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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
MARSHALL MEYER ENLISTS IN ARMY COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
In December 1948, Marshall M. Meyer enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). His lengthy military career culminated with his appointment as G-2 and then chief of staff for the Maryland state defense force.
Born in Chicago in 1919, Marshall Meyer stood over six-feet-tall and, as a young man, worked as a bodyguard for such celebrities as Shirley Temple and Judy Garland. In 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a military police officer (MP). He served in Europe during World War II, becoming chief of the MP’s criminal investigation division in France before returning to Chicago to head the MP Detachment, 6th Service Command. He then worked as a police officer and served as an Illinois National Guardsman, ultimately becoming the provost marshal of the 33d Infantry Division.
In December 1948, Meyer reenlisted with the Regular Army, this time serving in counterintelligence. He attended training at the CIC School at Fort Holabird, Maryland, before being assigned to the 441st CIC Detachment and stationed in CIC Region III, Fukui, Japan. Meyer interrogated North Korean smugglers selling ginseng on the black market, while also attending the Far East Command Advanced Agents’ Course in Tokyo. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he was reassigned to the 25th CIC Detachment, attached to the 25th Infantry Division, and fought alongside the 27th Infantry Regiment near the Yalu River on the border of North Korea and China. For eleven months, Meyer interrogated prisoners of war for counterintelligence-related information and helped establish line-crossing operations, which entailed sending North Korean defectors and partisans across enemy lines to procure intelligence.
Meyer returned to Japan and the 441st CIC Detachment, where he worked several espionage cases, including breaking up a North Korean labor party network that threatened the security of occupation forces in Japan. He then transferred back to the United States in early 1952 and was assigned to the newly reactivated 902d CIC Detachment, conducting counterespionage activities within the U.S. In May 1953, Meyer left active duty and opened a private investigation firm in Baltimore while also remaining in the U.S. Army Reserves. He eventually became the G-2 and then chief of staff for the Maryland State Guard (Maryland Defense Force since 1983). In the mid-1950s, Meyer also assisted in the monumental production of the thirty-volume History of the Counter Intelligence Corps.
Through his private ventures, Meyer performed undercover work for the Baltimore Police Department and investigated internal affairs cases for the city police commissioner. He also provided security assessments for Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel in 1970. He was credited for discovering an electronic eavesdropping campaign against the civil defense hotline in the governor’s office.
Meyer retired from the reserves in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel, having served more than thirty years and earned a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. He passed away from pneumonia on 10 December 2002.
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| Date Taken: | 11.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.29.2024 12:53 |
| Story ID: | 486353 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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