Schoenbrun, David Franz (32904876)

David Franz Schoenbrun
Personal details
Birth name	David Franz Schoenbrun
Born	15 March 1915 New York City
Died	23 May 1988 New York City
Nativity	United States
Religion	Jewish
Known for	Journalist
Awards	French Croix de Guerre; French Legion of Honor
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32904876
Camp Ritchie	Class 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943)
Enlisted	New York City, New York

Awards and honors

French Croix de Guerre	French Legion of Honor

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David Franz Schoenbrun (15 March 1915 – 23 May 1988) was an American broadcast journalist who entered Camp Ritchie Class 9 in 1943 and served in military intelligence and as a war correspondent from North Africa to the liberation of France, and who was later CBS News bureau chief in Paris and one of "Murrow's Boys".

Biography

David Franz Schoenbrun was born on 15 March 1915 in New York City. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1934, where he also did graduate work, he taught French and Spanish and became a freelance writer. In 1941 he went to Europe with the Office of War Information as editor of its Western European desk.

Schoenbrun enlisted in the Army in New York City in 1943. Recruited to Camp Ritchie for his knowledge of French, he entered Class 9 (French) on 21 June 1943 but was dropped from the class. Assigned to military intelligence, he served as an operations intelligence officer with the Office of War Information in Algiers and as a war correspondent from North Africa through the liberation of France, covering the invasion of southern France in 1944. He was decorated with the French Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor.

Schoenbrun joined CBS in May 1947, when Edward R. Murrow appointed him chief Paris correspondent, and he remained with the network until 1964, primarily as Paris bureau chief, interviewing President Charles de Gaulle several times; he was one of the correspondents known as "Murrow's Boys." In 1954 he was the only American correspondent inside the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, and he was the first broadcast journalist to report from North Vietnam; he later wrote that he had tried without success to warn Americans that only the Communists could win in Vietnam after the French defeat. He received the Alfred I. duPont Award in 1959. He left CBS in 1964 after a policy dispute and from the 1960s through the 1980s was a news analyst for WNEW Radio and other Metromedia stations and later for WPIX Television and its Independent Network News; he also presented a weekly program for United Nations radio and was Murrow Professor Emeritus at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. His books include On and Off the Air, a history of CBS News, and several best-selling works on wartime France and Charles de Gaulle; he became one of the best-known American Francophiles. Schoenbrun died of a heart attack at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan on 23 May 1988, aged 73.

Research notes

• See 'Notables'

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	73
Nara ASN	32904876
Nara Name	SCHOENBRUN DAVID F
Nara State	23
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	100543
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	23
Nativity.1	NEW YORK
Nara Year of Birth	15
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	8
Nara Civilian Occupation	6
Nara Marital Status	2
Nara Height (inches)	4
Nara Weight (lbs)	137
row_source	demographics

Timeline

• 15 March 1915 — Born in New York City.
• 1934 — Graduated from City College of New York.
• 1941 — Editor of the Office of War Information's Western European desk.
• 1943 — Enlisted in the U.S. Army.
• 21 June 1943 — Entered Class 9 (French) but ‘Dropped’.
• 1944 — Covered the invasion of southern France.
• May 1947 — Joined CBS as chief Paris correspondent.
• 1954 — Only American correspondent inside the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu.
• 1959 — Received the Alfred I. duPont Award.
• 1964 — Left CBS.
• 23 May 1988 — Died in Manhattan, New York City.

Sources

• Wikipedia: David Schoenbrun
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of David F. Schoenbrun for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Schoenbrun, David F. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 2 source files: DAVID F. SCHOENBRUN.doc, DAVID SCHOENBRUN.doc)