The Ghost Army: Selected for their amazing talent

Born and raised in Kankakee, Illinois, Leslie Gates, 95, currently lives in Arkansas and shared his secret in an article I wrote last year. The top secret unit that he was involved in during World War II was the Ghost Army. Officially known as the 23rd headquarters of special troops....Operation Quicksilver. After D-Day in France and until the end of the war, over 20 battle deceptions were staged very close to the front line deceiving German soldiers and officers between 1944-1945 ending in the Rhine Valley.

According to Les, 3132nd and 3133rd signal service companies were reported to have been VERY effective in their operations. There were VISUAL deception units and ,of course, you couldn't suddenly have a division of armored tanks appear without the appropriate sounds, thus the sonic units which were VERY important to the overall operation. They had amplifiers that could, project "sounds" for 5 or more miles, and were very convincing. They could actually bounce speakers off the clouds to get as much distance as possible. The tanks were not just inflatable and if hit by artillery, just pop like a balloon but had a framework of tubes so the enemy could shoot and it would not fall so quickly.

This army's existence was finally acknowledged in the mid-1990s, when it was declassified. The Ghost Army, the 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, was finally able to share their personal experiences. Consequently, they were able to share the fascinating battlefield illusions they created whose American purpose was to fool Hitler with fake strategic games and theatrical events; saving thousands of lives.

Unfortunately, Diana Weingate's father passed away in January 2014 before she discovered the Ghost Army World War II PBS Documentary, which was released in May of 2013. A couple years afterward, she started to hear there was a committee looking into honoring the brave men of the 3132nd and 3133rd with the Congressional Medal.

It was around 1998 that Charles Weingate, her father, started talking about his time in the war with the Ghost Army. She recalls him telling her and her brother about running the wire all night long and in the morning, trying to get some sleep. He was suddenly awakened by another soldier telling him that the German Army had just surrendered to them.

Just recently, Diana Weingate was able to read a previous article about the Ghost Army that I wrote that included the story of Les Gates. She contacted me and Les Gates by email. She was able to to talk to Mr. Gates on the phone and felt honored to hear his stories; bringing her even closer than ever to her father. Diana and her family are organizing a media push to find out more about The Ghost Army Legacy Project where you can donate and send letters to help support the campaign in awarding a Congressional medal to the unit.The Project dedicated the first ever Ghost Army historical marker in Luxembourg this past September. They are currently leading a World War II tour in Italy taking some time to pay their respect to the 23rd Headquarters.

After investigating the Legacy Project, head over to another site which is ghostarmy.com and you can learn more about Rick Beyer, the award winning documentary filmmaker, best-selling author, and long-time history enthusiast. He produced and directed the award-winning PBS documentary The Ghost Army, and is the co-author (with Liz Sayles) of The Ghost Army of World War II. Rick Beyer is also president of The Ghost Army Legacy Project.

Please feel free to contact Les Gates or Diana Weingate at lesgates@suddenlink.net or Diana at razmuth80@yahoo.com. The Weingate family have provided pictures presented.

Happy Veterans to all!