 soldiers of the press in and out of Hawaii move the ships the planes and the men who are carrying the fight to the Japanese in the scattered islands and on the broad sea lanes of the Pacific and with them go the correspondence of the United Press recording epic events at such remote points as New Guinea midway the Solomon's for Honolulu is as much an operations base for war correspondence as for the fleet we bring you now the story of a man who has seen as much or more of action in the Pacific than any other of the core of correspondence whose home base is Honolulu United Press correspondent William Tyree I've been covering the war in the Pacific since the day it began in fact in terms of the newspaper men passing through Honolulu since Pearl Harbor I'm looked upon as something of a veteran war correspondent you see I was transferred to Honolulu was night manager of the United Press Bureau more than a year before the Jap stage their sneak raid in Hawaii like every other American who watched the smoke billowing up from burning ships and aircraft on December 7th I was hoppin mad my first impulse was to join one of the armed forces in order to get a direct crack at the nips so I dropped in on my boss Frank from Maine late one afternoon a few days later to talk it hello Bill come on in thanks Frank if you've got a few minutes I'd like to talk over a personal problem with you certainly what's on your mind well Frank I'm still sore at the way the Japanese dragged us into this war and I've been considering enlistment I'm husky hale and hardy have no flat feet and possess the prescribed number of teeth I see I don't know just where I'd fit in but I think I'd make a passable buck private I see Bill and I can sympathize with your sentiments in fact I've even turned the same ideas over in my own mind yeah I think all of us out here who saw what happened in the harbor and at Hickam field feel pretty much the same but here's a point I'd like you to consider as you said you don't know where you'd fit in the army buck private remember okay buck private look Bill you're a trained man working on a job that's vitally important to the war effort gathering the news getting it right and getting it out it's taken six years to make a foreign correspondent of you and well you're a good one thanks the point is I'm not so sure the army could make a good buck private of you you like the sleep late of morning's too darn well no cranks remember I work nights but look I want to see the show when we start handing it back to the Japs I want to be in on that well Bill you will you're going to be accredited as UP correspondent with the Pacific Fleet that's strictly between us for the present but it's going through and you'll be seeing plenty of actions well Pacific Fleet assignment that sounds more like it well Bill as I look at it you'll be doing an important job but you can do well if you stick how about it good point and if it means a chance to really get into some action I'm still your man well I stuck and as for action I've had a year jam packed with it small operations with task forces at first then I really got into the thick of it in the coral sea I had a ringside seat for that one aboard a US cruiser I got my initiation of bombing and learned to duck when Jap planes came close enough to rake our decks with machine gun fire I saw the 33,000 ton Lexington ripped by torpedoes and bombs saw her heel over and go down and I wiped tears from my eyes as her rescued crew members watched her disappear but during that four-day engagement I also saw the beginnings of America's repayment of Japan's treachery at Pearl Harbor five months earlier I talked with an American pilot who had dropped a 1,000 pound bomb squarely on the flight deck of a Jap aircraft carrier he told me boy when that bomb hit it was terrific that Jap carrier opened up like a volcano and next day I cheered with the crew when the skipper announced the score over the ship's public address system estimates are that he has paid for the destruction of the Lexington with the loss of 23 and possibly 24 Japanese warships our service report the enemy has withdrawn and that contact has been lost so for the time being this cruiser will not get a whack at his ships but this will be a long war we will catch him again every time he steps out we'll snip off his ships then when his naval power is exhausted we can roll right up to Tokyo we will catch him again the skipper had promised it and that's what we did for weeks we were constantly on the alert everyone was convinced that the Japanese fleet was reforming to strike another blow and it came on the 4th of June our ships radio crackled with the electrifying news strong force of enemy ships cited by Navy patrol planes 700 miles off midway the ship's bugles sound general quarters and I make a dash for the bridge where I'll have access to the ship's fighter circuit radio hello Tyree you're always yelling for action so get set this looks like the blow off big pack of nips out front huh right observers say the enemy has 80 or more warcraft headed this way hey wait a minute listen our carrier sending up her planes oh look at them our comforting sight here let's cut in the fighter circuit spotted prepare to repel attack that fighter in torpedo planes 12 miles step on it I can't see anything don't be impatient even at 300 miles an hour 12 miles is a bit of a hop you know use your glasses yep here they come check now I can make them up just above the waves look at them come torpedo planes they're the bad ones tight this is it pulling up to get out hey look one of our own fighters just coming straight into our fire to get that jab oh wow the jabs down and he's zoomed up out of it man there come the torpedoes see the wake yeah hey one's gonna be close yes it's going to know it's wide 500 yards off our bow hey there comes one plane straight first my god I believe he's gonna try to crash it we got him oh boy that was too close to comfort the attack had been beaten off and I suddenly became aware that our public address system was cut in on a report from midway enemy ships including battleships carriers cruises and transports have been hit many times by our bombers we hear there are three enemy ships burning satisfactorily 170 miles off midway news comes that we've destroyed two enemy carriers and have badly damaged you remember the final score of that battle ten Japanese warships including four aircraft carriers sunk at least eight other warships damaged the jabs driven back from midway by the time we put back in at Pearl Harbor I'd made up my mind and another assignment I wanted the performance of American aircraft in the Coral Sea and at midway had given me a yen to have a closer look at air war from the belly of a bomber bent on business I asked for and got an assignment with the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific I had the pleasure of craning my neck over the open door of the Bombay of a flying fortress I've watched her bombs fall away to dissolve and blasts of flame and smoke from Japanese installations on Bucca airfield in the northern Solomon's I'd come to think of myself as something of a case-hardened war correspondent until one day not long ago when our big B 17 sat down on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal I dropped to the runway and spotted a marine sergeant who looked like he could supply the information I wanted a sergeant deal got a minute sure buddy what do you want I just came in on that B 17 I'm a newspaper man William Tyree a good night at press let's know you hi we're supposed to have a guy down here named Francis McCarthy you know where I can locate him sure sure thing he'd be with the rest of them correspond to suppress him now come on it's not far I'll show you thanks saying by the way our McCarthy and the rest of your newshawks making out and they're doing all right and they're plenty tough if you ask me you newspaper guys ain't bright a marine me for instance if I'm gonna get it I'm gonna get it but brother I'm not asking to get myself bumped off standing on top of a hill like you dumb newspaper men with your cameras and portable typewriters I located the Guadalcanal press tent and I learned what the sergeant had meant McCarthy had been on Guadalcanal for 30 days he'd gone through two attacks of dysentery half a dozen assorted tropical complaints and had suffered a broken rib and a fall from a cliff while on patrol with the Marines Sherman Montrose a photographer for Acme news pictures had the same experiences to report except for the broken rib bombing and shelling attacks were a daily routine and life was rugged to put it mildly my first morning there will give you an idea hey Tyree come out of it it's dawn you'll miss the regular morning shelling if you don't hurry oh love of Mike McCarthy doesn't even light yet yeah well look chum we got to get out and get some breakfast and Pronto go away you hear that our Japanese neighbors are up and about they're starting the shelling already oh hello buddy hello Mac I can't seem to impress our friend here with the fact that breakfast is catches catch Canada now or never on Guadalcanal hello Tyree look max right you love it breakfast will be enough for a change pancakes without butter they serve a concoction with them that's one part sugar and nine parts and nine parts what I suspect is drainage from the crankcase of a Jeep oh yeah you'll get to wash it down with chlorinated coffee and you'll be set to start the day sounds swell well I'll admit I can't resist that few six guys in this pup tent make room for a man to stretch hey that one was close I think nothing of it Bill waiting to meet our Japanese snipers the woods are full of them they're good too yes sir they can knock the ashes off your cigarette at 200 yards can't see them either you know they perch in the trees all dressed in camouflaged green outfits and wham away at you sounds just lovely we're glad you like the idea you see that's our usual initiation for newcomers to the Guadalcanal press tent yeah come on fellas we got to get a move on let's take Tyree out and get him shot at no sorry not me I'm just passing through these parts I'm going to climb back aboard my B-17 and go out on a nice peaceful bombing raid actually I stayed three days and a good half of that time was spent in foxholes dodging bombs and shells I got that initiation by Jap snipers too I left just a short time before the Japanese made one of their biggest bids to recapture the strategic island for three days of what McCarthy described as unmitigated hell the Japanese hammered at American positions with continuous land air and sea attacks well I'm convinced that the Guadalcanal press corps has seen as much action as anyone could want and I know I've had plenty of opportunity for close contact with the enemy before this show is over I hope to have plenty more possibly even that ride to Tokyo which every sailor soldier and flyer in our armed forces is aiming for yes Tyree and McCarthy and scores of others on the worldwide staff of the United Press are seeing the great developments of this war at first hand are reporting them direct from the scenes of action they are living the adventures we bring to you in this series of programs be sure to hear the next edition of soldiers of the press and meanwhile listen for United Press news on the air look for it in your favorite newspaper it is your guarantee of the world's best coverage of the world's biggest news