Paxety Pages | History and Reporting

Yesterday, I wrote about an article appearing in the Houston Chronicle in which the reporter told the amazing story of an American soldier taking down the Nazi flag flying over the Reichstag in 1945. Unfortunately, the story appears to be untrue, as the Russians, not the Americans captured Berlin. I wrote the reporter, John Espy, and asked about the discrepency. He didn't reply, so this morning, I've sent an email to the Chronicle's reader representative:

James T. Campbell, Reader Representative

Houston Chronicle

Dear Mr. Campbell,

I read with interest an article published May 28, 2005 in your online edition written by John Espy. The first paragraph of the article is:

SIXTY years ago today, a north Houston boy born in Madisonville, Texas, was crawling across the slate roof of the Reichstag building in the heart of Berlin. Nazi snipers tried to pick him off , before he reached his objective. Twenty of his own buddies were laying down enfilading fire that kept them from stopping PrivatePvt. R.C. Woods, Bobby to his friends, from reaching his goal.

According to the article, Bobby's goal was to take down a Nazi flag flying over the Reichstag in Berlin.

There seem to be some problems with this article.

First - historical. Berlin fell on May 2, 1945 - 22 days before Woods'exploits. Berlin fell to the Russians, not to the Americans. Eisenhower was criticized for stopping the U.S. Army at the Elbe River, some 70-miles from Berlin. How did a group of American soldiers participate in the attack on the Reichstag? Mr. Espy doesn't say.

In face, what Mr. Espy doesn't say is the second problem. The article is wholly without attribution. Who told Mr. Espy this story? He doesn't say. Was it Mr. Woods' family? He doesn't say. Did he interview any of the other men in Mr. Woods unit for confirmation? He doesn't say?

So, what's the truth? Is this an amazing untold story of WWII - that American units were actually in Berlin at the time of its capture, or is it simply a story written through a single, unidentified source with no fact checking?

Sincerely,

Juan Paxety

We'll see if Mr. Campbell replies.

Update - Mr. Campbell never replied to me personally, but The Houston Chronicle took down the article and printed what it calls a correction.

An essay in Sunday's Outlook section by Houston freelance writer John Eudy contained information that was incorrect. The essay, timed to coincide with Memorial Day weekend, described the capture of a Nazi flag by Pvt. R.C. Woods from the roof of the Reichstag building in the heart of Berlin at the end of World War II.

A family member told the Chronicle Tuesday that the family is in possession of the Nazi flag, signed by Woods' fellow soldiers following its capture, but that they do not know where Woods obtained it.

The correction goes on to say that Espy emailed The Chronicle and acknowledged "his mistake."

The correction wholly fails to address how the editors of the newspaper allowed such a poorly written and unsourced story into the paper in the first place.