Ghost Army Research Paper

Summary of Ghost Army The ghost army can be credited for some of the most successful missions that took place during WW2 and yet most people have never heard of them. They emerged during WW2 as a secret tactical deception unit that had one goal: fool the nazi’s. Using inflatable tanks, sound effects, and other militia, the ghost army was able to carry out 22 deceptions and successfully fool the Nazi’s on numerous occasions. The inspiration for the unit came from the British who had used similar deception techniques for operation Bertram during the battle of El Alamein. The unit was developed on January 20th, 1944, consisting of 1023 men all serving under the veteran colonel Harry L. Reeder. There were specific experts hand picked to create the …show more content…
The unit inflated 600 deceptions, impersonated 2 divisions, and 40,000 troops. Directly after the war, the soldiers that were in the unit were sworn to secrecy. The purpose for the ghost army was to descive Nazi’s which they had successfully completed so there was no need for the unit and it was completely shut down. The only piece of evidence that existed proving the ghost army to be real was an article written very shortly after the war. Other than that, the unit was not mentioned. Although WW2 is long in our past, it lives through us, connected by our milta, people, equipment, etc. The ghost army's tactics are one of the many things that live on. Now, it might not be necessary to blow up fake tanks to trick a communist army, however, we still use some of the tactics developed by the ghost army carrying on their legacy. Records of the ghost army weren't even declassified until 1996. Finally, after years without any recognition in February 2020 the troops were rewarded with the congressional gold medal. Now, they are remembered as a crucial part of WW2 and given the recognition they deserve. Works