D-Day at 80: War correspondent news and notes
Eighty years ago today, soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force embarked upon the Great Crusade, as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower famously began his Order of the Day for June 6, 1944.
As you’re likely well aware if you’re reading this post, a select group of war correspondents also landed in Normandy by air and sea alongside the fighting men, with many more watching and waiting offshore for their chance to claim that coveted France dateline.
Operation Overlord — D-Day — was the reason I began researching World War II correspondents nearly 15 years ago. When I finally decided (while unemployed during a pandemic) to write about those men and women, my little project began with a post about Newsweek correspondent Ken Crawford going ashore on Utah Beach just after H-Hour.
All of which is to day, you’ve come to the right place if you’re interested in learning more about the experiences of war correspondents on D-Day. Check out the correspondents’ timeline of June 6 for much more on how the day unfolded for those charged with writing the first draft of what would become a seemingly inexhaustible history of that remarkable day.
I had hoped to have a fresh, full-fledged D-Day post this year, but work and parenting and life in general intervened once again. However, as with any big, round-numbered anniversary, D-Day and the correspondents who told the story have occasionally been in the news the last few weeks. Here are a few items I’ve noticed that may be of interest to you:
Robert Reuben documentary
Reuters correspondent Robert Reuben was one of the handful of correspondents who accompanied the airborne troops landing behind enemy lines early on June 6. Jumping with 101st Airborne commanding officer Gen. Maxwell Taylor, Reuben landed in the area behind Utah Beach on D-Day.
A new documentary conceived, produced and narrated by University of Nebraska journalism professor Barney McCoy tells the story of Reuben’s experience from D-Day through the end of the war.
Running Towards the Fire: A War Correspondent’s Story debuted on Nebraska Public Media last month and is available to stream on the organization’s website. The hour-long film draws from Reuben’s unpublished memoir and provides a glimpse into the war correspondent’s experience during the war in Europe.
The film includes several video clips of Col. Barney Oldfield, the charismatic public relations officer who completed parachute training, then urged several correspondents to do the same — allowing intrepid reporters like the 25-year-old Reuben to get a front-row seat to the invasion.
If you’re interested in this topic, watch McCoy’s film. It’s well worth your time.
Martha Gellhorn’s D-Day experience
By the summer of 1944, several women were working as war correspondents in England, but the powers that be refused to allow any of them to accompany the invading forces on D-Day.
One of them crossed the English Channel anyway. I wrote about Martha Gellhorn’s unauthorized coverage of the invasion a few years ago, but Smithsonian magazine has frankly done a much better job of telling the story. Check out David Kindy’s June 4, 2024 report to learn more about Gellhorn’s efforts.
How the AP covered D-Day
Among the 80th anniversary retrospectives this week is a piece from Associated Press archivist Valerie Komor, who looked back on the wire service’s coverage of D-Day and beyond.
Numerous AP correspondents were on the scene on June 6, led by “Beachhead Don” Whitehead, who landed on Omaha Beach with the U.S. 1st Infantry Division.
Check out Komor’s story for a look at how the preeminent U.S. news agency covered the Day of Days.
Lee Miller movie
This isn’t directly related to D-Day, but may still be of interest: “Lee”, a movie about model-turned-World War II correspondent Lee Miller, has received positive reviews in early showings and will hit U.S. theaters in late September.
The film stars Kate Winslet as the title character, who covered the war in Europe for Vogue as a writer and photographer.
Watch the trailer for “Lee” here before the film is released this fall.
A D-Day book I’m excited to read
Among the new releases around D-Day this year is When the Sea Came Alive, an oral history by Garrett M. Graff. Recollections from correspondents including Gellhorn, her then-husband Ernest Hemingway, Robert Capa and Wright Bryan are among the source material.
Graff’s oral history of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky, is brilliant, and Watergate was a Pulitzer finalist. Graff has mastered this approach to storytelling and I’m looking forward to seeing how he approaches a topic near and dear to my heart.
One last note: Thank you for reading. This Substack has picked up numerous new subscribers over the past year despite being essentially dormant. While I’m always hoping to write more about the war correspondents’ experience, juggling other priorities has made it difficult. I hope those of you just discovering posts from a few years back are enjoying what you read.
Great post! I joined Substack last year and now my WWII book has just been published...hope you will take look and share your thoughts.
Thank you for every one of your posts!