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They were not your typical World War II soldiers. Most were not in
particularly good physical shape, and many had trouble handling
their weapons. They differed widely in their ages, politics, and
skills. Many worked in academia, media, and the arts. They were a
strange mix of Americans and foreign nationals, immigrants, and
refugees, linked by their language skills, knowledge of Europe, and
a desire to defeat the Axis. During the war, the U.S. Army trained
them in psychological warfare at a secret camp on the Gettysburg
battlefield and then sent them to Europe. They became known as
“Psycho Boys,” a group of soldiers who have never received
their due respect. In this book Beverly Driver Eddy, author of
Ritchie Boy Secrets, tells their rarely heard story and argues for
their importance to the Allied war effort. At Gettysburg the Psycho
Boys were taught the various skills that would be necessary in the
European campaign from D-Day onward: prisoner and civilian
interrogation, broadcasting, loudspeaker appeals, leaflet and
newspaper production, and technical support. The 800 men were
divided into four mobile radio broadcasting companies and sent to
Europe to land on D-Day, fight in Normandy and at the Bulge, and
participate in the conquest of Germany and the liberation of the
concentration camps. Some of the soldiers operated well out in
front of Allied lines and – in German – called on enemy
soldiers to surrender. Others worked behind the lines, printing
propaganda leaflets and making radio broadcasts. Drawing on company
histories, memoirs, and interviews, this book traces the history of
the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies and
the men who served. For far too long, these soldiers were maligned
as mere “paragraph troopers” who weren’t in the line of fire.
As Eddy shows, the Psycho Boys made important contributions to
victory in World War II by encouraging enemy soldiers to desert or
surrender and in other indirect ways. Their story is interesting,
important, and vital.
Erika and Klaus Mann: Living with America provides new insights
into the lives of Thomas Mann's two eldest children, by focusing on
their years in America. It begins with Erika and Klaus Mann's
self-promotional tour of the United States in 1927-1928, and
follows up with their return in 1936 as voluntary exiles determined
to fight the spread of Nazism in Europe. As children of privilege
and considerable personal charm, Erika and Klaus Mann quickly
became highly visible representatives of the German exile
community. In examining their lives in America, the United States
plays a central role. Just as the Manns' views of America evolved
between 1936 and 1952, so did American public opinion and
government policy. This study examines Erika and Klaus Mann's
public and private statements, while also examining statements made
about them by American journalists, politicians, book critics, and
F.B.I. and immigration officers. It follows the Mann siblings' rise
in America as celebrity representatives of an "other," better
Germany, and the forces that began to rally against them even
before the outbreak of the war. It shows the many concrete actions
the Mann siblings took to persuade Americans to view their country
as one linked to European interests, and it describes their various
war activities, with Erika becoming a U.S. war correspondent and
Klaus an American soldier. Finally, it portrays their fears for
America as the war drew to a close, America deployed the atom bomb,
and the nation quickly transformed itself from Russian ally to Cold
War combatant.
In June 1942, the U.S. Army began recruiting immigrants, the
children of immigrants, refugees, and others with language skills
and knowledge of enemy lands and cultures for a special military
intelligence group being trained in the mountains of northern
Maryland and sent into Europe and the Pacific. Ultimately, 15,000
men and some women received this specialized training and went on
to make vital contributions to victory in World War II. This is
their story, which Beverley Driver Eddy tells thoroughly and
colorfully, drawing heavily on interviews with surviving Ritchie
Boys. The army recruited not just those fluent in German, French,
Italian, and Polish (approximately a fifth were Jewish refugees
from Europe), but also Arabic, Japanese, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian,
Russian, Turkish, and other languages-as well as some 200 Native
Americans and 200 WACs. They were trained in photo interpretation,
terrain analysis, POW interrogation, counterintelligence,
espionage, signal intelligence (including pigeons), mapmaking,
intelligence gathering, and close combat. Many landed in France on
D-Day. Many more fanned out across Europe and around the world
completing their missions, often in cooperation with the OSS and
Counterintelligence Corps, sometimes on the front lines, often
behind the lines. The Ritchie Boys' intelligence proved vital
during the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge. They
helped craft the print and radio propaganda that wore down German
homefront morale. If caught, they could have been executed as
spies. After the war they translated and interrogated at the
Nuremberg trials. One participated in using war criminal Klaus
Barbie as an anti-communist agent. This is a different kind of
World War II story, and Eddy tells it with conviction, supported by
years of research and interviews.
Merriam Press World War 2 History Series. Drawing on company
histories, memoirs, and interviews, Camp Sharpe's "Psycho Boys"
traces the history of the men of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Mobile
Radio Broadcasting Companies during World War II. The story begins
with the establishment of a secret camp in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, and the specialized training in military intelligence
and propaganda services that the men received there. We then follow
these men abroad: to further training in Britain, to the D-Day
landings, the Battle of the Bulge, the conquest of Germany, and the
liberation of the concentration camps. Camp Sharpe's "Psycho Boys"
is enriched with new material - including photographs - acquired
through personal interviews and correspondence with nine veterans
of the camp. 37 photos, footnotes, index.
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