NBC news correspondent Robert S. Goralski was born in Chicago on January 2, 1928, and
educated in Illinois public and parochial schools. After duty in the Pacific with the United
States Navy during World War II, he attended the University of Illinois, graduating in 1949
with majors in political science and journalism. He worked as a news announcer for radio
station WDWS in Champaign, Illinois. During the Korean War, he was called back into the Navy
to serve as a combat correspondent.
Goralski's interest in Asia induced him to remain in the Far East after he completed his
military obligation. In 1954 he became production supervisor for Radio Free Asia in Tokyo;
during the following two years he was assistant representative of the Asia Foundation in
Karachi and Dacca, Pakistan. In 1956 Goralski Joined the Voice of America and was assigned
to Washington, D.C., as Asian editor and desk supervisor. He later became chief of VOA's
Burmese service.
In 1960 a fellowship from the Ford Foundation enabled Goralski to spend a year's leave of
absence studying South East Asian history at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies. Upon completion of his graduate study in 1961, he accepted a position with NBC
News.
For the next 14 years Goralski functioned variously as White House, State Department, and
Pentagon correspondent. Although he appeared on NBC television's Huntley-Brinkley Report, Today, Morning News,
Meet the Press, and Afternoon news reports, the bulk of his
reporting was done for radio. Goralski often anchored or provided inserts for radio news
programs such as Monitor, Today in Washington, World News Roundup, Emphasis, and, most frequently, News on
the Hour.
Although permanently attached to the Washington bureau, Goralski received foreign
assignments two or three times a year, including visits to Viet Nam in 1965 and 1968 and the
Middle East in 1967. In addition, he was involved with many radio and television specials
which reported on the 1967 Pentagon Peace March, Lynda Johnson's White House wedding,
various national elections, Communist China, the Pueblo
incident, and Viet Nam.
In 1975 Goralski joined the Gulf Oil Corporation as director of public relations.
On March 23, 1988, Robert Goralski died of cancer and is interred in Arlington Cemetary.
