The Ghost Army of WWII: a Brown Bag Lecture with Rick Beyer

In a Brown Bag lecture on Monday, October 8, Rick Beyer will discuss one of the most extraordinary units in military history that trained in Tennessee, then went to Europe in 1944 to put on a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. Armed with inflatable tanks, sound effects, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, the men of the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units. A local East Tennessee boy, Claude W. Cardwell, from Sevier County, was a member of this company. He was the son of Robert Walter Cardwell and Lola Mae Clabo and is buried in Husky Grove Cemetery, Sevier County.

Rick Beyer is a multi-award-winning documentary film maker, whose works have appeared on the History Channel, National Geographic, PBS, and others. He is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of The Ghost Army of World War II.

The lecture is sponsored by the Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel and Crematory and is free and open to the public and will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.

Published September 28, 2018