Lee Carson

Civilian
Lieutenant Harold O Smith, Captain Joseph L Egan and Major Walker M Mahurin of the 56th Fighter Group entertain Foreign Correspondent Susie Carson, in the officers club bar at Halesworth, 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Lt. to Right: 1. Lt. Howard [Smith?], Int. O., 62nd Fighter Squadron. 2. Captain Joseph L. Egan, Flight C.O. - 63rd Fighter Squadron. 3. Suzie Carson - Foreign Correspondent. 4. Captain Walker "Bud" Mahurin - 63rd Fighter Squadron. Officers Club Bar, Halesworth, 1943.' media-401447.jpg FRE 2700 Lieutenant Harold O Smith, Captain Joseph L Egan and Major Walker M Mahurin of the 56th Fighter Group entertain Foreign Correspondent Susie Carson, in the officers club bar at Halesworth, 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Lt. to Right: 1. Lt. Howard [Smith?], Int. O., 62nd Fighter Squadron. 2. Captain Joseph L. Egan, Flight C.O. - 63rd Fighter Squadron. 3. Lee Carson - Foreign Correspondent. 4. Captain Walker "Bud" Mahurin - 63rd Fighter Squadron. Officers Club Bar, Halesworth, 1943.' Roger Freeman Collection

Added people who were listed in the caption to the list

Object Number - FRE 2700 - Lieutenant Harold O Smith, Captain Joseph L Egan and Major Walker M Mahurin of the 56th Fighter Group entertain Foreign Correspondent Susie Carson,...

Lee Carson attended Smith College, Chicago, aged 14 and left, aged 16 to become a reporter for the Chicago Times. In 1940 she joined the International News Service, she was made a War correspondent in 1943.



Carson was dubbed by her colleagues as 'the best looking' female war correspondent, and reportedly used this to her advantage. Hubert Zemke recalled that she caused a stir when she visited the 56th Fighter Group sometime in the Spring of 1944. She supposedly talked a pilot into letting her aboard a bomber on D-Day, where she witnessed the bombing of Cherbourg, and became the only female War Correspondent to come close to the Normandy Invasion.



Famed for her shapely legs, Carson spent most of the war with them covered by trousers, she was the first Allied War Correspondent to enter Paris following liberation. Attached to the 4th Army, she rode in on a Jeep, and reported on the Parisian Hepcats and civilians who had resisted occupation. She later joined the 1st Army with fellow war Correspondent Iris Carpenter and crossed the Seigfried Line at Aachen.



Carpenter and Carson reported on the Battle of the Bulge and witnessed the first GIs meeting Russian Troops. On 15 April 1945, assigned to the task force which liberated the Castle, Carson entered Colditz and took the only photo of the "cock" glider, built by inmates and hidden in the Attic. On 23 April 1945, Carson was present at the liberation of the Erla Work Camp at Leipzig, she was horrified at the suffering of the inmates.



Lee Carson retired from the International News Service in 1957, she died of Cancer, aged 51 in 1973.

Connections

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Events

Event Location Date Description

Died

Lankenau Road, Philadelphia, PA 19131, USA 5 April 1973 Died in Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia.

Other

Became War Correspondant

Became the War Correspondent.

Revisions

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Nancy Caldwell Sorrel The Women Who Wrote the War on Google Books.

Obituary in Rome News Tribune, 8 April 1983

Date
Contributorjrugman
Changes
Sources

Found from sources online and on AAM website.

Date
Contributorjrugman
Changes
Sources

Added to site after photo of her was found on the website.
Link to article on Lee Carson by Rome News: https://news.google.com/newspapersnid=348&dat=19730408&id=JsRLAAAAIBAJ&…

Lee Carson: Gallery (4 items)