'Combat Con Artists' of World War II Who Hoodwinked Nazis Get Long Overdue Top Honor from Congress
Military.com | By Richard Sisk
Published February 20, 2024 at 3:05 pm
All warfare is based on deception, Chinese strategist Sun Tzu once said.
The battlefield flimflam practiced by the Army's top-secret 23rd Headquarters Special Troops unit during World War II took that ancient advice to another level as the "Ghost Army" in the drive to liberate Europe.
From D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine, the 23rd used inflatable tanks, trucks and artillery pieces; bogus radio traffic; 500-pound loudspeakers blasting recordings of divisions on the move; and other means of fakery to confuse the Nazis. In the process, it may have saved the lives of 15,000 to 30,000 American troops, according to Army historians.
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Now, the unit is set to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow, at a March 21 ceremony on Capitol Hill. The medal was also awarded to a sister unit of the 23rd -- the 3133rd Signal Service Company -- which served in Italy and carried out two deception operations in 1945 near the end of the war.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/02/20/combat-con-artists-of-world-war-ii-who-hoodwinked-nazis-get-long-overdue-top-honor-congress.html
