Records relating to professional wrestlers in the OSS

Dear Mr. Bixenspan:

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information Act request to the
National Archives and Records Administration.

Due to the nature of your request, we have forwarded your request to
our *Office
of Research Services, Special Access and FOIA*division, for appropriate
handling. You will be assigned a new tracking number by that office. If
you would like to follow up with that office directly, please contact them
at: specialaccess_FOIA@nara.gov.

For your reference, your original submission is below.

Please also visit our main website, www.archives.gov, to learn more about
the many exciting resources we offer the public.

Sincerely,

Joseph A. Scanlon
FOIA & Privacy Act Officer
National Archives and Records Administration
Office of General Counsel
(301) 837-0583

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 19, 2017 at 3:39 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Request: Records relating to professional
wrestlers in the OSS
To: foia@nara.gov

March 19, 2017
National Archives and Records Administration
FOIA Officer
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 3110
College Park, MD 20740

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act which should be
fulfilled digitally, either by email attachment, web upload, or, if
necessary, CD-ROM. I hereby request the following records:

All records within NARA's OSS collection (CIA website directs mailed
requests to "Office of Records Services, Modern Military Records" at NARA
in College Park) referring to professional wrestlers serving as
intelligence officers in the OSS or being recruited into the OSS. Documents
released by the CIA as part of making the CREST database available online
repeatedly mention that professional wrestlers were recruited into OSS.
Specifically:

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-
rdp78-04308a000100040005-8
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-
rdp78t03194a000400010009-2

As a member of the media working for Deadspin, I request a fee waiver or
reduction if possible.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. Again, I would
prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment or web
upload if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

David Bixenspan

------
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock
DEPT MR 35181
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
------

Dear Mr. Bixenspan:

I am writing in further response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request of March 19, 2017, for records in the custody of the National
Archives and Records Administration. Your request was received in this
office on March 22, 2017, and assigned FOIA case number RD 52531.

You have requested “All records within NARA’s OSS collection . . .
referring to professional wrestlers serving as intelligence officers in the
OSS or being recruited into the OSS.” The materials you are requesting are
already open for public viewing in our research room at the National
Archives in College Park, MD, located at 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park,
MD. *Since there are no access restrictions on these documents, there is no
need to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the National
Archives.*

Your request consists of a stated topic rather than describing specific
documents, and therefore is not reasonably specific enough for us to be in
a position to easily locate documents responsive to your request. We make
reasonable efforts to assist researchers with their work. As a matter of
policy, the National Archives is staffed to assist researchers with their
work, including but not limited to pointing researchers to helpful finding
aids to begin their research. However, given the limitations on staff
resources, we do not generally conduct substantive research in response to
requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act, except in
circumstances where documents are easily locatable.

Among the Records of the Office of Strategic Services (Record Group 226)
are the OSS Personnel Files, 1941-1945 (Entry A1-224). This record series,
which consists of 869 boxes containing 23,973 individual files, is arranged
alphabetically by surname of individual service member. You can view the
finding aid for this series at the following URL:
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1593270). Additional finding aids for other
series of OSS records are available for use by you or your representative
in our research consultation area. We will be glad to make the records and
relevant finding aids available for your examination in our research room
at the National Archives in College Park, MD.

Should you choose to come to Washington to do research, our records and
microfilm publications are available for consultation without charge in our
research rooms. The National Archives at College Park (Archives II) is
located at 8601 Adelphi Road, between Metzerott Road and University
Boulevard/Greenbelt Road, just inside the Beltway between the New Hampshire
Avenue and Route 1 Exits. If you do not have a research card, you must
apply for one in the reception area. Textual Research Room (Room 2000)
hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except legal
holidays. Our consultation room hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday
through Friday, except legal holidays. No appointment is necessary. Records
are retrieved Monday through Friday for use in the Textual Research Room at
10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. There are no
pulls on Saturday. We do not pull in advance. Prior to your visit, please
consult our web site at http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/.

In the event that you are unable to visit our facility, you may wish to
employ a professional researcher to carry out research on your behalf. The
National Archives maintains a list of professional researchers on its
website. The URL for this list is located here:
http://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help/.

If you have any questions, you may contact our office directly at (301)
837-3510. Our email address is archives2reference@nara.gov.

We do not consider this a denial of your FOIA request. However, if you are
not satisfied with our action on this request, your options for appeal and
dispute resolution are outlined in the attached enclosure.

*Do not reply to this email. If you have any questions regarding this (or
any other textual reference) request, please email *
*archives2reference@nara.gov* <archives2reference@nara.gov>*. Be sure to
include your complete mailing address (not email address) in all
correspondence with the National Archives.*

This concludes the processing of your request.

Sincerely,

PAUL B. BROWN

Textual Reference Operations

National Archives at College Park, MD

RDT2 17-22474

cc: RD 52531

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