Not bad for a beginner. Was worseing business than learning to play golf. Get a comfortable stance, line your sight. Aim at 6 00. Squeeze the trigger, dont pull it. Practice, they said, and youll be as expert as the coast guard instructor. That guy could put ten shots of agh a hole the size quarter. Well, if he could do it, maybe i could learn. Learning a lot of other things. A month before after my appointment to the United States secret service, i reported to the Treasury Building in washington. I had butterflies in my stomach. Walter holt took me through the exhibit room in the Treasury Building. There i had a quick look at the work of the other treasury enforcement agencies. I knew that the treasurys unit investigated tax frauds and i discovered that the treasury also fights crime fronts. Like the bureau of narcotics, with a captured opium pipes and marijuana cigarettes and heroin and other drugs. Dirtiest racket in the world, bar none. The alcohol tax unit like most of the others never gets into the headlines much, but its agents hunt down bootleggers and keep a lot of poisonous liquor out of circulation. They have another job, too. Enforcing the National Firearms registration act. Customs bureau which nabs smugglers who pull all kind of tricks to sneak contraband into the country. These crooks use everything from kids plays to things to hide their goods. But the customs men know all the tricks. Then there is the coast guard. That is part of the treasury, too. Except in wartime or at the president s direction when it becomes part of the navy. The coast guard works closely with the others, especially with the the customs and narcotics fighting the rackets. And dope the counterfeit section was really an eyeopener. All of it phony. What alter holt told me counterfeit looked like, i realize then it isnt hard for the average person to tell the anderence between the good the bad if they know what to look for. Magnifying glasses and microscopes arent necessary. But the secret service uses them studies ofaustive each new counterfeit. Walter showed me some of the seized in counterfeiting cases. For example, a typical press from a counterfeiter atlantag 15 years in penitentiary. And counterfeit plates made by had his cabin had his cabin in the ozarks. These were a far cry from the works of art made in our own work of engraving and printing. You see the counterfeiter cannot buy the highlycomplex machinery. Our name for if machine that costs about 50,000 and it turns out the beautiful the pattern which counterfeiter has so much trouble imitating. Its no wonder there is such a difference between the work of the perfect machine and the work of the crooks. On many counterfeits the serial are defective or out of alignment. Folks would never notice letter and let the faceplate number. Attention to them in printed warning of the new counterfeits. Look for are to the points on the colored treasury seal. They areounterfeits blunt or rounded off. On the genuine, they are sharp. Incidentally something new has been added. The Federal Reserve seal may have points or it may not. Added to there Federal Reserve seal beginning with the series of 1950. Before that, the black circle just had a smooth edge. Counterfeiting was only one of the things i had to learn about. Knowledge of scientific methods of crime detection is a must for secret Service Agents. I knew it wasnt a cloak and dagger outfit but i was surprised at the new things had to learn and how thoroughly they were drilled into me. All my learning wasnt done in Treasury Building. I had to boneup afterhours on counterfeiting, modern criminal investigation and law. Oh, boy to me with the marine corps judo instructor theld happen to some of storybook private eyes who andys find swell clues beautiful blondes. At first i thought this was just like going to college again but i soon found out that the subjects were not elective. You had to take everything. Mean everything. Even first aid. I never realizedded there were kind ofdifferent bandages and so many ways to use them. Judo andmore of that id be using the first aid on myself. Didnt take long to figure out there was no glamour in this business. I was just plain hard work and of it. Early the next morning the grind began again. This time to the disbursing office where uncle sam issues checks everyon working day. They go to a big Cross Section america. To war veterans and families of soldiers and sailors. Retired Social Security beneficiaries. And to thousands of other americans like you and me, for instance. Thousands oft these checks are stolen and forged every year by crooks. Of them will never get caught by the secret service. Aen a stranger wants to cash check, your best protection is to have him vouched for someone who is known and reliable. As there isnt one paper document which cant be faked or tempered with. And dont forget, Social Security cards are not intended for personal identification in checks. A crook named eddie tried this grocer. G. White, a but after looking at the Social Security card, grocer white used trick questions on eddie. For example, eddies check was george v. Tuttle at northwest,n street washington, d. C. Well, grocer white said, oh, i live at 5100 allison street. That must be right next door to isnt it . , he gave the street number in reverse and mentioned his own name. Most forgers dont Pay Attention to small details and eddie was exception. Mr. White said, hey, are you charlies brother george . Suspicious grocer told eddie he had to have all checks initialed by the cashier and he walked away to call the police department. Well, the good work of grocer right behind a polygraph machine. Walter and i watched as the lie thector scratched out verdict. I was fascinated by the little the reactioncorded on the chart. When the operator asked if eddie the answer was, no. But i saw a slight variation on the chart. Well, maybe he was lying, maybe he wasnt. But eddie didnt bat an eye the 64. Do you know who did steal the check . Answer was the same. No. Direct chart showed a hit. Heer eddie saw the charts, told how a friend stole the check and he, himself, forged the endorsement and tried to put the check over on grocer white. Walter showed me what a widespread racket this forgery business is. The secret service has thousands of cases on hand. Stacked up waiting to be investigated. And new cases come in at the rate of about 3,000 every month. Maybe more. But walter suddenly remembered appointment. I didnt know where we were headed but i soon found out. Thatnow, i guess anybody goes to the white house gets a thrill. Especially a small town boy like me. Me to see oured white house detail. Ourto learn a little about most important job of protecting the president. Parthite house police are of the secret service. And its their job to protect the executive mansion and grounds. I guess it will be a long time before folks forget how these men stopped an attempt to kill the president at blair house and gave his life in the performance of his duty. I had always thought the secret protected the president since the service was established back in 1865. Explained that this duty actually began with theodore roosevelt, after the assassination of president mckinley in 1901. Before that, there was no regular protection. Today, of course, watching over the president is the number one service. E secret walter introduced me to several our white house detail and while we waited for the president to come out, i got information about this phase of the work. For instance, walter told me how local police are. And how the secret service gets fine help from them. Suppose the president is to attend a banquet at a hotel. Security plan including routes of travel, preparation ofd orders is discussed by the secret service with the chief of police and his staff. When the plans are completed, in which the banquet will be held is carefully inspected from cellar preparation of food is supervised. If the president goes by train, occupies the speciallybuilt armored railroad car. Trip, the of his ret service has orangutanned has talked with railroad officials, arranged for the train and have advanced agents ahead to see the schedule is possible. Losely as an important part of the president ial train is the communications car. Operated by the White House Branch of the United States army signal corps. This car is really a voice and ears on wheels. By short wave radio, by telephone and even by teletype keeps in touch with washington or any part of the world, wherever the train may be. Whether the president travels on air, on land, or in the the secret service is close by emergency. R any an important part of that protection is the classification threatening of letters sent to the president. These letters are processed in a secret service known as the protective research section. Letters are anonymous. But a big percentage of them are identified by this sections elaborate handwriting classification system. Signed threatening letters are checked with investigation files which show the writers thential danger to president and are coded according to the handwriting and other characteristics. New letters are compared with files previously received and carefully investigated. Typewritten letters are classified and identifieded. Of the secrett service men keep as possible. Ous as many with mingle with the people or patrol the fringe of the crowd. Keep vigil in automobiles close to the crowd. Of twoway radio they keep in touch with each other and by white house detail. In this way, they know exactly where the president s motorcade moves and exactly when it will approach the crowd. If you have attended gatherings where the president has appeared youngobably noticed a few men who stay close to the president , but who keep their spectators and not on the speaker. What do they look for . Things. Bulky or suspicious packages, might meanhich danger, or sometimes just autograph hounds or gate purely personal objectives. These are the secret Service Agents who are prepared to give own lives to protect the commanderinchief. Beh of these men must tactful, firm, agile, decisive, ofck of thought and quick act. For no secret service men can and hisn his training judgment may save the life of the unitednt of states. Ill never forget the afternoon the chief gave me my credentials. Chief boarman, youngest chief in the history of the service came the organization as clerk and rose through the ranks to the top job in about 20 years. When i said that i was anxious to go to work, he grinned as felth he remembered how he when he first became an agent. Then he handed me my credentials special agent. I was excited and proud and happy. Before i left, the chief ofinded me that protection the president was our number one job. But he also said that suppression of counterfeiting and forgery was important, too. Because they are crimes against the people. And they hit where it hurts. In the pocketbook. Well, i made it. And now im ready to go into action for you. Im proud to belong to a great outfit. A crimefighting organization of treasury department, which for nearly a century has for usized in security all. Serviceed states secret you can watch reel america every weekend on cspan 3s tv and view our archive of programs online at cspan. Org. Several for reel america and. Rowse the topics this weekend on the cspan 9 00 p. M. Tonight at eastern, former secretary of talks aboutpowell world affairs. Sunday at 8 00, author tinberg a marine inhow vietnam, a landmine explosion nearly killed him and changed his wife. 10 00, on book tv afterwards, surgeon and author feels medical science should be doing more for the aging and dying. 7 00,nday just after syndicated columnist naomi klein on free market capitalism and the impact on climate change. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on tv on cspan 3, the king george war of the it helped the american columnist establish regional identities and gain forable fighting experience their own revolution. Sunday night on the presidency fords p. M. , president congressional testimony on the nixon pardon. Atd our Television Schedule cspan. Org and let us know what you think about the programs watching. Call us at 2026263400 or at comments cspan. Org atsend us a tweet cspancomments. Like us on facebook or follow us twitter. By this time of the war, a lot of soldiers had been away from their homes for three to four years. They were getting letters home following torm is pieces. There are patrollers in the area that are taking supplies for us. When are you going to come home . Large problem with desertions at this point in time. Standpoint of soldiers not wanting to go to battle but the heart strings were being pulled by the needing them back home. Wasso, what lee had imposed a fairly strict set of orders deserters would be sometimes shot and definitely punishment, several occurrences of this happening. In fact, the morale was so low about this time, Les Miserables came out in book form. There were several confederate troops in the richmond shop and they saw it on the shelf. They said thats us. Miserables. Every weekend we are marking the 150th anniversary of the civil war with our series about events that shape the era. P. M. Days at 6 00 and 10 00 eastern on American History tv on cspan 3. Next on American History tv it was a great surprise to the American Government when the tested their first atomic bomb in 1949. International spy museum hisser houghton hisser ran Vince Houghton talk how it may have led to development of the russian abomb. Andinternational spy museum the Smithsonian Associates 90minute event. Were delighted to have our own historian. I dont know if you have met him. Dr. Vince houghton, the his historian and curator of the museum. He has a degree from the theersity of maryland where Research Centered on u. S. Scientific and technological intelligence. Nuclear in the Second World War and the cold war, which makes him ideally suited to deliver todays talk. He also got his masters degree focusing on the