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Ernie Pyle on board the U.S.S. Cabot.
Ernie Pyle Memorial, Ie-shima, Okinawa, Japan
Ernest Taylor Pyle, better known as Ernie Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was an American journalist, who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in 1945. His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were told in a folksy style much like a personal letter to a friend, which won him a loyal following in as many as 200 newspapers.
He was born on a tenant farm near Dana, Indiana and wrote briefly for local newspapers before moving to Washington, D.C.. He became the country's first aviation columnist and later was managing editor of the Washington Daily News before taking on the national column.
In the mid- to late-1930s, Pyle wandered around the country in his car, writing columns about the unusual places and people he met in his ramblings. Select columns were later compiled and published in Home Country.
With the entry of the U.S. into World War II, Pyle became a war correspondent, applying his intimate style to the war. Instead of the movements of armies or the activities of generals, Pyle generally wrote from the perspective of the common soldier, an approach that won him not only further popularity but also the Pulitzer Prize in 1944. His wartime writings are preserved in three books, Brave Men, Here is Your War, and Ernie Pyle in England.
In that year, he wrote a column urging that soldiers in combat get "fight pay" just as airmen were paid "flight pay". Congress passed a law giving soldiers 50 percent extra pay for combat service. The legislation was called "the Ernie Pyle bill."
He reported from the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. On April 18, 1945 Pyle died on Ie Shima, an island off Okinawa Honto, as the result of machine gun fire from an enemy sniper position.[1]
Pyle's legacy is preserved at Indiana University, where he began his journalism training. The School of Journalism is housed in "Ernie Pyle Hall," and scholarships, established soon after his death, are still given to students who have ability in journalism, the promise of future success in the profession, and a military service record. A major initial contribution to the scholarships came from the proceeds of the world premiere of the film, The Story of G.I. Joe, which starred Burgess Meredith as Pyle.
In 1947, his last home in Albuquerque, New Mexico was made into the first branch library of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, named in honor of its famous occupant. Today, the Ernie Pyle Library houses a small collection of adult and children's books, as well as Pyle memorabilia and archives.[2]
Laid to rest between two unknown soldiers, Pyle is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
[edit] References
- ^ Reid, Chip."Ernie Pyle, trail-blazing war correspondent — Brought home the tragedy of D-Day and the rest of WWII", NBC News, June 7, 2004. (URL accessed April 26, 2006)
- ^ U.S. Department of the Interior. Ernie Pyle's Home a National Historic Landmark. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
- James Tobin. Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II. Hardcover: Free Press (1997), ISBN 0-684-83642-4; Paperback: University Press of Kansas (1998), ISBN 0-7006-0897-4
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