Haugland, Vern, 1908-1984.

Vern Haugland was born in Minnesota in 1908 and in 1913 moved with his family to Montana where he graduated from high school. He attended the University of Washington for two years, then received his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Montana in 1931. He worked with local Montana papers before joining the Associated Press' (AP) Salt Lake City Bureau. In 1938, he was transferred to the Los Angeles Bureau and with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Vern volunteered for overseas duty. He was the first AP reporter to arrive in Brisbane, Australia. On August 7, 1942, the B26 in which he was traveling ran out of fuel, forcing the crew and Vern to bail out over New Guinea. Haugland wrote a book, "Letter From New Guinea," about his forty-seven days in the New Guinea jungles, for which he received a silver star. He continued to cover the war in the Pacific and in 1945 became an "Air Correspondent." With this group he was one of the first to arrive in Shanghai and later as one of the first to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, Haugland was assigned to cover the Indonesian Revolution, but was forced to return to the United States in 1946 after contracting jaundice. He was then assigned to the AP's Washington Bureau and in 1951 took over the position as the aviation editor, eventually covering NASA's "splashdown" missions. After twenty-one years as the chief aviation correspondent, Mr. Haugland retired in 1973, moved to San Clemente, California, and wrote two books on the Eagle Squadrons. He was working on a third book (which his wife later completed) when he had a heart attack and died in September of 1984.

From the description of Vern Haugland collection, 1940-1987. (US Air Force Academy). WorldCat record id: 744462755

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