Milan Vrekic

“One of their best customers was an executive at Texaco, and one day Harry Ferkauf casually asked him about the possibility of a summer job for his son. “Harry, you know how I feel about you and Gene,” the man replied, “but Texaco doesn’t hire Jews.” From that day Gene Ferkauf knew that if he was to be a success, he would have to do it on his own; the world’s great companies were not interested in the likes of him.”
― David Halberstam, The Fifties

“The Ghost Army’s deception equipment was recycled to be used in the army’s “Aggressor Force” training program. It was a hypothetical enemy to train against, with the unstated goal of fighting communism. As for the artists, actors, technicians, magicians and designers of the Ghost Army, they kept silent about their war experiences because the records were still classified Top Secret. Some stayed in the military to continue their careers, while most returned to civilian life faced with answering the question, “What did you do in the war, daddy?” They could reply with an ETO travelogue of impressive adventures without ever mentioning how they had a personal hand in conning Adolf Hitler.”
― Gerry Souter, The Ghost Army: Conning the Third Reich

“So Alvin F. Oien, Sr. died hard and alone. He’d pushed himself to the end the way he pushed himself throughout his life. Though he’d not made it more than a half-mile from his beloved Viking and family, he died the way a man should die: trying.”
― Ross Nixon, Finding Carla: The Story that Forever Changed Aviation Search and Rescue

“On Friday 15 December, GIs in northern Luxembourg were entertained by Marlene Dietrich – code-named LEGS bestowed by Patton – singing “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have” and “Falling in Love with Love” after a sensational performance at Bastogne in Belgium. When film director Billy Wilder asked about her rumoured affair with General Eisenhower, she replied, “But Darling, how could it have been Eisenhower? He hasn’t been to the front!”
― Gerry Souter, The Ghost Army: Conning the Third Reich