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The Stories of Ernie Pyle

To the millions on the American home front during World War II, Ernie Pyle's column offered a foxhole view of the struggle as he reported on the life, and sometimes death, of the average soldier. His daily war reports, written in folksy style and including the names and hometowns of countless "G.I. Joes," made many readers feel that he was writing them personal letters. On April 18, 1945, Pyle died on Ie Shima, an island off Okinawa Honto, after being hit by Japanese machine-gun fire. When he died, Pyle's readership was worldwide, with his column appearing in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers. Noble Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, a Pyle friend, perhaps summed up the reporter's work best when he told a Time magazine reporter:

"There are really two wars and they haven't much to do with each other. There is the war of maps and logistics, of campaigns, of ballistics, armies, divisions and regiments - and that is General Marshall's war. Then there is the war of the homesick, weary, funny, violent, common men who wash their socks in their helmets, complain about the food, whistle at the Arab girls, or any girls for that matter, and bring themselves through as dirty a business as the world has ever seen and do it with humor and dignity and courage - and that is Ernie Pyle's war."

Ernest Taylor Pyle was born on Aug. 3, 1900, on the Sam Elder farm, located south and west of Dana, where his father was then tenant farming. Pyle, the only child of Will and Maria Pyle, disliked farming, once noting that "anything was better than looking at the south end of a horse going north." After his high school graduation, Pyle - caught up in the patriotic fever sweeping the nation upon America's entry into World War I - enlisted in the Naval Reserve. Before he could complete his training, however, an armistice was declared in Europe.

In 1919 Pyle enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington. He left the university in 1923, just short of finishing a degree in journalism, to accept a reporter's job at the LaPorte Herald. A few months later, lured by an offer of an extra $2.50 per week, Pyle joined the staff of the Washington (D.C.) Daily News, part of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain.

On July 25, 1925, Pyle married Minnesota native Geraldine Siebolds. By 1926 the Pyles had quit their jobs to barnstorm around the country, traveling 9,000 miles in just 10 weeks. Pyle returned to the Washington Daily News in 1927 and began the country's first-ever daily aviation column. He was the newspaper's managing editor for three years before becoming a roving columnist for Scripps-Howard. In the next six years, he crossed the continent some 35 times. Columns from this period were compiled in the book Home Country.

Pyle journeyed to England in 1940 to report on the Battle of Britain. Witnessing a German fire-bombing raid on London, he wrote that it was "the most hateful, most beautiful single scene I have ever known." A book of his experiences during this time, Ernie Pyle in England, was published in 1941. A year later he began covering America's involvement in the war, reporting on Allied operations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. The columns he wrote based on his experiences during these campaigns are contained in the books Here is Your War and Brave Men.

Although Pyle's columns covered almost every branch of the service - from quartermaster troops to pilots - he saved his highest praise and devotion for the common foot soldier. "I love the infantry because they are the underdogs," he wrote. "They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys that wars can't be won without."

The Hoosier reporter's columns not only described the soldier's hardships, but also spoke out on his behalf. In a column from Italy in 1944, Pyle proposed that combat soldiers be given "fight pay," similar to an airman's flight pay. In May of that year, Congress acted on Pyle's suggestion, giving soldiers 50 percent extra pay for combat service, legislation nicknamed "the Ernie Pyle bill."

Despite the warmth he felt for the average G.I., Pyle had no illusions about the dangers involved with his job. He once wrote a friend that he tried "not to take any foolish chances, but there's just no way to play it completely safe and still do your job." Weary from his work in Europe, Pyle grudgingly accepted what was to be his last assignment, covering the action in the Pacific with the Navy and Marines. He rationalized his acceptance, noting, "What can a guy do? I know millions of others who are reluctant too, and they can't even get home."

With the outbreak of World War II, Pyle went overseas. His coverage of the Nazi bombing of London in 1940 was so graphic that his dispatches were cabled back for British readers. As he accompanied the military forces to the successive fronts, his daily war reports were eagerly devoured by soldier and civilian alike. These are some of his stories.

A Dreadful Masterpiece

Pyle wrote this column nearly a year before the United States entered World War II. It describes the awe he felt as he watched the German air attacks on London.

Killing Is All That Matters

In this column, Pyle explains how servicemen going into battle will be changed by the experience.

Fighter Pilot

In this column Ernie Pyle writes knowingly about a pilot because Pyle spent several years before the war as an aviation correspondent. In this column Pyle emphasizes that the servicepeople in the war are ordinary folks, not career military folks. Those same servicepeople especially enjoyed this type of column because it showed that ordinary people could also be heroes.

Tank Battle at Sidi-Bou-Zid

This is the first of several columns that Pyle wrote about a tank battle. More than once he broke up a longer story into several pieces, which ran in newspapers over several days. Some of Pyle's comments in the early part of this column are particularly interesting after the experience of the embedded journalists in the recent US-Iraq war. The modern reporters didn't need to deal with Pyle's challenge: telling the story of a defeat.

Digging and Grousing

This is the kind of column that endeared Ernie Pyle to the troops. He writes about soldiers digging ditches and grousing about folks back home living the easy life.

Brave Men, Brave Men!

This column shows how the war has turned soldiers, especially those in the First Infantry Division, into hard-nosed fighters and killers.

The God-Damned Infantry

From one of Ernie Pyle's most famous columns, these words celebrate foot soldiers.

German Supermen Up Close

Winning a battle and capturing enemy soldiers boosts morale, according to the final North African column in this series.

An Easy Landing

Pyle chronicles the Allied invasion of Sicily, which was a lot easier than the Normandy landing would be a year later.

As Proficient as a Circus

This is one of several columns that Pyle wrote about the medical corps.

Mapping and Engineering the War

This is one of several columns that Pyle wrote about the soldiers who kept the Army going.

Fed Up and Bogged Down

When Pyle took a break from the war in late summer 1943 and came back to the U.S. for a while, he had mixed feelings.

The Death of Captain Waskow

This is the most famous and most widely-reprinted column by Ernie Pyle.

Bill Mauldin, Cartoonist

Members of the Armed Forces admired cartoonist Bill Mauldin just about as much as they admired the writing of Ernie Pyle.

With the Air Force

Life for airmen might have been easier, Pyle wrote, but they and Pyle's beloved infantry were both necessary to win the war.

Buck Eversole: One of the Great Men of the War

Ernie Pyle wrote several columns about Eversole who was one of Pyle's favorite soldiers in the war.

I've Had It

An interesting contrast to Pyle's columns is found in the letters he wrote to friends and relations. We offer excerpts from two of them that he wrote in the late winter and early spring of 1944, one to his immediate Scripps-Howard boss and later biographer, Lee Miller, in which he reacts to the death of a fellow correspondent; and the other to his Dad and Aunt, in which he tells them about his narrow escape from death.

No Area is Immune

Being under fire on the beachhead at Anzio was not pleasant, Pyle wrote.

The Quartermaster Corps

Pyle didn't make many references to black troops, but he did in this story about the people who provided food, clothing and ammunition.

A Pure Miracle

In the first of three D-Day columns included in this series, Pyle marvels at and celebrates the Allied successes.

The Horrible Waste of War

In the seconds of three D-Day columns in this series, Pyle sees the terrible cost of victory on the Normandy beaches.

A Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish

In the third and of three D-Day columns in this series, Pyle personalizes the losses on the beaches of Normandy.

On the Lighter Side

Once in a while, Pyle told funny stories.

Anticipation is the Worst

The quiet heroism of the troops getting ready for battle impressed Pyle.

In Praise of Ordnance

From time to time Pyle turned his attention from the infantry to the units that helped supply or support the infantry.

Mobile Maintenance

Pyle marveled at the men who fixed things that were broken.

A Slow Cautious Business

The tactics that helped the Allies beat the Germans are described by Pyle in this column.

Liberating the City of Light

Pyle finds joy as the Allied troops capture Paris.

Farewell to Europe

A week after the liberation of Paris, Pyle left Europe for the last time.

Back Again

Pyle views shipping out to the Pacific with apprehension.

Personal Items

One of the things that endeared Pyle to his readers was the way in which he made his family part of their lives.

About My Books

In writing about his writing, Pyle showed elements of both ego and modesty.

In the Movies

Pyle writes about the "The Story of GI Joe," a movie based on Pyle's columns

A Finger on the Wide Web of the War

Pyle describes the U.S. forces in the Mariana Islands.

The Illogical Japs

Reflecting the biases of his times, Pyle found the Japanese soldiers less than human.

Water Everywhere

Pyle describes what it's like to return from a bombing run.

Aboard a Fighting Ship

Pyle writes about life on an aircraft carrier.

They Just Lay There, Blinking

This column, published posthumously, describes Pyle's first direct contact with Japanese soldiers.

Fred Painton: A Tribute

In his last published column, which was issued posthumously, Pyle honors the memory of a fellow war correspondent, whose outlook was similar to Pyle's.

On Victory in Europe

This column was never completed. A draft of it was found in Pyle's pocket, April 18, 1945, the day he was killed by a Japanese machine-gunner on the island of Ie Shima.

Invasion

It will be several days before military security permits us to describe in much detail the landings just made in the long-awaited Allied Invasion of Europe.

The Ocean Was Infested With Ships

The ship on which I rode to the invasion of the Continent brought certain components of the second wave of assault troops. We arrived in the congested waters of the beachhead shortly after dawn on D-One Day.

Hedgerow Sniping

Sniping, as far as I know, is recognized as a legitimate means of warfare. And yet there is something sneaking about it that outrages the American sense of fairness.

Foxholes Grow Ever Deeper As Nazi Bombing Raids Go On

When this airdrome was first set up the soldiers dug slit trenches just deep enough to lie down in during a raid, but after each new bombing the trenches get deeper. If we stay here long enough we'll probably have to install elevators to get to the bottom of the trenches.

Heroic Medics Who Brave Fire Deserve Combat Badges, Too

This combat infantry badge is a proud thing, a mark of great distinction, a sign on a man's chest to show that he has been through the mill. The medical aidman were not eligible for the badge. So I would like to propose to Congress or the War Department or whoever handles such things that the ruling be altered to include medical aidmen in battalion detachments and on forward.

Bed in Field on Army Cot More Peaceful Than Paris

In Paris we had slept in beds and walked on carpeted floors for the first time in three months. It was a beautiful experience and yet for some perverse reason a great inner feeling of calm and relief came over us when we once gain set up our cots in a tent, with apple trees for our draperies and only the green grass for a rug.