I had a friend from college I would visit in Hoopston, Illinios-which there is no easy way to get from here to there........so my "quickest" route would take me down a small Indiana highway through a town of about 100 folk, named Dana.This is where I was introduced to Ernie Pyle. Dana was Ernie's home town, as it read on a marker posted at the town limits. I didn't know who Ernie was, so I did a little investigating to satisfy my curiosity. Born in 1900, he served about 3 months in WWI, came back home to attend IU, then became a news correspondent. Which is what he was pursuing when he was killed my machine gun fire in Japan.
Recently a grim picture of Mr. Pyle has surfaced, maybe you've seen it......one that shows him in dignified repose, but dead. It reminded me of driving past his tenant farm. Pyle became famous for the stories of the soldiers he would send back home.......framed in the light of small town boys, homesick for their communities and mama's cooking. I offer that Pyle was so talented at portraying this because of his own small town Hoosier roots. I think he knew the ache of town after town across this country sending away their brightest and best, and the emotion of loss.
We salute Ernie Pyle, Hoosier son, comforting those at home during the darkest hours of WWII.
3 comments:
The brutality of war! What will history tell of the Iraq war. Will it be the neat,pressed and dry cleaned version or will the story of the enormous bodily costs paid by soldiers missing arms,legs, ears and eyes really be told. Once again we are going to live with the visuals that these young men and women will be living with. Modern medicine and heroic efforts to save lives has been wonderful but there are going to be a lot of scars among us this time. Who will be the Ernie of this generation!
If you want a fairly balanced on the scene look at what has been happening in Iraq, check out www.michaelyon-online.com
He has been embedded in Iraq for the better part of 4 years and is one of the rare journalists who report it like he sees it...the good, bad, ugly, and indifferent.
I noticed last night on the news we are approaching 4,000 deaths in the war. And I agree........I don't see any successful way out in the short to mid-range. Possibly in 10 years, but then another terrorist driven nation will come on the scene in the middle east and we'll shift our focus to that.
Of the leading presidential candidates-who is quickest to pull the trigger? Who will let us get walked on? And who do you most trust with our forces?
HR
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