Collection Veterans History Project Collection

Military Intel: The Inside Story

Here are stories of Military Intelligence (or “Intel,” as insiders call it), the secret weapon of any country's war effort. Including accounts from veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the featured collections cover a wide range of intelligence-related topics, from the stories of spies to those who were involved with creating and breaking codes and interrogation. From veterans who served with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II to those flying reconnaissance missions over Vietnam, these collections offer a glimpse into military occupations and activities that were secret and hidden by nature.

Military Intel: In Harm's Way Wars are won-and lost-not only by the regular troops and their commanders, but also by the soldiers who don't always work in uniform. Dropped behind enemy lines, they conduct war on a smaller, more intimate level, practicing acts of sabotage and inflicting small but significant wounds on the enemy.
Military Intel: In the Field Interrogators and interpreters who work not far from the battlefield, questioning captured prisoners and translating enemy documents, play a valuable role in any war. It isn't enough to speak the language; a good intelligence agent also has to know the military hierarchy of the enemy and its strategy style to make sense of insider information.
Military Intel: Behind the Scenes Shooting with cameras rather than guns, photographers act as the “eyes” of the military. Whether taking motion pictures or still photographs, oftentimes serving in the thick of the action, military photographers have captured and produced scores of images for the purposes of strategy and intelligence, mapmaking, and simply to document historic moments.