Byron Darnton
Encyclopedia
Byron Darnton was an American reporter and war correspondent
for the New York Times in the Pacific theater during World War II
.
He was killed in 1942 by a bomb dropped from an American B-25 Mitchell
bomber, the tenth American war correspondent killed in action in the war. Darnton's work in reporting on the war in the Pacific was respected by military officials, including General Douglas MacArthur
, who personally reported Darnton’s passing to the Times and Darnton’s widow.
. His interest in journalism
began in his teens when he and his family visited his uncle Charles Darnton, a drama critic
for Joseph Pulitzer
's Evening World
in New York, New York. After leaving high school in 1917, Darnton signed on with the American Expeditionary Force
and served in World War I
before returning to the United States
and entering the University of Michigan
.
The Sandusky Herald in Sandusky, Ohio
provided Darnton’s entry to the newspaper industry, followed by a stint at The Baltimore Sun
. He also provided several short stories to The Smart Set
magazine, then edited by H.L. Mencken. Mencken attempted to convince Darnton to shift his attention to writing fiction
. Instead, he went on to write for the Philadelphia Bulletin
and Philadelphia Evening Ledger, then in 1925 moved to the New York Post
, where his work on the rewrite desk earned him the moniker "The All-American rewrite man." Then, after a period as the Associated Press
city editor in New York, he joined the staff of the New York Times in 1934.
His first overseas assignment was in February 1941, when he was among the first correspondents to leave the United States for Australia
. Once there, he took the first opportunity to move to forward bases in New Guinea
. His reporting while based near Port Moresby
included his characteristic wit through amusing anecdotes related by servicemen, and discussed the mood of the troops on the ground and their thoughts regarding the war and its future.
On October 18, 1942, Darnton was at a forward operating base off the coast of New Guinea when he was caught in an accidental bombing by a B-25 and killed. His notebook, which was taken from his body by a fellow correspondent and returned to his son, Pulitzer Prize
-winning journalist John Darnton
in 1976, ended with a question about the bomber that would end his life: “Jap or ours?”
Darnton’s passing was marked by many other journalists and officials, including General Douglas MacArthur, who wired to the Times that “He served with gallantry and devotion at the front and fulfilled the important duties of war correspondent with distinction to himself and The New York Times and with value to his country.” He was buried with full military honors at an Australian-American cemetery outside Port Moresby.
that launched from Baltimore, Maryland to become one of 2,700 such ships built during the war. The ship was christened by his widow Eleanor and her sons, one of whom, Bob (now the renowned historian, Robert Darnton), wrote his name on the hull in crayon. The ship sailed a regular run to Murmansk
through the remainder of the war, and in 1946 was beached on Sanda Island, off the coast of Scotland
. In 2003, a pub was opened on Sanda Island named the Byron Darnton; it is stated to be one of the two most remote pubs in the country.
is usually credited with the popular phrase “No man who hates dogs and children can be all bad,” used by him to describe comedian W. C. Fields
, Darnton was in fact the first to use this phrase regarding an unknown man named Gastonbury. Darnton used it in 1930 after a New York cocktail party, which was later reported in Harper's Monthly in 1937, two years before Leo Rosten used it at a banquet.
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
for the New York Times in the Pacific theater during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
He was killed in 1942 by a bomb dropped from an American B-25 Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bomber, the tenth American war correspondent killed in action in the war. Darnton's work in reporting on the war in the Pacific was respected by military officials, including General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
, who personally reported Darnton’s passing to the Times and Darnton’s widow.
Journalism career
Darnton was born November 8, 1897 in Adrian, MichiganAdrian, Michigan
As of the 2010 census Adrian had a population of 21,133. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 84.1% white, 4.4% black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 5.9% from some other race and 4.0% from two or more races...
. His interest in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
began in his teens when he and his family visited his uncle Charles Darnton, a drama critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
for Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
's Evening World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
in New York, New York. After leaving high school in 1917, Darnton signed on with the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
and served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
before returning to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and entering the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
The Sandusky Herald in Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky, Ohio
Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. It is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo to the west and Cleveland to the east....
provided Darnton’s entry to the newspaper industry, followed by a stint at The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
. He also provided several short stories to The Smart Set
The Smart Set
The Smart Set was a literary magazine founded in America in March 1900 by Colonel William d'Alton Mann.-History:Mann had previously published Town Topics, a gossip rag which he used for political and social gain among New York City's infamous elite known as "The Four Hundred." With The Smart Set,...
magazine, then edited by H.L. Mencken. Mencken attempted to convince Darnton to shift his attention to writing fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. Instead, he went on to write for the Philadelphia Bulletin
Philadelphia Bulletin
For the 2004 resurrection of the Bulletin, see The Bulletin .The Philadelphia Bulletin was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the...
and Philadelphia Evening Ledger, then in 1925 moved to the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, where his work on the rewrite desk earned him the moniker "The All-American rewrite man." Then, after a period as the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
city editor in New York, he joined the staff of the New York Times in 1934.
With the Times
At the Times, Darnton was selected to establish the newspaper’s “Review of the Week” section for a time, but in 1939 returned to reporting, and in 1940 began roving assignments that took him around the United States and eventually into the Pacific theater. During that period, he was married to Eleanor Choate and had two sons.His first overseas assignment was in February 1941, when he was among the first correspondents to leave the United States for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Once there, he took the first opportunity to move to forward bases in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. His reporting while based near Port Moresby
Port Moresby
Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
included his characteristic wit through amusing anecdotes related by servicemen, and discussed the mood of the troops on the ground and their thoughts regarding the war and its future.
On October 18, 1942, Darnton was at a forward operating base off the coast of New Guinea when he was caught in an accidental bombing by a B-25 and killed. His notebook, which was taken from his body by a fellow correspondent and returned to his son, Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning journalist John Darnton
John Darnton
John Darnton is an American journalist and author.-At The New York Times:After attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Darnton joined The New York Times as a copyboy in 1966...
in 1976, ended with a question about the bomber that would end his life: “Jap or ours?”
Darnton’s passing was marked by many other journalists and officials, including General Douglas MacArthur, who wired to the Times that “He served with gallantry and devotion at the front and fulfilled the important duties of war correspondent with distinction to himself and The New York Times and with value to his country.” He was buried with full military honors at an Australian-American cemetery outside Port Moresby.
The Byron Darnton
In 1943, Darnton’s name was given to a 10,500-ton liberty shipLiberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
that launched from Baltimore, Maryland to become one of 2,700 such ships built during the war. The ship was christened by his widow Eleanor and her sons, one of whom, Bob (now the renowned historian, Robert Darnton), wrote his name on the hull in crayon. The ship sailed a regular run to Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
through the remainder of the war, and in 1946 was beached on Sanda Island, off the coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 2003, a pub was opened on Sanda Island named the Byron Darnton; it is stated to be one of the two most remote pubs in the country.
Famous quote
While author Leo RostenLeo Rosten
Leo Calvin Rosten was born in Łódź, Russian Empire and died in New York City. He was a teacher and academic, but is best known as a humorist in the fields of scriptwriting, storywriting, journalism and Yiddish lexicography.-Early life:Rosten was born into a Yiddish-speaking family in what is now...
is usually credited with the popular phrase “No man who hates dogs and children can be all bad,” used by him to describe comedian W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, Darnton was in fact the first to use this phrase regarding an unknown man named Gastonbury. Darnton used it in 1930 after a New York cocktail party, which was later reported in Harper's Monthly in 1937, two years before Leo Rosten used it at a banquet.