It’s a story that truly feels like it came straight out of Hollywood — and in many ways — it did.
Some unsung heroes of World War II, who trained on Pine Camp — now Fort Drum — were assigned to fool the Nazis and lead the Allied forces to victory. There was nothing simple about it, but in the end, they were successful.
Now after decades of secrecy and lost time, the "Ghost Army," some 1,300 people who served in a special deception unit during World War II, are finally getting recognized by the U.S. A handful of surviving members got their moment in the spotlight Thursday, when they attended a special ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
Members of the unit received the Congressional Gold Medal.
While some Ghost Army members were soldiers by trade, most had never put on a uniform. Instead, they were actors, set designers, sculptors, fashion designers, artists and more. Think Broadway.
Their mission, which they volunteered for as part of a desire to do their part, was to deceive the enemy, in this case, the Germans. Using their skills, they created fake but realistic scenes, using inflatable tanks, sound recordings of maneuvers, fake radio calls that were designed to be intercepted; even going into local bars to shoot off their mouths.
The acts were designed to bring attention to Germans, while real American and Allied Forces would move and attack from a different area.
Their story, however, was lost to history. Fearing an eventual war with Russia, the military didn’t declassify the Ghost Army’s tactics until 1996.
In fact, it’s believed only seven members of the unit are still alive, most around 100 years old. Three of them made the trip to D.C. To get the honor, it was a proud moment for them and all Ghost Army families, one that was a long time coming.
"Oh, I'm proud of it, yea. Everything went right. Thank God, everything went right," Ghost Army veteran John Christman said.
While some in the unit were armed with guns, many were not and demonstrated true bravery. Those tanks were made of rubber. Artillery? Not real. Had the Germans ever decided to fully attack, they were in essentially unarmed, unable to fight back. They would have been wiped out in minutes.
It was a mission that, for some, started with training on Pine Camp, again now known as Fort Drum in upstate New York. When the unit returned from Europe, most of them were brought back to Pine Camp, as they prepared to be discharged from the Army and head back to their normal lives.
