Congress honors suburban Chicago WWII veteran who served in "Ghost Army"
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A suburban Chicago World War II veteran was the recipient of a very special honor on Capitol Hill Thursday.
The unit was tasked with fooling and distracting the Germans. They used inflatable tanks and artillery, and costumes, and sonic deception such as soundtracks – tricking adversaries into thinking the Allied forces were in one location when they were really elsewhere.
The Ghost Army staged more than 20 operations – saving thousands of American lives.
The unit's efforts went unrecognized for half a century, until their existence was revealed in the 1990s.
Bernard Bluestein of Hoffman Estates was among the Ghost Army members honored Thursday by Congress.
"I'm very proud and happy to be here to see this honor," Bluestein said. "Thank you."
Bluestein is one of only seven surviving members of the Ghost Army unit.