Ernie Pyle's War; America's Eyewitness to World War II
When World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle left for the Pacific Theater in  1945, he told friends and colleagues that he felt sure he would die there. Pyle was right;  on April 18th, a Japanese machine gunner killed one of America's most beloved  personalities, sending the entire nation into shock and mourning. In the years since Pyle's  death, his particular brand of journalism has been criticized: he's been accused of  ignoring the stupidity of generals, of downplaying the horror of battle, and of presenting  the war in a better light than it actually deserved to be portrayed. James Tobin, author of  the impressive biographyErnie Pyle's War, does not deny that his subject  often smoothed the jagged facts of war, but he provides both the context--an era and a  war in which correspondents were expected to be "team players" who helped  their side to win hearts and minds at home--and the personal conflict raised for Pyle by  the often irreconcilable demands of telling the truth and building morale.In addition to detailing Pyle's mostly unhappy personal life, Tobin also includes samples  of his columns, proving once and for all that Pyle was more than just a hick who fell into  reporting; the man had real, substantial talent, evidenced  by his ability to put words  together and his sensitivity to the subjects he wrote about. More than just a biography,Ernie Pyle's Waris also a study of war, and the peculiar, twilight world of  suffering and half-told truths to which men like Ernie Pyle were drawn.