Headen, Thomas P.
Person
Dates
- Existence: August 9, 1903- August 31, 1977
Thomas P. Headen was born on August 9, 1903 in Springfield, Missouri. He graduated from Westport High School and went on to the University of Missouri before New York University. He was a journalist whose career spanned more than five decades. He began his career in 1924 at the Kansas City Star where he jokingly spoke of working alongside Ernest Hemingway. He moved on to New York City and the New York Sun. He covered crime, court, and governmental news, and was a reporter on the famous kidnapping of the Lindburg baby. He married Maxine Humeston in 1936 and moved to Long Island. He became a columnist for the Sun writing about post-Depression government projects and other programs. He later became a book reviewer and a twice-weekly columnist dealing with international crisis. He left the Sun in 1943 to enlist with the U.S. Army.
Captain Headen was a specialist on the media staff that spearheaded relations with the media after the invasion of Europe. In France, he was the public relations advisor for military operations affecting the French people after liberation. In 1945, after the defeat of Germany, he was reassigned to Bremen, Germany, where he became the director of information media for the area. He was discharged from the army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1946. He then became the civilian information media director for the entire American zone, with approximately 300 American and 4,000 Germans employed in his division. The mission was to conduct an overt propaganda campaign for democratic thought in Germany. He was personally instrumental in gathering and filming evidence of crimes against humanity committed by several Nazis tried at the Nuremberg Trials. While employed as a civilian, he was captured by the Russians and jailed for allegedly crossing into the East Berlin sector illegally. He instantly became the focus of an international incident.
In 1950, Lt. Colonel Headen was recalled to active duty by the office of the Secretary of Defense to write a unified public relations policy for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. He served for more than a year as the director of the publications division of the Federal Civil Defense Administration. While in this position, he was instrumental in the publication of the Civil Defense project “Duck and Cover,” and worked closely with the producer of the film publication featuring Bert the Turtle. He resigned his commission in 1952 and returned to civilian life where he established the Waldorf Leaf newspaper. He remained the editor until the Times Crescent bought the newspaper, and he then became the editor of the Times Crescent. After his retirement from the Times Crescent, he worked on several projects for the Charles County Community College (now CSM). He continued to write articles for the Times Crescent right up until his death in 1977, when his final article was written from his bed at Physicians Memorial Hospital in La Plata.
Captain Headen was a specialist on the media staff that spearheaded relations with the media after the invasion of Europe. In France, he was the public relations advisor for military operations affecting the French people after liberation. In 1945, after the defeat of Germany, he was reassigned to Bremen, Germany, where he became the director of information media for the area. He was discharged from the army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1946. He then became the civilian information media director for the entire American zone, with approximately 300 American and 4,000 Germans employed in his division. The mission was to conduct an overt propaganda campaign for democratic thought in Germany. He was personally instrumental in gathering and filming evidence of crimes against humanity committed by several Nazis tried at the Nuremberg Trials. While employed as a civilian, he was captured by the Russians and jailed for allegedly crossing into the East Berlin sector illegally. He instantly became the focus of an international incident.
In 1950, Lt. Colonel Headen was recalled to active duty by the office of the Secretary of Defense to write a unified public relations policy for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. He served for more than a year as the director of the publications division of the Federal Civil Defense Administration. While in this position, he was instrumental in the publication of the Civil Defense project “Duck and Cover,” and worked closely with the producer of the film publication featuring Bert the Turtle. He resigned his commission in 1952 and returned to civilian life where he established the Waldorf Leaf newspaper. He remained the editor until the Times Crescent bought the newspaper, and he then became the editor of the Times Crescent. After his retirement from the Times Crescent, he worked on several projects for the Charles County Community College (now CSM). He continued to write articles for the Times Crescent right up until his death in 1977, when his final article was written from his bed at Physicians Memorial Hospital in La Plata.