美国国家公共电台 NPR He Led A Platoon Of Artists Who Fooled The Germans: 'Imagination Is Unbelievable'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps. This Memorial Day weekend, we hear from a World War II veteran named Gilbert Seltzer. He was an architectural draftsman when the war broke out. Soon after he joined the Army, he was told he was being put on a top-secret mission - and an unconventional one at that. The Army decided¹ to have him lead a platoon of men in a unit dubbed² the Ghost Army - mostly made up of artists, creatives and engineers. Their mission was deception³ - inflatable tanks, phony convoys⁴, misleading conversations in bars intended to spread disinformation, any and every possible trick to fool the enemy. Gilbert Seltzer is now 104. And at StoryCorps, he sat down with his granddaughter, Sarah, to remember.

GILBERT SELTZER: Shortly after we arrived in Normandy, my platoon was directed to take the place of an anti-aircraft battery. And the farmer on whose land this took place - when he got up in the morning, he saw us there. So he took his fist, and he rammed⁵ it down on one of our guns, and it was a rubber gun. His fist bounced back, and he looked at it, and he said, boom, boom, ha-ha. And in four syllables⁶, it described the mission of our outfit⁷ - to fool the German army.

In the Ghost Army, there were 1,100 men - three arms. One was visual. One was radio. And the third was sonic. We would move into the woods in the middle of the night, going through villages in France, Belgium, Germany. We would turn the sound on so that it sounded like tanks moving on the roads. The natives would say to each other, did you see the tanks moving through town last night? And they were not lying. They thought they were seeing them. Imaginations are unbelievable.

SARAH SELTZER: But you saw actual combat.

G SELTZER: Oh (laughter).

S SELTZER: Can you talk about that? Yeah.

G SELTZER: Yes, indeed. There were five campaigns in Northern Europe. We were in all five of them. The goal was to draw fire away from the real battery to us.

For instance, when the Rhine was crossed, we were able to get the German army to assemble opposite us, firing at us. And when the actual crossing was made about 20 miles to our north, there was practically no resistance. Some people say we saved 30,000 lives. I don't believe there was 30,000. But if we saved one life, it was worth it.

It was classified top secret for 50 years. Practically everyone I knew in those days has died. It was an experience that can't be translated. It was funny. It was distasteful. It was crazy. We did it to overcome a terrible, terrible enemy. And the fact that we did so successfully is probably the biggest source of pride.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRIS ZABRISKIE'S "JOHN STOCKTON SLOW DRAG")

SIMON: Gilbert Seltzer speaking with his granddaughter, Sarah Seltzer, about what it was like to be part of the Ghost Army. And at 104, he is the oldest StoryCorps participant that we've ever had on the air. Their full interview will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. And you can hear more stories from veterans on the StoryCorps podcast.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRIS ZABRISKIE'S "JOHN STOCKTON SLOW DRAG")

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

4 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

5 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。