PT-109: John F. Kennedy fights to survive in the Solomons
John F. Kennedy’s heroic brush with death aboard the PT-109 in August 1943 put him in the spotlight, and he soon carved out a public persona of his own.
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Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
By now most of us are familiar with the horrific details surrounding the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945 — survivors adrift for days, fighting off sharks, delirious with thirst. Read about how the tragedy was reported at the time.
Read moreUSS Bunker Hill kamikaze attack: ‘Now It Can Be Told’
The USS Bunker Hill suffered heavy damage and lost hundreds of men in a May 11, 1945 kamikaze attack. It would be more than six weeks before censorship restrictions were lifted, allowing publication of a stunning eyewitness report.
Read moreAttu: Japan’s last desperate charge
The American flag flew triumphant this Memorial day over the rocky ridges of Attu Island. That was the lead on the Associated Press story that ran in hundreds of newspapers Monday, May 31, 1943, in a report datelined the previous day out of Washington, D.C. It was based on War Department communiques, and the message they conveyed was succinct: “Except
Read morePearl Harbor: When a global story hits home
Honolulu Star-Bulletin editor Riley Allen arrived at his desk by 6:30 a.m. every day, seven days a week. For most of the nearly three decades he had led the paper, those early mornings — particularly on the weekend — had offered mostly peace and quiet to churn through a never-ending pile of work. On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, though,
Read morePearl Harbor: A nation thrust into war
On Saturday, November 29, 1941, Honolulu bureau chief Frank Tremaine filed a story to the United Press wire. It ran in numerous newspapers over the next few days, mostly filling out a random inside page here or there. The Wisconsin State Journal was among the last newspapers to run Tremaine’s story, giving it about 12 column inches on page 9
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World War II on Deadline 