During World War 2 What Did Tokyo Rose Broadcast During Zero Hour?

Answer 1

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.