Paul Harvey healed for 'rest of the story': legend credits God with allowing him to comment on war

Paul Harvey served in the Army Air Corps from 1942-1944. I'm not sure what his job was, and he's never tried to present himself as a war hero. Regarding his stateside service, there were millions of Americans in uniform during WWII who served their nation honorably--and never left the CONUS. That's the way it is in the military; for every soldier, sailor, or airman on the frontlines, there are 7-9 behind the lines, performing necessary support functions. In my own military career, I "fought" the Persian Gulf War from a desk in Virginia, but I flew combat missions in Bosnia and Haiti.

BTW, Paul Harvey Jr. (the "announcer" on Paul Harvey's morning newscast, and writer of the "Rest of the Story" program) reportedly made full use of his student deferments to avoid military service in the Vietnam era, putting him in the same league as Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney, among others. In fact, Paul Sr. made a famous broadcast about the war, beginning it with a remark directed toward LBJ. "Mr President, I love you, but you're wrong," he began. Harvey went on to express his doubts about the war and the American lives being wasted in that conflict. Legend has it that Paul Sr. changed his hawkish views on Vietnam at the urging of his wife and son, who had a different take on the war.

One more note: in one of the few "bad" moves of his career, a young Paul Harvey left Hawaii in late November 1941, convinced that a war between the U.S. and Japan would never happen. If he had stayed a month longer, America's most famous radio voice might have been discovered a decade earlier....

Paul Harvey served in the Army Air Corps from 1942-1944. I'm not sure what his job was, and he's never tried to present himself as a war hero.

Interesting he only served 'til 1944, that should tell you something ... fact is, he was discharged from the military under less than honorable conditions ... thus the reluctance to talk about his WWII experience.

Paul Harvey/Andy Rooney- one word: WHY???

I'm sure they are both very nice men, and I'm aware they've been very successful, but they both seem utterly lacking in talent/brains.anything even remotely interesting to say.

I've not exactly seen brilliance and wit flying from your keyboard, but here you are anyway!

I've not exactly seen brilliance and wit flying from your keyboard, but here you are anyway!

Yes, but you have the wit to discern that- I would not expect people to praise me for my wit or brilliance, nor would I listen to myself if I had a radio program- people do, for reasons best known to themselves, listen to and enjoy the natterings of P. Harvey/Andy Rooney.

One more note...Harvey didn't become a well-known radio personality until the late 1940s, when he moved to Chicago from St. Louis. Until then, he knocked around several markets, including Tulsa (his hometown), followed by a stint managing a small station in Kansas; Kalamazoo, Michigan (where he worked with a young sportscaster named Harry Carey), and Honolulu. After leaving the Army Air Corps, he found a job at KXOK in St. Louis where he met and married his wife, Angel. It was Angel who convinced him to leave St. Louis and make the move to Chicago. Within a year of arriving in the Windy City, his latenight newscast was #1 in the ratings. BTW, Harvey's original Chicago program aired on WEAR, which shared the 890 frequency with WLS until the early 1950s. ABC, which owned WLS, liked Harvey and took him national in 1950, as I recall.

BTW, while Paul Harvey is an exceptionally talented broadcaster, his wife is the driving force behind the family media empire and son Paul Jr. deserves the credit for "the rest of the story." However, ABC balked at the idea of annoiting Paul Jr. to inherit his father's throne. Last I heard, the younger Harvey no longer subsitutes for his father and indicates that when his father leaves the air, he plans to retire as well.

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