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David Sarnoff was the president of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) during
the war years (WWII), and in fact was commissioned in 1924 into the U.S. Army with
the rank of lieutenant colonel. During WWII, he served in the office of the Chief
Signal Officer in Washington, D.C., and in 1944 he was reinstated and promoted to
brigadier general, going overseas to serve as Special Consultant on Communications
to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower at SHAEF in Europe. He directed strategic
and logistical communications across all theaters of operation (Europe, Pacific,
and Northern Africa). It is no surprise, then, that RCA played a huge role in the
war effort providing both components and systems. This 1942 full-page promotion
in Radio News magazine touting RCA's contributions and encouraging all
citizens to do all he/she could is typical of those seen in the era.
RCA Advertisement - Radio ... all out for Victory
 Research and invention have placed radio
in the first line of battle
Communication - rapid communication - is a vital necessity, on land, at sea and
in the air. RCA research and engineering developments in both radio and electronics
are strengthening - and will further fortify - the bulwarks of our communications
system. At Princeton, New Jersey, the new RCA Laboratories - the foremost center
of radio research in the world - are under construction.
* * *
International circuits, operating on short and long waves, have made the United
States the communication center of the world. Today, R.C.A. Communications, Inc.,
conducts direct radiotelegraph service with 49 countries.
* * *
Production of radio equipment is essential for news and timely information, for
military and naval communications, for dissemination of news among foreign countries:
The "arsenal of democracy" has a radio voice unsurpassed in range and efficiency.
In the RCA Manufacturing Company's plants, workers have pledged themselves to "beat
the promise," in production and delivery dates of radio equipment needed for war
and civilian defense.
* * *
American life and property at sea are being safeguarded by ship-and-shore stations.
The Radiomarine Corporation of America has equipped more than 1500 American vessels
with radio apparatus and is completely engaged in an all-out war effort.
* * *
Radio broadcasting is keeping the American people informed accurately and up-to-the-minute.
It is a life-line of communication reaching 55,000,000 radio sets in homes and automobiles.
It stands as the very symbol of democracy and is one of the essential freedoms for
which America fights. The National Broadcasting Company - a service of RCA - and
its associated stations, are fully organized for the coordination of war-time broadcasting.
* * *
New radio operators and technicians must be trained for wartime posts. RCA Institutes,
the pioneer radio school of its kind in the United States, has more than 1,200 students
enrolled and studying in its New York and Chicago classrooms.
* * *
When war came and America took its place on the widespread fighting front, radio
was At the Ready ... with radio men and radio facilities prepared to answer the
call to duty "in the most tremendous undertaking of our national history."
David Sarnoff
President
Radio Corporation of America
Radio City,
New York
The Services of RCA: RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc. • RCA Laboratories •
R.C.A. Communications, Inc.
National Broadcasting Company, Inc. • Radiomarine Corporation of America •
RCA Institutes, Inc.
Posted February 11, 2022
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