Mementoes
Many of the programs hosted by the Museum or the NCMF are taped and those described below are available for purchase. Other items such as books and pamphlets of cryptologic significance are also available. If you are interested in any of these items please contact the NCMF.
WAVES and WRENS Commemorative First Day Covers
Book 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 (Women's Royal Naval Service). On both sides of the Atlantic they operated machines known as "Bombes" to decode German "Enigma" messages. The First Day Covers are available for $30, which includes shipping and handling.
NSA 50th (1952 - 2002) Anniversary Commemorative Calendar
This calendar is a true collector’s item, artfully done and chronicling many significant events in the storied history of NSA and its predecessors. In this calendar, every day truly counts. The NSA 50th Anniversary Calendar is available for $6.50. Includes shipping and handling.
A Brief History of Cryptology
Book 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 foreword 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, the Museum gift shop, and selected local bookstores.
Mr. Boone is donating the proceeds from sales of his book to the NCMF.
Loss of the Liberty
VHS Tape - In 1967 America’s most sophisticated intelligence ship, the USS Liberty, was attacked by one of America’s staunches allies – Israel. “The Loss of the Liberty” is a documentary film that recounts one of the tensest moments the two nations ever experienced with each other. The film opens with an "official" Israeli explanation of the attack and then switches to American accounts based on first-hand reports from the Liberty’s captain and crew. Expert analysis and comments are provided by distinguished U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Navy Admirals Tom Moorer and Arleigh Burke (Captain of the USS Saratoga, the carrier that launched and then recalled U.S. jets sent to help the Liberty). The tape suggests a cover up, by both nations’ governments, and references an intelligence collection that may prove the attack was deliberate. Price, $12.95. Includes shipping and handling.
The American Experience at Bletchley Park
VHS Tape (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 in World War II. On 23 May 2000, American alumni of Hut 6's operations recalled their experiences in this vital but heretofore 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
VHS Tape (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 with their experiences at Pearl Harbor. Battleship bands were dispersed at the end of December 1941, which had Pete, Mike and others trading in their Glenn Miller arrangements for keypunch computer cards. They had become part of a team exploiting Japanese communications. In this video RADM Showers, then an Ensign, provides perspective on the value of COMINT during this period, commenting that it was the US's only source of information on Japanese military intentions. The panelists’ sobering memories of the attack are unexpectedly punctuated by bits of humor. All 11 living survivors of the USS California contributed to the program, including Bob Parker who flew in from California to attend the presentation. This VHS tape is available for $14.95, including shipping and handling.
Breaking Codes, Breaking Barriers: The WACs of the Signal Security Agency, World War II"
VHS Tape (40 minutes) - Karen Kovach, a historian in the Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Intelligence and Security Command, presents a detailed and thoroughly real portrait of the critical contributions to intelligence made by a special group of WACs during World War II. Ms. Kovach recounts what it was like for a woman of that era to work in signals intelligence and communications security at Arlington Hall Station and the Second Signal Service Battalion. Her stories are peppered with direct quotes from many of her contemporaries and illustrated by many vintage photographs depicting life at Arlington Hall, Vint Hill Farms, and Two Rock Ranch. Mary Bromble, another one of the WACs who was a part of the effort several WAVEs and civilians engaged in similar work were also present during this fascinating presentation. A VHS tape is available for $14.95, including shipping and handling.
Unique Perspective of the Role of Cryptology in the War in the Pacific
VHS Tape & CD - The Foundation recently acquired a multi-hour videotaped oral history of Captain Just what did the United States and its Allies know at 8 a.m. Hawaiian time on the morning of 7 December 1941? Forrest R. “Tex” Biard, USN, (Ret). Captain 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, just before that fateful date that will “live in infamy.” Biard served in all three U.S. 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 Japanese of that era before everything changed. 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
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
DVD 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
DVD - The DVD is available for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.
A Cryptologic Legacy
DVD - A film made at the 50th Anniversary of NSA featuring Milt Zaslow, Gene Becker, "Ski" Szymanowski, and Howell McConnell speaking on America’s cryptologic history from Arlington Hall Station in 2002. The DVD is available for $11.50 which includes shipping and handling.
