Gilbert Seltzer, Soldier in the World War II ‘Ghost Army,’ Dies at 106
He was one of the last survivors of a band of Army con artists who duped German forces with their arsenal of fakery, including inflatable tanks and scripted radio transmissions.
It’s time for Congress to honor the Ghost Army of WWIIThere are endless stories of courage and heroism by the soldiers of World War II, told and retold in countless books and movies. However, some of those soldiers took their stories and secrets to their graves without receiving the honor and recognition they deserved. One of them was my father.
World War II “Ghost Army” deserves long-denied honorsSummer is traditionally a time for relaxing, for leisure — maybe traveling to a scenic locale. Seventy-seven years ago this summer, many of America’s most-promising young men spent the summer in France — not on vacation but waging a desperate war against Hitler and his legions.
We are bound to continually honor and recognize their courage and sacrifice. This summer, a campaign is underway to give official recognition to one group of deserving GIs who have been denied that honor for decades: The Ghost Army.
Radio interview previerewing August 18 Ghost Army Presentation by Roy Eichhorn.
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — All was not always as it seemed to enemy troops during World War II courtesy of units assigned to the U.S. Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. Skilled in deception tactics, this covert unit of 1,100 service members — 20 hailing from Missouri — were known collectively as the Ghost Army, and they used a variety of unique tactics to keep the enemy off the heels of American Soldiers. Roy Eichhorn, founding member of the Ghost Army Legacy Project, told the unit’s history to engineer Soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood during a special presentation held June 2 at the 35th Engineer Battalion.
Branson’s big-screen honored soldiers of a largely unknown army this weekend.
In honor of Ghost Army Recognition Day, Branson IMAX showed a documentary on the highly secretive World War II army units.
Thousands of history books, novels, movies and TV shows depict the many conflicts and battles of World War II. It sometimes seems there are no stories left untold. Yet there are examples of tactical daring, personal courage and sacrifice that have never received the full recognition and honor they deserve. One of them is the Ghost Army.
In the weeks following D-Day, a highly specialized group of men arrived in France. The 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops were there not to fight, but to deceive — mounting a “traveling road show” of inflatable tanks, fake radio broadcasts and more, designed to convince Hitler’s generals that Allied forces were massing where in reality they were not.
A California High School student who is advocating for the Ghost Army has received an award from the Nationioal World War II Musuem in New Orleans.
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