Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting
Episode: BW - EP152—002: D-Day's 80th Anniversary—The First Eye Witness Account Of The Invasion
Description: The man you just heard was CBS news reporter Robert Trout. Born in Wake County, North Carolina on October 15th, 1909, he grew up in Washington, D.C., entering broadcasting in 1931 as an announcer at WJSV, an independent station in Alexandria, Virginia. In the summer of 1932 WJSV was acquired by CBS, bringing Trout into the young network.
He soon became an invaluable member of William S. Paley’s team, and was the first person to publicly refer to FDR’s radio programs as Fireside Chats.
On Sunday night, March 13th, 1938, after Adolf Hitler's Germany had annexed Austria in the Anschluss, Trout host...