I guess with the grace of God we won WWII.
But in the beginning we were losing "big time". All of
us (both young and old) back in the early 1940's wanted to know
how the war was progressing.
When I was a kid during W.W.II if we were Down Neck at Granny's
on Sunday, everyone would be fused to her radio at 700 P.M. Walter
Winchell was the man that would inform us. He was like our present
day CNN. His familiar opening was Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North
and South America and all the ships at sea... let's go to press!
The other news broadcaster that we would listen to was Gabriel
Heatter. He would start his program by saying there is "bad
news tonight" or there is "good news tonight". The
former would cause dilation of anatomical parts.
The one radio voice that gave all of us a real morale boost after
the news was Kate Smith. When she sang "God Bless America"
everyone felt good.
I have attached these voices as I heard them as a little boy 60
years ago:
Walter Winchell "Hello Mr. & Mrs. America and all the ships
at sea".
(Click above to go to the Old Time Radio News web
site, then scroll down to the audio clip)
One Year After
Pearl Harbor - 12/7/42 [356K]
(Click above to go to the Radio Days web site then
click the appropriate link)
Click to hear
Ms. Smith sing God Bless America.
(Click above to go to Prof. S. O. Coutant's web
site to hear Kate Smith sing)
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