\u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBluestein was a member of the Ghost Army, a group of 1,100 Americans recruited from art schools and studios across the U.S. to deceive Nazi forces using inflatable military equipment, fake radio messages sound effects and other deception techniques.<\/p>\n
In March 2024, Bluestein and the 10 remaining Ghost Army Veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, 10 of the approximately 170 presented in American history and Congress\u2019 highest honor.<\/p>\n
While a team of soldiers carrying life-sized inflatable tanks across the battlefield may seem odd, the Army estimates this unit saved 15,000 to 30,000 soldiers by confusing the enemy of American troop locations and strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat influence on a major military campaign.\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cRarely has there existed a group of such few men who had so great an influence on the outcome of a major military campaign,\u201d a 1945 Army report concluded.<\/p>\n
After the war, Bluestein became an industrial designer in suburban Chicago, but never spoke of his time in Europe. \u201cHe kept that secret for over 50 years,\u201d said son Keith Bluestein. \u201cAll he would say is that he did camouflage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI made fake things for display, signs, labels, license plates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 1996, their mission was declassified and the world learned of the Ghost Army for the first time. \u201cThe anticipation was killing me. This represents my service. I took it for granted and didn\u2019t realize the impact until now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On March 21, Bluestein made the trip to Washington, D.C., for the presentation of his Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said traces of the Ghost Army\u2019s approach can still be found in military operations today.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though technology has changed quite a bit since 1944, our modern techniques build on a lot of what the Ghost Army did, and we are still learning from your legacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Congressional Gold Medal depicts Ghost Army soldiers conducting the services so vital to their war. One soldier transmits deceptive signals while others sew and check and move equipment. The reverse side displays logos for the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and 3133rd Signal Service Company, which composed the Ghost Army, as well as locations where the units served.<\/p>\n
Nearly 80 years after Bluestein wore a uniform, he reflected on his military service and receiving this honor. \u201cWe did what we had to do. I didn\u2019t realize what it was all about as a youngster. I\u2019m very happy to say I was involved in that. I\u2019m delighted and pleased by this honor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bluestein receives his medical care at Hoffman Estates VA Clinic<\/a>, a part of Edward Hines Jr. VA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein rarely thought about his time fighting in World War II. The 100-year-old former soldier was sworn to secrecy about his true mission as a Ghost Soldier. \u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein Bluestein was a member of the Ghost Army, a group of 1,100 Americans recruited from art schools and studios across the U.S. to deceive Nazi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":227050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1194,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ghost-soldier","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=227048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227051,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048\/revisions\/227051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/227050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=227048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=227048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=227048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![<\/a>\u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBluestein was a member of the Ghost Army, a group of 1,100 Americans recruited from art schools and studios across the U.S. to deceive Nazi forces using inflatable military equipment, fake radio messages sound effects and other deception techniques.<\/p>\nIn March 2024, Bluestein and the 10 remaining Ghost Army Veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, 10 of the approximately 170 presented in American history and Congress\u2019 highest honor.<\/p>\nWhile a team of soldiers carrying life-sized inflatable tanks across the battlefield may seem odd, the Army estimates this unit saved 15,000 to 30,000 soldiers by confusing the enemy of American troop locations and strength.<\/p>\n\u201cGreat influence on a major military campaign.\u201d<\/h2>\n\u201cRarely has there existed a group of such few men who had so great an influence on the outcome of a major military campaign,\u201d a 1945 Army report concluded.<\/p>\nAfter the war, Bluestein became an industrial designer in suburban Chicago, but never spoke of his time in Europe. \u201cHe kept that secret for over 50 years,\u201d said son Keith Bluestein. \u201cAll he would say is that he did camouflage.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI made fake things for display, signs, labels, license plates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIn 1996, their mission was declassified and the world learned of the Ghost Army for the first time. \u201cThe anticipation was killing me. This represents my service. I took it for granted and didn\u2019t realize the impact until now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nOn March 21, Bluestein made the trip to Washington, D.C., for the presentation of his Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said traces of the Ghost Army\u2019s approach can still be found in military operations today.<\/p>\n\u201cEven though technology has changed quite a bit since 1944, our modern techniques build on a lot of what the Ghost Army did, and we are still learning from your legacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nThe Congressional Gold Medal depicts Ghost Army soldiers conducting the services so vital to their war. One soldier transmits deceptive signals while others sew and check and move equipment. The reverse side displays logos for the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and 3133rd Signal Service Company, which composed the Ghost Army, as well as locations where the units served.<\/p>\nNearly 80 years after Bluestein wore a uniform, he reflected on his military service and receiving this honor. \u201cWe did what we had to do. I didn\u2019t realize what it was all about as a youngster. I\u2019m very happy to say I was involved in that. I\u2019m delighted and pleased by this honor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nBluestein receives his medical care at Hoffman Estates VA Clinic<\/a>, a part of Edward Hines Jr. VA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein rarely thought about his time fighting in World War II. The 100-year-old former soldier was sworn to secrecy about his true mission as a Ghost Soldier. \u201cBernie\u201d Bluestein Bluestein was a member of the Ghost Army, a group of 1,100 Americans recruited from art schools and studios across the U.S. to deceive Nazi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":227050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1194,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ghost-soldier","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=227048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227051,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227048\/revisions\/227051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/227050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=227048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=227048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=227048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/07\/Congressional-Gold-Medal_r1.jpg\"){kind=link}