Assignment to Hell

by Timothy M. Gay

  It was said of Joe Liebling that he took history personally. My Georgetown University buddies—Kevin Clark, Jerry McAndrews, Jim Smith, Tom Davis, and Jerry Towle—take history personally, too. When political figures or cultural icons pass from the scene, our e-mail exchanges tend to be so personal, in fact, that they border on the, well, snarky. But when Walter Cronkite passed away in July 2009, our comments were reverential. Therein lay the genesis for this book. I figured if our gang felt that way about Cronkite and his generation of journalists, then at least a few other people did, too.

  As I was finishing the manuscript, it occurred to me that we respect Cronkite the way ETO correspondents venerated General Omar Bradley—and for essentially the same reason. There was a fundamental Missouri decency about both men. Hal Boyle and Harry Truman had it, too. They made us feel good about being Americans.

  It takes a village to write a book. Two other Hoyas, Jim Clark and Ed Towle, provided literary counsel and encouragement. So did old friends and fellow writers Bill Scheft, Larry Tye, Paul Dickson, and Tim Wendel. Esteemed World War II historians John McManus and Don Miller also generously gave of their time early in the process.

  As always, David Kelly at the Library of Congress was invaluable, plus he put me in touch with the Library’s military history specialist Ron Katz. Jeff Flannery in the Library’s Manuscripts Division helped, too. The folks in the Library’s Newspaper and Current Periodical Room were, as always, terrific, as were the people who run the Library’s Stars and Stripes collection.

  The same holds true of the professionals at the National Archives’ College Park facility, the Newseum in Washington, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and the Harry S Truman Library and Museum in Independence. Jean Prescott at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, and Terry Foster at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, were great, too. Ninety-six-year-old Roy Wilder, Jr., the legendary PRO dubbed “Chitlin’,” told wonderful stories about Joe Liebling, Hal Boyle, and Andy Rooney.

  Special acknowledgment goes out to Don Carleton, Ashley Adair, and the rest of the staff of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, the home of the papers of both Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney. The same goes for Harry Miller and the other archivists at the Wisconsin Historical Society on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the home of the papers of Hal Boyle and Homer Bigart. Ditto for Ana Guimaraes, the head of reference services at the Rare Book and Manuscript Collections, and the rest of the staff at Kroch Library at Cornell University, the home of A. J. Liebling’s papers.

  The folks at the four branches of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Library that I visited in the course of researching the book were helpful, too. So were the Brits at the Churchill War Rooms, the Wellington Barracks, and the Imperial War Museum in London, as well as the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in East Anglia. Huge thanks go out to Arthur Brookes at the Cambridge American Cemetery, my impromptu photographer; Anthony Lewis at the Normandy American Cemetery, my “John Murphy” researcher; and Frances Peel, the proprietress of the Cross Keys tavern in Molesworth, where I hoisted a couple of John Smith Bitters to the memories of Walter and Homer. The beautiful little museum in Ste.-Mère-Église is one of my favorite places in Normandy, as is the now-bed-and-breakfast Château de Vouilly, where James Hamel and Gilbert Gallez were wonderful hosts and conscientious correspondents.

  “Helpful” doesn’t begin to describe the friends and families of the five principals. The Cronkites, Nancy, Kate, and Walter III (Chip) and Chip’s son (and soon-to-be, with his Hamilton College professor Maurice Isserman, chronicler of his grandfather) Walter IV, were supportive every step of the way. Chip went above and beyond the call of duty in helping me track down people and things, including a rare copy of UP president Hugh Baillie’s WWII memoirs, not to mention the 1964 CBS News documentary D-Day Plus 20 Years, which I loved as a kid and is even better as an adult. Cronkite family friends and former CBS News colleagues Sandy Sokolow and Marlene Adler could not have been more generous with their time and observations. British documentary maker Alastair Layzell and his lovely wife and coproducer, Anne, were insightful, too.

  The same is true, of course, of Mr. Rooney himself, who, in his early nineties and still sharp as a tack, sat down with me twice for extended interviews. Mr. Rooney sadly passed away in November of 2011, just as I was finishing the manuscript. Sure, he was crotchety but he was also wickedly funny and incisive. His deputy Susie Bieber dug up all kinds of information and allowed me the run of Mr. Rooney’s WWII files and photographs. Andy’s daughter Emily and son, Brian, were also terrific, as was Andy’s college roommate, former CBS colleague and friend for life, Bob Ruthman. Mr. Ruthman was hospitalized at Mr. Rooney’s memorial service and tragically died a few weeks later.

  If there’s a most valuable player award for research on this project it goes to Ed Boyle, Hal’s nephew. Ed packaged up one of the Boyle family’s treasures, the scrapbook that his mother, Monica, kept during the war of Hal’s articles in the Kansas City Star, and allowed me to use it for a year. It was an invaluable resource; I’m indebted to the Boyle family for entrusting me with it. Hal’s daughter Tracy also spent time with me on the phone early in the project. Former AP–Kansas City reporter Paul Stevens generously compiled a batch of clips and background information on Boyle. AP-NYC archivist Valerie Komor was great at tracking down leads and gave me the run of her operation.

  Betsy Wade and her husband, Jim Boylan, great friends of Homer Bigart, were gracious hosts twice in New York. A decade ago, Betsy pulled together some of Bigart’s best war correspondence in the deftly titled Forward Positions. She helped unearth a lot of information about Homer and provided marvelous insights. So did Homer’s old colleague from Vietnam, the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and historian Neil Sheehan.

  Pete Hamill performed a great service three years ago when he compiled and edited A. J. Liebling’s World War II writings for the Library of America. Pete generously gave of his time via phone and e-mail.

  One regret is that my old friend and longtime boss Jody Powell, President Carter’s distinguished press secretary, never got a chance to read this book. Now there was a guy who took history personally. He once chewed me out for not appreciating the geographic nuances of the North African campaign.

  The sweetest thing about researching the book was coming in contact with the family members of the war heroes that the five reporters saluted. Colleen Sheets and Sally Sheets Wiggins, the widow and daughter of pilot Bob Sheets, were wonderful. So was Brenda Weaver, the daughter-in-law of Andy Rooney’s hero, the one-armed miracle, Sergeant Tyre Weaver. So were Sunny Smith and Lester Trott, the Annapolis Yacht Club friends of Bunny Rigg that my old friend, sailing buff Brian Sailer, helped to locate.

  Friends and neighbors Pat and Mike McNamee performed much-appreciated research. Mike almost sprained his wrist operating microfilm machines in tracking down Bigart’s Herald Tribune clips.

  Brent Howard, my editor at New American Library, exhibited the patience of Job. He and his team were a delight to work with.

  The final thanks for this project, though, go to Elizabeth and our beautiful Triple As: Allyson, Andrew, and Abigail. Having the chance to walk Omaha Beach with them made it all worthwhile.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  UNPUBLISHED SOURCES

  Adler, Marlene, former assistant to Walter Cronkite, Jr. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Atkinson, Rick, World War II historian. Interviewed in 2009–2010 by e-mail.

  Bieber, Susie, deputy to Andy Rooney. Interviewed in New York, March 2010 and April 2011, and by phone and e-mail, 2009–2011.

  Boylan, James, husband of Betsy Wade and friend of Homer Bigart. Interviewed in New York and via e-mail through Betsy, 2010 and 2011.

  Boyle, Ed, Jr., nephew of Hal Boyle. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Boyle, Hal, let
ters to his wife, Mary Frances Young Boyle, from North Africa and Europe, 1942–1945, part of Boyle’s papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

  ——, draft manuscript for Dear Mary: The Letters of a War Correspondent, an unpublished book, part of Boyle’s papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

  ——, World War II scrapbook compiled by his sister-in-law, Monica Murphy Boyle, and generously lent by her son Ed, Hal’s nephew.

  Brookes, Arthur, guide at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. Interviewed by author in Cambridge, July 2011, and by e-mail, July–August 2011.

  Carleton, Don, executive director, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, Cronkite chronicler, and archivist of Cronkite: Eyewitness to a Century at the LBJ Library, University of Texas at Austin. Interviewed in Austin, May 2010, and by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Chitwood, Dana, friend of the family of Sergeant Tyre Weaver. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, February 2011.

  Cronkite, Kate, daughter of Walter Cronkite, Jr. Interviewed in Austin, May 2010, and by phone and e-mail, 2009–2011.

  Cronkite, Nancy, daughter of Walter Cronkite, Jr. Interviewed by e-mail, 2009–2011.

  Cronkite, Walter, Jr., November 1995 script treatments for Discovery Channel’s Cronkite Remembers documentaries (drafted by Mary Dore, the Cronkite Ward Company).

  ——, 1942 shipboard diaries, USS Arkansas and USS Texas, in personal papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

  ——, 1942–1945 personal correspondence from Europe to his wife, Betsy Maxwell Cronkite, and his parents, in Cronkite’s personal papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

  Cronkite, Walter III (“Chip”), son of Walter Cronkite, Jr. Interviewed in Washington, D.C., November 2010, and in New York, April 2011, and by phone and e-mail, 2009–2011.

  Cronkite, Walter IV, son of Chip, grandson of Walter Cronkite, Jr., and his grandfather’s future chronicler. Interviewed by e-mail 2011.

  Fields, Dana, Associated Press reporter, Kansas City. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, March 2010.

  Flannery, Jeff, manuscript specialist, Library of Congress. Interviewed by phone, November 2011.

  Foster, Terry, researcher, U.S. Army Military Research Center, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Interviewed in Carlisle, May 2010, and by e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Frankish, Brian, son of former United Press reporter Jack Frankish, colleague of Walter Cronkite. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Isserman, Maurice, professor at Hamilton College and future Cronkite chronicler. Interviewed by e-mail, 2011.

  Gallez, Gilbert, archivist, Château de Vouilly, Normandy. Interviewed at Vouilly, July 2011, and by e-mail, 2011.

  Gesas, Tracy Boyle, daughter of Hal Boyle. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010.

  Hamel, James, grandson of Mme. Hamel, proprietress, Château de Vouilly, Normandy. Interviewed at Vouilly, July 2011.

  Hamill, Pete, Liebling devotee and editor of Liebling World War II collection. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2011.

  Hamilton, Jim, Writing 69th historian. Interviewed by e-mail, January 2010.

  Katz, Rod, military history specialist, Library of Congress. Interviewed by e-mail, November 2009.

  Kelly, David, researcher, Library of Congress. Interviewed in Washington, D.C., November 2009, and by phone and e-mail, 2009–2011.

  Komor, Valerie, archivist, Associated Press. Interviewed in New York, April 2010, and by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Layzell, Alastair, and wife, Anne, British television documentary producers. Interviewed in London, July 2011, and by e-mail, 2011.

  Lewis, Anthony, interpretive guide, Normandy American Cemetery. Interviewed at Colleville-sur-Mer, July 2011, and by e-mail, 2011.

  Liebling, A. J., letters from Europe to his mother, sister, and friend Joe Mitchell, 1939–1944, part of Liebling’s papers at Cornell University.

  ——, various unpublished draft articles and research fragments written in Paris and London, 1939–44, part of Liebling’s papers at Cornell University.

  MacArthur, John, president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine, friend of the Cronkite family, and devotee of Cronkite’s London roommate and United Press colleague Jim McGlincy. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  McManus, John C., World War II historian and professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Interviewed in St. Louis, March 2010, and via e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Miller, Donald, World War II historian and professor at Lafayette College. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Miller, Harry, reference archivist, Wisconsin Historical Society. Interviewed by e-mail, March 2010.

  Peel, Frances, proprietress of the Cross Keys, Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, U.K. Interviewed in Molesworth, July 2011, and by e-mail, 2011.

  Pereira, Andréa Nunes, sales associate, United Press International. Interviewed by e-mail, October 2009.

  Prescott, Jean, research specialist, Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. Interviewed by e-mail, March 2010.

  Romeiser, John B., professor, University of Tennessee, and biographer of AP correspondent Don Whitehead. Interviewed by e-mail, 2011.

  Rooney, Andy. Interviewed in New York, April 2010 and April 2011, and via e-mail though his deputy Susie Bieber, 2010–2011.

  Rooney, Brian, son of Andy Rooney. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Rooney, Emily, daughter of Andy Rooney. Interviewed by e-mail, 2010.

  Ruthman, Robert, college roommate and onetime CBS colleague of Andy Rooney. Interviewed by phone and e-mail via his son Chris, 2009–2011.

  Sheets, Colleen, widow of Captain Robert Sheets. Interviewed by phone, 2010–2011, and via e-mail through her daughter, Sally Sheets Wiggins, 2009–2011.

  Sheets, Robert, private World War II diary. Provided by his daughter, Sally Sheets Wiggins, 2010.

  Smith, Sunny, and Lester Trott, Annapolis Yacht Club friends of Captain Bunny Rigg. Interviewed by phone, April 2011.

  Sokolow, Sandy, former CBS News producer and friend and colleague of Walter Cronkite. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Stevens, Paul, retired Associated Press reporter in Kansas City and admirer of Hal Boyle. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, March 2010.

  Trillin, Calvin, friend of Hal Boyle and fellow Kansas City–bred humorist. Interviewed by e-mail via his assistant, 2011.

  Wade, Betsy, colleague and chronicler of Homer Bigart. Interviewed in New York, April 2010 and April 2011, and by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Weaver, Brenda, daughter-in-law of the late Sergeant Tyre Weaver. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, February 2011.

  Weaver, Tyre, the one-armed USAAF miracle. Personal wartime correspondence and diary fragments, generously provided by his daughter-in-law, Brenda Weaver, February 2011.

  Wiant, Susan E., daughter and biographer of former United Press reporter Toby Wiant, a colleague of Walter Cronkite. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, February 2011.

  Wiggins, Sally Sheets, daughter of Captain Robert Sheets. Interviewed by phone and e-mail, 2010–2011.

  Wilder, Roy, Jr., former First Army public relations officer and great friend of Joe Liebling, Andy Rooney, and Hal Boyle. Interviewed by phone and correspondence, 2011.

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  Ambrose, Stephen E. Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. New York: Touchstone, 1992.

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  ——. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2007.

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