During World War 2 What Did Tokyo Rose Broadcast During Zero Hour?
There was no 'Tokyo Rose' on Zero Hour. The female broadcaster
called herself Orphan Ann (based on the 'Ann' abbreviation meaning
'announcer' on the script). Her real name was Iva Toguri. She came
to be known as Toyko Rose, because two newspapermen, Harry Brundage
and Clark Lee persuaded her to sign a statement saying she was the
'one and only Tokyo Rose' for $2,000 (seven times her current
annual salary). There were in fact other broadcasters in Japan who
could equally well have been the Tokyo Rose - they appeared on
other programs broadcast to the Allies and captured their
imagination. Iva Toguri never received the money. As a US citizen
stuck in Japan after the outbreak of war, Toguri was persuaded to
make announcements on Zero Hour. The program was designed to make
the Allied forces in the Pacific homesick. At least that was the
intention of the Imperial Japanese - it was to be a form of
psychological warfare. Never having been behind a microphone
before, Iva was coached by an Australian POW, Major Charles
Cousens. His explicit intention was to sabotage the program and
turn it into a comic burlesque show, which could not be picked up
by those monitoring the program. Toguri went to trial on treason
charges, she was largely a post-war scapecoat. She was sentence to
10 years and fined $10,000. She only served seven. She was pardoned
by Gerald Ford - the only person ever to have been pardoned for
treason.