Byron Darnton

Byron Darnton (November 8, 1897 – October 18, 1942) was an American reporter and war correspondent for The New York Times in the Pacific theater during World War II.

He was killed in 1942 by a bomb dropped from an American B-25 Mitchell bomber, the tenth American war correspondent killed in action in the war. Darnton's work in reporting on the war in the Pacific was respected by military officials, including General Douglas MacArthur, who personally reported Darnton's death to the Times and Darnton's widow.

Journalism career Darnton was born November 8, 1897, in Adrian, Michigan. His interest in journalism began in adolescence, when he and his family visited his uncle Charles Darnton, a drama critic for Joseph Pulitzer's Evening World in New York, New York. After leaving high school in 1917, Darnton joined the American Expeditionary Force and served in World War I, before returning to the United States and entering the University of Michigan, where he joined the fraternity of Sigma Phi. Darnton had served with the 32nd Infantry Division during World War I and was looking forward to reporting its operations in World War II. Darnton, suffering a shrapnel head wound, died in a boat on the way to shore and Lt. Adam Bruce Fahnestock, prewar South Seas explorer and then head of the Small Ships Section, hit in the spine, died in the arms of the King John's severely wounded Australian Chief Engineer moments after reaching shore.

Darnton's passing was marked by many other journalists and officials, including General Douglas MacArthur, who wired to The Times that “He served with gallantry and devotion at the front and fulfilled the important duties of war correspondent with distinction to himself and The New York Times and with value to his country.” Darnton and Fahnestock were buried side by side with British, Australian and American war correspondents acting as pall bearers.

The Byron Darnton In 1943, a 10,500-ton Liberty ship was christened with Darnton's name in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship was launched by his widow Eleanor and her sons, John and Bob. Bob wrote his name on the hull in crayon. Both sons followed in their father's footsteps and became journalists. John Darnton joined The New York Times as a copy boy in 1966 and went on to work for The New York Times for four decades. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for his coverage of Poland under martial law when he smuggled stories out of the country. Robert later became a renowned cultural historian. The ship sailed a regular run to Murmansk through the remainder of the war. On March 16, 1946, the Byron Darnton ran aground in an easterly gale off the coast of Sanda Island in the North Channel off the coast of Scotland. Darnton used it in 1930 after a New York cocktail party, which was later reported in Harper's Monthly in 1937, two years before Leo Rosten used it at a banquet.