Ernie Pyle's Heroic World War II Soldiers

ExRAF Bod: Vintage Ernie Pyle and a highly-recommended read. This is a gripping account of the WWII Allied campaign in Sicily and Italy, a campaign which seems largely ignored in the annals of popular WWII material. Pyle then details his return to England to await the D-Day invasion, then provides his account of that invasion and the following move through Europe. Again, the focus is more on the experiences of the 'regular man' than on the strategy and tactics of the Allied various invasions. Good gripping stuff and a revelation of what had to be endured.

Canada on Nov 05, 2023

David Hutton: It is almost difficult to do justice to this book and how great it is. Reading Pyle's descriptions of what it was actually like for the men who fought this war on the European front was actually very humbling. I was surprised how quickly I whipped through these 500 pages, and there were 'wow' moments on almost every page. Howard F. Jaeckel's more detailed recent review, presumably of this new edition from Penguin, with several quotes, is right on target. You could almost pick any page to quote something worth sharing with others.

United States on Aug 05, 2023

Howard F. Jaeckel: Along with all those who fought or resisted Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the American soldiers who served in the Second World War helped preserve for us a world in which human decency and liberty are possible. In “Brave Men,” Ernie Pyle, a war correspondent embedded with our forces in North Africa, Italy and France, helps us understand, eighty years on, what they did and endured. An account of the war can serve no higher purpose than to inspire our abiding gratitude to those soldiers, and in this “Brave Men” succeeds magnificently.

A well-known human-interest columnist during his early career in journalism, Ernie Pyle became truly famous during World War II. His columns were read by millions of Americans, appearing in 400 daily newspapers and 300 weeklies, and many were republished in the Army newspaper “Stars and Stripes.” He was one of 28 correspondents selected to accompany the first wave of soldiers landing on Omaha Beach. After surviving that honor, he was caught in the disastrous bombing of our own troops near Saint-Lô during the massive American operation to break out of the Normandy beachhead. One comes away from “Brave Men” realizing that the...

United States on Jul 25, 2023

Evry1sLostButMe: As a man, Pyle was the getter of the story. But as the legend he became, he was the voice of the everyday Joe. I dread to think how America could have faced the war without him because he humanized the war in such a war as to portray each man as just that. Not a cog or a faceless war dog but a human with an address and a family and life outside the war.

This should be required reading in every high school in America. Period.

United States on May 31, 2023

Bob: Ernie was a truly committed war reporter. He always got right inside whichever unit he was reporting on and lived and talked with the men. This book recalls his time during the campaign in Europe, from Sicily to the end of the war in Europe. He writes in a totally personal way, as if he was writing a letter. I now intend reading the other books that this great man wrote.

United Kingdom on Dec 16, 2022

Peter Hughes: The first I've read or Ernie Pyle and I am blown away by his writing. His description of his own feelings and those of the troops he encountered.
Its no surprise that he is so well regarded. Leaving aside my British bias this book is one of the most interesting accounts of WW11 I have ever read, the style and honesty of Pyle's writing is amazing.

United Kingdom on Jan 19, 2022

AMC Reviews: I can only endorse the great reviews written about Ernie Pyle. He was a wonderful person who could connect the reader with the Reality of World War II. He kept his readers in touch with the battles but wisely did not go any deeper into describing that Hell Hole. Readers of Ernie Pyle could feel that connection with the troops.
His loss was mourned by millions of people world wide. Ernie Pyle was a simple Reporter who truly had a Brain, a Heart and a Soul. Quite the opposite as compared to the Hateful Media Morons we have today!

AMC

Canada on Oct 26, 2021

Matt the Cornishman: I chose to read this book initially because I heard the name of Ernie Pyle on a TV show, a number of months ago. I found it hard going at first and put it down (metaphorically) for a few months. I then read a review of the author and his eventual fate during the D day commemorations and decided to resume. I'm glad I did. The writing gets more evocative as the story (the war) develops and I felt more and more immersed in the scenes described. Of course their is an American bias but it is never gratuitous. The use of full names and addresses of the servicemen interviewed is interesting and a very useful reminder that war is about human beings.

United Kingdom on Jul 02, 2019

David A. Baer: I had often heard of 'Ernie Pyle' from people who had been around to read his newspaper columns during 'The War' and—more often—from those whose parents had done so. But it was not until a solemn stroll through Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific brought me unexpectedly upon Pyle's gravesite that he became a real human being to me. Ironically, for me he was humanized in his death. It is a sentiment that Pyle might have been expected to appreciate, for he humanized the American fighting man and woman precisely in their deepest extremis.

I immediately ordered this remarkable collection of Pyle's columns, filed from a very mobile front.

It took a bit of time for Pyle's writing to grow in me. His vocabulary, his pacing come—after all—from a different generation's English. But grow on me it did.

By all accounts a complex man and by some accounts a troubled one, Pyle shines no light on himself. His singular focus is on the American GI and sailor. The title of this compilation might suggest a romantic touch. Yet romance is not what Pyle brought to war, and certainly not to his supreme lay empathetic picture of the American warrior in a war...

United States on Dec 31, 2016