The Captain
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 259
This item appeared today in my local paper.
Jean 'Reveille with Beverly' Hay dies
Fortuna resident a household name in WWII
Andrew Bird
The Times-Standard
FORTUNA -- Beverly's final reveille sounded Saturday night.
Jean Beverly Hay, who under the radio name "Reveille with Beverly" became a vital part of the propaganda effort to keep the morale of American forces high during the early dark days of World War II, died about 11 p.m. Saturday at Redwood Memorial Hospital.
Hay had celebrated her 87th birthday on Sept. 10, said Bob Hay, her son.
"The good part is she died quickly of natural causes without any suffering," said Hay, a Santa Barbara resident.
Hay and her husband, John, moved to Fortuna about four years ago from Santa Barbara, Hay said.
Hay's death brings to a close another chapter of the World War II story.
Hay started at a small Colorado radio station where she convinced the owner to let her have a slice of the early morning to broadcast a program to the troops at nearby Fort Logan.
This was in October 1941.
Within weeks the country was at war and her broadcasts took on a new importance.
Time magazine profiled Hay in January 1942, the same issue in which it named Franklin D. Roosevelt man of the year.
A photo profile in Life Magazine brought Hollywood calling with a movie offer and a chance to jump to a radio station with 10 times the wattage.
The movie was made. Hay says she declined an offer to star as herself, but she did accept the offer to move her program to 50,000-watt KNX radio in Hollywood.
Armed Services Radio began picking up her broadcasts and soon her program was pressed into vinyl and shipped to bases around the world.
The appeal of her broadcasts lay in Hay's cheery chatter, the music she played and her sense of humor, described by one GI as "sharp as jailhouse coffee."
"I would get more requests than I could possibly play," Hay told the Times-Standard in an interview last year. "I could only play a certain number, so I played the ones I liked the best."
Hay's final year was one of the best of her life, Bob Hay said.
In November she traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive an award for her service from the committee that built the memorial to World War II veterans.
In May she returned to the nation's capital to participate in the dedication of the memorial, the guest of the Smithsonian Institution, which featured her in the May issue of its magazine.
A private family service is planned later this week, Bob Hay said.
But the Fortuna chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is planning to hold a ceremony for Hay on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Hay said.
An extensive history of Hay's World War II exploits can be found at www.reveillewithbeverly.com
Jean 'Reveille with Beverly' Hay dies
Fortuna resident a household name in WWII
Andrew Bird
The Times-Standard
FORTUNA -- Beverly's final reveille sounded Saturday night.
Jean Beverly Hay, who under the radio name "Reveille with Beverly" became a vital part of the propaganda effort to keep the morale of American forces high during the early dark days of World War II, died about 11 p.m. Saturday at Redwood Memorial Hospital.
Hay had celebrated her 87th birthday on Sept. 10, said Bob Hay, her son.
"The good part is she died quickly of natural causes without any suffering," said Hay, a Santa Barbara resident.
Hay and her husband, John, moved to Fortuna about four years ago from Santa Barbara, Hay said.
Hay's death brings to a close another chapter of the World War II story.
Hay started at a small Colorado radio station where she convinced the owner to let her have a slice of the early morning to broadcast a program to the troops at nearby Fort Logan.
This was in October 1941.
Within weeks the country was at war and her broadcasts took on a new importance.
Time magazine profiled Hay in January 1942, the same issue in which it named Franklin D. Roosevelt man of the year.
A photo profile in Life Magazine brought Hollywood calling with a movie offer and a chance to jump to a radio station with 10 times the wattage.
The movie was made. Hay says she declined an offer to star as herself, but she did accept the offer to move her program to 50,000-watt KNX radio in Hollywood.
Armed Services Radio began picking up her broadcasts and soon her program was pressed into vinyl and shipped to bases around the world.
The appeal of her broadcasts lay in Hay's cheery chatter, the music she played and her sense of humor, described by one GI as "sharp as jailhouse coffee."
"I would get more requests than I could possibly play," Hay told the Times-Standard in an interview last year. "I could only play a certain number, so I played the ones I liked the best."
Hay's final year was one of the best of her life, Bob Hay said.
In November she traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive an award for her service from the committee that built the memorial to World War II veterans.
In May she returned to the nation's capital to participate in the dedication of the memorial, the guest of the Smithsonian Institution, which featured her in the May issue of its magazine.
A private family service is planned later this week, Bob Hay said.
But the Fortuna chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is planning to hold a ceremony for Hay on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Hay said.
An extensive history of Hay's World War II exploits can be found at www.reveillewithbeverly.com
