The “Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act,” which US President Joe Biden signed into law on February 2, 2022, essentially recognizes the “Ghost Army,” a tactical deception unit used by the US during World War II.
This unit was assigned a mission in 1944 to put on a show for the German troops in an effort to trick them and influence their decisions. They employed deception techniques such as sound effects, dummy trucks, personnel, and tanks that floated around. They had a 0.50 caliber machine gun, which was their heaviest weapon.
There are only nine Ghost Army veterans left, dispersed across the US, 77 years after this mission was completed.
What is the Congressional Gold Medal?
The highest national recognition for exceptional accomplishments and contributions is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is awarded by the Congress.
Participants in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War were the first recipients of the medal. Later, Congress expanded the eligibility for the medal to include pioneers in a variety of other fields as well as actors, authors, musicians, entertainers, explorers, athletes, humanitarians, and foreign recipients.
The US Capitol Police and those who guarded the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day of the siege, received the medal most recently.
The ‘Ghost Army’
After it was established in January 1944, the existence of the “Ghost Army” was unknown for about 50 years. The unit’s “strange mission” was to conceal American troop strength and location from the enemy.
In 1996, when the official history—which was originally written in 1945 by Captain Fred Fox, an officer on the unit—became public, its existence was declared to be public knowledge.
Ghost Army is the collective name for the 3133rd Signal Company Special and the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops.
According to the unit’s official history, the US War Department activated it on January 20, 1944. Members of the units were trained and assembled pretty quickly in Tennessee. The unit served with four US armies in France, Belgium, England, Luxembourg, Holland, and Germany for a year and a half before it was on its way home.
The unit arrived in France with 1023 enlisted men and 82 officers in command. Four units provided the majority of the men and officers. Some of the members were New York and Philadelphia-based artists, while others were combat engineers and others had received special training in deception.
According to the book “The Ghost Army of World War II,” some of the members’ tasks included creating intricate models and using nettle as cover. Pilots would fly overhead and photograph these to show how the camouflage installations appeared. Since the inflatable personnel installations were immovable, they were not very effective.
Some operations of the Ghost Army
Operation Brest, in which the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used sonic, radio, and visual deception, was one of the operations they carried out. The Ghost Army was tasked with inflating the apparent size of American troops at Brest, which was held by the Germans and was under siege by the Allies, in order to persuade the Germans to submit. According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, they did this by fooling the Germans with inflatable tanks, noises, and illusions.
However, opinions on the unit’s accomplishments are still divided. The aforementioned book makes reference to a top-secret report that claims that overall, the army fell short of its potential. Despite a history of minor enemy intelligence manipulations that were successful, the report stated that tactical deception was characterized by a string of missed opportunities.
However, some specialists thought the work of the unit was worthwhile. One such person is a United States Army analyst by the name of Mark Kronman who praised the unit in a classified report. Rarely, if ever, has a small group of men had such a significant impact on the outcome of a significant military operation, the author noted in his article.
Ea-Nasir: world's oldest written customer complaint
This clay tablet, written in cuneiform, is the oldest known written customer complaint about the delivery of poor quality copper ingots. Originally from ancient Babylon, the tablet dates back to 1750 BCE, and it was written by a customer named Nanni to a merchant named Ea-Nasir. It is currently housed in the British Museum.
Why the Brooklyn Bridge Was Once Crossed by 17 Camels and 21 Elephants
On May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which killed at least at twleve people. To prove the bridge was safe, P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants over it.
Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher, sacrificed his own life
Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher, sacrificed his life in order to warn an incoming train of an imminent explosion. His telegraph said “Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye, boys.” He saved 300 lives.
story of the youngest mother in the world at age of five - Lina Medina
Lina Medina, a five-year-old Peruvian girl, became the youngest mother in history in 1939 when she gave birth to a boy.
How Cleveland's Balloonfest in 1986 Turned Into a Public Tragedy
In Cleveland, Ohio, United Way broke the world record by deflating nearly 1.5 million balloons as part of a publicity stunt to raise money. The balloon obstructed a US Coast Guard search for two boaters who were subsequently discovered to have drowned, blocked airport runways, and blocked land and waterways.
8 Interesting Facts About The Unsinkable Ship, TITANIC
If you ask your friends what's the most famous ship in history the answer in most cases will be the same, of course the legendary Titanic. Its history is full of mysteries, at first it was a source of hope and national pride as well as proof of the triumphs of mankind but it soon became a source of nostalgia and pain, the extent of which cannot be described in words.
Knockers-up: waking up the Industrial Britain's Workers in 1900-1941
Before alarm clocks were invented, there was a profession called a knocker-up, which involved going from client to client and tapping on their windows (or banging on their doors) with long sticks until they were awake. It lasted into the 1920s.
Robert Odlum, the first person to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge
The first person to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge was a professional high diver who "wanted to demonstrate that people did not die simply by falling through the air, thus encouraging people to be willing to jump from a burning building into a net." He proved himself correct by safely falling 135 feet through the air and dying only when he hit the water.
The Baltic Way: the longest unbroken human chain in history
On August 23, 1989, about 2 million people from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania formed a human chain that united all 3 countries to show the world their desire to escape the Soviet Union and the communism that brought only suffering and poverty. This power stretched 600 km.
How a Total Lunar Eclipse Saved Christopher Columbus in 1504
In 1504, Christopher Columbus was stranded in Jamaica with natives who refused to give him food. But he knew the date and time of an upcoming lunar eclipse. So he told the natives that his gods were angry at their treatment of him, and would provide a clear sign. Once the eclipse started, the natives raced to give him food and begged for mercy.
Sylvan Goldman: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Shopping with the Cart
The inventor of shopping carts, Sylvan Goldman, had to hire several male and female models to push carts around in his store, demonstrate their utility, and explain their use to other customers, due to not catching on initially.
Nuclear bomb accidentally dropped on North Carolina in 196
4 January 1961: The 4241st Strategic Wing's Boeing B-52G-95-BW Stratofortress, serial number 58-0187, was on a 24-hour airborne alert mission off the United States' Atlantic Coast.
Jack the Baboon operated a railroad, earned a living, and never made a mistake
A baboon worked as a signalman for the railroad in the late 1800s. He never made a mistake and worked for the railroad until the day he died.
The 1814 London beer flood
In 1814, there was a beer flood in London when a tank containing more than 300,000 gallons ruptured in which 8 people drowned.
Thomas Baker's heroic act that earned him the "Medal of Honor" was 8 bullets until death
Thomas Baker instructed his team to leave him with a pistol and eight bullets propped up against a tree after he was injured. Later, American troops discovered the now-deceased Baker in the same location, lying next to eight dead Japanese soldiers and carrying an empty pistol.
Man's Blood Helped Save Millions of Babies
Australian blood donor James Harrison has been one of our most impressive and valued donors, having donated for 60 years. Know his story, how he was a pioneer of our Anti-D program, and why this matters.
The Bizarre (And Magical) Duel Between Chung Ling Soo And Ching Ling Foo
Ching Ling Foo and Chung Ling Soo were two magicians from the early 20th century who were bitter rivals. While Ching Ling Foo was genuinely Chinese, Chung Ling Soo was actually a New Yorker named William Robinson.
Inside The Mysterious Death Of The Famed Gothic Writer Edgar Allan Poe
Hours before his death Edgar Allen Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore. He was incoherent, wearing another man’s clothes, and unable to explain how he got there. The cause of his death is an unsolved mystery.
Shizo Kanakuri’s 1912 Olympic Marathon Finished 54 Years
At the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.379 seconds.
3 men lived on top of a billboard in tents for almost 9 months
From 1982-1983, three men in Allentown PA competed in a radio contest in which they lived on top of a billboard in tents. Whoever stayed up longest would win a house. Due to economic pressure from the recession, none of the contestants wanted to give up, so the contest lasted almost 9 months.
William James Sidis: The smartest person yet forgotten by people
William James Sidis, who was only 11 years old when he enrolled in Hardvard, finished his primary and secondary schooling in less than a year. He knew eight foreign languages by the age of eight and even invented his own language, "vedergood."
Nearest Green, America's first known Black master distiller
Nathan "Nearest" Green was an African-American head stiller who is now more frequently referred to as a master distiller. He was renowned for imparting his distilling knowledge to Jack Daniel, the creator of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distiller, after Jack Daniel was freed from slavery following the American Civil War.
Henry Ford, The man popularizing the concept of the weekend off
Henry Ford was the first Industrial Giant to give his employees both Saturday and Sunday off in the hope of encouraging more leisurely use of automobiles and thus popularizing the concept of the "weekend."
How Dmitri Mendeleev Developed the periodic table of the elements
1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand miles to Moscow so he could apply for the University of Moscow. Although he was not accepted, he walked to St. Petersburg where he was accepted, And with that education, he developed the the periodic table of the elements
The unbroken seal on King Tutankhamun's tomb until 1922
The unbroken seal of Tutankhamun's tomb before it was opened in 1923, it was unbroken for over 3000 years.
