D-Day in Lufkin 

Here are my recollections of D-Day, 1944, in my hometown, Lufkin, Texas.  This was a long awaited event.   Everyone knew it was coming. And since so many local men would be directly involved, interest was at its peak.                           

At the time, I was a staff announcer at Radio Station KRBA, the town's only radio station.  Others, working as announcers, were Richman Lewin and Murphy Martin.  Richman was a fixture at the station, and excelled  in his daily performance.  He later managed a new radio station, KTRE and Channel  9, KTRE-TV Murphy Martin, later to be a successful broadcaster on the national scene with ABC Radio, rounded out the staff of three. 

The station was on the air from six a.m. till nine thirty p.m.  I had closed the station on the night of June fifth.  At home, about 11:30 p.m., I had a call from Richman.  He advised that from reports on large city radio stations, he thought the invasion was about to begin.  He said he would like me to come to the station to check the latest Associated Press wire reports.   We were in the studios by Midnight.

The exact time and date of the expected landings were top secret.  The Associated Press had sent us reams of copy to be used after the landing.  The copy detailed information about the units that would be involved and a myriad of detail on the command, armor, geography and forces  involved.  Also a large amount of information about naval, air and ground support to be used by the Allies. There had been at least two major false alarms transmitted by the wire services, eager to be first with the news.  These news "flashes" were actually broadcast and then almost immediately denied. Thus, our backup copy still had gone unused.

After reading the wire reports, we began to get antsy about signing on the air.   We put aside our doubts and signed on just six minutes before the invasion began.  In those six minutes, we just read the reports we were being furnished by "AP", concerning the news of the impending invasion.   And at 36 minutes after the hour, at 2:36 a.m., on June 6, 1944, came the "Flash" so long awaited.   Something to the effect:  "The invasion has begun.   Allied Troops have landed in France''.  We had not had time to even speculate or explain why we suddenly came on the air in the middle of the night.

At this point, we were so excited, we almost forgot we had a plan of action for this moment.  We took turns calling the fire station, the lumber mills and the railroad depot.   We had announced in advance, in the previous weeks, that when the invasion began, we had arranged for public agencies to sound an alarm with their horns.   The telegraph operator, on duty at the depot,  alerted all the switch engines to sound their horns.   The same plan was followed by the lumber mills and the fire station.  With the windows open, we had no trouble hearing the cacophony of bells, horns and whistles all sounding at once. 

Since we were the only broadcast station in Lufkin, I expect the station never had higher ratings. It was several hours later when the Lufkin Daily News "Extra" hit the streets of Lufkin with newsboys shouting:  "Get your Extra Paper....The Yanks have landed....Allies invade France".   Richman Lewin, Murphy Martin and I, read the wire reports over and over as they came in by teletype.   We also had  arranged to have local  citizens come to the station to make broadcast appeals for the purchase of War Bonds to support our troops.  I don't recall the final figure of the amount of pledges we received, but the amount was far beyond our expectations.  Also a part of this bond drive was the appearance of local talent to entertain and appeal for funds.  The entertainment was a welcome break for the announcers.   We did not play a single phonograph record for the next 36 hours.  War news and War Bond appeals were the only thing scheduled for this moment in history.  KRBA didn't sign-off the air for three days.  This marked the first time 24-hour radio was offered in Lufkin.

The three of us, Richman, Murphy and I, read from the boxes of backup copy furnished by the Associated Press, and I remember standing over the teletype and reading the news as it came in on the wire.   We rotated breaks of three or four hours each.   And a two hour nap was all we needed to come back to the station.  I could hear the station all the way home without a radio.  That June, little or no air conditioning existed.  Windows were wide open in every home, and every home had a radio tuned to KRBA.  The air was filled with war news.  The major difference then, and now, in news, was the lack of comment on news reports.  We just read the facts of news from the front, as described by correspondents on the scene, with no second guessing on our part.Three months later, I would be in boot camp, and on to radio school, to become a radio operator on Merchant Ships.  That night in June, I little realized how much the world would change. 

Murphy Martin has since served as television news anchor for ABC-TV Network; WFAA-Tv, Dallas; WABC-TV in New York, and was the  Voice of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium for 24 years. Since retiring from that position, Murphy excels as a Motivational Speaker.  He also served as President of United We Stand, the Ross Perot sponsored MIA/POW program. Murphy will surely attest he has covered most of the changes the world has seen, since D-Day 58-years ago.