Books: Journalist as hero

Ernie Pyle: a reporter the public could respect | Roy Maynard

Ernie Pyle followed the troops onto the beaches of Normandy after watching the initial landings the day before from a ship. Like everyone else-soldier, sailor, journalist-he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the invasion.

In an age of journalistic hyperbole, Ernie Pyle chose to capture the beaches in quite a different way: "I took a walk along the historic coast of Normandy in the country of France," he wrote. "It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were sleeping in the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn't know they were in the water, for they were dead."

He wrote of the enormous amounts of waste on the beach -the trucks and tanks and landing craft bashed by waves and enemy fire into litter. "But there is another and more human litter," he continued. "This is the strewn personal gear, gear that will never be needed again, of those who fought and died to give us our entrance into Europe.... Here are socks and shoe polish, sewing kits, diaries, Bibles, and hand grenades. Here are the latest letters from home, with the address on each one neatly razored out-one of the security precautions enforced before the boys embarked."