Merrill Mueller (January 27, 1916 – November 30, 1980) was an American journalist whose reporting included breaking the story of
Hitler's invasion of Poland. He worked for numerous news agencies including the Independent News Service and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. While working for NBC he covered, along with other news anchors, the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...
.
Biography
Merrill Mueller was born in 1916 in New York City.
His father, Carl Mueller (1892–1970), was a noted artist and illustrator.
Mueller attended public schools in Connecticut before taking one year at
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...
. Dropping out, he began his career as a reporter at the ''Buffalo Times'' before moving to New York and eventually moving to get a job at the Independent News Service (INS) in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
At the direction of the INS he briefly covered the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
before moving to report from France, years later while visiting
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
he uncovered
Hitler's plan to invade Poland.
Quickly traveling back to Paris he broke the story to America. He continued to cover the war and reported live the fall of France. In 1942 he resigned from INS to become an NBC reporter, breaking all the main events in the European theatre. During the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
on D-Day (June 6, 1944), he filed reports from Eisenhower's headquarters.
During the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
, when Germany surprised the Allies by breaking out at the Ardennes Forest, Mueller reported on how the Soviets were refusing to communicate with General Eisenhower, the head of the
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...
, during the battle.
Amid fears of scandal if the British and American public found out about Stalin's silence, the story was suppressed and Mueller was banished from the European theatre.
Mueller was then transferred back to America before moving on to cover the war against the Japanese. There he reported on the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and he made the broadcast that reported the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
.
After the war Mueller directed NBC's London bureau for four years before returning to America in 1952. There he covered the presidential desk for NBC as well as producing a number of radio and TV programs. During Alan Shepard's historic
Freedom 7 mission on May 5, 1961, Mueller was again the broadcaster and after famously reporting, "'He looks so lonely up there …' he fell silent for the first time in his career."
Even after returning to the United States, Mueller covered international events; for example, in 1965, he co-anchored NBC's coverage of the
state funeral of Winston Churchill with
Chet Huntley
Chester Robert Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkley Report,'' for 14 years beginning in 1956.
Early life
Hunt ...
and
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997.
From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkle ...
from London.
In 1968 he left NBC for the
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
before retiring in 1979; he died one year later.
With his wife Jane, Merrill Mueller had two sons, Kenneth and Kevin.
Mueller received an award from the
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...
for "the best reporting of foreign affairs from abroad by radio" in 1947.
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, Merrill
1916 births
1980 deaths
American people of the Vietnam War
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
Springfield College alumni
American war correspondents of World War II
Journalists from New York City