Ep. 1: World War II Ghost Army

De: Carrie Gibson

On September 21st 1944, a top secret unit altered the course of World War Two. 101-year-old Gilbert Seltzer, an officer in the "ghost army", tells his story.

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Enjoyable history podcast

I enjoyed listening to this history series while on a car trip with family. Different generations all enjoyed it. It was similar to a history podcast, for people who prefer a podcast style rather than an audiobook..

Ghosts are Real

3/1/20 - I've seen movies/documentaries that show the use of inflatables in WWII and Normandy, but I wasn't aware of the large scope and length of this operation. Actually hearing about the operation from an officer that was in charge (and served under Patton no less) was a nice touch. I also wasn't aware of the sonic component of this campaign. Giving the technology at the time, this was a major feat. My biggest take away from this story was how long this ruse went on and how towards the end even Gen. Patton was worried they were going to get caught by the Germans. There's a lot of great details in this short story. It's worth 30 minutes of your time if you like WWII history.

After listening to this story I wondered why there had never been a movie about this topic. I learned there was a well-received documentary produced in 2013 and in late 2019 Ben Affleck was hired to direct and star in an HBO movie about the subject. It appears as of 3/1/20 the movie is still under development.

Extraordinary story of bravery and creativity

Very impressive story about ingenious tactics and brave execution.
The narration is so vivid that you feel yourself as part of the ghost army.
Maybe not high tech at that time but this army had lots of imagination, creativity and decision to fabricate a "virtual army" and and succeed fooling the enemy . The bravery the army had to risk their lives in the front is amazing.
To keep the secret of this awesome action so many years must have because hard and shows the extreme commitment and patriotism of these secret heroes.

I had never heard about this and found it to be fascinating.

Loved how it told the story of an incredulous tactic used to overcome the German army. Story was very well told.

Great series

I've really enjoyed listening to this series. The events highlighted range from famous to obscure and each is illuminating in its own way about the state of the current world.

A remarkably shallow series

"Days in living memory"? Let's put aside that 'living memory' is a silly parameter (because it is -- it just allows the author to put interviews in that happen to be available as filler.) I'll just go through these 'carefully selected' chapters, and point out one or two better choices in the same theme -- there are lots of them.

1) A WWII camouflage expert? Really? Not Trinity? Not WWI? 2)Stuxnet? Really? Not the internet worm of 1988? Not "Cockoo's Egg?" 3) The "black power salute of 1968"? Really? Not Selma? Not the civil rights act of 1964? 4) Gulf of Tonkin? Really? Not Dien Ben Phu? 5) The first space walk? Really? Not Yuri Gegarin? Not Sputnik? 6)Cable Street? Really? Not the Siege of Sidney Street? The attack on the Bonus Army? 7) Destroying two buddhas in afghanistan? Really? How about destroying Dresden? Or Hiroshima? 8) Chernobyl? Really? Not Texas City? Not the Johnstown flood? 9) Rivonia? Really? How about James Baldwin's speech "What do Negros Want"? Malcolm X's "Chickens come home to roost" speech? 10) Deep Blue? Really? Not Doug Engbard's 1968 Mouse and Chord Keyboard demonstration? Introduction of the IBM 360? Cray-1?

... anyway, this is a pretty terrible selections of "world changes." I recommend you not waste your time, because it will give you a sound-bite view of history, which is the most "Really?" thing of all.

Great if you can ignore the production

This series is great. It seems well-researched, the topics are interesting, and the episodes appear well-written. Unfortunately, I can't listen to these because the soundtracks - music and sound effects - are set to such a high level that it's very hard to distiguish the words if you have auditory issues. I missed too much while concentrating hard to be able to enjoy or learn anything. This applies to all 3 of the episodes I listened to.