October 12, 1918: Don Martin receives high praise from fellow newspapermen

        The Editors of New York newspapers expressed their deep regret on the death of Don Martin in editorial comment published on October 12.

          New York Tribune: -- “It is a distinct shock to hear of the death of Don Martin, of the Herald, at his post on the western front. He was universally respected as a man and as a news gatherer. Of attractive personality, he had a host of friends, none of whom will mourn him more sincerely than the newspaper men with whom he came in contact. He was in the front rank in a profession where character and reliability mean everything.”

          Brooklyn Eagle: “The death of Don Martin, the New York Herald’s correspondent with the American troops in France, will be a loss to the readers of that paper, and to newspaper men, among whom Mr. Martin was widely known and highly respected.

        Mr. Martin went everywhere that the soldiers on the American front went, and he sent home some of the most interesting accounts of their achievements, particularly those of the soldiers of this city, to whom he devoted special attention. His was a fine life given in a good cause.”

          John T. Curtis, managing editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, sent the following telegram to the Herald: -- “Don Martin was the kingpin of American correspondents at the front. While other writers witnessed battles, he was a part of them, and the soul of the soldier unconsciously revealed itself in his virile paragraphs. The Philadelphia Inquirer shares with the New York Herald the keen sense of regret at the death which has removed him from his accustomed post – at the edge of the front line.”

      The New York Herald published tributes from St.-Louis, Philadelphia and Hartford newspapers.

Best of All Newspaper Reporters,

Says St.-Louis Globe-Democrat Editor of Don Martin

          The following feeling testimonial to the worth and work of Don Martin is from the pen of J. J. McAuliffe, the brilliant managing editor of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

            St. Louis, Mo., Saturday, October 12, 1918 – “As a well pleased client of the Herald’s unexampled cable and domestic news service, the Globe-Democrat wishes to offer a word of testimonial to the late Don Martin.

          “Without disparagement of the brilliant efforts of other able war correspondents, we have felt in common with our most critical readers that Mr. Martin achieved the acme of perfect reportorial endeavor in his heart interest stories from the battle front. To tens of thousands of Missouri and Illinois parents Don Martin’s daily pictorial graphic on the war appealed with the same force as personal letters from their boys ‘over there’.

          “’Run Martin’s copy in full’ was a standing order in this office, and no other news or feature, no warnings on white paper conservation or any other consideration, were ever permitted to interfere with this injunction.

           "Don Martin wrote the truth simply, gracefully and with such a polished pathos that his despatches touched the realism of moving drama.

          “It was our pleasure to know him intimately in the national field of political news gathering. We especially remember how he induced the stalwart republican Globe-Democrat in the campaign of 1916 to undertake, in conjunction with the Herald, a poll of voters in Missouri and other nearby States on their preferences as to the republican and democratic candidates for President. A day or two preceding the election the Herald’s forecast that Mr. Wilson would win, as tabulated by Mr. Martin, gave us the political shock of our lives, but we had agreed to abide by the result of the Herald’s poll, and it can be imagined with what misgivings we printed it. The result of that election showed the wisdom of Mr. Martin’s wonderful political judgment and justified for all time the confidence reposed in him.

            “His untimely death marks the passing of one of the world’s best newspaper reporters. His martyrdom to duty will entitle him to a conspicuous place on the everlasting roll of honor.”

From the Philadelphia Inquirer

            The death of Don Martin is a reminder of the debt we owe to such men in this marvelous stage of the world’s history. This particular representative of a profession which he adorned had been ill for some days, but he insisted upon going to the firing line because he conceived it to be his duty to those readers who had been following the war though his brilliant and informing despatches. He had spent sleepless nights in mud holes, with scarcely any food or water and almost constantly under fire, and in the end he contracted pneumonia, which caused his death. He was the type of man who is honored in newspaperdom. He was respected by the public men with whom he came in contact. He won many warm friendships by his personality, and he earned a still larger circle by reason of his accurate and always interesting work. It is not saying too much to assert that a man of his character was, in his own field, serving the public with quite as much fidelity as the soldier on the battlefield.

From the Hartford Courant

            Don Martin, who died in Paris Monday of influenza, is the man who, for nearly a year past, has been sending interesting and instructive war correspondence to the New York Herald. He went abroad for the Herald last December and immediately established himself as one of the war correspondents whose articles were always worth reading. On several occasions the Courant has quoted from him and used his reports from the battlefield as a basic material for editorials. It was apparent from his reports that he was an honest and keen observer. Herald readers will miss him and feel deep grief at his sudden and untimely death. Before going abroad Mr. Martin was the Herald’s chief political writer and forecaster. He had high ideals and lived up to them. He had the entire confidence of politicians and officeholders of high degree all over the country.