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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper October 2018 Page 19
… Story continued from page 18
preserve the site’s secrecy. No “Our hope is that people will
current trainees knew about these get interested from the exhibit
tests; they were surprised with and want to do more research,”
them when deemed ready. Gaul explains. “We want to
The training of OSS operatives better tell the history of the
changed as World War II waged park.”
on. To help with the transition to “History always matters
different environments abroad, because we can’t know where
training centers were established we’re going if we don’t know
in new locations that better where we’ve been,” says Clay.
matched wartime conditions. “I think it’s really important for
This limited the use of Catoctin Blowing up a structure during explosives Catoctin Mountain Park and the
to an initial-stage training training. people who love her because we
facility. Additionally, the Marine get so lost in the big monuments
Corps began to send marines [that we don’t realize] we’ve
to Catoctin to recover from the had a lot of stuff take place
pangs of fighting abroad and to right here.” Clay wants people
prepare for their next steps in the to walk the trails and see the
war effort. They lived and trained history beneath their feet. She
at Camp Misty Mount. continues, “they can go ‘wow,
In 1947, two years after somebody who walked the same
the end of World War II, the trail was training to go fight,
OSS transferred full use of or became a prisoner, or was a
Catoctin back to the National Hollywood star.’ You can really
Park Service. The official OSS connect to Catoctin that way.”
personnel files, however, were not The beauty of Catoctin
released until 2008, leaving the Mountain Park is that its roots
history of the program defined run deep into the course of the
solely by personal interviews past, and that there is more
and word of mouth. No official to discover with every visit.
photographs of the training The OSS symbol at end of the The role that the park played
facilities were made public, save OSS Ford training film. in wartime efforts is still being
seldom training videos filmed for researched by the likes of Clay to
OSS use, making the history of the help those who come to the park
OSS at Catoctin all the more elusive. The history of Catoctin Mountain better understand the specifics of its
After World War II, trainees signed National Park and its affiliation in role in American history. Clay loves
agreements ensuring that they would World War II is still investigated the work she does and hopes that
keep the events of their training today. Catoctin Mountain Park’s newcomers to the park can find the
secret. The impact of OSS training Chief of Interpretation and Visitor same novelty in discovery that she
resided with trainees for long after Services Peggie Gaul says that does every day. “After all,” Clay
the war. Psychological trauma and the park is “working on a new beams, “a bad day here is better than
trust issues followed them, and fear exhibit for the visitor center” using a good day anywhere else!”.
for their own safety led many to live assistance of Kasey Clay and other
in secrecy for the rest of their lives. staff to help review documents.
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