Colonel Richard Ernest Dupuy (March 24, 1887 – April 25, 1975) was a United States Army officer and military historian.
Before his National Guard artillery unit was called to serve in World War I, Dupuy was a reporter with the New York Herald. He transferred to the regular army after the war, serving in a number of public relations roles. During World War II, Dupuy served as acting director of public relations at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, on D-Day, Dupuy was the first to announce on radio that the invasion of Normandy was taking place.[1][2] He was also present for the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin on May 8, 1945.[1]
Dupuy retired from the Army after the war and became a military historian, working with his son Trevor N. Dupuy.
Richard Ernest Dupuy was born on March 24, 1887, in New York City. He aspired to a career in the United States Army but his family's circumstances required him to go out to work at the age of 17. He spent three years in various clerical roles before finding employment as a junior reporter at the New York Herald. In November 1909, Dupuy joined the New York Army National Guard as a private. In April 1915, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.[1][3] By 1917, Dupuy had become the Herald's shipping news editor and a features editor. After the United States joined World War I in 1917, he was deployed to France where he served in command of an artillery battery and as a staff officer of an artillery regiment. At the end of the war, Dupuy transferred to the US Army, accepting a regular commission.[1]
Dupuy was married to Laura Nevitt Dupuy, who was an accomplished illustrator and artist,[4] and their son Trevor Nevitt Dupuy was born in New York City on May 3, 1919.[5]
Richard Ernest Dupuy reads Communiqué Number One of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force announcing the invasion of Normandy
After the outbreak of World War II, Dupuy was with the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations in Washington.[1]
Dupuy joined the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in 1943 as news chief and acting director of public relations, reporting to supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. He played a key part in publicizing the Allied landings on D-Day, the first day of the invasion of Normandy, when he had the role of officially announcing the operation on radio.[1][2] In a broadcast at 12:32 amPacific Time (3:32 amEastern War Time) on June 6, 1944, he announced that "Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France".[1][7] This announcement, known as Communiqué Number One, was so short that Dupuy read it out twice in a row.[7]
Dupuy remained with SHAEF for the rest of the war. He was present when the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Berlin on May 8, 1945.[1]
Dupuy was a military historian and had written a number of books in the inter-war years during his spare time. He returned to this passion in retirement and wrote 100 articles and short stories, as well as 22 published books.[1] Dupuy often collaborated with his son, also a military historian, who had served in the US Army as a colonel and commanded an artillery battery during the Burma campaign.[8]
^Graduates, United States Military Academy Association of (1991). Assembly. Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy. p. 17 (Volume L, No. 3).
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United States Army
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