Ray E. Boomhower
@rboomhower.bsky.social
Former reporter. Biographer of war correspondents Ernie Pyle, Richard Tregaskis, Malcolm Browne & Robert Sherrod. Writing biography about groundbreaking journalist Wallace H. Terry. https://rayeboomhowerbooks.com/
“Isn’t every human being both a scientist and an artist; and in writing of human experience, isn’t there a good deal to be said for recognizing that fact and for using both methods?”
James Agee, born on this day in 1909
James Agee, born on this day in 1909
November 27, 2025 at 11:55 AM
“Isn’t every human being both a scientist and an artist; and in writing of human experience, isn’t there a good deal to be said for recognizing that fact and for using both methods?”
James Agee, born on this day in 1909
James Agee, born on this day in 1909
"All the lessons of history in four sentences: Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
Charles A. Beard, born OTD in 1874
Charles A. Beard, born OTD in 1874
November 27, 2025 at 11:26 AM
"All the lessons of history in four sentences: Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
Charles A. Beard, born OTD in 1874
Charles A. Beard, born OTD in 1874
If all goes according to schedule (🤞), my biography about groundbreaking journalist Wallace H. Terry will be released by the @unmpress.bsky.social in early October 2026.
November 26, 2025 at 9:00 PM
If all goes according to schedule (🤞), my biography about groundbreaking journalist Wallace H. Terry will be released by the @unmpress.bsky.social in early October 2026.
Which World War II correspondent got the most boost from having his book turned into a movie? Was it Richard Tregaskis or Ernie Pyle?
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Which World War II correspondent got the most boost from having his book turned into a movie? Was it Richard Tregaskis or Ernie Pyle?
"I would advise all youths aspiring to athletic fame or a professional career to practice clean living, fair play and good sportsmanship."
Major Taylor, born on this day in 1878
Major Taylor, born on this day in 1878
November 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM
"I would advise all youths aspiring to athletic fame or a professional career to practice clean living, fair play and good sportsmanship."
Major Taylor, born on this day in 1878
Major Taylor, born on this day in 1878
"What I saw on Betio was, I am certain, one of the greatest works of devastation wrought by man. Words are inadequate to describe what I saw on this island of less than a square mile. So are pictures--you can't smell pictures."
Robert L. Sherrod, "Tarawa: The Story of a Battle"
Robert L. Sherrod, "Tarawa: The Story of a Battle"
November 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
"What I saw on Betio was, I am certain, one of the greatest works of devastation wrought by man. Words are inadequate to describe what I saw on this island of less than a square mile. So are pictures--you can't smell pictures."
Robert L. Sherrod, "Tarawa: The Story of a Battle"
Robert L. Sherrod, "Tarawa: The Story of a Battle"
While recovering from being wounded by a German shell in Italy this month in 1943, Richard Tregaskis had visits from his fellow reporters, including Ernie Pyle. Pyle went on to write a column about Tregaskis, noting: “If I’d had his wound I would have gone home and rested on my laurels forever.”
November 25, 2025 at 12:23 PM
While recovering from being wounded by a German shell in Italy this month in 1943, Richard Tregaskis had visits from his fellow reporters, including Ernie Pyle. Pyle went on to write a column about Tregaskis, noting: “If I’d had his wound I would have gone home and rested on my laurels forever.”
“There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
November 25, 2025 at 11:37 AM
“There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."
Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835
Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835
November 25, 2025 at 11:17 AM
"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."
Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835
Andrew Carnegie, born on this day in 1835
"I was not sorry to leave the appalling wreckage of Betio and its 5,000 dead. I was thankful that I had lived through the toughest job ever assigned to the toughest outfit the U.S. has produced: the magnificent U.S. Marines."
Robert L. Sherrod after the Battle of Tarawa
Robert L. Sherrod after the Battle of Tarawa
November 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
"I was not sorry to leave the appalling wreckage of Betio and its 5,000 dead. I was thankful that I had lived through the toughest job ever assigned to the toughest outfit the U.S. has produced: the magnificent U.S. Marines."
Robert L. Sherrod after the Battle of Tarawa
Robert L. Sherrod after the Battle of Tarawa
How bad was it at the end of the Battle of Tarawa? Correspondent Robert Sherrod went ashore on day four after writing about his experiences: "As I walked up the pier, from the comparatively clean-smelling sea, the overwhelming smell of the dead hit me full in the face, and I vomited a little."
November 24, 2025 at 2:34 PM
How bad was it at the end of the Battle of Tarawa? Correspondent Robert Sherrod went ashore on day four after writing about his experiences: "As I walked up the pier, from the comparatively clean-smelling sea, the overwhelming smell of the dead hit me full in the face, and I vomited a little."
“Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.”
Baruch Spinoza, born on this day in 1632
Baruch Spinoza, born on this day in 1632
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 AM
“Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.”
Baruch Spinoza, born on this day in 1632
Baruch Spinoza, born on this day in 1632
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river there is a girl without a dream
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river there is a girl without a dream
November 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river there is a girl without a dream
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river there is a girl without a dream
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river, there is a girl without a dream
I'm sorry
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river, there is a girl without a dream
I'm sorry
November 23, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river, there is a girl without a dream
I'm sorry
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river, there is a girl without a dream
I'm sorry
On this day in 1943, U.S. marines, after bloody fighting, seized control of Tarawa in the Pacific. Hoosier David M. Shoup from Battleground, Indiana, received the Medal of Honor for helping lead the marines during the critical early hours of the battle.
November 23, 2025 at 11:31 AM
On this day in 1943, U.S. marines, after bloody fighting, seized control of Tarawa in the Pacific. Hoosier David M. Shoup from Battleground, Indiana, received the Medal of Honor for helping lead the marines during the critical early hours of the battle.
"What makes journalism so fascinating and biography so interesting [is] the struggle to answer that single question: 'What's he like?'"
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
November 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
"What makes journalism so fascinating and biography so interesting [is] the struggle to answer that single question: 'What's he like?'"
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Richard Tregaskis's willingness to go where the action was in WWII impressed one soldier, who told him, “How you guys go ahead and stick out your necks when you don’t have to—well, it just beats hell out of me!” Tregaskis responded: “But we certainly do have to—that’s our job."
November 22, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Richard Tregaskis's willingness to go where the action was in WWII impressed one soldier, who told him, “How you guys go ahead and stick out your necks when you don’t have to—well, it just beats hell out of me!” Tregaskis responded: “But we certainly do have to—that’s our job."
The countdown is on for the annual Indiana Historical Society Holiday Author Fair. More than 60 authors, including yours truly, will be offering great books from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis.
November 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
The countdown is on for the annual Indiana Historical Society Holiday Author Fair. More than 60 authors, including yours truly, will be offering great books from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis.
To commemorate war correspondent Richard Tregaskis’s near-fatal wounding in Italy OTD in 1943, a free copy of my biography about him to the first person to name what magazine he wrote for near the end of World War II.
November 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
To commemorate war correspondent Richard Tregaskis’s near-fatal wounding in Italy OTD in 1943, a free copy of my biography about him to the first person to name what magazine he wrote for near the end of World War II.
What happened to war correspondent Richard Tregaskis following his severe wounding in Italy on this day in 1943? He was taken to the 38th Evacuation Field Hospital. Major William Pitts had already performed two brain operations before he started on Tregaskis at about two o’clock in the morning.
November 22, 2025 at 3:53 PM
What happened to war correspondent Richard Tregaskis following his severe wounding in Italy on this day in 1943? He was taken to the 38th Evacuation Field Hospital. Major William Pitts had already performed two brain operations before he started on Tregaskis at about two o’clock in the morning.
“A Kennedy speech has to have class.”
Campaigning with Kennedy: John Bartlow Martin and the 1960 Election
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/07/camp...
Campaigning with Kennedy: John Bartlow Martin and the 1960 Election
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/07/camp...
November 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
“A Kennedy speech has to have class.”
Campaigning with Kennedy: John Bartlow Martin and the 1960 Election
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/07/camp...
Campaigning with Kennedy: John Bartlow Martin and the 1960 Election
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/07/camp...
”I did not feel young and eager and confident and hopeful any more. I felt old and without hope, with heart for nothing. It was all gone. and destroyed by blind malevolent chance. That was what hurt the most of all.”
John Bartlow Martin on the assassination of President John Kennedy OTD in 1963
John Bartlow Martin on the assassination of President John Kennedy OTD in 1963
November 22, 2025 at 11:31 AM
”I did not feel young and eager and confident and hopeful any more. I felt old and without hope, with heart for nothing. It was all gone. and destroyed by blind malevolent chance. That was what hurt the most of all.”
John Bartlow Martin on the assassination of President John Kennedy OTD in 1963
John Bartlow Martin on the assassination of President John Kennedy OTD in 1963
"I had no regrets about my own suffering in that war, or the blood I shed in it. I was honored to be in it with men I respected so greatly."
World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis, wounded in Italy by a German shell on this day in 1943
World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis, wounded in Italy by a German shell on this day in 1943
November 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM
"I had no regrets about my own suffering in that war, or the blood I shed in it. I was honored to be in it with men I respected so greatly."
World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis, wounded in Italy by a German shell on this day in 1943
World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis, wounded in Italy by a German shell on this day in 1943
On this day in 1943 International News Service correspondent Richard Tregakis, covering the action on Mount Corno in Italy, was hit and severely wounded in the head by shrapnel from a German shell, ripping through and out his helmet. He survived.
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-wo...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-wo...
November 22, 2025 at 11:03 AM
On this day in 1943 International News Service correspondent Richard Tregakis, covering the action on Mount Corno in Italy, was hit and severely wounded in the head by shrapnel from a German shell, ripping through and out his helmet. He survived.
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-wo...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-wo...
“The first time you experience deep and sustained fear and suspense you think you have learned all about it. Many times later you know that the depth and shape of fear are lessons to be learned slowly, by repetition.”
Keith Wheeler, war correspondent, “Chicago Times,” shot in the throat on Iwo Jima
Keith Wheeler, war correspondent, “Chicago Times,” shot in the throat on Iwo Jima
November 22, 2025 at 2:03 AM
“The first time you experience deep and sustained fear and suspense you think you have learned all about it. Many times later you know that the depth and shape of fear are lessons to be learned slowly, by repetition.”
Keith Wheeler, war correspondent, “Chicago Times,” shot in the throat on Iwo Jima
Keith Wheeler, war correspondent, “Chicago Times,” shot in the throat on Iwo Jima