Dean Brelis (April 1, 1924 – November 17, 2006) was a journalist who worked as a foreign correspondent for NBC, CBS and

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

and wrote novels and nonfiction books. He was born Constantinos Christos Brelis in Newport, Rhode Island to Greek immigrant parents. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was assigned to work in military intelligence for the

OSS Detachment 101 Detachment 101 of the Office of Strategic Services (formed under the Office of the Coordinator of Information just weeks before it evolved into the OSS) operated in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. On 17 January 1956, it was ...

under the command of

William R. Peers William Ray Peers (June 14, 1914 – April 6, 1984) was a United States Army general, who is most notable for presiding over the Peers Commission investigation into the My Lai massacre and other similar war crimes during the Vietnam War. Bio ...

, first as a sergeant and then as a lieutenant, during 1944 and 1945. While stationed in Burma, he received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

.Obituary
''Los Angeles Times'' (2006-11-22). Accessed 2012-05-30. Peers, William R. and Dean Brelis. '' Behind the Burma Road: The Story of America’s Most Successful Guerrilla Force''. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1963, Foreword. After World War II he attended

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1949, and began his journalism career writing for the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

. He worked as a correspondent for Time-Life from 1949 to 1954, then in 1958 published his first novel, "The Mission," which was loosely based on his experiences in Burma. Two more novels followed: "Shalom" (1959) and "My New-Found Land" (1963). Brelis authored another book about his experiences in Burma, this time collaborating with

Peers Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...

to pen " Behind the Burma Road: The Story of America’s Most Successful Guerrilla Force" (1963). In his last book, "The face of South Vietnam", he collaborated with photographer, Jill Krementz. In the early 1960s he joined NBC, filing dispatches from the Middle East, North Africa, Cyprus and Vietnam before anchoring the KNBC-TV Channel 4 nightly news in Los Angeles in 1967. He worked with CBS News, and then in 1974 Brelis returned to Time as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia, retiring in 1988.

Books

*''The Mission.'' Panther, 1959. *''Shalom.'' Atlantic Monthly Press, 1959 *''My New Found Land.'' Hodder & Stoughton, 1963. * Peers, William R. and Dean Brelis. '' Behind the Burma Road: The Story of America’s Most Successful Guerrilla Force''. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1963. *Brelis, Dean, Photographs by Jill Krementz. ''The face of South Vietnam.'' Houghton Mifflin, 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brelis, Dean 1924 births 2006 deaths Harvard University alumni Military writers People of the Office of Strategic Services United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army officers American writers of Greek descent American expatriates in Myanmar