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Mementoes

Waves and Wrens Commemorative First Day Covers
Issued on 05 August 2005, this First Day Cover celebrates the ultra-secret work carried out during WW II by American and British Women of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and the WRENS (WRNS, Women's Royal Naval Service). On both sides of the Atlantic they operated machines known as "Bombes" to decode German "Enigma" messages.

A Brief History of Cryptology by James V. Boone
This compact book presents a historical overview of technological developments in cryptology and the closely associated fields of communications and computers. Foundation member Jim Boone and his team of Bob Alde, Al Babbitt, Bob Conley, Jim Hearn and Mel Klein are well suited to tell the story. In its overview of the critical developments of cryptology, this book is designed to be accessible to general readers; everyone from students to policy developers in government and industry. In his foreward to the book, Dr. William J. Perry, Sec Def (1994-97) says, "... [It is} a tribute to the remarkable achievements of intelligence teams of the past, and a challenge to intelligence teams of the future, from whom we will need even more remarkable achievements".

This book may be purchased at the Naval Institute Press, as well as at Amazon, Alibris, and selected local bookstores.

Loss of the Liberty
The Loss of the Liberty is a documentary film on the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, America's most sophisticated intelligence ship. The tape opens with an "official" Israeli explanation of the attack and then switches to a the American account of the attack based on first hand reports from the Captain and crew of the Liberty. It features analysis and comments from distinguished U.S. officials, such as Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Navy Admirals, Tom Moorer and Arleigh Burke and the Captain of the USS Saratoga, the carrier that launched and then recalled U.S. jets sent to help the Liberty. The tape suggests a coverup by both the U.S. and the Israeli governments and references intelligence collection that proves the attack was deliberate.

Price including shipping and handling: $12.95

NSA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Calendar
This calendar is a true collector’s item. It is artfully done and chronicles many significant events in the storied history of NSA and its predecessors. For example, on 13 June 1952, the Brownell Committee published a report that led to the creation of NSA and on 27 June 1958 a USAF C-118 was shot down over Soviet Armenia.

The calendar is available for $6.50 which includes shipping and handling.

The American Experience at Bletchley Park -- 75 minutes
Bletchley Park is the home of "Hut 6" where British and American mathematicians, linguists, chess masters and crossword puzzle experts performed cryptanalysis of German Army and Air Force Enigma-based messages. On 23 May 2000, American alumni of Hut 6's operations recalled their experiences in this vital but hithertofore unsung component of World War II's Allied victory. Joseph and Barbara Eachus, Arthur Levinson, Selmer Norland, and Walter Sharp spoke to a standing room only audience at the National Cryptologic Museum.

A VHS tape of this event is available for $14.95 which includes shipping and handling.

Battleship Bandsmen and the U.S. Cryptologic Effort -- 90 minutes
On December 7, 2001, former USS California bandsmen Pete Panyon (Trombone) and Mike Palchefsky (Trumpet) and RADM "Mac" Showers regaled a standing room only audience of their experiences at Pearl Harbor.

When the batteship bands were dispersed at the end of December 1941, Pete and Mike and others traded their Glenn Miller arrangements for keypunching computer cards as part of a team exploiting Japanese communications. RADM Showers, an Ensign at the time, provided perspective on the value of COMINT during this period, characterizing it as extremely important and the US's only source of information on Japanese military intentions.

Sobering observations of the attack itself were punctuated by bits of humor from the panelists. All 11 living survivors of the USS California contributed to the program, including Bob Parker who flew in from California to attend the presentation.

A VHS tape of this event is available for $14.95 which includes shipping and handling.

Breaking Codes, Breaking Barriers: The WACs of the Signal Security Agency, World War II" -- 40 minutes
In a fascinating talk, Ms. Karen Kovach, a historian in the Office of the Chief of Staff, US Intelligence and Security Command, presented a realistic picture of the critical contriubtions a special group of WACs made in signals intelligence and communications security at Arlington Hall Station and the Second Signal Service Battalion during World War II. Her talk was peppered with direct quotes from many of these women and supplemented with wonderful pictures of what life was like at Arlington Hall, Vint Hill Farms, and Two Rock Ranch. The audience was struck by the fact that SIGINT and COMSEC analysis is timeless--only the conditions under which one works and the tools and techniques change. Mrs. Mary Bromble, one of the WACs who was a part of this effort was in attendance as were several WAVEs and civilians engaged in similar work.

A VHS tape of this event is available for $14.95 which includes shipping and handling.

Unique Perspective of the Role of Cryptology in the War in the Pacific
The Foundation recently acquired a multi-hour videotaped oral history of Captain Forrest R. “Tex” Biard, USN, (Ret). Captain Biard is the sole living Japanese crypto linguist member of the US naval code breaking organization with knowledge of what we and our Allies knew and did not know at 8 a.m. Hawaiian time on 7 December 1941. Biard served in all three US Navy code breaking stations: Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and Melbourne, Australia. He had extensive assignments afloat during the war in the Pacific as Officer in Charge of Radio Intelligence Teams (Now referred to as Direct Support Units) assigned to major task force commanders, including RADM Frank Jack Fletcher of the USS Yorktown in the Coral Sea.

Of particular interest are his views on how communications intelligence was used—or not used—by decision makers prior to and during the war; what President Roosevelt and others knew about Japanese intentions; MacArthur’s efforts in the Philippines, debates surrounding the Yamamoto shoot down; the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway; and many others. Captain Biard also provides live commentary on life in pre-war Japan and his experiences studying and socializing with the local populace.

The oral history is available on 6 CD’s for $79.95 and on 6 VHS tapes for $59.95 – both prices include shipping and handling.

Radio communications Monitoring as a Counterinsurgency Tool: A Case Study of the First Indochina War
A DVD is available for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.

Amazing Secrets of Bletchley Park, Home to the Famous Code Breakers of World War II by Professor Peter Hilton and the Bletchley Park Alan Turing Memorial Lecture delivered by Professor Peter Hilton.
The DVD's are sold as a set for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.

The War in the Pacific, an American POW's Experience in Japan, December 1941 to September 1945
The DVD is available for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.

A Cryptologic Legacy
A film made at the 50th Anniversary of NSA featuring Milt Zaslow, Gene Becker, "Ski" Szymanowski, and Howell McConnell speaking on our cryptologic history from Arlington Hall Station to the 2002 anniversary. The DVD is available for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.