of Private Melvin W. Johnson
Ernie Pyle
Roving WW2 ReporterThe Articles of Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle (1900-1945), was a reporter, copy editor, and aviation editor until 1932, when he began to write a daily column as a roving reporter for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain. He did this until the outbreak of the Second World War when he became a war correspondent. He moved to England in 1940 where he reported on the Blitz for the New York World Telegram. They are reprinted here with the generous permission of the the Scripps Howard Foundation. 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.
