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The Ritchie Boys were responsible for gathering more than half the actionable intelligence on the battlefield during World War II. For the many German-born Jews in their ranks, defeating the Nazis was heartbreakingly personal.
For as casually as we often toss around the word hero, sometimes no lesser term applies. Tonight we ll introduce you to members of a secret American intelligence unit who fought in World War II. What s most extraordinary about this group: many of them were German-born Jews who fled their homeland, came to America, and then joined the U.S. Army. Their mission: to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Nazism. The Ritchie Boys, as they were known, trained in espionage and frontline interrogation. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. For decades, they didn t discuss their work. Fortunately, some of the Ritchie Boys are still around to tell their tales, and that includes the life force that is Guy Stern, age 99.