Reply #8: One of the Greatest War Reporters Ever

[Hidden Stillness]

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.