Cy O’Brien makes media splash before, during CC conference
The front page of the Daily Press, Sept. 18, 2009.
by Don Knight, Awards Chairman
Cy “Obie” O’Brien wrote hundreds of stories about his fellow Marines during combat on Pacific islands during World War II.
That was more than 60 years ago. Today, it’s a different story. It’s all about this 90-year-old warrior, the former sergeant and newspaperman who carried a typewriter and rifle to the beaches of Guam and Iwo Jima in 1944 and 1945.
O’Brien is not looking for the spotlight but when his hometown newspaper heard about his wartime exploits a reporter and a photographer came to his apartment seeking an interview and a photo. They got both. The story and large headline (“Former Combat Correspondent Looks Back on World War II”), and the color photo dominated the front page of the Silver Spring , Md. Gazette on Sept. 9.
That was just the beginning. He came to the annual USMCCCA conference at Hampton , VA one week later and was interviewed by the military writer for the Newport News/Hampton Daily Press. A large color photo of O’Brien, a long story and headline (“History Began at His Fingers”) covered most of the front page on Sept. 18. The “fingers” had to do with the Hermes typewriter O’Brien used to write stories from the war zone.
All of this works well for O’Brien’s own writing project, a book about Marine combat correspondents that he hopes to finish in 2010. Also sitting in on the Hampton interview was Cpl. Tyson Holm, Combat Cameraman of the Year in the USMCCCA’s Merit Awards program and Col. Bryan F. Salas, director of public affairs for the Marine Corps.
The Daily Press reporter taped everything that was said at the interview while O’Brien scribbled notes of his own when Holm talked about his recent duty in Afghanistan. “Good stuff for my book.” said O’Brien.
The splash of media coverage has generated a surge of phone calls and invitations to speak and attend events in the weeks ahead. Upon return to the sprawling Leisure World complex outside Washington , D.C. there was a call from the Marine Commandant’s office inviting him to the Corps’ birthday ball in November.
One local high school has booked him as a speaker; a Japanese historical group wants him to speak; a veterans group at the retirement community wants him to schedule a speaker from the ranks of Marines returning from Afghanistan; he has been invited to the christening of a guided missile ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Oct. 10 and he has heard from natives of Guam now living in Maryland about his wartime service on the island.
O’Brien has returned to Guam 12 times and to Iwo Jima 4 times since the war. He returned to his birthplace in Newfoundland this year to present a plaque to Canadian war veterans. Before traveling to Hampton he attended the annual reunion of the Third Marine Division at Philadelphia .
The schedule ahead does not faze this former Marine combat correspondent.
“Have cane, will travel,” he said.