MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- A retired Army chief warrant officer presented the Marine Corps Interrogator Translators Teams Association with an American Flag at the Beirut Memorial here Jan. 12.
Army Chief Warrant Officer Ash Tayler found the flag in the 11th Interrogators headquarters in Da Nang when the city was turned over to the Army during the Vietnam War.
The mission of interrogator translators in Vietnam was to interrogate prisoners of war and detainees and translate various languages, according to Howard Kahn, the association’s second sub team commander.
The 11th Interrogation Translation Team arrived in DaNang, Republic of Vietnam, July 17, 1967. The deployment of the team was but a small part of the overall build up of U.S. Marines in the war against communist aggression in South East Asia. The team played a significant role in the gathering of intelligence information from both captured enemy prisoners of war and Chu Hoi Ralliers.
The 11th Interrogation Translation Team served for four years in Vietnam before passing its responsibilities to the Army upon redeployment to Okinawa, Japan.
The interrogator translator military occupational specialty was changed five years ago and became part of intelligence. Interrogators had served during the Vietnam and Desert Storm wars before being disbanded since its creation in 1960.
The association was founded to honor the memory and celebrate the Marines who have served as interrogator translators. The association is a last man standing society, which currently contains approximately 240 members.