Brazelton, Churchill

American soldier stationed in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, worked as press liaison and censor.

From the description of Churchill J. Brazelton Correspondence, 1942-1946. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122385582

Churchill J. "Chuck" Brazelton was born in 1920 and had just graduated from Princeton when he was drafted into the army in 1943. The son of well-connected parents Thomas Berry and Pauline Battle Brazelton of Waco, Texas, Brazelton was able to secure a spot in Officer Candidate School. Following basic training and censorship school, he landed a series of fortunate assignments in Northern Ireland, London, and Paris during the final months of World War II. The young Lt. Brazelton found himself living a king's life at the government's expense, and getting paid for it!

In Paris he charmed his way into the elite social circles of the Parisian aristocracy. For four months--which he called the finest of my life --he was a regular guest at their clubs, châteaus, and cocktail parties.

At the start of 1945, Brazelton was promoted to First Lieutenant and moved to the First Army Headquarters in Belgium. There he worked as a press liaison and censor, and spent most of his days with the civilian press corps, including correspondents from the major U.S. networks and wire services. In February the press corps moved into Germany following the advance of Allied forces toward Berlin. Brazelton's press camp formed the nucleus of Task Force Berlin, an assembly of some 200 correspondents from Europe and America that participated in the Allies' triumphal entry into Soviet-controlled Berlin in July 1945.

The press liaison job ended in August, and Brazelton returned to Paris where he worked for the army's Visitor Bureau, entertaining generals, congressmen, and other VIPs. He remained in Paris until the spring of 1946, when he returned to the United States and was discharged from the army.

Brazelton died in 1980.

From the guide to the Churchill J. Brazelton Correspondence TXRC03-A10., 1942-1946, (The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center)