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Wow. They're playing an obituary on MSNBC. They must have had it in the can just waiting for him to keel over.

Best news anchor in my life time bar none. Remember watching the JFK story unfold, the protests in the south, and then 40 years ago, sitting around the black and white tv watching the Neil Armstrong on the moon.

BlueLion wrote:Best news anchor in my life time bar none.

I quite agree. I'm sure he was saddened by what today's media has evolved in to.


He became one of the top American reporters in World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. He was one of eight journalists selected by the U.S. Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress.[7] He also landed in a glider with the 101st Airborne in Operation Market-Garden and covered the Battle of the Bulge.

Salute!!!


And That's The Way It Was.

sad. A real journalist passes. Professionals like Uncle Walter are few and far between.

I recall reading a piece in Flying a good while back, one of the old-timers reminiscing - said he remembered a young bag-smasher (I think) leaving because he thought there might be a better career in broadcasting. That was Walter Cronkite.

I had the pleasure of ushering him to his seat at the memorial service for George Low in 1984. At least Cronkite had a lot longer shot at life.

I thought about him in the "week of death", when MJ and Farrah and McMahon died, and I thought it probably wouldn't be much longer for him. Very sad, the last true news man.

With all due respect to him; I swore he died like 10 years ago. I'm usually really good about knowing stuff like that. Hmmm..

RIP Walter.

He was an icon and interpreter of the media for a generation and half of Americans.

But he had his faults too. Remember his Tet offensive commentatry had a devestating effect on the war and in many way condemned the Vietnamse to the horrors of communist rule for 30 years.

L-188 wrote:But he had his faults too. Remember his Tet offensive commentatry had a devestating effect on the war and in many way condemned the Vietnamse to the horrors of communist rule for 30 years.

Yeah, his comments costs the lives of millions of people.

He was probably quite responsible for the current media culture as well, I have no respect for the guy at all. He became a commentator disguised as a newscaster.

AndesSMF wrote:

L-188 wrote:But he had his faults too. Remember his Tet offensive commentatry had a devestating effect on the war and in many way condemned the Vietnamse to the horrors of communist rule for 30 years.

Yeah, his comments costs the lives of millions of people.

He was probably quite responsible for the current media culture as well, I have no respect for the guy at all. He became a commentator disguised as a newscaster.

Were you guys even alive during his career?

NASA tribute:

Are you disputing our comments?

AndesSMF wrote:Are you disputing our comments?

I guess I am. Walter Cronkite wasn't responsible at all for the Vietnam War results. That fault lies squarely with the Army brass that enjoyed the good life in Saigon while young soldiers were dying, and LBJ along with Robert MacNamara. To say his comments cost millions of people their lives is pure foolishness. Then to claim he is responsible for the type of media culture we have today; when he was broadcasting there were three networks, no CNN, no MSNBC, no FOX. He was as close to the center as possible. The networks had newsmen around the globe. so in some cases the stories were more accurate then than today. Hopefully on Monday, CBS with replay the moment when Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon, it's a real treat. Walter Cronkite name will live for a long time at Arizona State University.

Then I suggest you take a read about the 'Tet Offensive'.

Essentially, the North was wiped out as a fighting unit, and uncle Walter made a comment about how the war was lost and the rest is history. This is how you can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

SE Asia became far more of a nightmare after that, Khmer Rouge and more, and if the US had won, it wouldn't have.

I stand by my opinion.

And you should read and find out that there is very little dispute to my allegations.

AndesSMF wrote:Then I suggest you take a read about the 'Tet Offensive'.

Essentially, the North was wiped out as a fighting unit, and uncle Walter made a comment about how the war was lost and the rest is history. This is how you can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

SE Asia became far more of a nightmare after that, Khmer Rouge and more, and if the US had won, it wouldn't have.

I stand by my opinion.

And you should read and find out that there is very little dispute to my allegations.

Let see if I remember right January 1968, I was still in high school, the majority of the public was fed up with the war (casualty figures, rising taxes, and no end to the war in sight.) the North had a endless supply of men, almost everyone in our community of 3,000 knew someone that was in country and our class of 1966 had three that came back in body bags. ( I had one history instructor as a freshman, that was pro-war; domino theory etc, when I had him again in my senior year, after his son was drafted, he became one of the most vocal anti-war advocate around.) The United States had just come off two summers of race riots, two assassinations, the public wouldn't just a wanted it to end. To blame Walter Cronkite is disingenuous. I guess you just have to have been around during that time.

Perception is often different than reality.

The reality was this, and this is even what the North Vietnamese said:

The Tet Offensive was a resounding defeat for the North. But uncle Walt stated this:

By 1968, when Cronkite returned from a reporting trip to Vietnam, his verdict on the situation there helped convince President Lyndon Johnson that he'd lost a crucial swath of public -- and establishment -- support. "It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is a stalemate," Cronkite said, on the air. "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost America," Johnson reportedly said, and decided not long afterwards not to seek reelection.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/ ... index.html

The North Vietnamese said this:

The horrendous losses inflicted on Viet Cong units struck into the heart of the irreplaceable infrastructure that had been built up for over a decade. MACV estimated that 181,149 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops had been killed during 1968

General Tran Do, North Vietnamese commander at the battle of Hue, gave some insight into how defeat was translated into victory:

In all honesty, we didn't achieve our main objective, which was to spur uprisings throughout the South. Still, we inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans and their puppets, and this was a big gain for us. As for making an impact in the United States, it had not been our intention — but it turned out to be a fortunate result

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive#Aftermath

And I just had confirmation of what was stated by Johnson and Cronkite...by CBS news itself.

All shucks, we're so far off topic, so I just going end this by ,stating that I will disagree with your opinion of Walter Cronkite. Best in my lifetime, bar none.

AndesSMF wrote:

L-188 wrote:But he had his faults too. Remember his Tet offensive commentatry had a devestating effect on the war and in many way condemned the Vietnamse to the horrors of communist rule for 30 years.

Yeah, his comments costs the lives of millions of people.

He was probably quite responsible for the current media culture as well, I have no respect for the guy at all. He became a commentator disguised as a newscaster.

A journalist compared to Hitler, eh?

That's one of the funniest things I've ever read, to be honest.

Murph61 wrote:

AndesSMF wrote:

L-188 wrote:But he had his faults too. Remember his Tet offensive commentatry had a devestating effect on the war and in many way condemned the Vietnamse to the horrors of communist rule for 30 years.

Yeah, his comments costs the lives of millions of people.

He was probably quite responsible for the current media culture as well, I have no respect for the guy at all. He became a commentator disguised as a newscaster.

A journalist compared to Hitler, eh?

That's one of the funniest things I've ever read, to be honest.

What does the Vietnam War have to do with Hitler?

The poster said Cronkite probably cost millions of lives. So did Hitler. Funny. Not true, but pretty funny.