Webley Edwards (November 11, 1902 – October 5, 1977) was one of the leading

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

correspondents for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. Before and after WWII, he was a nationally syndicated

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

host and, later in life, a Hawaiian state politician.

Early life and education

Edwards was the starting quarterback at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

for two seasons while also serving as the first student manager of the campus-based state public radio station (

KOAC (AM) KOAC (550 AM) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener supported, public radio, public radio station city of license, licensed to Corvallis, Oregon. The station is owned by Oregon Public Broadcasting, and airs OPB's talk r ...

). Edwards was also an active member in the campus

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...

journalism fraternity as a student.

Career

Initial radio career

In 1928 Edwards relocated to

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

where he became an auto salesman and played for the Scotty Schuman's Town

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

football team. It was during this time he developed a keen interest in Native Hawaiian musical traditions. In 1935 he became a producer for a radio show which showcased authentic island music. The show, named ''

Hawaii Calls ''Hawaii Calls'' was a radio program broadcast live from Waikiki Beach from 1935 through 1975 that reached 750 stations world-wide at the height of its popularity. It featured live Hawaiian music by an 11-piece dance orchestra conducted by Ha ...

'' debuted on July 3 of that year. The show struggled financially for the first several years.

The war years

Edwards was the station manager at

KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside dual NBC/Telemundo affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed KFVE ...

in late 1941. Edwards was the first radio announcer to broadcast the attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

by the Japanese. It was he who said on air: "Attention. This is no exercise. The Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor!....All Army, Navy and Marine personnel to report to duty". After the attack, Edwards worked as Pacific Bureau manager for CBS Radio. Among his most notable experiences was landing the first interview with

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his moth ...

, the pilot of the ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel (United States), Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the Atomi ...

'' which dropped the atomic bomb over

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

. Edwards, of CBS, was one of only two broadcast journalists aboard the USS ''Missouri'' during the surrender ceremony at

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

on September 2, 1945. He was the "chief announcer" for the ceremony,

Merrill Mueller 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. ...

of NBC was the "narrator." Edwards has the distinction of being the only broadcaster to witness the very beginning and end of the United States' involvement in World War II.

Radio career after the war

Edwards returned to radio broadcasting Hawaiian music. ''

'' ran for 37 years. He wrote lyrics (with Leon Pober) to the popular song, "Pearly Shells" recorded by Burl Ives, Don Ho, Billy Vaughn and Hank Snow, to name a few. Edwards' popularity was evident in that he served in the Hawaiian Territorial & State Legislature from 1952-1966 and as a Hawaiian State Senator from 1966–1968. He died of a heart attack in 1977.

Politics

Edwards was a member of the

Hawaii Territorial Legislature The Hawaii Territorial Legislature was the legislative body of the Territory of Hawaii from 1900 to 1959 (when Hawaii became a state). The Hawaii Territorial Legislature was established on April 30, 1900, by the Hawaiian Organic Act which establ ...

References

External links

Space Age Pop Music ProfileYahoo Music Bio Tribute to Webley Elgin Edwards in Broadcasting Magazine, 18 May, 1942 - re: his broadcasts of 7 December, 1941
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Webley 1902 births 1977 deaths American radio personalities American radio reporters and correspondents American male journalists Oregon State University alumni Members of the Hawaii Territorial Legislature Hawaii Republicans