Richard C. Hottelet papers

Richard Curt Hottelet, born September 22, 1917, was a foreign correspondent for the United Press in Berlin (1938-41). At the start of World War II he was arrested by the German secret police under suspicion of being a spy. After spending 5 months incarcerated, Hottelet was released during a U.S.-German prisoner exchange.

Hottelet was hired by Edward R. Murrow in 1944. On D-Day he aired the first eyewitness account of the seaborne invasion of Normandy; Hottelet rode along in a bomber that attacked Utah Beach six minutes before H-Hour. He also covered the Battle of the Bulge for CBS. Later he parachuted to safety when the plane he was in was shot down by enemy fire.

His credentials include: US Office of War Information, Washington, London, N Africa, Italy 1941-43; War Correspondent for CBS News, European Theater, 1944-45; Berlin 1947; Washington and New York 1947-50; Berlin, Bonn, Central Europe 1950-57; Washington, New York Radio & TV anchor. United Nations Correspondent, many foreign assignments: Vietnam, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Europe, SE Asia, Soviet Union, India, Pakistan 1960-1985; Moderator America and the World Radio for Council on Foreign Relations 1989-1995.

After leaving CBS Hottelet continued to write op-ed pieces and lecture. As of 2001 he began writing commentary for the Christian Science Monitor, which he continued to do through 2005. Hottlet guest lectured classes in the early 2000s at George Washington University and participated in the opening of the University's Media and Public Affairs Building in 2002. He also appeared as a panelist on GW's Kalb Report forum series at The National Press Club.

Hottelet was the last living journalist from the original World War II-era group of Murrow's Boys, journalists tutored and/or encouraged by Edward R. Murrow at CBS. Ricahrd Hottelet died December 17, 2014 at his home in Wilton, Connecticut.