Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack

Charles Osgood, Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack: A Boyhood Year During World War II (New York: Hyperion, 2004), 139 pages, a few photos.

Charlie Osgood Wood was just shy of nine when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor.  He and his sister were at an afternoon Christmas program at church when a nun came onstage and told them Pearl Harbor had been attacked and they needed to go home and tell their parents (this was before news became ubiquitous ).  Walking home with his sister, the two discussed the events, assuming Pearl Harbor's value was in its pearls and wondering if Japan didn't have enough pearls already.  He soon learned the truth as the horrors of war became known to the people of America.  Yet, it was a good time to be a child and Baltimore was far from the front lines. 

 Osgood (he later dropped "Wood" and used "Charles Osgood" as his professional name) spent a life in media.  He suggests that the manual labor of the liberty garden led him to seek an easier occupation.  At 83, he finally retired from CBS this past year.  In tributes to him, I learned of this book and sought out a copy to read.  In this memoir of a year of his childhood, we learn how the seeds of a lifelong career were nourished in a boy who loved baseball but also played the piano and organ and wrote poetry.

This is a touching memoir set in the first year of America’s involvement in World War II.  Although just a kid, Charlie begins to follow the world action by placing flags on a world map in his bedroom.  He does what he can for the war effort but sees a "victory garden" as questionable as it grows everything he hates.  He also wondered if the Japanese are planting "loser gardens."  When his father tells him about Japanese rock gardens, he is really confused.  There is a wonderful chapter about being mesmerized by the radio, which would later become his profession.  He speaks highly of radio as the place where he learned creativity and developed an imagination that would help him succeed in radio and later in television.  As a boy, he's also caught up with baseball.  He has portraits of his two heroes on his wall, Babe Ruth and Franklin Roosevelt.  Ruth’s portrait is in the prominent position because Roosevelt wasn't from Baltimore.  In a day without television, he writes about the movies and movie stars.  This is a look back at what America was like for a middle class boy who was close to my father's age.


Although we learn a lot about Osgood, this book is also a tribute for his sister, as the two of them shared the experience of being children as the nation when to war.   In his acknowledgments, he credits his sister for helping him remember as he created this delightful book.   I highly recommend this as a quick and enjoyable read. 

14 comments:

  1. The manual labor on the farm made me want to seek a less physical job in life as well.

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  2. Loser garden? So funny! It's always interesting to look back on what confused you as a child.

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  3. I like Charles Osgood and imagine this period in history through the eyes of a child would be interesting. I also would enjoy the chapter about radio since that was an integral part of my own childhood.

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  4. From the line where you tell us he dropped the "Wood" forward I could actually hear his voice reading the rest of this well done review.

    I was about the same age as he when JFK was assassinated, and got the first knowledge of it the same way, a nun who sent us home as well. Pearl Harbor was the turning point of Osgood's generation and I look at the murder of JFK as the seminal moment of my own.

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  5. Listened to "The Osgood File" many times on radio and think I would enjoy this. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  6. This sounds great! Thanks for sharing your views on it. Happy New Year to you.

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  7. Just stopped by to say Happy New Year and I hope it's the best one ever!

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful read - I adore Charles Osgood and miss him on Sunday mornings.

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  9. You've just given me my second non-fiction book for my 2017 list. I used to listen to the Charles Osgood File and loved it!

    Here's to a wonderful 2017 and more adventures.

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  10. Sounds like a good read with an interesting point of view.

    Wishing you all the best in 2017!

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  11. Sounds as though he had an innocent yet wise soul, even as a youngster. Thank you for another worthy book recommendation.
    All the best in 2017, Sage.

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  12. This sounds like an interesting read. I hadn't heard of it before, but I am intrigued. I love that he credits his sister in helping him remember. :)

    Wishing you a happy and healthy 2017!
    ~Jess

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  13. Sounds very interesting, he's sure a favorite of mine and when it was possible I always enjoyed watching him on Sunday mornings!

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  14. Sounds a good read, and glad you enjoyed it.
    I do hope 2017 is being good to you, so far!

    All the best Jan

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