DOVER, Del.- A World War II hero marks a milestone birthday in Kent County.
Thursday, Feb. 2 marks 100 trips around the sun for Tom Anderson, a WWII veteran and master of deception.
Anderson was part of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, better known as the "Ghost Army."
That unit of soldiers used wit and creativity to fool the Nazis, paving the way to victory more than 50 years ago.
"We had rubber tanks and rubber people and everything was an imitation," said Anderson. "We could draw the Germans any place we wanted them, and it worked."
One of Anderson's specific jobs was to make fake tracks using a bulldozer, creating the illusion of a moving tank.
Dave Skocik, of the Delaware Veterans Coalition, said with every year that passes, the number of living witnesses to this historical era grows smaller. Making Anderson all the more precious.
"We are here today to honor not only a World War II veteran and a member of the greatest generation, but a guy who is probably one of five or six in the world still alive," said Skocik. "They were granted a congressional gold medal for the work they did in World War II that really saved an estimated 100,000 lives."
Anderson said his journey in the war was far from easy. He had to fight to stay on the front lines after being injured during the Battle of the Bulge.
"We stayed at the Bulge one night too long," he recalled. "My feet froze all the way to my knees and I got a scar on my arm from shrapnel from the artillery shell."
Anderson said he could have received a purple heart if he had chosen to leave his unit and go to the hospital, but, ultimately decided to tough it out.
President Biden awarded the congressional gold medal to the Ghost Army as a whole last spring. That medal will soon be on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Anderson said he hoping to see it before his 101st birthday.