Dixie Tighe
American war correspondent
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Dixie Tighe (May 23, 1905 - December 31, 1946) was an American war correspondent.[1][2]
Biography
Tighe's father had been a reporter, and she followed in his footsteps in 1925.[3]
Prior to World War II, her assignments included covering the trial of Bruno Hauptman, the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby, and "stunt reporting", including reporting on her scuba-diving and skydiving lessons.[3][4]
Tighe worked for INS and New York Post during World War II.[5]
Nancy Caldwell Sorel, author of a book on female war correspondents, described her as "famous for her blunt language and flamboyant lifestyle".[6]
Female war correspondents were rare, and she was the first female correspondent to ride on a bomber during a bombing mission.[1] Tighe and another female correspondent were denied permission to accompany paratroopers on D-Day, being told the jolt of a parachute could "damage their 'delicate female apparatus', causing vaginal bleeding".
Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson honored war correspondents during an event in Washington, D.C., on November 23, 1946.[7] Tighe was one of the correspondents he honored.
Tighe was struck by a severe headache at an event for correspondents in Tokyo on December 27, 1946.[8] She was taken to the hospital for examination, where she suffered a stroke, and died five days later, on December 31, 1946.[3]
President Harry Truman honored five living female journalists at an event on April 20, 1947, and gave a posthumous award honoring Tighe to her mother.[9]
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