We’re Celebrating Veterans Day Weekend with Free History Talks from Noon – 4:00pm.
TALK 1
UNCOVERING TOP SECRET WORLD WAR II
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS AT P.O. BOX 1142
Vincent L. Santucci, National Park Service
In a quiet location just outside of Washington, D.C., several World War II Military Intelligence Service programs were conducted at a top-secret camp known only at the time as “P.O. Box 1142.” The important wartime activities undertaken through these clandestine operations remained largely unknown and lost to history with the destruction of the camp’s records at the end of the war and all personnel being required to sign secrecy agreements. In 2004 the National Park Service began a project to uncover and preserve the incredible story associated with P.O. Box 1142 including capturing oral history interviews with over 70 WWII veterans who were tied to the military intelligence activities. The interviews revealed history not previously documented about how the work at P.O. Box 1142 contributed to the outcome of WWII, along with connections to the Manhattan Project, Cold War, Birth of the Central Intelligence Agency, Space Race, and other important history during the post-war period. The research confirmed that the work at P.O. Box 1142 was also linked to activities undertaken at Camp Ritchie, Camp Sharp, and Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War camp. Today P.O. Box 1142 is protected by the National Park Service at the George Washington Memorial Parkway at Fort Hunt Park. A historic marker and flagpole were dedicated by the National Park Service at Fort Hunt Park in 2007 to commemorate the top-secret work of the veterans of P.O. Box 1142.
