Category Archives: Tom Treanor

Pearl Harbor Survivor Kills Himself

Can’t draw? You too can be a famous cartoonist. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Jan. 10, 1942:  Pearl Harbor survivor William Parks kills himself in San Francisco after going AWOL. “His note to his wife indicated that … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Immigration, Religion, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Navy Releases Accounts of Pearl Harbor

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Dec. 22, 1941: The Navy releases three personal accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack. Many acts of heroism are described, and these few lines shed more light on the presence of African … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

War Cancels Rose Parade, Dec. 14, 1941

Note: This is a post from 2011. Dec. 14, 1941: The Rose Parade is canceled and the Rose Bowl – between Duke and Oregon State – is moved to Durham, N.C. The streets of Pasadena were oddly quiet on New … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | Leave a comment

Navy Releases Accounts of Pearl Harbor

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Dec. 22, 1941: The Navy releases three personal accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack. Many acts of heroism are described, and these few lines shed more light on the presence of African … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

War Cancels Rose Parade, Dec. 14, 1941

Note: This is a post from 2011. Dec. 14, 1941: The Rose Parade is canceled and the Rose Bowl – between Duke and Oregon State – is moved to Durham, N.C. The streets of Pasadena were oddly quiet on New … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | 4 Comments

Times War Correspondent Tom Treanor Dies Covering the Liberation of France

Aug. 18, 1944 Times war correspondent Tom Treanor is injured in a Jeep accident while covering the liberation of France and dies of his injuries the next day. As I noted in a 2007 post, a journalism scholarship was established … Continue reading

Posted in Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

U.S. Troops Report Nazi Atrocities During Invasion, June 13, 1944

June 13, 1944 The Times reports the death of pilot Maj. Joseph D.R. Shaffer, 26, of Long Beach, who received the Silver Star and the  Distinguished Service Cross for shooting down a Nazi bomber near Reykjavik — the first German … Continue reading

Posted in 1944, Columnists, Comics, Film, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chaplin Indicted on Mann Act!

Feb. 11, 1944: A P-38 rushes from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara and back in an hour to get penicillin for a Jimmy Doyle, 15 months old, who has peritonitis. “Precious little of the stuff is available and that is … Continue reading

Posted in 1944, Art & Artists, Aviation, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Medicine, New York, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What to Expect in 1944

Jan. 1, 1945: We jumped ahead to see what The Times considered the top stories of 1944, the year we’re going to focus on in 2014. The D-Day (current Times style being D-day) invasion is the most important story, followed … Continue reading

Posted in 1944, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas With a P-40 Squadron, 1943

Dec. 27, 1943: The British sink the Nazi battleship Scharnhorst off the coast of Norway. With the loss of the Scharnhorst, and the sinking of the Bismarck in 1941, the Nazis were left with the Tirpitz, the sister ship of … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Tells of Fighting on Tarawa

Dec. 12, 1943: Times columnist Tom Treanor, who will be killed in August 1944 covering the liberation of France, files a story about fighting between U.S. and Nazi troops around Filignano, Italy, about 100 miles southeast of Rome.   Crawling in … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Animals, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Photography, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

American Troops Enter Bomb-Shattered Naples

Oct. 4, 1943: Tom Treanor, who will be killed in a Jeep accident in France, writes about the liberation of Naples. “The Germans left Naples in a truly deplorable condition. In a huge hospital for incurables I myself saw 70 … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Main Street, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Navy Doctors Defuse ‘Human Bomb’

Sept. 19, 1943: In a story delayed for wartime, the Associated Press reports that Allen L. Gordon, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., fire control operator third class, was struck Dec. 2 with a 20-millimeter antiaircraft shell that lodged in his … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Hollywood, Labor, Medicine, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Escaped Soldier Denies Attacking Former Screen Star

Sept. 11, 1943: The Times features the Los Angeles Times-Army Ordnance in Action Show being held at Exposition Park. The Times promised that “visitors will see the massive 32-ton Gen. Sherman tanks whose tough armor and deadly firepower blasted the … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Action by FDR Averts Streetcar Strike!

July 25, 1943: President Roosevelt intervenes in the planned Pacific Electric Railway strike, saying that he did not want to use Army trucks to transport war supplies. The strike centered on a raise of 13 cents an hour, which has … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Man Shoots Companion in Search for Prowler

   Nancy and Sluggo in all their vintage glory. July 19, 1943: The Times publishes a list of casualties from the Army and Navy. Francis Joseph Montclair was a motor machinist second class and is buried in Honolulu. Lt. Cmdr. … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Comics, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stripper Discharged From Waacs Was Out of Uniform – and Everything Else

Dec. 15, 1942: Some restaurants close for lack of butter, meat and sugar due to wartime food rationing. And people rush to the Pike amusement park in Long Beach after rumors that it had plenty of hamburger, which is scarce … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, Columnists, Comics, Food and Drink, Stage, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Death Rolls the Dice in Friends’ Fatal Craps Game

Oct. 12, 1942: Walter Miller, a 31-year-old lumberyard foreman, and his friend Eddie “Red” Phillips, a 32-year-old mechanic, were shooting dice in the living room of Phillips’ home, 1442 E. 59th St., when they began arguing. Miller was stabbed during … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

2 Die in Fiery Crash on Arroyo Seco Parkway

Sept. 9, 1942: Two people died when they were trapped in a burning car on the Arroyo Seco Parkway in South Pasadena after the gas tank exploded in a fiery crash at the Fair Oaks Avenue exit. John Lucas and … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Eurasian Held on Suspicion of Being Japanese

    June 23, 1942: Meet Stanwood Gertz Jr., who was arrested because he was suspected of being Japanese. Gertz told detectives he was German, Chinese and Hawaiian – and his dyed hair presumably made him even more suspicious. The … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment