Lost Photo of Dead Ernie Pyle Surfaces

It's been more than sixty years since Ernie Pyle died in combat on a small island near Okinawa.

Pyle was one of the most belove reporters ever and most definitely the most beloved of WWII.

The figure in the photograph is clad in Army fatigues, boots and helmet, lying on his back in peaceful repose, folded hands holding a military cap. Except for a thin trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he could be asleep.
But he is not asleep; he is dead. And this is not just another fallen GI; it is Ernie Pyle, the most celebrated war correspondent of World War II.

As far as can be determined, the photograph has never been published. Sixty-three years after Pyle was killed by the Japanese, it has surfaced — surprising historians, reminding a forgetful world of a humble correspondent who artfully and ardently told the story of a war from the foxholes.

www.usatoday.com...

en.wikipedia.org...


[edit on 2008/2/3 by GradyPhilpott]

WOW,

That is an emotional picture...

He was truly a great man and worthy of our respect..

I knew of him of course, but had no idea he died in combat..

Thanks for this Grady..

Semper

It is a very moving picture.

I knew that he was killed in combat, but I was uncertain of the details.

It seems so odd when you consider who horrible death can be in combat that Pyle would have been so cleanly and that he looks as though the undertaker laid him out.

I have to wonder if maybe someone give him a more dignified pose than fate would have put him in.

Regardless, Pyle was really a hero.

He was awarded the Purple Heart.