During the war, keeping the secret was a matter of life and death. To Nance, the secrecy was just part of the job. When his children asked what he did in the war, Nance told them he "blew up tanks" - which technically wasn't a lie, when considering that the Ghost Army used inflatable tanks to mimic actual tanks. "They told me to keep it secret, and I did," he said. She died never knowing - before the secret classification lifted in 1996. The Ghost Army was there, in Normandy, during the Battle of the Bulge, and at the crossing of the Rhine River.īut because the missions were classified, Nance never told his wife in detail the role he played in the war. Nance, who now lives in Millcreek, and his fellow tricksters participated in 21 deception missions. Today, Nance's 14 children and their children know of Nance's heroics - how he used his expertise in Morse code and telegraphing to perfectly mimic Allied forces' radio transmissions, so when they moved out, he'd create the illusion over radio waves that they were still there. Still alive among the Ghost Army's ranks is a Utahn - Staff Sgt. The Ghost Army used art, trickery and nonviolence to help win the war.īut their story, kept secret for decades after the war ended, remains little-known. soldiers stationed on the battlefields of Europe, rather than a single unit of artists and engineers. ![]() Using truckloads of inflatable tanks, huge speakers, a collection of sound effects records and other tricks, the special unit impersonated radio transmissions and used illusions to create phony forces, fooling the enemy into believing there were large factions of U.S. ![]() Their mission wasn’t to fight on the front lines, and yet there they were - dangerously close, right under the enemy's noses, actually more vulnerable than the Germans thought. They were the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, also known as the Ghost Army. Today, their story has come to light - but only after most of the 1,100 men have already passed. Their story was kept secret for 50 years after the war ended, classified among the U.S. WEST JORDAN - It’s told they helped shorten World War II by at least six months and save tens of thousands of lives.
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