Death photo of WWII reporter Ernie Pyle uncovered

[MonkeyFunk]

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. Except for a thin trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he could be asleep.

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, reminding a forgetful 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.

more at:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCwUTF7rAGKUvJMQaIvFlNasu95QD8UJ0THG0

[seriousstan]

1. Isn't that something. I saw this in the morning paper. Two different old farts with original copies.

[RB TexLa]

2. It's amazing how things go unnoticed and or lost like that

Such history just found in a file or box somewhere.

[MonkeyFunk]

7. I know

imagine how much WWII history is mouldering away in somebody's attic somewhere.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Thanks for all the great stories about our GI's, Ernie. You were a terrific writer...

Alas, were you to have lived into our era, you would would feel deep shame to regard the condition of modern "journalism." Modern corporate media no longer serves the citizens of the USA, Ernie, the way you did. The so-called journalists of today have Assumed the Position for monied interests alone, and consistently warp the truth to support malignant institutions that are, in every regard, in opposition to the core ideals of America.

'Tis a sad state of affairs, indeed.

Photo - Ernie Pyle at Normandy...

[Squatch]

4. Who took the picture?

[MonkeyFunk]

6. Army photographer Alexander Roberts

who was also covering the battle.

Roberts and two other photographers, including AP's Grant MacDonald, were at a command post 300 yards away when Col. Joseph Coolidge, who had been with Pyle in the jeep, reported what happened.

Roberts went to the scene, and despite continuing enemy fire, crept forward — a "laborious, dirt-eating crawl," he later called it — to record the scene with his Speed Graphic camera. His risky act earned Roberts a Bronze Star medal for valor.

[Squatch]

5. Dupe

Sorry.

[Hidden Stillness]

8. One of the Greatest War Reporters Ever

Ernie Pyle was one of the greatest war correspondents ever, someone who wrote the real, true stories of soldiers as they lived it, with no "rah-rah" "I want to thank the noble troops for their service" phoniness. Pyle had a style of writing that was once typical of newspapers, but on a higher level--very clear, specific, detailed descriptions, as if you were there and could feel it, a poetic, lyrical way, that made everything understood at a deeper level, and a need always to tell the truth and convey what was really happening there. There were many stories about how afraid the soldiers were, complaining about the incoherent and wrong orders of Generals, etc., and the sadness and anger at the deaths of friends. One of Pyle's greatest columns, and maybe the most famous to the WWII generation, was a column I only read several months ago, about a company reacting to the loss of their Captain; all the different reactions of the troops saying good-bye to this corpse of their friend--very moving, and sometimes eerily described. The 1945 movie "The Story of G.I. Joe" was based on Ernie Pyle's experiences as a war correspondent travelling with the troops, and Pyle assisted with the production; it is still considered one of the best and most realistic war movies ever made. Not gory, but as the soldiers lived and felt it, told from their perspective. This would have been impossible in our own corporate-owned era, but during the 1940s, this type of beautifully-written, authentic, unvarnished writing, was extremely popular.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. Is the column about the captain's death available

anywhere on-line? I'd love to read it.

[Hidden Stillness]

11. Found It

Yes, I did find it, by searching on the name of the Captain, and Ernie Pyle. I originally read this in a book on the '40s. It is at http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/pyle/waskow.html

[MonkeyFunk]

12. Thank you!

much appreciated.

[supernova]

9. And how small and tawdry our press seem now

in comparison to him and others like him.

RIP, Ernie.