Robert Sherrod

Robert Lee Sherrod (February 8, 1909 – February 13, 1994) was an American journalist, editor and writer. He was a war correspondent for Time and Life magazines, covering combat from World War II to the Vietnam War. During World War II, embedded with the United States Marine Corps, he covered the battles at Attu (with the U.S. Army), Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He also authored five books on World War II, including Tarawa: The Story of a Battle and the definitive History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II (1952). He was an editor of Time during World War II and later editor of The Saturday Evening Post, then vice-president of Curtis Publishing Company.

Early years and family Robert Lee Sherrod was born on February 8, 1909, in Thomas County, Georgia. He graduated from The University of Georgia in 1929. He was married three times – to Elizabeth Hudson from 1936 until her death in 1958; to Margaret Carson, the prominent American publicist, from 1961 until 1972; and to Mary Gay Labrot Leonhardt from 1972 until her death in 1978. He had two sons, John and Robert L. Jr.

Journalism career After Sherrod's college graduation, he worked for newspapers in the South until 1935, when he joined Time, Inc. In 1940, William Saroyan listed him among "contributing editors" at Time in the play, Love's Old Sweet Song.

During World War II, Sherrod covered the Pacific War for TIME and LIFE magazines – accompanying the Marines into battle at Attu (with the U.S. Army), Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He later wrote the book On to Westward: The Battles of Saipan and Iwo Jima about his experiences on Saipan and Iwo Jima. Unfortunately, Sherrod also admitted to being responsible for spreading the rumor that Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph of the Marines' second flag raising on Mount Suribachi was "staged"; he later confessed that he was wrong and apologized. . In 1944 he was also responsible for repeating and amplifying the spurious charges of Marine General Holland Smith that the Army performed poorly during the invasion of Saipan, claiming in a September 1944 Time magazine article that a regiment of the 27th division "froze in their foxholes" during the gyokusai attack of 6–7 July, reigniting the controversy and further damaging Marine/Army relations.

He was later a war correspondent in Korea and in Vietnam. including:

He also worked with NASA on a book about the Apollo missions: