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.

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