The 26-year old author's first article to the United States Naval Institute Naval History "Author of the Year" in 2000.

THIS CHICAGO TRIBUNE SUNDAY MAGAZINE FEATURE RESULTED IN THE PRESERVATION OF LORADO TAFT'S GREATEST WORK

AUTHOR OF THE YEAR AWARD AT US NAVAL ACADEMY                           

A passion for realism and authenticity has been the principle focus for most of Jerome M. O’Connor’s journalistic production.  In 1965, his first feature story described the disrepair and neglect of one of Chicago’s largest and most important outdoor sculptural works, Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time, on the famous Midway. The four page color feature in the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine caused a public outcry and resulted in funds to preserve the work.

In 1973, also for the Chicago Tribune, the difficulties facing the Republic of Ireland as it considered joining the then Common Market, appeared as the lead article in the Tribune Sunday Perspective section. Another article reported from the barricades in Belfast, as pitched battles were waged between Protestant and Catholic extremists.

To get close to both the action and the problems, in August 1972 O’Connor donned British camouflage and a flak jacket, and joined a Midnight patrol of the 40^th Royal Marine Commando enforcing a dusk to dawn curfew in the "no go" areas in troubled Belfast. On this patrol O’Connor learned that the sun-tanned Commandos had been trained by U.S. Marines, and supplied with night vision scopes by the U.S. military.  Reporting this development resulted in an investigation led by Sen. Edward  Kennedy.  

Unveiling the Churchill War Rooms" in the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine, was the first to reveal the existence of the undiscovered Churchill Cabinet War Rooms across from St. James Park in central London.  Disclosing the intact underground enclave and its unchanged appearance contributed to its 1982 opening as a museum, now one of London's most visited.  In 2005, a vast new section opened to the public.  The author first saw it with a one-cell flashlight in 1978, seven years before it opened to the public. In 2011 Trip Adviser listed the Cabinet War Rooms as the number one touriist attraction in London.  

Secret at Bletchley Park" in Naval History magazine, was the first major feature to describe the neglected and unknown locale where Nazi Germany's most important secret, the inner workings of the Enigma cypher was uncovered.  Along with the Manhattan Project, the breaking of the Enigma machine was the war's major secret.  The story resulted from the author's chance meeting with a one-time "secret lady," one of 12,000 staffers at Bletchley Park.  Known as ULTRA, knowledge of the Nazi's most important means of secret communication revealed enemy intentions often before even Hitler knew about them.  The 12,000 unheralded codebreakers helped to end the war in 1945, instead of 1947.  Other versions appeared in World War Two, British Heritage, and Finest Hour magazines.   

Gray Wolves Den"  in Naval History, revealed the still existing and now partially opened former German U boat bases in Brittany.  For this work, the U.S. Naval Institute named O'Connor its"Author of the Year," in a ceremony and address to the 2001 graduating class at the US Naval Academy.  The extraordinary engineering and operational triumph made the five bases virtually invulnerable to Allied air attacks.  Remaining operational until VE Day, the U-boat bases are the largest and most complete vestige of the war, and a must read for historians.  The bases brought Germany the closest they would come to winning the war. New images to be added in 2011.    

The Wolves Elegant Lair"  from Naval History, describes the author's visit - the first ever permitted - to the intact, undamaged Lorient, France headquarters of Admiral Karl Donitz (Below R).  In the chateau's elegant interior, the wolf-pack architect planned the U-boat campaigns that almost defeated Britain early in World War Two.  Rare author photos reveal an unchanged interior and the same rooms where Admiral Doenitz interviewed returning U-boat captains, and pondered intricately detailed Atlantic charts.  See the multi-compartmented attached operational bunker in the only known images from the unchanged U-boat command.   It is one of only 3 buildings in a town of 46,000 to escape destruction.

"Allan Turing – Enigma,"  from British Heritage magazine, recounts the sometimes bizarre and little known saga of one of the 20^th Century’s most original  and most neglected intellects.  Combining the almost requisite traits of absolute genius and near certifiable madman, Allan Turing  cracked the "unbreakable" Nazi code.  But years earlier in 1936, Turing also theorized an automatic problem-solving machine that defined in all ways except by name, the operating system of a modern digital computer.   Turing is considered one of the father's of modern computing, but his war-winning contributions remain little-recognized.

"THE GHOST SHIPS OF TASK FORCE FOURTEEN "Proceedings magazine (US Naval Institute), continues as the only disclosure of a top-secret pre-war British troop convoy to Singapore.  Violating the strict US Neutrality Act, President Roosevelt approved Prime Minister Churchill's near desperate request to transport British troops aboard America's three most modern and important ocean-liners.  The ultimate fate for thousands of Tommies was starvation and death in cruel captivity after the fall of "fortress" Singapore.  Decades later the voyage remains ignored in every history about World War Two.  Knowing that an undefeated Britain was America's first line of defense, read why FDR broke the Neutrality Act, risking impeachment by the US Congress, and approved a mission that began one month before the Pearl Harbor attack. 

"GHOST SHIPS," a cover feature in the February 2003 World War Two magazine, expands on the The Ghost Ships of Task Force Fourteen.  Three American ocean liners with 20,000 British troops evaded both U- boats and the Imperial Japanese Navy.  Departing US shores before Pearl Harbor, the defenseless transports arrived under heavy air attack in mid January 1942.  America was now at war with Japan, with the newest and most luxurious American trans-Atlantic ocean liners now the most forward deployed vessels in the US Navy.  As bombs fell and Japanese troops were poised to invade, the transports successfully landed all 20,800 Tommies. Amazingly, the three ships - one damaged from enemy attack -  returned safely to the United States.  But only torture and starvation awaited 7,000 soldiers of the 18th Division, who died from disease or starvation in the notorious Changi Prison or in labor camps.                                 

"ROOSEVELT'S UNDECLARED WAR,"  the February 2004 cover feature in Naval History magazine.  From research at the National Archives, the author proved by the actual copies of pre Pearl Harbor "shoot on sight" orders to the Atlantic Fleet, that the first duty of an American president is to protect and defend the Constitution. This was as true in 1941 as in today's world-wide war on terror.  FDR had no regrets in precipitating war with Nazi Germany if, by avoiding a high-seas confrontation, it would have meant Britain's defeat.  But the1941secret orders also suggest that an early American entry into World War Two may have averted the Pearl Harbor attack. 

"SOUTHWICK HOUSE - Where D Day Began," explores with rare photos the unchanged interior of the stately home near Portsmouth where, under desperate weather conditions, General Dwight D. Eisenhower made the decision, "let's go," that changed history and made Allied victory possible in the climactic battle of World War Two.  Another place forgotten by history exists now as it did then. 

QUEEN MARY 2 LECTURE SERIES  introduced thousands of passengers on four trans-Atlantic to the little known aspects of 20th Century history, all based on features from this site.  An average of 375 passengers attended each of the 16 lectures aboard ship, each presented in Power Point. 

INSIDE FRANK GEHRY'S BEDUOIN TENT reviews the dramatic Frank Gehry designed New World Music Center in Miami Beach.  The visually and acoustically appealing new music venue is in the heart of the vibrant South Beach entertainment district, yet artfully blends into its Art Deco surroundings.  Unlike Gehry's other works, especially the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park, the New World Music Center takes an uncharacteristically sober approach to successfully produce a work that integrates into its 1930s surroundings. 

SECRET SERVICES (five images below) reveals the last major secret of World War Two, the WESTERN APPROACHES COMMAND CENTRE in Liverpool.  Never-before seen images deep inside an underground complex with 50,000 sq. ft. of bomb-proof space.  Overlooked by all major historians and unknown to history.  Interestingly, this is the only feature in 46 years that has yet to be published.  Editors cannot believe that it actually exists.  See for yourself below.

TRENT PARK TATTLETALES   In mid 2012 a new feature will reveal another existing but unknown location crucial to the war's success.

Jerome M. O’Connor, a Chicago area resident, produces and lectures about the little-known, overlooked, or under-reported people, places and great events of modern history.  To qualify, all locations must exist and can be entered.  Deeply researched and dynamically presented programs result in numerous return invitations. Contact at jeromeoconnor@aol.com.