Before we get into today’s post, we want to tell you a little bit about the source of the information, E. R. “Curly” Vadeboncoeur. Curly was an American radio and television journalist in Syracuse. He began his career as a writer for the Syracuse Journal, but soon switched over to broadcasting and joined WSYR Radio in Syracuse, then owned by Newhouse Broadcasting. During World War II, he traveled to the Pacific for a month as a war correspondent for WSYR/NBC; according to the Syracuse Press Club, “[h]e is believed to be the only war correspondent accredited personally by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.” Vadeboncoeur eventually became the General Manager of WSYR radio and television station operations, and was actively involved in the expansion of Newhouse Broadcasting’s holdings in states ranging from Pennsylvania to Oregon. He was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, and was known as the “dean of Syracuse newsmen.”
E.R. “Curly” Vadeboncoeur from NYS Broadcasters Association on Vimeo:
Today in 1942, Curly’s news post included some colorful language about one of the Third Reich’s top men, Herman Goering. As Goering had been in and out of the news at this time, Curly took the opportunity to call him out for what he thought Goering really was- a hypocrite. Below are pieces from his report from January 29th, 1942 time-stamped 7:15 P.M.
“Herman Goering, the gargantuan, fat Nazi No. 2 who – in spite of his love of too much rich food, red wine and rowdy bibbing parties, along with an effeminate mania for ridiculously gaudy clothes – has been called ‘the Brutal Buccaneer,’ had been absent from the news for a long time up to today- a suspiciously long time.”
Curly goes on to explain how, after the Russians had beaten their propaganda drum, creating “the story that Hitler denounced Goering as a coward…for his failure in Russia,” Goering makes a miraculous comeback into the news, seemingly without change to his standing within the Reich. He also mentions that this wasn’t a surprise to anyone as, “he’s the sort of adventurer who cannot be kept down, no matter how much you permit him to gorge himself on fattening foods…”
Later, Curly begins to poke holes in the core of Nazi beliefs, calling out Goering on his lifestyle “while he was thundering how badly underprivileged they were and how they must fight for living space and the right to prosperity” all the while sitting in his 100,000 acre estate.
He comments, too, on the top Nazi officials as a whole, calling them a “queer crew” though “none stranger than the fat Falstaff, that corseted, bulging, freakish, Brutal Buccaneer, Herman Goering.”