A French bulldog, a relatively high-priced pet, was recovered by officers and returned to his owner Saturday night after being taken at gunpoint in Southeast Washington a week earlier, according to D.C. police.
Washington, D.C
Wisconsin man’s father to be honored in Washington, D.C. for role in “Ghost Army”
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) – On March 21st, a Wisconsin man’s father will be honored during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in Washington, D.C. for his role in a top-secret unit during World War II.
Donald Fox has many memories of his father Frederic Fox scattered around his La Crosse home.
His story of becoming a part of history begins right before WWII.
“What he majored in in college, what he liked most was musical comedy. You know, he’s 22 years old and you get big ideas. And he said, well, I’m going to go to Hollywood,” said Donald Fox. “Then December 7th, 1941, comes along and my father was smart enough say, well, I’m going to enlist before I get drafted.”
The high-ups at the Pentagon learned of Frederic Fox’s theatre background.
They found him to be a good fit for a top-secret unit known as the “Ghost Army.”
It used special effects of sounds and visuals to throw off the German Nazis.
The overall goal? Deception.
“And they yeah, they could have all been killed if the Germans had said, you know, if they figured it out,” said Donald Fox.
According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project website, “The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops staged more than 20 deception operations, often dangerously close to the front, in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. This ‘traveling road show of deception,’ of only 1,100 troops appearing to be more than 20,000, is credited with saving an estimated 30,000 American lives.”
“He would say, you know, I was. Over, you know, a frontline soldier, you know, I wasn’t a hero in the army,” said Donald Fox.
But, Frederic Fox was a hero. A notable battle the Ghost Army was involved in took place along the Rhine River in Europe.
“So, the Ghost Army was lined up. And, the Germans thought they were going to cross the Rhine there. So, the Germans are all massed in front of the Ghost Army,” said Donald Fox. “But then the real crossing happened. 30 miles north. And the estimation is that saves 30,000 lives.”
After the war, Frederic Fox was tasked to document the stories of the Ghost Army.
Only to have the Pentagon shut him down.
“And he tried twice to get the Pentagon to declassify the Ghost Army story, and they refuse,” said Rick Beyer, president of the Ghost Army Legacy Project.
The stories were declassified in 1996, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.
Beyer has worked with the organization to tell those stories in the past couple decades.
Even lobbying for something more started seven years ago.
“I decided to launch this effort to see if we could get Congress to award this unit a Congressional Gold Medal, which is their highest honor,” said Beyer.
Those efforts became successful, and the scores of military members involved will be honored. Seven are still alive to see the day.
“And I think it’s really sad had that almost everybody who served in it is no longer with us that the Ghost Army is an army of ghosts,” said Beyer.
“My father, he illustrated his history with a ghost. That’s a patch and that you know, that makes me proud,” said Donald Fox, showing the illustration of a ghost to honor the Ghost Army.
Frederic Fox died in 1981, which Donald Fox said was well over a decade before the Pentagon declassified the Ghost Army files.
Donald Fox will be at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Thursday, March 21 in Washington, D.C. along with three of the seven living members of the Ghost Army. The ceremony is part of a two-day celebration for the veterans and their families.
According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, the family members will be joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and other Congressional leaders.
The ceremony is possible due to a bipartisan bill, the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act. President Biden signed it into law in February 2022. According to a news release from Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH), this law awards the Congressional Gold Medal to members of the WWII Ghost Army more than 75 years after their service. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) led this legislation in the Senate.
Copyright 2024 WEAU. All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C
USA: Uyghur community members demonstrate outside Chinese Embassy in Washington DC to mark 15th anniversary of Urumqi Massacre | Indiablooms
Uyghur community members of the USA recently marked the 15th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.
The association also shared pictures of their protest on X.
“Uyghur Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Urumchi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., today,” the community shared on X.
Who are Uyghur Muslims?
Uyghur Muslims are a Turkic minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. It is now widely publicized that their human rights are crushed by China and they were sent to “re-education camps” by the communist regime in Beijing.
The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China.
An American representative at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in 2018 that the committee had received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uyghurs in China have been held in “re-education camps” by the Chinese authorities.
“Yurman is now back with his owner,” the police announced.
Yurman is a 2-year-old dark-colored male. It was not clear who found him or how. No information was provided about any arrest or charges.
Yurman’s owner was walking her dog in the 1700 block of Fort Davis Street SE about 8:20 p.m. on June 29 when someone approached with a gun, police said.
Police reported the robbery twice on social media, once just after it occurred and again with a brief surveillance video on Wednesday.
Numerous thefts of French bulldogs have occurred in the District and around the country.
In November, three were taken at gunpoint as they were being walked near the 5200 block of East Capitol Street, according to police.
Authorities said the robbers jumped from a vehicle and seized the animals.
Many of the dogs taken here have been recovered.
Purebred French bulldogs may sell for several thousand dollars and appear to be highly prized as pets. Authorities have said they are often taken to be sold.
Yet by comparison with Friday, that figure could offer some small consolation. On Friday the National Weather Service calculated a maximum “feels-like” temperature of 108. Saturday, it appeared to reach only 103.
Saturday was a small landmark in the advance toward the fiery heart of summer. On Saturday, for the first time this year, the average daily high temperature in the District became 90 degrees.
That may signal that the most summerlike period of summer is now at hand. With Saturday, D.C. has embarked on a long run of July days with an average high temperature of 90 degrees.
Such days may be regarded as close to the thermal height of summer and the capital is now in it.
Yet, of course, summer days here, even well into July, need not be hours of unrelieved meteorological misery.
White clouds proceeded in proud array across the skies on Saturday, and from time to time, covered and even dimmed the sun, producing instant and noticeable cooling. Cloud shadows may be among the subtle comforts that exist even deep in July.
In addition, even if they cover only small patches of ground, and extend for only a few feet or yards, relatively cool and shady places of respite seem to exist in much of the metropolitan area.
On some older streets in the city, trees stand so tall that the leaves and branches of those on one side touch the leaves and branches on the other, several stories in the air. They form a kind of high-arched natural redoubt against the swelter of summer.
The tall oak tree on the east side of the street may touch the tall oak on the other, and to stand in their shadows, peering up at blue sky and white clouds through gaps in green leaves may mitigate much of the harshness of a 98 degree day.
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