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e-mail murphy@murphymartin.com
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Murphy Martin Commentary Last Saturday was a
special day in the life of this writer. We were honored and humbled My thanks to the hundreds of people who helped me along the way. Those who made me sound better, look better, and be better than I could have been without their help. I once read that gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind. Using that terminology, my heart was overflowing Saturday night. We recalled all those
who made possible my unforgettable journey. Darrell Yates, Richman
During 40-years in the news business you meet many interesting people and cover many diverse stories. Some become indelible as did my involvement in the POW-MIA story in 1969. After interviewing the
mother of a missing pilot and the wives of four other missing men My wife and I , with a cameraman, took the four wives from the Dallas Metroplex to Paris and met with the North Vietnamese delegates to the Paris Peace Talks. We became the first group to ever meet with them. The meeting quickly focused world attention on the POW-MIA question. Back in Dallas we put together a documentary of our trip and invited Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems, to view our rough cut edit of the program, with the hope his firm would sponsor the program on WFAA-TV. After viewing the program with a senior employee of EDS, Perot said yes they would sponsor the program and added: "We have to do something to get these men home!" Perot soon became heavily involved in the project we started. He asked me to lead the project for United We Stand and we did. He has never let go of responding to those he can help in the United states military. Perot brought several
people, with whom we closely worked on that project, to Saturday
night's event. We were honored to have
It was also good to have Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Bragan, Mr. and Mrs. Richard McDonald, and, the Executive Pastor of my church Dr. Steve Swisher and his fiancee, Angela Engels and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Lowell Swisher in the audience. And, my son, Michael M. Martin, recently retired as a Captain with American Airlines, and the Captain of my ship, the most important person in my life, my wife for more than four decades, Joyce. She is the lady that taught me to be thankful that thorns have roses, unlike those who grumble because roses have thorns! MY congratulations to all of the other inductees into the Texas Radio Hall Of Fame from throughout the state, especially two of my former associates Clarence Bruyere and Bud Buschardt, from my WFAA Radio and Television days, who were inducted into the Hall of Honor. To those still actively involved in broadcasting, particularly those still on the air, we know things change and we know it is better to be a young June Bug than an old Bird of Paradise like me, but...we have lived through many changes in this industry and we hear a lot of talk about the declining trust in media. We wonder if
on-the-air-people doing newscasts identified personal remarks as We wonder if the crude, vulgar and profane language we now hear on some programs has contributed to declining trust? We remember a number of
people who enjoyed outstanding careers in broadcasting just
reporting the FACTS without using crude language or personal
opinions. When they finished their reports, listeners never knew if
the anchors were Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, Republican or
Independent. In those days, sets-in-use, and, trust in reporting We thank those who are
still dedicated to our industry and we ask that they: Thank you Texas Radio Hall of Fame! Murphy Martin Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website will be
appreciated. Previous commentaries: |
Lewin
and Arthur Temple in Lufkin, Texas; Mike Shapiro and John Butler in
Dallas and Jim Haggerty, Jesse
Zousmer and Walter Schwartz in New York. We hope they were looking
down from the heavens and sharing the event with us. Each of them
hired me and moved me along from a 250-watt East Texas radio station
to THE 500-station ABC Radio Network and the 125-station ABC
Television network.
Tom
Marquez, Harry McKillop, Merv Stauffer, Tom Meurer, Sharon Holman
and the first POW from the Metroplex to return from captivity in
North Vietnam, Col. Samuel Robert Johnson, now Congressman Sam
Johnson, in the audience. These people have been an important part
of my career and seeing Sam Johnson reunited with his family at
Sheppard Air Force Base in 1973 remains one of the most rewarding
moments of my career. Knowing that we had a small part in improving
the life of this man and 577 other POWS, while they were in
captivity, gave me a feeling I never had--- before, or since!