How news was reported in WWII

[Walt's Daughter]

The following article was taken from an Internet site, Times Recorder:

 

WWII newspaper accounts often came from military

 

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I wonder how many U.S. military personnel during World War II were devoted to reporting on the war rather than fighting it.

 

Look through almost any newspapers during the war and you will see news stories, some identified as coming from the Army, Navy or Marine Corps, some not, making it a point to name local soldiers. Obviously, every newspaper couldn't have a reporter at the front, and the wire services couldn't do everything, so the military sent out lots of stories to the folks back home.

 

These were usually positive stories, telling how some of the American GIs, for example, held off enemy attacks or showed exceptional valor.

 

This was good news, clearly intended to bolster American morale in the face of the depression from receiving the dreaded telegrams telling families their loved one was killed, captured or missing.

 

Families also shared the latest news received from or about their loved ones overseas. If a telegram came from the government, or if a letter had news they could share, it would be sent to a newspaper. The news might be weeks old, but it was eagerly devoured.

 

Quite a difference from today's "embedded" reporters and instantaneous satellite communications.

 

A typical example came to me recently from Clara Morin of Frazeysburg. It was about her brother, Thomas C. Fleming, and an incident he was involved in somewhere on the European front. Although he is mentioned prominently, the other four GIs involved are also carefully identified by name and hometown, ad I'll bet a version of the story was sent to a newspaper in each hometown.

 

Are the articles accurate? I'm sure they are reasonably accurate, although most likely sanitized for public consumption.

 

There is no date on the article, nor is the newspaper identified. Mrs. Morin and Flamingo's brother, Carl Fleming of Zanesville, think it was probably from the Times Recorder.

 

Carl also said his brother, who died in May 2003, didn't talk much about the war, so they don't know much about his experiences, including when and where he was wounded before the end of the war.

 

According to his entry in "Muskingum County Men and Women in World War II," Thomas Fleming served in Europe, earning five battle stars and the Purple Heart. He was credited with participating in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central European campaigns.

 

A story about his wounding is also undated, but it says it occurred in France. Your guess is as good as mine about the timing on that.

 

Anyhow, the story reported: "Pfc. Thomas C. Fleming Jr. of Dresden who was one of five 134th Infantry men who withstood a five-hour night attack by a platoon of Nazis in the recent battle for Germany."

 

The article reported: "The only injuries suffered by the Yanks were blistered hands from manual operation of their M-1 rifles as they faced German bazookas, grenades, machine guns, burp guns and rifles.

 

"First Lt. Vernon L. Rottman, platoon leader from Denver, Colo., first spotted silhouettes of the 80-odd enemy as they approached the house in which the squad was outposted and his men, armed only with rifles, were dispersed throughout the first floor of the house.

 

"'At least 50 bazooka rounds must have been thrown at us,' Pfc. Fleming said. 'They'd knock a hole in the wall, and then put machine gun or burp gun fire through the hole.'

 

"Falling plaster, as the house all but crumbled over the heads of the men, clogged rifles so badly that they had to be operated by hand.

 

"Pfc. Theodore O. Bishop, Pittsfield, N.H., said, 'We were sure glad to see daylight. We called for artillery and that drove them off. During the night we took turns poking our rifles through those holes in the wall and just firing where we thought the Germans were. We found five bodies in the morning and 15 others were captured shortly after the big guns drove them off.'

 

"Pfcs. Ralph Porter, Portsmouth, and Tony J. Anton of Cleveland, were knocked unconscious by the powerful bazooka concussion, but came to shortly and continued to man their firing slots.

 

"'If there was ever a night for prayers,' said Anton, 'that was it.'"

 

Two other articles about Thomas Fleming also appeared in the paper, although these have more the look of his family letting the newspaper know what they had heard.

 

The first simply said that Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Fleming of Dresden Route 2 had received word that their son had arrived in France and was taking part in the American drive toward Paris.

 

In the other, the Flemings reported they had been notified by the War Department that their son had been wounded in France and was recovering at a hospital in England.