Tom Grandin

Thomas "Tom" Grandin (b. July 19, 1907—d. Oct. 19 1977) was an American broadcast journalist during World War II. He, along with several other reporters, were known as "Murrow's Boys". Grandin was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Early career

Grandin graduated from Yale University in 1930 and studied international law at the University of Berlin and L'Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris. While Grandin was in Paris he worked at the International Chamber of Commerce.

Grandin as a journalist

In 1939 Grandin became the second reporter hired by Edward R. Murrow and one of the original Murrow's Boys. Though Grandin had no journalism experience Murrow hired him anyway, mostly for his language skills and his expertise in international issues. Grandin began covering Paris for Murrow and CBS but abruptly left Europe in 1940.

Paris fell to the German onslaught in 1940 and Grandin decided he had to return to the United States. His reasons were personal. Initially, Grandin intended to send only his wife back to the States but because she was Romainian and lacked an American passport she would not have been allowed into the country without him. While Murrow understood Grandin's reasoning others at CBS, including William Shirer, saw Grandin as a deserter.

In 1944 Grandin took a job with ABC News covering the war. In June of that year he accompanied the first American troops to land at Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day. Grandin retired from broadcasting after the war and went to work as a sales executive.

References

Bernstein Mark, World War II on the air: Edward R Murrow and the broadcasts that riveted a nation (Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc, 2003)