Skip to main content
USNI Logo USNI Logo USNI Logo
Donate
  • Cart
  • Join or Log In
  • Search

Main navigation

  • About Us
  • Membership
  • Books & Press
  • USNI News
  • Proceedings
  • Naval History
  • Archives
  • Events
  • Donate
USNI Logo USNI Logo USNI Logo
Donate
  • Cart
  • Join or Log In
  • Search

Main navigation (Sticky)

  • About Us
  • Membership
  • Books & Press
  • USNI News
  • Proceedings
  • Naval History
  • Archives
  • Events
  • Donate

Sub Menu

  • Essay Contests
    • About Essay Contests
  • Current Issue
  • Subscribe to Naval History
    • Naval History Digital Subscription
    • Renew Your Subscription
  • Naval History Blog
  • Submisison Guidelines
  • Contact Naval History
    • Media Inquiries
  • All Issues
McMullen
Jack McMullen at the radio
(Courtesy of the Author)

Sub Menu

  • Essay Contests
    • About Essay Contests
  • Current Issue
  • Subscribe to Naval History
    • Naval History Digital Subscription
    • Renew Your Subscription
  • Naval History Blog
  • Submisison Guidelines
  • Contact Naval History
    • Media Inquiries
  • All Issues

Radioman Jack McMullen: A Colorful Career

The role a radioman played in the Invasion of Sicily during World War II.
By Niles Laughner
June 2022
Naval History Magazine
Article
View Issue
Comments

“Radioman” Jack McMullen was living the best story he would ever have to tell, the most exciting yarn anyone could imagine broadcasting to their listeners across western Pennsylvania . . . well, sort of. This future DJ was not in Pennsylvania, and not even in the United State, McMullen was in a crash course on wireless transmission skills, under pressure, where he was known as Radioman First Class John McMullen, now four years into a six-year stint with the U.S. Coast Guard. His broadcast studio was on board the USS LCI 324, plowing through the waves off Salerno, Italy. His creative instincts were in abeyance; the horrific sights and constantly changing details of the carnage and confusion around him occupied his airtime, there was no script and coverage was supremely small—other isolated radio receivers bobbed in the water all around him, one to a ship, and his audience consisted of other operators. There were no commercial breaks, no station identification jingles—just harried, frantic messages that spelled immediate life or death to hundreds of Americans, if not Jack himself.

Premium
Subscriber-Only Content

Don't miss out.
Subscribe to
Naval History today.

Subscribe Today

Already subscribed?
Sign in to continue reading.

Niles Laughner

Mr. Laughner is a freelance writer specializing in the intersection of military and social history, and drawing from previously unpublished material.

More Stories From This Author View Biography

Related Articles

Major General Geoffrey Keyes and General Bernard L. Montgomery at Army Headquarters in the palace at Palermo from which General Patton directed the Allied campaign along the north coast of Sicily.
P Article

Planning for Sicily

By Richard M. Leighton
May 1962
The history books record that in January 1943 the leaders of Great Britain and the United States decided to invade Sicily the following summer, and that in July 1943, right ...
British LCIs loaded with American troops during Operation Avalanche
P Article

The Allied Navies at Salerno: Operation Avalanche—September, 1943

By Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, U. S. Navy (Retired)
September 1953
The operation's commander recalls the successful landings on the beaches of the Gulf of Salerno, Italy on 9 September 1943.
NH Article

'There Ain't Nuthin' Like Navy Guns'

By Craig L. Symonds
October 2018
Seventy-five years ago, U.S. and British naval gunfire was a key ingredient in securing the Allied landings on Sicily and at Salerno, Italy. Nearly a full year before the Japanese ...

Quicklinks

Footer menu

  • About the Naval Institute
  • Books & Press
  • Naval History Magazine
  • USNI News
  • Proceedings
  • Oral Histories
  • Events
  • Naval Institute Foundation
  • Photos & Historical Prints
  • Naval Institute Archives

Receive the Newsletter

Sign up to get updates about new releases and event invitations.

Sign Up Now
Example NewsletterPrivacy Policy
USNI Logo White
Copyright © 2022 U.S. Naval Institute Privacy PolicyTerms of UseContact UsAdvertise With UsFAQContent LicenseMedia Inquiries
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Powered by Unleashed Technologies