An invisible army, operating in obscurity, mastering the arts of illusion, deception, and disinformation to defeat the Nazis in World War II. This could be a description of the French Resistance fighters, the band of brothers who operated in utmost secrecy under the noses of the German occupation forces, and have been called "The Army of Shadows." But it also describes an amazing division of American troops stationed in the European Theatre: the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, AKA "The Ghost Army." This top secret unit, so highly classified that its very existence was denied by the Pentagon for 50 years, is finally being not just exposed but placed in the spotlight, by a Michigan Library and an award winning documentary filmmaker.

The University of Michgan's Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library is presenting a "Ghost Army" exhibit through April 30, 2010. It consists of photographs, drawings, and paintings, along with quotations from the soldiers who created them. student Diana Mankowski. There's a reason an art history student spent time researching The Ghost Army: the 23rd was an elite unit made up of artists, designers, sound technicians, press agents, makeup artists, and professional photographers. And if you think that description sounds more like a film crew than an army, you're on the right track. The Ghost Army was the brainchild of a movie star, who knew a thing or two about fooling an audience with optical illusions and special effects.

Swashbuckler and Navy Man: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Swashbuckling action star Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. lobbied the Navy brass (he was serving in the United States Naval Reserve) to create a unit based on deception after he completed a tour of England and its special forces installations. Fairbanks had friends in high places, up to and including Franklin D. Roosevelt. The unit ended up as part of the Army in 1944, but the original idea remained unchanged: the 23rd's mission was to deceive the German Army into believing that the Allies possessed more troops and material than they actually did and, even more heroically, to draw enemy fire on themselves, allowing regular combat units to advance with fewer casualties.

The deceptions of The Ghost Army used every theatrical tool at their command. Sound engineers created elaborate, multi layered recordings of the noises made by infantry, tank, and artillery units in all kinds of weather and from a variety of distances. A few sound trucks armed with nothing more than loud speakers could "impersonate" a battalion of tanks or an entire infantry division. A radio deception section of the unit contributed fake transmissions so convincing they fooled the notorious German radio propagandist, Axis Sally, into reporting an entire
Allied division was gearing up for battle in a location where there were no troops at all.

Four Ghost Army Soldiers: Strong Enough To Lift An Inflatable Tank.

(Image Courtesy Of Rick Beyer/Hatcher Graduate Library.)

Another tool of trickery involved visual deceptions, created using life size mock ups of artillery, trucks, planes, tanks, and even buildings. Jack Masey, who was drafted into the 23rd at age 18, recalled: "We were told we were going to be using inflatable equipment to try and fool the Germans into thinking that we were a real army, when we were in effect, I suppose, a rubber army." The rubber "big boys," as they were known, were covered with deliberately ineffective camouflage by the artists of the unit, the better to be noticed, reported, and attacked by the Germans, while real weapons were left alone. Wilson said maintaining secrecy and the illusion of realism were the keys to these full of hot air operations: "We had one occasion in France where a fellow decided his tank would look better on the other side of the road, it would be a more natural place for it. So these four guys pick up this tank and go walking across the road with it. And there was a Frenchman coming down the road that sees it, and he thought he was hallucinating to see four men pick up a tank. But the MP's got him right quick, and I'm sure he was never able to tell anyone what he saw for the rest of the war."

An actor's skills were often required of members of the 23rd, too. This part of the job ranged from the pleasurable to the tedious. Play acting assignments sometimes resembled R Jack Masey said sometimes the soldiers would visit villages in an effort to fool informants: "We were to be seen, mill around, go to pubs, have a good time, pick up girls, enjoy." Having memorized the recent history of the unit they were pretending to be part of, the 23rd's repertory company convincingly dropped tidbits of information only the real deal would know. Then they offered a sincere recitation of entirely bogus battle plans, revealing the future position of their battle scarred unit. Oscar worthy performances were played out in taverns by these careless "drunks" who spilled vital military intelligence more often than their beers. Wilson: "Sometimes you'd portray a different rank than what you actually were. Sometimes our colonel was a two star general, you know, a brigadier general."

Two Masters Of Illusion: Camouflage Engineer Joe Spence Meets Actress Marlene Dietrich.

(Image Courtesy of Rick Beyer.)

But most assignments were far less enjoyable. Soldiers would drive though villages for hours in looping convoys of trucks meant to transport dozens of men. In fact, they held only the driver and two passengers positioned in the rear, wearing the proper uniforms and patches to mimic the "division" arriving to prepare for battle. Members of the Ghost Army impersonated parts of so many different outfits, redesigning uniforms and attaching and removing shoulder patches so often, some became expert tailors by the end of the war. Wilson remembered: "We wore the same patches other units wore. We didn't fasten them too tight, because you knew they were going to come off shortly." (The Ghost Army's real shoulder insignia was never allowed to be worn. It featured a ghost, and Latin slogans meaning "Let's simulate those that do not exist," and "Those that exist should really be disguised.")

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, code named "Blarney," are credited with saving at least 15,000 American lives. And they did it not with deadly weapons, but with their brains, talents, skills, and courage. From Normandy to the Rhine, they staged 20 all out battlefield deceptions. They served with four armies in five European countries, and in five major campaigns from D Day (June 6, 1944) until the end of the war in 1945. Wilson puts it: "So many people have never heard of this type unit, and I'd like for people to know that there was a lot of ingenuity put into this thing. There was a lot going on that people didn't know about, and even the rest of the Army didn't know about. It was quite a unit."

Michigan librarian Karen Jordan agrees: "this is a story that is rarely known I know that the children of Ghost Army veterans want to get it out. I also think we at the library know that this is an important story to tell. Beyer, whose films have been shown on the History Channel, at the Smithsonian Museum of American History and at Mount Vernon, contributed most of the materials featured in the Ghost Army exhibition. He has spent nearly five years working on producing a documentary film on the 23rd, aided along the way by Martha Gavin, whose uncle, John Jarvie served with the unit. A rough cut of the film, The Ghost Army, will be screened on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 7 pm at the University of Michigan's Room 100 Gallery. Beyer has also created an extensive and beautifully detailed gallery devoted to the Ghost Army, which includes roughly 800 digitized photographs, letters, and works of art.

A page from a diary kept by Camouflage Engineer Bob Tompkins.

He kept it in a tiny address book, as it was completely illegal for him to have it.

Entry For August 21, 1944:

"Pulled out at 8:10 AM. 158 miles. Drove most of the way with top and windshield down in driving rain. Would give my right arm to sit in front of a cozy fire with my little darling in my arms. Oh Adolph, you son of a Bch. I feel like a frozen drowned rat. "

(Image Courtesy Of Rick Beyer.)

As incredible as the exploits of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops are, Rick Beyer correctly points out they are "only half the story." The other half is the personal journies of the men who made up the unit. The Ghost Army, says Beyer, was made up of "soldier artists [who] went on to have a major influence on postwar art and design in America." These young men were recruited from the finest art and engineering schools in the country, and the unit "became an incubator for young artists who literally sketched and painted their way through Europe," according to Beyer.

Many of these men achieved great fame after the war. I'm not going to name drop here, but I'll leave you with a few hints. One Ghost Army veteran built a $700 million fashion empire based on impeccably tailored sportswear. Another is a world renowned minimalist painter and sculptor whose works grace The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Still another was a photographer who captured the most famous image of jazz musicians ever taken. The lives of these three men, and of others equally accomplished in their own artistic fields, were shaped by their combat experiences in the most unusual unit of America's World War II Army. To find out how these one time ghosts became highly visible artists, check out Part 2 of this story, on Monday's Book Patrol.

Although their abrupt tour date changes might suggested as much to some, David Lee Roth says that he and the rest of Van Halen aren't beefing, and there also isn any internal discord threatening to break them all up.

Roth himself posted a video online Sunday explaining why the band crossed 30 American dates off their touring schedule following their July 26 show in New Orleans.

usual, we bit off way more than we could chew when it came to scheduling," he explained of yanking shows in Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Salt Lake City and El Paso off their schedule with no explanation.

"The band is winning, but our schedule has been sidelined for unnecessary roughness, he continued. gonna take a break and we gonna come all the way back around, because this tour is gonna take about two years. also refuted a previous claim that the revised schedule was due to fighting within the band.

band is getting along famously, better than we have in quite some time, he insisted.

Van Halen released their newest studio album, "A Different Kind of Truth," this past February.

Review of the Denver show. Saw VH last night in Denver. DLR was BAD really really bad. The music was good but DLR talked thru half of the lyrics and the Beats By Dre Outlet ones he actually sang was way off key and out of tune. What a waste of money that was. I was thinking they canceled the rest of their dates because they realized how bad Roth sounds these days. I grew up listening to VH and have seen them a few times over the years. Roth gets worse every time. Save your money. LMAO. cliches as hammy as DLR himself.

We gonna wait and buy the new VH album off the markdown rack. It will be there soon.

All you folks taking our comments against VH so personally, tell me this. Why are all the promos and announcements for the concert tour using old songs? Don you think if it were selling great they be crowing about it? Other bands do promos and it uses new tunes. They don even PLAY the new stuff in columbus ohio on the radio. THAT is how lame the album is selling.

May 23, 2012 at 5:51 pm

All you posters on here lauding VH are in lalaland. This band is 1) only touring for the $$ and for the glory of DLRoth ego 2) a bunch of washed up hacks who can keep it going anymore and 3) probably the most dysfunctional band ever and finally 4) if you think they going to keep touring then you need to see the doctor. And this coming from someone whose very first album was Van Halen in 1978. Too bad these guys were the best, in the 1980s, anyways.

May 22, 2012 at 3:55 pm

Who can say David Lee Roth was seen and sounded great? I love Van Halen w/ Roth but in 2007 Beats By Dre Headphones he was horrible I mean terrible why dog Sammy he can still sing and can still front a band regardless of which i like better for this year 2012 the only choice would be Sammy, then Gary and if there both died no more Van Halen. Dont get it they would be playing the same arenas (except really selling out not claiming sold out and you can buy tickets night of in all areas including 24 th row MSG some sell out) and gone platinmum if Sammy was fronting.

May 22, 2012 at 10:11 am

You aren missing anything people. I saw them at the Verizon Center a few months ago. Ho Hum. David Lee takes his shoes off and in his stocking feet tries to attempt to slide , ala Tom Cruise, across this giant wooden floor the construct on the stage. He spends more times trying to do that than concentrating on the songs and at one point even forgets the lyrics! It was an okay concert but NOTHING like I had expected. I was not blown away by any stretch. The ship has sailed people.

May 22, 2012 at 10:08 am

I am sure this centers around the talented but dysfunctional Edward Van Beats By Dre Singapore Halen. How unprofessional to realize after the fact we scheduled too many shows At this stage and age why weren you more involved in the planning that would prevent such a nightmare? Van Halen is done because no one can work with the insecure bi polar personality of Eddie Van Halen. The guy is a nutcase on par with Axl Rose. Sammy and Michael probably find this hilarious!

May 22, 2012 at 8:56 am

I have seen a ton of concerts in my day and was soooooo excited to see VH in Charlotte. I never seen them play live in concert, so I can compare this concert to a concert that was led by early Dave or Sammy, but Beats By Dr Dre the concert that I went to a month ago was lacking stamina, stage presence and much much more. The first Beats By Dre part part of the concert felt like it was a band singing karaoke. Once Eddie sat down and did a solo on stage, it brought life to the crowd. The rest of the concert was awesome!!!! It won happen, but how awesome would that be if they did a tour with Dave signing the first half and Sammy singing the second half of the show. That would be amazing