Milo Radulovich

Milo Radulovich was an American reserve Air Force lieutenant who was accused of being a communist in 1953. His case was made public and helped turn the American people against McCarthyism.

In 1953, in the middle of the McCarthyist paranoia in the USA, Milo Radulovich, a reserve Air Force lieutenant in Dexter, Michigan, was being discharged because his father and sister were accused of being communists. This was mainly due to the fact that his father, an Yugoslav immigrant, kept up on events in his homeland by subscribing to a number of Serbian newspapers. One of these papers was associated to the American Slav Congress, which had been labeled as Communist by the American government.

Radulovich decided to fight the charges and demanded an Air Force hearing. However, any attorney helping him would also risk being labeled as a Communist as well. Eventually, retired lawyer Charles Lockwood decided to take the case for free and fight it on the media.

Lockwood contacted an editor of the Detroit News, who explained the situation to his readers. Among the readers was an old classmate of Radulovich, young attorney Ken Sanborn. He was also an Air Force lieutenant and, like Lockwood, accepted no fee to defend his friend.

Despite all that, the result of the hearing was predetermined, and the Air Force stripped Radulovich of his commission. Once again the Detroit News told the story. This time, one of the readers happened to be Edward R. Murrow, host of the popular See it Now program on CBS. For months, he and his team had debated on how to address to McCarthy's witch hunt, until Radulovich appeared. In a few days, a camera crew had been dispatched to Dexter and filmed a passionate interview with the lieutenant and his family.

The program went on the air on October 20, 1953. The image of this innocent man and his immigrant father focused the nation on the prejudices of McCarthyism. Radulovich was reinstated one month after the broadcast.

Source:

http://hnn.us/articles/1729.html