Ernie Pyle
Ernie PyleErnie Pyle
By: Jenny Trembath
March 20, 2000
Ernie Plye
When a machine-gun bullet ended the life of Ernie Pyle in
the final days of World War II, Americans spoke of him in the
same breath as they had Franklin Roosevelt. To millions, the
loss of him was as great as the loss of the wartime president.
Since WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle was so famous, his death on
the battlefront came as a shock to people around the world.
Ernest Taylor Pyle was born August 3, 1900 to Will and
Marie Pyle. He was born an only child on the Same Elder farm
just southwest of Dana, Indiana. His father, Will Pyle, was a
tenant farmer because he couldn�t make a steady living from
being a carpenter, which is what he really liked to do. Pyle
described his father, �He never said a great deal to me all his
life, and yet I feel we have been very good friends, he never
gave me much advice or told me to do this or that, or not to.�
Marie Pyle filled the role of family leader. She enjoyed tasks
at hand: raising chickens and produce, caring for her family
and serving the neighbors. Pyle describes her, �She thrived on
action, she would rather milk than sew; rather plow than bake�
(Tobin 6).
Through school Pyle loved to write. During high school he
was reporter, then editor, then editor in chief for his high
school newspaper. When he graduated high school, he too was
caught up in the �patriotic fever� of the nation upon America�s
entry into WWI (Whitman 2). He enlisted in the Naval Reserve
but before he could finish his training an armistice was
declared in Europe. After that he attended the University of
Indiana to study journalism, but left before he graduated.
Ernie Pyle persued his love for writing, and became a cub
reporter for �LaPorte Herald.� For months later he was offered
a $2.50-per-week raise to work for the �Washington Daily News.�
He wrote the countries first daily aviation column for four
years before becoming the papers managing editor. Pyle was a
reporter, copy editor, and aviation editor until 1932, when he
accepted a job for the �Scripps-Howard� newspaper chain. Pyle
loved to travel and persuaded Scripps-Howard executives to
allow him to be a roving reporter. Ernie Pyle was very excited
to be a roving reporter:
It�s better than a million dollars. It�s a new job, the
best job in the world. Just think! No more sitting
behind a desk! No more sticking to the same old office!
No more writing headlines of editing other people�s
stories (Wilson 66).
The six years he was a roving reporter for �Scripps-Howard he
crossed the continent some 35 times. He wrote about all kinds
of things: mountain climbing, making soap, digging for gold,
zippers that stuck, and his folks back home. Whenever he found
a good story, he stopped for a day or two. He would talk to
all kinds of people. The he would write his story in a hotel
room that night. People that read his column described it as
just...
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