Blogpost #30

Welcome back, friends! This week's show is a special Veteran's Day tribute. We'll be saluting all our fighting men and women of past wars by presenting a rare documentary LP from 1966 titled Historic Music and Voices From World War II. The LP was produced by American Heritage Publishing and was narrated by actor Luis Van Rooten. The LP lasts just under an hour, and we'll hear it in its entirety. Unfortunately, little information could be found about the LP on the web. There is a used copy available on eBay, but not for much longer.

Highlights of the documentary include these historic recordings:

Adolph Hitler addresses Nazi Congress at Nuremberg, 1934
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge criticizes League of Nations, 1919
Franklin Roosevelt supports joining the League of Nations, 1920
Emperor Haile Selassie speaks at the League of Nations, 1936
Neville Chamberlain announces peace treaty with Hitler, 1938
Nazi troops terrorize Jews on Night of Broken Glass, 1938
Kate Smith debuts God Bless America on Armistice Day, 1938
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk appeals to America, 1939
Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, 1939
Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister, 1940
Benito Mussolini declares war on England and France, 1940
Winston Churchill delivers England's Finest Hour speech, 1940
France is occupied and controlled by Nazi Germany, 1940
German air fighters drop bombs over English Channel, 1940
Princess Elizabeth speaks to evacuated British children, 1940
President Roosevelt announces first draft number drawn, 1940
Joseph Stalin announces Nazi invasion of Western Russia, 1941
Japan massacres American troops at Pearl Harbor, 1941
President Roosevelt delivers Day of Infamy speech, 1941
American troops surrender to Japan in the Philippines, 1942
Sir Harry Lauder sings for Scottish troops at Christmas, 1942
German radio announces British bombing raid on Berlin, 1943
Allied troops announce D-Day landing on French coast, 1944
NBC reporter Tom Traynor describes D-Day landing, 1944
French radio announces liberation of Paris from Nazis, 1944
Charles DeGaulle attacked by snipers at Notre Dame, 1944
General Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines, 1944
Allied forces capture Japanese airfields on Iwo Jima, 1945
BBC radio reports discovery of Nazi death camps, 1945
Death camp survivor plays tribute song on Nazi piano, 1945
Prosecutor reveals Nazi horrors at Nuremberg trials, 1946
German radio announces death of Adolph Hitler, 1945
British cathedral bells ring to celebrate V-E Day, 1945
Jesuit priest describes survivors of Hiroshima bomb, 1945
Robert Montgomery honors Roosevelt on V-J Day, 1945

The LP was compiled from thousands of hours of audio saved by archivists in Japan, Germany, France, Russia, and England as well as America. I couldn't think of a better tribute to our troops for this coming Veteran's Day. I hope you'll take the time to visit the grave of a veteran in your family to pay your respects and maybe spruce up the grave site, just we do every year.

Next week marks NBC's 83rd birthday. Once again, we'll pay tribute with lots of clips from NBC's early years of radio broadcasting. Thanks for listening!