker 3>I got nothing else.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a quickie overview on what will surely be a movie.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure, look for it and also in the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure you can find that sixty minute segment somewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>It's definitely worth watching.

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<v Speaker 2>On the Richie Boys, Yeah, get ready, Benedict Cumberbatch, you'll

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<v Speaker 2>be leading the troops in England.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, can you do your Benedict Cumberbatch talking about richie

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<v Speaker 1>boys coming along to be trained?

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<v Speaker 2>No, I don't even know what he sounds like pretty.

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<v Speaker 1>Much what you did earlier. Oh okay, he sounds like

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<v Speaker 1>whatever you wanted to sound like. That guy can do

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<v Speaker 1>some pretty good dialects in accent.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, although I don't his American accent in the Doctor

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<v Speaker 2>Strange stuff is.

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<v Speaker 3>A little wacky.

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<v Speaker 2>I like this movies, but oh yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Well, since we started going way off script and

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Benedict cumber Batch, and since there's not even

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<v Speaker 1>a script in the first place, they think short stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is out.

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