We are happy to announce that a brand-new updated edition of historian Rick Beyer’s book The Ghost Army of World War II is now on sale.
The first edition of his book came out in 2015, but the story didn’t stop unfolding. His coauthor, Liz Sayles, and Rick were surprised and thrilled that many veterans, families, and others reached out with heretofore unknown stories, photographs, and documents. New research led to more discoveries. And they achieved long-overdue recognition for Ghost Army soldiers, both in Europe and the U.S.
Rick says, “I am incredibly grateful that the publisher has given us an opportunity to share this in an updated edition. It includes a new afterword that explores some of our discoveries, and brings the story up to date, including the successful effort to have this unit awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. This new chapter also features 20 never-before seen images, including beautiful tintype portraits of Ghost Army veterans taken by photographer Mark Mann in 2017.”
Over the next few days, Rick is doing about a dozen radio interviews about the new book. If you want to listen in to some, check out the links here.
The story continues to move forward. There are eight Ghost Army soldiers still with us. In the next few months, if all goes well, Congress will hold an official presentation ceremony for the Gold Medal. You can keep track of the latest on the non-profit website of the Ghost Army Legacy Project.
In January 2025 Rick will celebrate 20 years of working on this story. As Rick says, “My efforts will soon be done, but I hope that generations to come will tell this inspiring story forever.”
