(NewsNation) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday honored members of the “Ghost Army” on Capitol Hill, presenting three surviving veterans with one of the nation’s highest honors — the Congressional Gold Medal.
In World War II, the group of service members didn’t fight with guns or bombs, but with inflatable tanks, planes, costumes and even sound effects.
Their mission: to trick Nazi forces about where and how strong U.S. forces were. The top-secret work at the time saved thousands of lives. However, their story has largely gone untold.
Three of the seven known surviving members of the Ghost Army attended the ceremony Thursday: 100-year-old Seymour Nussenbaum of Monroe Township, New Jersey; 100-year-old Bernard Bluestein of Hoffman Estates, Illinois; and 99-year-old John Christman of Leesburg, New Jersey.
“We salute the ingenuity of their spirit, creative brilliance and the bravery they displayed in risking their lives to confuse and deceive the Nazis on the battlefield,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during the ceremony.
The story of heroism and ingenuity remained classified until 1996.
The Ghost Army included about 1,100 soldiers in the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, which carried out about 20 battlefield deceptions in France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany, and around 200 soldiers in the 3133rd Signal Company Special, which carried out two deceptions in Italy.
Members of the unit were recruited from movie sets, art school and advertising agencies to pull off the deception. They built fake planes, rubber tanks and inflatable soldiers to trick their opponents.
“It was like putting on a big production,” Nussenbaum told the Associated Press. “We have had in some cases people impersonating generals, putting on a general’s uniform and walking around the streets.”
Nussenbaum didn’t tell his wife about his role in the Ghost Army until the 1990s, the Washington Post reported. He joked that when his family used to ask what he did in the war, he would say he “blew up tanks.”
Eventually, the unit became known as the “traveling road show of deception.” But their impact was anything but.
The Ghost Army is believed to have saved at least 30,000 American lives in Europe.
President Joe Biden signed the “Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act” to honor the military units with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.
Filmmaker and author Rick Beyer, president of the Ghost Army Legacy Project, produced and directed the 2013 documentary “The Ghost Army” and co-authored the 2015 book “The Ghost Army of World War II.” Beyer wanted to help bring their story to light.
Thursday’s ceremony came after a decade of lobbying by family members and volunteers at the Ghost Army Legacy Project.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.