RADIO and WORLD WAR II
D-DAY, the SIXTH OF JUNE, 1944
Part 2

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, June 11, 1994

D-DAY NEWS SPECIAL (6-6-44) 4:30 p.m. EWT.  Don Hollenback with news bulletins. Morgan Beatty reports on President Roosevelt’s news conference at the White House.  Don Goddard tells of FDR’s Invasion Prayer. NBC.

PASSING PARADE (6-6-44) 7:15 p.m. EWT. Storyteller John Nesbitt looks 100 years into the future to June 6, 2044: a school teacher in the 21st Century tells his students about the invasion of Europe during World War II. CBS.

D-DAY SPECIAL FEATURE (6-6-44) 7:30 p.m. EWT. Actor Ronald Colman reads “A Poem and Prayer for an Invading Army” written especially for D-Day by Edna St. Vincent Millay. NBC.

GINNY SIMMS SHOW (6-6-44) 8 p.m. EWT.  Ginny sets aside her regular program, of popular music for a special D-Day broadcast, but she does sing “The Victory Polka.”  A U.S. soldier, wounded in action, sends a message to his wife, a nurse also serving in the service of her country; Navy Commander Dr. Wassell describes how wounded are treated; Navy Chaplain Walter Peck, who was at Pearl Harbor, offers a message of hope and faith. NBC.

BURNS AND ALLEN SHOW (6-6-44) 9 p.m. EWT. Announcer Bill Goodwin says, “We realize the tenseness of the situation and this program will be interrupted for any important invasion flashes.”  But the scheduled broadcast proceeds as planned.  George is down in the dumps until he gets a telegram from Kansas City. CBS.

D-DAY NEWS SPECIAL (6-6-44) 9 p.m. EWT.  Ben Grauer offers a recap of the nation’s reaction to the D-Day invasion switching to NBC affiliate stations across the country. NBC.

FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY (6-6-44) 9:30 p.m. EWT. Jim and Marion Jordan with the King’s Men and Billy Mills and the orchestra in a special D-Day broadcast.  The McGees and their sponsor “are mighty proud to be associated with the radio industry which at this moment is fulfilling its promise of instant communications in time of world crisis.”  Instead of their regular comedy format, Fibber and Molly host a program of “songs of the services dedicated to our fighting forces on all fronts.”  NBC.