Richard Ernest Dupuy


Colonel Richard Ernest Dupuy was a United States Army officer and military historian. Dupuy was a reporter with the New York Herald before his National Guard artillery unit was called up to serve in World War I. He transferred to the regular army after the war, serving in a number of public relations roles. During World War II, he served as acting director of public relations at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. On D-Day – June 6, 1944 – Dupuy was the first to announce on radio that the invasion of Normandy was taking place. He was also present for the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin on May 8, 1945. Dupuy retired from the Army after the war and became a prolific military historian, working with his son Trevor N. Dupuy.

Early life and World War I

Richard Ernest Dupuy was born on March 24, 1887 in New York City. He aspired to a career in the United States Army but his family's circumstances required him to go out to work at the age of 17. He spent three years in various clerical roles before finding employment as a junior reporter at the New York Herald. In 1909 Dupuy joined the New York Army National Guard and by 1917 he had become the Herald's shipping news editor and a features editor. After the United States joined World War One in 1917 Dupuy was deployed to France where he served in command of an artillery battery and as a staff officer of an artillery regiment. At the end of the war he transferred to the US Army, accepting a regular commission. Dupuy was married to the Laura Nevitt Dupuy, who was an accomplished illustrator and artist, and their son Trevor Nevitt Dupuy was born in New York City on May 3, 1919.

World War II

After the World War I Dupuy served in the Philippines and in a number of public relations roles including as chief of the Army Information Service in New York City; on the general staffs of the II Corps and the First Army and with the United States Military Academy. After the outbreak of World War II he was with the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations in Washington.
Dupuy joined the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in 1943 as news chief and acting director of public relations, reporting to supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. He played a key part in publicizing the Allied landings on D-Day, the first day of the invasion of Normandy, when he had the role of officially announcing the operation on radio. In a broadcast at 12:32 am Pacific Time on June 6, 1944 he announced that "Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France". This announcement, known as Communiqué Number One, was so short that Dupuy read it out twice in a row.
Dupuy remained with SHAEF for the rest of the war. He was present when the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Berlin on May 8, 1945.

Later career

After the war Dupuy returned to the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations, serving as its acting director until his retirement, as a colonel, in 1946. Dupuy was a military historian and had written a number of books in the inter-war years during his spare time. He returned to this passion in retirement and wrote 100 articles and short stories, as well as 22 published books. Dupuy often collaborated with his son, also a military historian, who had served in the US Army as a colonel and commanded an artillery battery during the Burma campaign.
Richard Ernest Dupuy also served as an associate editor of the Army-Navy-Air Force Journal for five years and was a director and staff editor of the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization from 1963. Dupuy died on April 25, 1975 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington DC.

Publications

Among his books are: