I’m a bit ashamed to admit it, but I’ve never read anything by Scripps’ famed war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. Until I picked up a copy of “Brave Men,” a collection of his columns.
It’s fascinating stuff, though at times it bogs down a bit in detail. But it’s really easy to skim through those parts, and it’s really the details that bring the book to life. His focus on the run-of-the-mill soldier is great. In simple, declarative style, he takes you right into the trenches with them, their fears, their corny humor, their longing for home. In several instances, he talks about the dogs and children they adopt along the way. Some of it’s heartbreaking.
When Pyle tries to write about a general (Omar Bradley), he becomes almost apologetic for rubbing shoulders with a bigwig and quickly turns his focus to the general’s aide and support personnel.
Particularly cool is the way he lists each soldier’s home town and in most cases, street address. My one complaint is that he doesn’t have much bad to say about anyone. I guess some of that is the effect of wartime censorship and some of it is living shoulder to shoulder with these guys at the front. That would make it tough to really nail someone, I guess.
All in all, a great read. I’d definitely recommend it.
One reply on “Brave men …”
It was a different time … probably less audience demand for critical writing (along with the censorship — of course, that’s part of how they got away with the censorship).
We have several Pyle books as part of J-book collection. Unfortunately, I haven’t read one.
One of Pyle’s grand daughers (or great? … or nieces — can’t remember the exact relationship) worked at the Star when I first started there. She was Billie’s first editor when she started there out in Moorpark.