Finding Aid for the Murrey Marder Second World War personal narratives 2017.698.w.r
Lee Feldman
Center for American War Letters Archives
12/12/17
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Murrey Marder Second World War personal narratives
Creator:
Marder, Murrey, 1919/8/8 - 2013/3/11
source:
Rosa, Eva Cavileer
Identifier/Call Number: 2017.698.w.r
Physical Description:
.08 Linear feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1944 July 18 - 1944 August 20
Abstract: This collection contains fourty-eight carbon copies of narratives written by TSgt. Murrey Marder, USMC during the Second World
War.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 19
Container: 10
Container: 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Eva Cavileer Rosa.
This collection is arranged by material type, author, and date.
Technical Sergeant Murrey Marder, United States Marine Corps (8/8/1919 - 3/11/2013) was born in Philadelphia, where his father
was a merchant. At 17, he began working as a copy boy at the Evening Public Ledger of Philadelphia.
Marder joined the Marine Corps and served as a combat correspondent in the South Pacific during the Second World War. He joined
the Washington Post in 1946 and became known for his stories covering the "Red Beat" communist trials. In 1953, he investigated
Senator Joseph McCarthy's closed-door hearings on a spy ring at the Army Signal Corps laboratories at Fort Monmouth, N.J.,
where 42 people were suspended without pay without knoweldge of the charges brought against them. Marder discovered that the
security cases had already been investigated and dismissed by the Army. After publishing the story, he convinced Army Secretary
Robert T. Stevens to admit that there was no evidence of espionage at Fort Monmouth. This article acted as a harbinger for
the downfall of Senator McCarthy.
In 1957, Marder opened the Post's first foreign bureau, in London, England, and became the Post's chief diplomatic correspondent
for the Post. He was also one of the reporters assigned to the Pentagon Papers, the Department of Defense's 1971 multi-volume
report on the Vietnam War. He retired from the Washington Post in 1985. In 2004, he donated $1.3 million to start a public
watchdog program affiliated with Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Marder died on 11 March 2013.
[Item title, Box number, Folder number], Murrey Marder Second World War personal narratives (2017.698.w.r), Center for American
War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
This collection contains 48 carbon copies of narratives written by TSgt. Murrey Marder, USMC during the Second World War.
The originals were written and sent to various news organizations and publishers. The stories consist of his time serving
in Guam in the summer of 1944 during the Pacific Campaign, written in order to keep other soldiers knowledgeable about ongoing
activities. His stories cover the journey from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, to Guam, Micronesia, writing news to keep people
informed about the on-goings of Marines, the underground book exchange between soldiers, soldiers' reunions, the landing on
and invasion of Guam, the first tank battle on Guam, fighting the Japanese in the territory surrounding Mount Alifan, finding
a letter written by General Jonathan Wainwright on the body of a Japanese officer, a group of Chamorro people returning home
to Guam from serving in the United States Navy, the injuries and deaths of various soldiers, major victories for the US military,
discovering barrels of beer and liquor at positions held by the Japanese, surgies performed onboard ships and on the front,
commendations for various exploits of soldiers, and reflecting on the occupation of Guam.
Also included is one copy of a Washington Post obituary dated March 14, 2013. The obituary is titled "Murrey Marder, McCarthy-era
Washington Post reporter, dies at 93". The obituary describes Marder's career as a reporter and the influence he had reporting
during the Cold War, including his reporting on the Fort Monmouth incident which led to the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
He was once described by journalist and historian David Halberstam as "the perfect choice for the assignment, quiet, intelligent,
dogged and meticulous. There was nothing flashy about a Marder story, no one ever accused him of deft or imaginative prose,
but he was above all else careful and fair.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions. For further copyright information, please contact the archivist.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1939-1945)
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific islands
World War (1939-1945) -- Marine Corps
World War (1939-1945) -- Personal Narratives
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific campaign -- Guam
Rosa, Eva Cavileer