Memorial Day Reading: Ernie Pyle

This Memorial Day I'd like to remember a particular man, the great journalist Ernie Pyle, killed towards the end of WWII. His work is his best memorial, and a splendid record of the ordinary fighting men he covered.

If you haven't read his work, this is a good place to start.

Or, on this day of remembrance, The Death of Captain Waskow

AT THE FRONT LINES IN ITALY, January 10, 1944 - 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.

The last three words are typical Pyle. Whenever he listed a man's name he always identified his home town. He knew how much it mattered.