WORLD WAR II in IV HOURS

Originally broadcast on WNIB
Saturday, August 14th, 1999

CBS NEWS SPECIAL (12-8-41) Excerpt. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his “Day of Infamy” speech before a joint session of Congress, asking for a declaration of war against Japan. CBS. (13 min)

JACK BENNY PROGRAM 110-18-42) Jack and the gang— Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, Don Wilson— in a wartime broadcast from Williams Field in Arizona. Jack decides to do his part for the war effort and donates his Max-well to the Scrap Drive. Grape Nuts, NBC. (30 min)

FIBBER MC GEE AND MOLLY (12-1-421 Jim and Marian Jordan star with Isabel Randolph, Gale Gordon, Bill Thompson, Harlow Wilcox, King’s Men, Billy Mills and the orchestra. Wartime mileage rationing has come to Wistful Vista. This is the last program for Gale Gordon before he entered the U.S. Coast Guard. Johnson’s Wax, NBC. (30 min)

GREAT GILDERSLEEVE (1-24-43) Harold Peary stars with Walter Tetley, Lillian Randolph, Lurene Tuttle, Earle Ross, Shirley Mitchell, Dick LeGrand. Air Raid Warden Gildersleeve is concerned about sabotage at the Summerfield Arms Manufacturing Plant. Judge Hooker is in charge of Civilian Defense. Kraft Foods, NBC. (30 min)

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (6-6-44) The President of the United States ad-dresses the nation on the evening of the D-Day invasion and asks the country to join him in a prayer. His remarks are followed by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians presenting “Onward, Christian Soldiers” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” All Networks. (15 min)

PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN (5-8-45) The President announces the unconditional surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. “This is a solemn but glorious hour… I only wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day.” All Networks. (6 min)

HOWARD K. SMITH (5-9-451 War Correspondent Smith reports (via shortwave) on the bombed city of Berlin as it appeared following the Nazi surrender. “It’s the most massive work of concentrated destruction in history.” Combined Networks. (10 min)

GABRIEL HEATTER (8-13-45) The commentator talks about the expected surrender of Japan and the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and what it means to Japan and the Emperor. “Even civil war in Japan isn’t ruled out as a possibility now. Their people know nothing even now regarding their surrender offer.” Kreml Hair Tonic, MBS. (14 min)

CHICAGO VICTORY CELEBRATION (8-14-45) Don Elders describes the scene from atop the marquee of the Roosevelt Theatre in Chicago’s Loop. “State and Madison is a bedlam of victory celebrations.” NBC. (4 min)

FOURTEEN AUGUST (8-14-451 A message for the day of victory, written, produced and edited by Norman Corwin and spoken by Orson Welles. Corwin greets victory over Japan with a look at the awful effects of the weapon used. Sustaining, CBS. (16 min)