2:00 pm April 22, 2018
Blackstone Valley Historical Society
1873 Old Louisquisset Pike
Lincoln, RI 02865
BVHS is happy to welcome Rick Beyer, author and documentary filmmaker, to tell us about his research on the Ghost Army, the WWII deception unit. This event is free, all are welcome.
The Ghost Army
In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs landed in France to conduct a secret mission. Armed with rubber tanks, sound effects records, and their imagination, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe. From Normandy to the Rhine, they conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy. What they did was kept secret for more than fifty years after the war. Their official name was the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, but they are better known today as The Ghost Army.
Writer and filmmaker Rick Beyer will detail the manner in which this unusual unit came into being, how they carried out their amazing deceptions. He’ll also explore the Blackstone Valley’s unique connection to the Ghost Army , and efforts underway to award the men this unit long delayed recognition for their accomplishments.
Rick Beyer
Rick Beyer is a New York Times best-selling author and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. He produced the PBS documentary The Ghost Army and co-authored the bestselling book The Ghost Army of World War II, (with Elizabeth Sayles) that is being developed as a Hollywood movie. He is the president of The Ghost Army Legacy Project, a non-profit dedicated to preserving and honoring the legacy of the deception troops.
Beyer has made documentary films for The History Channel, A&E, National Geographic, and others. He is the author of the popular Greatest Stories Never Told series of history books, as well as Rivals Unto Death a dual biography of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, published earlier this year. He has written for numerous publications, and shared his unique take on history in interviews on CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, VOA and CNN. A Rhode Island native, he lives in Salem, MA.