‘At this spot, the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy, Ernie Pyle, 18 April 1945.’ Those were the words on the simple wooden sign erected by US soldiers fighting on Iejima, a small island north-west of Okinawa, following the death of Ernest Taylor Pyle, the most famous American correspondent of the Second World War.
Dubbed ‘the Soldier’s Friend’, his work had been syndicated across the States, making him a household name. President Harry Truman, on learning of Pyle’s death at the hands of a hidden Japanese machine-gunner, summed it up, saying nobody had ‘so well told the story’.
Conflicts covered: World War II
Died: 1945
It was Pyle’s ability to convey in words the lived everyday experience of ordinary GIs that was the essence of his popularity. It meant folks back home – millions of them with sons at the front – felt able to get close to their loved ones, to sense their feelings, to share something of the discomfort, the fear, the longings, the camaraderie in adversity.
