It's hard for most people to understand today what Ernie Pyle meant to the public back in the days of World War II. He was the most well-known and celebrated journalist of his day.
As far as any research has been able to reveal, the picture below is the first time the public has ever seen a picture of Pyle right after he had been killed by a Japanese machine gun ambush on a Pacific island named Ie Shima, near to Okinawa. He had just recently arrived in the area.
The reason the little island was being attacked was because of an airfield the miliary wanted to capture.
Pyle reported from a number of places from a variety of battlefronts across Europe before he went to the Pacific.
Those aware of what happened and who had the negative of the photo, were told to destroy it because of the effect it would have on the public morale.
The picture exists only because an Army photographer crawled on his stomach to the scene while the battle was still raging, and snapped the picture. Having said that, it's interesting that Pyle must have been positioned for the picture, making me wonder how that was done in the midst of enemy fire.
How he died
After the jeep they were traveling in came under fire, those in it, including Pyle, jumped out and took cover. When Pyle stuck his head up from behind the jeep, he was shot in the left side of his head.
News of the death of Pyle created that sense of disbelief that all well-known people do when they die at the prime of their popularity. Pyle was at that stage at the time of his death.
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