after being drafted by the army in 1941. the following year he began his journalism career as a reporter for the official army newspaper stars and stripes he fearly didn t go. in an interview with greta van susteren in 2003, he explained why. i had a professor in college who pass a passivist. he convinced me that i might have been a passivist. i almost registered as a conscientious on objector. one of the most embarrassing episodes in my life. i didn t realize how wrong i had been. rooney witnessed and reported on some of the most pivotal events in the second world war including normandy invasion on d day and the horrors of hitler s final solution when he watched u.s. forces liberate the concentration camp. it was emotionally debilitating. there are scenes embedded in my brain that i don t ever get over of dead people.