Henry T . Waskow Henry Thomas Waskow ( September 24 , 1918 – December 14 , 1943 ) was a US Army captain memorialized in Ernie Pyle ' s dispatch " The Death of Captain Waskow , " which in turn was faithfully portrayed in the movie " The Story of G . I . Joe " . The column also publicized the documentary film " The Battle of San Pietro " , by John Huston , depicting the action in which Waskow died . Ernie Pyle wrote of Captain Waskow : In this war I have known a lot of officers who were loved and respected by the soldiers under them . But never have I crossed the trail of any man as beloved as Capt . Henry T . Waskow of Belton , Texas . Biography . Childhood and adolescence . Waskow was born in DeWitt County , Texas , the seventh of eight children , by children of German immigrants . His parents were cotton farmers , and moved around in various places in Texas until settling in Belton , Texas , when Henry was two years old . He attended the public schools and graduated from Belton High School in 1935 , as president of the student council , receiving top grades and showing a particular aptitude for mathematics . College and early military career . He attended Temple Junior College on a scholarship , often commuting by foot from his parents ' home , and taking on custodial duties on campus . During his college years , he enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard , in the 143rd Infantry Regiment , 36th Infantry Division with his two older brothers , John Otto Waskow , and August Waskow . Following his two years in junior college , Waskow was offered a position as a teacher but turned it down to attend Trinity University , which was then in Waxahachie , Texas . He graduated with a bachelor ' s degree on June 5 , 1939 , and was offered a job at Belton High School . He turned it down , expecting to be called for full - time military duty . World War II . When President Franklin D . Roosevelt put the National Guard under federal control and activated the 36th Infantry Division , the Waskow brothers were transferred to Camp Bowie in January 1941 . Waskow was given his commission as a lieutenant on March 14 , 1941 and received training in Fort Benning before being assigned to B Company , 1st Battalion , 143rd Infantry Regiment . As an officer , Waskow proved to be a principled and compassionate leader , giving those under his command individual attention . He attended various training programs throughout the country before rejoining his unit in Camp Edwards in Falmouth , Massachusetts . While there , he was promoted to captain . In early April 1943 , the 36th was shipped from New York harbor to Oran , Algeria , and was then stationed in Rabat in Morocco . The unit was kept in reserve until September 9 , when it landed on Red Beach near the ancient city of Paestum in the Campania region of Italy as part of " Operation Avalanche " . Waskow saw combat for the first time in the struggle to hold and enlarge the beachhead and for the Chiunzi Pass , where he commanded company B . His brother August was wounded during the battle and sent home . Waskow and his men fought their way north past Naples , relieving the 3rd Infantry Division near Mignano and then marched on , largely on mountain trails to Monte Sammucro ( Hill 1205 ) , near San Pietro Infine . The battle for San Pietro was one of the worst in the Italian Campaign . After a week , Waskow ' s company had been reduced to the size of a platoon , but participated in the assaults . On the evening of December 12 , on his way up from the treeline to launch an attack on a ridge known as Hill 730 ( ) , his unit was attacked , and a shell hit near him and his men . Shrapnel caught him in the chest and killed him almost immediately . Ernie Pyle . Riley Tidwell , who had been Waskow ' s assistant throughout the war , left Waskow ' s body where he had died and went down from the mountain to notify Waskow ' s superiors that he had been killed . On the way , he encountered Ernie Pyle , the noted war reporter . Pyle waited the three days it took to recover Waskow ' s body . It was when the body was unloaded from the back of the mule in the middle of the night along with several other casualties , and his men made their emotional farewells with their commander , that Pyle was inspired to write the dispatch that memorialized Waskow . Pyle published his column on January 10 , and stacks of letters started arriving to Waskow ' s survivors in Belton afterwards . His sister released a photograph of Waskow taken while he was a lieutenant , after adding another bar to reflect his captain ' s rank when he died . Following his wishes , Waskow was buried in Italy . His grave is at the Sicily - Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno . His grave is on Plot G Row 6 Grave 33 . A memorial was held for him in his home town when his mother died a few months later , and he was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit . He was also awarded the Purple Heart . Legacy . Pyle wrote the column about Waskow a few days after his death , in Caserta , where he had become depressed and was drinking heavily . He asked AP correspondent Don Whitehead to read the columns , exclaiming , " I ’ ve lost the touch . This stuff stinks . I just can ’ t seem to get going again . " Whitehead recognized its tremendous value and urged its publication . It was first published a month later , after notification of the next of kin , in Scripps - Howard ' s home newspaper , the " Washington Daily News " , which gave it front page billing , and sold out its entire edition . The entire column was read on the radio by Raymond Gram Swing and Arthur Godfrey . It was reprinted in " Time " magazine , and was used for a war bond drive . In his last will and testament , Waskow wrote : Pyle ' s story informed John Huston ' s documentary " The Battle of San Pietro " ( released in 1945 ) and heightened interest in it . The character of Captain Bill Walker ( played by Robert Mitchum ) in William Wellman ' s motion picture " The Story of G . I . Joe " is partly based on Pyle ' s column about Waskow ' s death . The US Army insisted on changing the surname of Waskow to Walker in the film ' s screenplay Henry T . Waskow High School in Belton and VFW Hall 4008 are named after Waskow .