An Iowa broadcast journalism pioneer who covered World War Two recounted his experiences Saturday night during a speech in Ames. Ninety-two-year-old Jack Shelley helped write the first draft of history as he was the first broadcast journalist to speak with the pilot of the Enola Gay — the plane that dropped the nuclear bomb on Japan. And Shelley covered the signing of the armistice which ended the war with Japan abourd the U-S-S Missouri. Shelley, who lives in Ames, says the things he covered were the kinds of stories a journalist could only dream to see in person. Shelley’s first look at combat came when he reported on the Battle of the Bulge, Shelley says the Battle of the Bulge was “terribly bloody” and he covered the offensive from start to finish. Shelley was nearly captured once and was bombed on another occasion, but Shelley says he doesn’t like to talk much about those experiences because he says it was nothing compared to what the soldiers went through. Shelley says his war-time broadcasts had “tremendous audiences.” Multiply the concern for those who are currently serving in Iraq by thousands because of all the Midwesterners who were serving in World War II, and Shelley says you can understand the interest in his overseas interviews with the troops. Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. Of the five million of those vets who remain, about 11-hundred die every day. The Iowa Broadcast News Association’s highest award is named in Shelley’s honor, and Shelley delivered the keynote address at the organization’s annual banquet this past Saturday night. He received a standing ovation, even before he spoke.”I wish you hadn’t stood up,” Shelley told the journalists in the room. “I don’t have that coming at all, but of course I’m flattered.”
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