Axis Sally

Biography

Timeline

1. during the war

   Overseas music and propaganda broadcasts

   According to Bill's account, broadcasters played American servicemen's favorite music, then interrupted with false news and threats intended to demoralize troops. Iris's quotation naming Willis Retzlaff and Mainz is explicitly an example.

   Iris's Chapter

Stories mentioning Axis

• Gathered Around the Radio: Music and Wartime NewsIris recalls the constantly playing radio and the Moline Daily Dispatch as the family's main news sources, including news that might affect Uncle Lloyd in New Guinea. The family mourned President Roosevelt around the radio, but also enjoyed singing and dancing to popular songs and big bands. She recounts Bill's description of overseas propaganda broadcasts mixing favorite music with frightening, specific military information; she attributes that information to spies within the U.S. government. She remembers divided reactions to the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, her father's approval, and Harry Truman's presidency.

Referenced in

• Iris's Chapter — RADIO DAYS