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
Man in critical condition after water rescue in Southwest DC
WASHINGTON – A man is in critical condition after falling into the Anacostia River in Southwestern Washington, D.C., Friday night.
What we know:
D.C. Fire and EMS reported the rescue effort shortly after 10 p.m. at James Creek Marina in Buzzard Point.
Crews believe a man fell from the dock into the water.
By 10:30 p.m., crews were able to pull the man out of the water.
Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.
What we don’t know:
Officials did not identify the man who was rescued. No other information was immediately available.
The Source: Information in this story is from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.
Washington, D.C
DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX — Washington, D.C.’s professional baseball franchise could come under Justice Department scrutiny after a viral video showed a team executive appearing to admit to his religious discrimination against a Christian player.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate alleged religious discrimination against players for the Washington Nationals, according to a letter sent Thursday to and first obtained by Fox News Digital.
The letter comes after Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe published a secretly recorded video of Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team does not include pitcher Trevor Williams in certain social media promotion.
He cited the player’s public criticism of another Major League Baseball franchise for hosting a drag group mocking Catholics.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging the Department of Justice to investigate alleged religious discrimination within the Washington Nationals organization and across Major League Baseball. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
EXCLUSIVE: KENTUCKY BARISTA TAKES LEGAL ACTION AFTER TERMINATION, CLAIMS SHE WAS FIRED FOR SHARING HER FAITH
“According to the reporting by James O’Keefe, it appears the Washington Nationals are engaged in unlawful religious discrimination,” Boebert told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “I urge the DOJ to take immediate and decisive action.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said they received Boebert’s letter.
“The Department is reviewing the matter and will evaluate all appropriate next steps. As always, we remain committed to enforcing federal law and protecting civil rights,” they told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hudson, in the clandestine recording, pointed to Williams’ public objections to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence — a drag group that dresses as nuns — during the team’s 2023 “Pride Night.
The event also drew condemnation from multiple Catholic bishops, who described it as “blasphemous.”
Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals sits in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on May 28, 2025. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Williams said he found the group’s anti-Catholic demonstration featuring vulgar caricatures of the crucifixion and sacred rituals to be “deeply offensive,” in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year. The professional baseball player said he made the decision with his wife to speak out even though it would put “a target on our back.”
“Baseball stadiums should be a place where everyone feels welcomed, like 100%,” Williams said in the interview. “We should all feel welcomed there. But that was clearly against one certain religion. If you don’t draw the line in the sand, who’s gonna do it?”
According to Hudson, that public criticism of the drag group’s performance later affected Williams’ opportunities at the Nationals franchise.
“Because of that we don’t use him on social [media],” Hudson told an undercover journalist in the video. “When they’re like ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ and the players come up, we don’t ask him.”
CONGRESSMAN SAYS MLB IS OUSTING TREVOR BAUER DUE TO TRUMP SUPPORT, IN LETTER TO ROB MANFRED
Boebert said she is concerned that Hudson’s admission could mean the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and other protected classes.
“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” the Colorado Republican said in the letter. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”
“Sister Unity” and “Sister Dominia” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were honored on Pride Night before the MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
Hudson, in the video, described himself as “far-left leaning” and nonreligious. Meanwhile, he called Williams “super Catholic.”
The Washington Nationals executive also boasted about a Communist Party poster in his office and mused about pushing redistribution of wealth and other leftist agendas during baseball games at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, D.C.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“What a cool opportunity for us [Nationals] to also, be a little bit of like, the voice of reason,” Hudson said. “And a lot of people will tell you when I come to a baseball game, I don’t want to think about that s–t.”
“If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you gonna go,” he went on. “I don’t give a sh–t.”
Washington, D.C
‘Gateway to our city’: $465M grant to renovate Union Station
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday hundreds of millions of dollars to help with what he says are critical structural repairs and upgrades for D.C.’s Union Station.
“It was built in 1908, over a hundred years ago, and it was the largest train station in the world when it was built,” Duffy said. “And over the course of decades, it’s become run-down,” Duffy said.
A $465 million grant aims to ensure the overall experience for those coming and going remains up to par and on track at the transit hub. It will help fast-track repairs like roof upgrades and passenger concourses, Duffy said.
The project includes the Amtrak lounge and the ticket experience.
For some travelers, alternatives to fast food are a must.
Retail, parking and office spaces will be priorities of the project to maximize the station’s revenue, as will public safety.
Already, Columbus Fountain is flowing again after being broken and dry for almost two decades.
“Now when you come out of Union Station, the gateway to our city, you’ll be met with a fountain that is beautiful and a fountain that actually works,” Duffy said.
-
Florida2 minutes agoFlorida cities rank among best and worst places to raise a family
-
Georgia7 minutes agoStorms, flooding possible across Southeast Georgia, Northeast Florida today
-
Hawaii14 minutes agoCounty housing official sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison – West Hawaii Today
-
Idaho17 minutes agoIdaho’s state park system remains a major draw more than a c…
-
Illinois22 minutes agoReal estate sales in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford counties for May 30, 2026
-
Indiana29 minutes agoThe newest spots to eat, drink and shop along the coast of Indiana and southwest Michigan
-
Iowa32 minutes agoDemocrats put a ‘bullseye’ on Iowa, eager to turn the red state purple
-
Kansas44 minutes agoWhere to watch Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 30