Noon Edition airs on Fridays at noon on WFIU.
On August 3, people around the country will celebrate National Ernie Pyle Day on what would have been the famed war correspondent's 118th birthday.
From the small Indiana town of Dana, Pyle rose to prominence writing a national syndicated column chronicling his travels across the country. When the country entered World War II, Pyle went to both theaters of combat to document and report on the experiences of the enlisted men.
Pyle gained the respect and admiration of millions of Americans who identified with Pyle's matter-of-fact style of writing.
On this week's Noon Edition, we discussed Ernie Pyle's life, legacy, and impact on the Hoosier state and across the country.
Guests
John Bodnar, Retired History Professor at Indiana University
Dennis D. Elliott, Retired Journalism Professor at Indiana University, Friends of Ernie Pyle Board Member
Owen V. Johnson, Retired Journalism Professor at Indiana University, Friends of Ernie Pyle Board Member
Conversation on Ernie Pyle
Owen V. Johnson speaks to the respect that Pyle received from soldiers and their loved ones.
"The troops would write their families back home, 'If you want to understand what we're going through...read Ernie Pyle.' And the families and friends at home would write to the troops and say 'Boy, this Ernie Pyle is really onto something,'" Johnson says.
John Bodnar highlights Pyle's focus on the fatal realities of war at a time when the government wanted to hide some of the horrors from the American public.
"He's more than a reporter," Bodnar says. "He's bearing witness to the suffering of people and the absolute centrality of death in a culture, and in any wartime culture, where that's always a problematic issue for governments that are running the war themselves."
Dennis D. Elliott says that the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Pyle's hometown of Dana, Indiana remains a remarkable place to visit to learn about Pyle and the war.
"The area consists of Pyle's home, which was moved to the location, and two rather large Quonset Huts, which is one area of great focus for anyone visiting because there are so many artifacts there relative to World War II," Elliott says.