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Author taps into history innove based on unclelifeBY SARA GOLDCONTRIBUTING WRITERLifelong Laguna Beach resident KathrynLang-Slattery adds a missing piece to the tableau of World War II history in her biographical fiction novel “Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy.ftThe novel, published in February, isbased on the author’s uncle, Herman Lang,who belonged to a group of U.S. militarymen known as the Ritchie Bovs.The Ritchie Boys were a little-knowngroup of intelligence specialists based atCamp Ritchie in Cascade, Md., starting in the summer of 1942.Their tasks included interrogating German war prisoners, translating captured messages and disseminating propaganda to weaken enemy morale.Most of the Ritchie Boyswere selected due to theirfluency in languages spoken by the Axis powers,such as German, Russianand Polish.Lang was fluent in German because he was aCOURTESY OF KATHRYN LANG-SLATTERYLanq-Slattery Jewish refugee from Nazi many more of them at a Ritchie Boys reu-Germany who immigrat- nion in Detroit and a symposium in Wash-*ed to America in 1939 at the age of 19.ington, D.C.After being drafted into the Army and“It has been a great pleasure to get tojoining the Ritchie Boys, Lang worked with meet so many of them and hear their stoGen. George Patton’s Third Army, one otthe U.S. armies that contributed to (Jenna-*ries, said Lang-Slattery, who still keeps intouch with about 30 Ritchie Boys via email.ny’s defeat in 1945.The author supplemented her knowVery few people have heard of theRitchie Boys because after the war, many ofledge by reading hundreds of books anddocuments on the Holocaust and Worldthese Jewish-German refugees preferred War II.not to look back on their horrific experiemThe most exciting moment of her rees but instead move forward,” said Lang search process was wheti she discoveredSlattery, 71. “That, combined with the secret nature of intelligence operations, isone of her uncle’s military progress reports in the National Archive in College Park,why their story has not really come out until fairly recently, as the men have grownolder.”Md.Lang-Slattery, intrigued by her uncle’sWorld War 11 stories, started working onher book 15 years ago.Although her project began as a nonfiction book for high school students, theauthor ultimately decided to create a bio graphical fiction novel designed for anadult audience.Lang-Slattery conducted in-depth interviews with her uncle, who died in 2006, andabout five other Ritchie Boys, whom shemet through a chat line on the website for a“It made the whole story very real to me,to find that little 3-by-5 card with Herman’s name on it,” Lang-Slattery said.Her novel is available at Laguna BeachBooks and will soon be sold at museums nationwide, including the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York and the U.S. Holo caust Museum in Washington, D.C.“I hope people will ei\joy the adventure and the story, and understand what the Ritchie Boys contributed to World War II,Lang-Slattery said. “There's also a message of forgiveness: It’s very important to remember the Holocaust, and we can't en-2004 Ritchie Boys documentary.She traveled to Arizona to interview oneof the men and had the opportunity to meettirely forgive what happened, but it’s time for us to move on and not perpetuate thehatred.”*t
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Laguna News Post
Laguna Beach, California, US
Thu, May 14, 2015
Page 6
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USA 27 Jan 2021
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