Four or five former Newark Evening News
journalists had links to the European Army publication "Stars
and Stripes." But insofar as I know, with my Star-Ledger experience,
I was the only Newark journalist in World War 2 whose name appeared
on the masthead of "YANK" - the Army Weekly.
I had been listed on the Yank Masthead from 1943 to 1945, gaining
my first listing after my appointment as field correspondent by
Major Hartzall Spence.
I was Yank's field correspondent during those years, but this
assignment was to be in addition to my normally assigned duties,
which included editing base newspapers at three Army Air Force bases
in the South Atlantic, and subject to local censors.
Enter the Bugle
During my free time from my assigned duties, I also published
a Newark NJ - oriented mimeo newspaper called the "Bodian Bugle
and News." Because it did not deal with base matters or the
military, it had pre-clearance for mailing to a circulation that
varied from about 60 to 75 at various times.
The "Bugle" featured back-home happenings about wartime
Newark and news from and about Newark friends serving in the armed
forces around the world, each was considered a correspondent and
expected to make submissions to the paper. Jerseyites on my bases
also received copies of each issue.
The Bugle's news contents came mainly from Newark newspaper clippings
or written word of Newark happenings sent by Newark family and friends,
or from Bugle "correspondents."
The Bugle's motto, included in each issue, was "The world's
smallest world-circulated newspaper."
Newark Reaction to Bugle
Under my entry, Revisiting the High Street "Y", is a
reproduction of a "Friendly Letter" that the 'Y' sent
to 2,000 former Newark 'Y' members in World War 2 service. Not shown,
but following is an excerpt from the "Friendly Letter"
of November 1943:
"Pfc NAT BODIAN has the distinct honor of publishing a paper
at a USAAF overseas outpost, especially for his friends in the Newark
NJ area, in the armed forces. It is called the Bodian Bugle and
contains newsy news."
Wartime mayor Vincent J. Murphy, a recipient of the Bugle, gave
recognition to the Bugle (letter -
page 1
,
page 2
) and invited Bugle
readers to visit him in the Newark City Hall when next in Newark.
In my entry "The Big 3 Department Stores" there is a
front page
of a Bugle issue published on Ascension Island. Despite
its newsy look, that issue and others of the Bugle were published
for a year from my Ascension Island base, a spot that John Gunther
(Feb. 1944 Readers Digest) called "the loneliest place I have
ever seen on land or sea.:
On Ascension Island, the Bugle had a circulation manager and a
staff artist. The circulation manager was Ted Wardell of Chino,
California. The staff artist was Jack Levine from Boston. As the
illustrated Bugle page under the Bamberger entry (Bamberger obituary)
shows, I later learned to my surprise that my staff artist was a
celebrity.
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