War news costs lives on Iwo Island
Envelope of dispatch bloodstained
GUAM (UP) – The battle to get the war news back from bloody Iwo Island is a tough one too.
The hardships of civilian war correspondents, Marine combat correspondents, Navy, Marine and Army public relations personnel on Iwo were disclosed in a letter from United Press writer Mac Johnson, aboard an expeditionary flagship off Iwo.
The letter, dated February 23, said that the first story from Lisle Shoemaker, United Press writer on Iwo, arrived aboard ship “in a blood-saturated envelope.”
Holes in message
Mr. Johnson said:
It must have been the messenger that got it because there were holes in Lisle’s copy.
Press boats [to deliver copy from the beach to the flagship for transmission] have been wrecked, shot up and disabled. Sometimes when the press boat was available to go to the beach, the beachmaster wouldn’t let it in because of priority on ammunition, food and equipment in boats waiting to unload.
‘A rough campaign’
Many public relations officers, public relations helpers, and combat correspondents were wounded or killed.
Due to circumstances, there were no central gathering points for copy and the boats couldn’t make pickup schedules and many times they were able to meet schedules.
This has been a rough campaign.