Wes Gallagher was an American journalist for the Associated Press.
Background
James Wesley Gallagher was born October 5, 1911, to James Gallaher and Crispa (Nelson), in California and stayed there for his some of his post-secondary education enrolling at University of San Francisco, Eventually he departed for the campus of Louisiana State University.
Career
He worked as a reporter during World World War World War II He died in Santa Barbara, California. In 1937 he joined the Associated Press at their Buffalo bureau after spending time in the employ of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate and State Times. While at the State Times he covered the assassination of Huey P. Long.
During the war Gallagher covered North Africa and Europe for the Associated Press. In 1940 the Associated Press sent him to Copenhagen just in time to witness the Nazi invasion of Denmark.
Reporting on the war he covered the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942, also served in Greece, the Balkans, and Austria. Gallagher was recalled to the New York bureau in 1951.
In 1945, freshly returned from the combat zones in Europe and Africa, Gallagher was appointed to head Associated Press operations in Germany. He helped oversee the launching of Associated Press"s German News Service, based in Frankfurt which was instrumental in helping the German media rebuild after the war.
In 1946 Gallagher covered the Nazi war crime trials at Nuremberg.
He led the Nuremberg coverage for the Associated Press along with Pulitzer Prize winners Dan DeLuce and Louis P. Lochner. In 1954 he was appointed Assistant General Manager of the Associated Press, a position he retained until Frank J. Starzel retired as General Manager in 1962. The Associated Press board of directors chose Gallagher to take over the post.
One of the duties he fulfilled as General Manager was to write the dedication for each of the annuals the Associated Press produced for the years 1964-1978, as well as for other Associated Press publications such as The Instant lieutenant Happened, a collection of famous journalistic photographs.