At Book Rap, Timothy Gay Talks About How WWII Made Stars Out of Journalists

Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, A. J. Liebling, Homer Bigart and Hal Boyle are legends today, but when they were first assigned to cover World War II, they were little-known reporters who knew no foreign languages and little about world affairs.

So says Timothy Gay, author of ``Assignment to Hell: The War against Nazi Germany with Correspondents Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, A. J. Liebling, Homer Bigart and Hal Boyle.''

Gay, joined by Cronkite's son, Chip, spoke at a Book Rap Tuesday.

He said that in February 1943, Cronkite and Rooney flew on a dangerous bombing mission over Nazi Germany. They witnessed and reported on many dangerous major battles in North Africa and Burope.

At Christmas 1944, at the Battle of the Bulge, Ernest Hemingway threw a wild party and invited the journalists. Chip Cronkite said his father was the only one who stayed sober.