In life, WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote dispatches from the front lines that riveted a nation consumed by war. In death, his own sacrifice underscored the anxieties of a nation steadfast in its resolve, yet increasingly weary from the war’s mounting human cost.
Ernie Pyle, WWII war correspondent
Ernie Pyle’s columns reached 26 million faithful readers each week. His inimitably plain-spoken – yet profoundly eloquent – descriptions of ordinary GIs brought the war home in a way no other writer’s words did.
“Ernie Pyle was basically America ’s first embedded reporter,” said Mark Foynes, director of the Wright Museum of WWII History. On Thursday, August 13 at 7 p.m., the museum will host a dramatic performance based on the correspondent’s life and writings.
“When the Army marched, Pyle marched,” Foynes said. “And his writings bore a level of authenticity and tangibility unmatched by his journalistic contemporaries.”
In North Africa, Pyle observed soldiers on the march: “The men are walking. They are fifty feet apart, for dispersal. Their walk is slow, for they are dead weary, as you can tell even when looking at them from behind. Every line and sag of their bodies speaks their inhuman exhaustion.”
While Ernie was much admired by the servicemen whom he lived among and wrote about, he was keenly aware of his role. “The front-line soldier wants it to be got over by the physical process of his destroying enough Germans to end it. He is truly at war. The rest of us, no matter how hard we work, are not. … His blood is up. He is fighting for his life, and killing now for him is as much a profession as writing is for me.”
After covering the war in North Africa and Europe, Pyle set out for the Pacific in 1945. While embedded with the Marines on the small island of Ie Shima in April, he was killed by Japanese sniper fire. The news of Pyle’s death stunned the American public still mourning the recent death of President Roosevelt. Phone lines at news organizations across the country were jammed as grief-stricken readers called to confirm the awful truth.
Said soldier-artist, Bill Mauldin, whose droll, irreverent GI cartoons had made him nearly as famous as Pyle, “The only difference between Ernie’s death and that of any other good guy is that the other guy is mourned by his company. Ernie is mourned by the Army.”
Celebrated in life and revered in death, Pyle’s own words presaged how he would be remembered, “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.”
“Pyle had a need to be where the action was,” said Gary Morrison, a writer, actor, and theater director who will be portraying Ernie Pyle in the August 13th presentation of “Hi, I’m Ernie Pyle” at the Wright Museum. “In a way, though his untimely death was tragic, it is befitting of who he was in life.”
The August 13 fundraiser event at the Wright, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature a performance of Morrison’s “Hi, I’m Ernie Pyle.” In addition, there will be a one-night-only display of Ernie Pyle artifacts. Among them is a very rare photo of Pyle, taken after he was killed. The photo is one of only three copies known to exist; the U.S. War Department had ordered the destruction of the negative and all known prints – a measure taken to protect morale on the home front and among America’s servicemen.
Written and performed by Gary Morrison (who was born the day the correspondent was killed), Hi, I’m Ernie Pyle is a poignant – and occasionally humorous – look at the stark realities of war. The play, performed in honor of all veterans, captures the period in Ernie’s life when his articles were the most widely anticipated of any war correspondent. Morrison has performed the play across the Midwest and the East Coast at venues such as the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.
Admission to “Hi, I’m Ernie Pyle” is $25 and $10 for museum members. Tickets are available at the Wright Museum gift store, or by calling 603-569-1212. Payment may be made over the phone by credit card, or attendees may R.S.V.P. and pay at the door. All proceeds from this important fundraiser will help support educational programs offered by the museum.
The Wright Museum of WWII History is a non-profit educational institution whose vast collection of fully-operational military vehicles and extensive exhibits relating to the American home front bring the past to life. The museum is a member-supported national treasure located right here in New Hampshire. In the words of filmmaker Ken Burns, “The Wright Museum’s work to preserve and share the stories of the WWII generation is vitally important. I am proud to support its efforts to educate present and future generations about the triumphs and sacrifices of America ’s Greatest Generation.”
Mark Foynes
Executive Director
Wright Museum of WWII History
P.O. Box 1212, 77 Center Street
Wolfeboro, NH 03894
603/569-1212
Visit www.wrightmuseum.org for frequent updates!
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