Pacific Microphone: Volume 8

By William J. Dunn

Book Overview

In the famous sculpture of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's triumphant return to the Philippines in 1944, one man follows the general onto the beach wearing neither helmet nor hat. That man is a radio reporter, one of only a handful who covered the war in the Pacific for the Americans back home. That man is Bill Dunn. This is his story of that war. CBS sent reporter Dunn to the Orient nearly a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor to survey broadcast facilities for the coverage of the anticipated hostilities. In Rangoon he learned that his nation was at war. After moving to Batavia to cover the fall of the Netherlands East Indies, he escaped to Australia, where he joined MacArthur's staff for the duration. From that vantage point he covered air, land, and sea battles, campaign planning, ground combat, and the liberation of internment and POW camps. At Japan's surrender, he was dean of correspondents in the Southwest Pacific, a distinction that earned him an early entry into defeated Tokyo and a bird's-eye view of the signing of the surrender document. Based on Dunn's memories and the transcripts of his broadcasts from the field, Pacific Microphone presents the first written account of the vagaries and headaches of providing radio coverage of a war that encompassed half the globe, including vast areas where modern electronics were limited. It also offers some unique viewpoints of certain aspects of the Pacific war, the insights of a professional observer who came to know the men and women who fought that war on land, air, and sea, and, certainly, the commanding minds that provided the direction and leadership that resulted in ultimate victory. "Bill Dunn has some unexpected and fascinating memories of MacArthur that add to our collective historical knowledge. This is . . . a first-rate description of how the news was carried from the warfront to the civilian rear, and an altogether inspiring memoir of what it was like out there in the bloody, traumatic Pacific war."--from the foreword by Mike Wallace, CBS News/60 Minutes "So far as I know there has never been such a chronicling by a newsman of equal qualifications.."--Douglas Edwards, CBS News "An engagingly anecdotal war memoir . . . that affords insights as well as intelligence."-- Kirkus Reviews

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1603441573
• ISBN13: 9781603441575
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Pacific Microphone

I've read dozens of WWII books in the past 15 years and Dunn's "Pacific Microphone" is truly authentic and keeps you wanting to read more. This is not "glorified" made up stuff to sell books. If you were born in the 1950's or before you can remember "oversea broadcasts via shortwave". These were days way before "broadcast via satellite" which we are now "spoiled" by. During the 40's , 50's and part of the 60's, if you heard a radio report (television could not provide overseas video until the mid to late 60's)from overseas it was via shortwave. You could always tell it was an overseas broadcast because of the fading in and out of the announcer due to the shifting and unpredictable transmissions when using "shortwave" (anywhere from 7.2 to 25mhz in the radio spectrum). It sounded alot like listening to rock n' roll on AM radio back in the early 70's on WLS or KOMA or KAAY from many states away. The words (or music) sound great for 60 to 120 seconds then "take a dip" and almost disappear to where you couldn't hear a thing during these transmissions. This is how Wm Dunn of Pacific Microphone had to relay his "live" broadcasts (there was very little recording technology at that time so most things were "real time") for the CBS radio network. Shortwave transmission stations at that time were far and few, so the guy took notes, made quotes from the scene , and waited until he could get to a broadcast studio with "shortwave tranmitting capabilities" before he could get his "bread and butter" report back to the states. This guy was literally just minutes ahead of the Japanese when they made their strike thru Burma, the East Indies, and northern Australia in late 1941 and early 1942. To be able to get off of the island of Sumatra was something close to a "miracle". Everyone should read this book to get a true feel of the days back in the 40's when Americans were "scared to death" of possible invasion by the Japanese, especially on the west coast. Radio was the only "real time" source for news and millons of Americans depended on AM radio. Kevin W. Cox, R.Ph. Amateur Radio Operator: WBØOSP Rogersville, MO 65742