Sunday, April 19, 2015

Ernie Pyle

70 years ago yesterday, April 18, 1945, Ernie Pyle was killed by a Jap sniper on the Pacific Island of Ie Shima. Pyle was a popular travel columnist for the Scripps - Howard newspaper chain before the war. When the was began he was sent to England when his dispatches of the Nazi bombing of London became legendary. His best columns were anthologized in the best selling books, Ernie Pyle in England, Here is Your War, Brave Men, and Last Chapter. Some of his work was adapted in the 1945 picture, The Story of GI Joe. Following the war a number of his travel columns were published in Home Country. His wartime stories give a vivid picture of the life of an average soldier. His prewar travel columns paint a picture of an America that is long gone. Two anthologies of his work were published in the mid 1980's, Ernie's War and Ernie's America.
For more information on Ernie Pyle, read his books, or go to The Ernie Pyle WWII Museum.

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