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February 04, 2008
A ghost from the past
Ernie Pyle is probably one of my favorite writers to read. I'm pretty much a World War 2 junkie, and his reports brought to life what the war was like for the average soldier. In many ways, I think that's more valuable than many other writings about the war.
Of course, he didn't survive the war. A Japanese machine gun struck him in the head. Now, a new photograph of that day has emerged:
The figure in the photograph is clad in Army fatigues, boots, and helmet, lying on his back in peaceful repose, folded hands holding a military cap.
But he is not asleep; he is dead. And this is not just another fallen GI; it is Ernie Pyle, the most celebrated war correspondent of World War II.
As far as can be determined, the photograph has never been published. Sixty-three years after Pyle was killed by the Japanese, it has surfaced - surprising historians and reminding the world of a humble correspondent who artfully and ardently told the story of a war from the foxholes.
"It's a striking and painful image, but Ernie Pyle wanted people to see and understand the sacrifices that soldiers had to make, so it's fitting, in a way, that this photo of his own death . . . drives home the reality and the finality of that sacrifice," said James E. Tobin, a professor at Miami University of Ohio.
Tobin, author of a 1997 biography, "Ernie Pyle's War," and Owen V. Johnson, an Indiana University professor who collects Pyle-related correspondence, said they had never seen the photo. The negative is long lost, and only a few prints are known to exist. Retired naval officer Richard Strasser, 88, of Goshen, Ind., who obtained a copy while serving in the Okinawa campaign, recently provided it to the Associated Press.
Here's a great site with some of his columns. I'd also recommend this book. It helps to remind you of how horrible war can be.
entry no. 1073
Posted at February 4, 2008 04:34 PM