I Was There 45-04-29 (x) The Story of Ernie Pyle

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: I Was There 45-04-29 (x) The Story of Ernie Pyle
Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Dave Vale (substituting for Chet Huntley)
Theme:
A dramatic, respectful tribute to famed World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle, told through dramatized recollections of people who served alongside him. This episode captures his empathy, bravery, deep connection with American servicemen, and the profound sorrow following his death.

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Episode Overview

This episode of "I Was There" is devoted to Ernie Pyle, one of the most revered war correspondents of World War II. Through dramatized eyewitness accounts by two servicemen and one servicewoman, the episode explores Pyle's courage, humanity, and the powerful impact he had on those around him and on the nation. Pyle’s authentic reporting brought the realities of war to Americans at home, while his personal interactions with GIs forged deep bonds on the front lines.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Circumstances of Ernie Pyle’s Death

• [01:53] The episode opens with a stark account of Pyle’s death on Iejima, near Okinawa:

  "A single Jap bullet went through the temple of a man, and thus a nation was moved to sorrow, a new president to humility, a military to tears." — Announcer ([01:53])

• Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan recalls being in the ditch with Pyle as machine-gun fire pinned them down.

  “I looked around. Annie lay dead beside me. ... Nothing remained but a great silence, a great void.” — Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan ([02:23])

2. Ernie Pyle’s Humanity on the Front Lines

• [04:22] Technical Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan, known as "Pop," recounts meeting Ernie in Naples and sharing a tent on Anzio’s front. The story quickly demonstrates Pyle's care for fellow soldiers, exemplified by his insistence on lending Gilligan his own overcoat.

• Ernie would gather supplies for the men:

  "That afternoon, Ernie bought up all the chocolate and cigarettes he could find and we loaded up our knapsacks. The chocolate and cigarettes was for the boys." — Frank Gilligan (Pop) ([05:28])

• Pyle’s reasoning for staying at the front:

  “The youngsters need friends. They need care. ... The folks back home... have to know what their men are doing... I guess, well, I feel that I can give them that.” — Ernie Pyle ([07:15])

• Pyle’s selflessness and willingness to put himself in harm’s way is illustrated as he crawls through enemy fire to deliver chocolate and talk to the troops.

  “Out Ernie would crawl, ... Ernie would go crawling from foxhole to foxhole, giving out chocolate and cigarettes, talking to the guys, jotting down names and addresses. Helping a wounded boy. Comforting a lonely boy... Caring for all the GIs as though he was their father.” — Frank Gilligan (Pop) ([08:22])

• Pyle’s empathy for the wounded is shown when he writes final letters and brings keepsakes home for dying or injured soldiers.

  “Ernie would write letters for the men and he would send back remembrances. ... The fellows knew that Ernie would keep his promises. Ernie was so very gentle with the wounded men.” — Frank Gilligan (Pop) ([11:02])

3. Reflections on Fear and Purpose

• Pyle repeatedly confided his fear and premonition of death to Pop Gilligan:

  “So have I, Pop. I guess I'm on borrowed time now. But my time's running out. I feel it.” — Ernie Pyle ([06:26])
  “I know that if I ever get out on a front again, I'll get it. My time's up, Pop. I know it.” — Ernie Pyle ([12:20])

• Despite this, Pyle’s sense of responsibility to the men and to families at home kept him on the front lines.

4. Ernie Pyle’s Influence on the Wounded and Hospitalized

• [16:07] Lieutenant Genevieve Bayreuther, an Army nurse, recalls Pyle’s presence on a ship filled with wounded soldiers.

  “He was tired and ill. We wanted him to go to bed. But he couldn't. ... Before the trip was over, he talked to every man aboard. That's the kind of man Ernie Pyle was.” — Lt. Genevieve Bayreuther ([17:05], [19:15])

• Even while sick, Pyle spends time with wounded men, lifting their spirits and communicating with their loved ones, especially mothers.

  “My mom…when she finds out about me being…like this, she’s liable to worry herself sick.” — Wounded Soldier ([18:37])
  “Tell her you’re not worried about yourself…she won’t worry about you.” — Ernie Pyle ([18:40])

5. Ernie Pyle’s Perspective on War and His Final Days

• [20:09] Lieutenant Commander Max Miller, Navy officer and author, shares long memories of Pyle.

• Pyle’s hatred of war and fearfulness are central to his persona:

  “I hate it, Max. I hate war and everything connected with it. It’s such a horrible waste, such a terrible, useless thing.” — Ernie Pyle ([20:40])
  “Sometimes I feel as though I could never go out on Facebook Fire again. Sometimes I feel that just the sound of a bullet will crack me.” — Ernie Pyle ([20:55])

• Yet, he pressed on, compelled to witness and report, despite his promise not to make any more landings:

  “I sort of know that I'll be killed if I hit another beachhead. ... But even after all that thinking, I've just got to go.” — Ernie Pyle ([23:17])

• Pyle's last promise to his friends and his wife:

  “When you get back to the States... Tell my wife that this Okinawa business will be my last landing.” — Ernie Pyle ([24:30])

• Miller shares a line from one of Pyle's last letters:

  “I've got a spooky feeling, Max. I've got a spooky feeling about it. That I've been spared once more and I would be asking for it to tempt fate again.” — Letter from Ernie Pyle, read by Lt. Cmdr. Max Miller ([25:32])

• The closing sentiment from the servicemen:

  “Losing you is like losing our second father.” — Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan ([26:06])
  “Say hello to them for us, will you? And take care of them like you always used to do.” — Wounded soldier ([26:16]-[26:21])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Dave Vale | "[Ernie Pyle,] a man who became a father of 10 million men in service... the greatest war correspondent of WWII." | | 02:23 | Sgt. Gilligan | "I looked around. Annie lay dead beside me. ... Nothing remained but a great silence, a great void." | | 07:15 | Ernie Pyle | "The youngsters need friends. They need care. ... The folks back home ... have to know what their men are doing..." | | 08:22 | Pop (Gilligan) | "Caring for all the GIs as though he was their father. And I guess to all the boys, he was." | | 20:40 | Ernie Pyle | "I hate it, Max. I hate war and everything connected with it. It’s such a horrible waste, such a terrible, useless thing."| | 24:30 | Ernie Pyle | "Tell my wife that this Okinawa business will be my last landing." | | 25:32 | Letter (Pyle/Miller)| "I've got a spooky feeling, Max... that I've been spared once more and I would be asking for it to tempt fate again." | | 26:06 | Gilligan | "Losing you is like losing our second father." |

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Opening, Pyle’s Death Overview | 01:12 – 02:23 | | Sergeant Gilligan’s stories (Italy/Anzio) | 04:22 – 13:01 | | Nurse Bayreuther’s story (hospital ship) | 16:07 – 19:15 | | Lt. Cmdr. Miller’s Memories (Normandy, Pacific)| 20:09 – 25:54 | | Final Reflections, Farewell | 25:54 – 26:38 |

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Tone and Style

The episode balances the factual and the heartfelt, consistently emphasizing Pyle’s humility, warmth, personal fears, and the deep respect he inspired in those around him. The language is direct and familiar, echoing the camaraderie of war and the pain of loss.

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Conclusion

This episode of "I Was There" provides an intimate, respectful, and dramatized portrait of Ernie Pyle through the eyes of those who knew him, portraying not only his remarkable achievements as a correspondent but also his deep humanity and connection with America's servicemen. Through these moving anecdotes, listeners gain a vivid sense of both the man and the meaning of his legacy.

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Transcript

[Joe Walters]

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[Announcer]

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[Joe Walters]

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[Announcer]

Hunt's Fine Foods. The makers of Hunt's tomato sauce and 50 other famous foods present. I was there. I was there.

[Dave Vale]

Dramatic eyewitness stories of headline events.

[Announcer]

This afternoon, Hunt's Fine Foods presents the story of World War II's greatest correspondent, Ernie Pyle, as told by two servicemen and one service woman who knew and saw Ernie Pyle in action on various battlefronts throughout the globe. Now to introduce our guests, your narrator, substituting for Chet Huntley, who is in San Francisco to cover the United Nations Conference, Dave Vale.

[Dave Vale]

Thank you and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is the story of Ernie Pyle, the man who became a father of 10 million men in service and thus became the greatest war correspondent of World War II. Ernie Pyle, the man who wrote of brave men and was himself a brave man too.

[Announcer]

It happened in a ditch on a little island called Iejima, four miles off Okinawa in the Ryukyus. There it happened that a. A single Jap bullet went through the temple of a man, and thus a nation was moved to sorrow, a new president to humility, a military to tears.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

We were in the ditch together, Ernie and I, pinned down by a Jap machine gun. After time we stuck our heads up and the gun rattled again.

[Ernie Pyle]

I ducked.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

I looked around. Annie lay dead beside me. It was at that moment that everything ceased and all the sound and color and movement went out of this world. Nothing remained but a great silence, a great void. I don't remember what I did, the men tell me. I picked up Lenny's hand, held it.

[Ernie Pyle]

And kept mumbling it. I'm sorry, old man. Gee, I'm sorry.

[Dave Vale]

Let this half hour then be our tribute to a man made great in his time. To a man who knew fear, yet was brave. To a man with gentle tongue and soothing touch, to Ernie Pyle, now dead. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no better way to give you an I was there story of Ernie Pyle than through the eyes of the men and women who knew him on the fields of battle. Thus we have brought to our microphone two servicemen and one service woman who saw Ernie in action. We have a sergeant who knew Ernie on Anzio in Italy, an army nurse who met Ernie on a boat carrying wounded from England to the United States, and a lieutenant commander of the Navy who knew Ernie in Normandy and who was with him in The Pacific. First we present Technical Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan, now stationed at the Santa Monica Army Air Force's redistribution center. An ordinary GI who knew Ernie Pyle.

[Frank Gilligan]

Yes, Mr. Vail, I knew Ernie Onanzio in Italy. I spent some time with him, sleeping in the same tent, sometimes rolled in the same blanket. I first met Ernie in Naples. I was standing alone, looking out the window of an apartment house where the war correspondents were quartered, when someone walked into the room.

[Ernie Pyle]

Well, we may as well know one another. My name's Ernie Pyle.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

I'm Gilligan. Frank Gilligan, but everybody calls me Pop.

[Ernie Pyle]

Glad to know you, Pop. I hear you're going up to the front with me tomorrow.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Well, if it's okay with you, Ernie.

[Ernie Pyle]

Yeah, it's all right with me, but. Well, Pop, it may be a little rough.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

You think I'm too old, eh? I'm only 48. Ernie, you're over 40 yourself.

[Ernie Pyle]

Yeah, Pop, you're right. We old guys got to stick together. I got an overcoat for you, Pop.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Oh, but, Ernie, it'll be cold up there.

[Ernie Pyle]

But I. Now, you take my overcoat. You'll need it. And don't answer me back.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Ernie was beginning to take care of me already. That's just the kind of a guy he was. Whenever he saw someone who needed care, Ernie was right there. I had to wear his overcoat. And I had to keep assuring Ernie through the whole trip that I wasn't cold. That afternoon, Ernie bought up all the chocolate and cigarettes he could find and we loaded up our knapsacks. The chocolate and cigarettes was for the boys. The next day, we left for the front. I got to know a lot about Ernie. Spending five days with him in a foxhole on Anzio. Two old guys over 40 had a lot to say to each other.

[Ernie Pyle]

You okay, Pop?

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Sure, Ernie.

[Ernie Pyle]

Not cold?

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

How could I be with that overcoat of yours?

[Ernie Pyle]

That's good. You know, Pop, I hate like hell to come out in this mess of slaughter. And I hate it like hell to bring you with me.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Oh, don't worry about me, Ernie. I'm an old guy. I've lived my life.

[Ernie Pyle]

So have I, Pop. I guess I'm on borrowed time now. But my time's running out. I feel it. Still, I wished you'd overstayed back in Naples.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

I couldn't, Ernie. You know, I. I feel that. Well, if I stop a bullet, it'll keep a younger fella from getting it.

[Ernie Pyle]

Yeah, we think alike there, Pop. Old guys like us are not cracked out for stuff. Like this. I know I'm not. You don't know how it makes me feel sometimes. Sometimes I think that if I ever see another dead man or hear another shot, I'll go nuts. I feel as though I'd snap in two.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Why don't you get out of it, Ernie? You know, all you gotta say is you want to go back to the States, you can go back to your job there. Why don't you get out of it?

[Ernie Pyle]

Why don't you? Pop, you're older than I. You're 48. Why don't you? You see, the youngsters need friends. They need care. They need some old guys like us to help them out when we can. And the folks back home, mothers, girlfriends, sisters. They have to know what their men are doing, how they're living, what they're thinking. They have to know something else about their men than what they read in headlines and in accounts of big battles. I guess. Well, I feel that I can give them that.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

You can, Ernie, Better than anyone else out here.

[Ernie Pyle]

Thanks, Papa. Well, I'll see you, Poppy.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Where are you going?

[Ernie Pyle]

Oh, there's some men around lying in their holes that.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

We can't go out there. Ernie, that German fire.

[Ernie Pyle]

It's all right, Pop. Remember those knapsacks full of chocolate? That stuff's liable to milk if I don't get it passed out.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Ernie, you can't crawl through that fire.

[Ernie Pyle]

It'll be okay. See you later, Pop.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

And out Ernie would crawl. It didn't matter how fierce the enemy fire was or how rough the going would be. Ernie would go crawling from foxhole to foxhole, giving out chocolate and cigarettes, talking to the guys, jotting down names and addresses. Helping a wounded boy. Comforting a lonely boy. Soothing a frightened boy. Caring for all the GIs as though he was their father. And I guess to all the boys, he was.

[Ernie Pyle]

Hey, Mac. What? Look, there's.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

There's someone crawling this way.

[Ernie Pyle]

Where? Over there. See?

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I see. Hey, keep your head down behind me. So knock it off.

[Ernie Pyle]

Yeah, I wonder who it is.

[Dave Vale]

We'll know in a minute.

[Ernie Pyle]

Here he comes now. Hiya, fellas. Hey, guys, look, it's Ernie. I got something for you.

[Announcer]

Yes, what is it?

[Ernie Pyle]

Look. Dust.

[Announcer]

Chocolate.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Chocolate.

[Announcer]

Holy mackerel. Fellas, look what Ernie brought us. Oh, gee, thanks, Ernie.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

We're so tired of these carations.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

We could eat it.

[Announcer]

This isn't the healthiest place.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Oh, someone got it.

[Announcer]

Yeah, over the next foxhole.

[Ernie Pyle]

Ernie.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Ernie, where you going?

[Ernie Pyle]

Come back, Ernie. Come back. That fire. You're running right into It. Easy. Easy, boy. This is Ernie, Fella, you know. Let me help you, Ernie. Yeah.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Ernie Pile.

[Ernie Pyle]

Yeah. Here, let me put my jacket under your head. Let me see. You will. Maybe I can help you out.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

No, no, it's no use, Ernie. I can tell. Ernie, I've never met you before, but I sort of feel like I. Like I've known you all my life. Would you do something for me?

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Sure.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

I didn't get a chance to write a letter home to my wife. Well, we haven't been married so long.

[Ernie Pyle]

What is it, boy?

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Would you. Could you write a letter for me, Ernie?

[Ernie Pyle]

Sure, I could.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Modge Pollock, 428 East Orange Street, Camden, New Jersey. You know what to say?

[Ernie Pyle]

Sure.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Here. Here, take this ring. It was the ring she gave me when we were married. Send it back to a will, Ernie. Sure, send us back to that.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

And Ernie would write letters for the men and he would send back remembrances. Sometimes he'd take a ring or a picture or something and he promised to deliver it in person when he got back to the States. The fellows knew that Ernie would keep his promises. Ernie was so very gentle with the wounded men. Once I saw Ernie make a leg hammock from his own scarf for a man who was wounded. Once at the front, a boy told Ernie his feet were cold. And Ernie removed the boy's soggy leather shoes and then took his own tattered GI blanket, tore it into strips and wrapped the wounded boy's feet in it. On one trip back to Naples, he, Ernie, carried a wounded boy in his jeep and drove him to a house where nurses lived. It was late at night and all the nurses had gone to sleep. Ernie woke them up to attend the wounded boy. After five days with Ernie, I was ordered back to my outfit. So Ernie gave me his jeep to drive to the airport. I remember our last conversations.

[Ernie Pyle]

Well, Pup, I guess this is it.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Yeah. Ernie.

[Ernie Pyle]

I'll see you again in the States, Pop, from New Mexico.

[Frank Gilligan (Pop)]

Sure, Ernie.

[Ernie Pyle]

I'll be going back to the States soon, Pop. My paper wants me to go to France, but I don't think I'll do it. I know that if I ever get out on a front again, I'll get it. My time's a pop. I know it. No, I. I don't think I'll go to France. I don't think I'll.

[Dave Vale]

In a moment, ladies and gentlemen, we will continue with the second act of today's I Was There story of Ernie Pyle as told by two servicemen and a servicewoman who saw Ernie in action. But first, a vital tip for good eating. And here's our announcer, Joe Walters with his suggestions.

[Announcer]

Let's conduct a little quiz to bring out some suggestions for giving flavor freshness to many wartime dishes. Quiz question number one. How can a housewife give stew richer, tastier flavors?

[Joe Walters]

Cook it with Hunt's tomato sauce.

[Announcer]

Right. Second question. When it comes to preparing fish, what do you do to give it juicier, more appetizing goodness?

[Joe Walters]

Cook it with Hunt tomato sauce.

[Announcer]

Right again. And the third question. How can you give almost any dish, baked beans, rice, hamburger, omelets and so forth, the flavor of big, juicy tomatoes 100% sunrise.

[Joe Walters]

Cook it with Hunt tomato sauce.

[Announcer]

And, ladies, it's a fact. When you want the full, rich flavor, satisfaction of luscious tomatoes prepared and seasoned and spiced as only Hunt's master chefs know how. Simply cook it with Hunt's tomato sauce. So easy and quick to use, costs no ration points and very economically priced. Yes, and Hunt gives you grand extra flavor, extra vitamins, extra goodness. It sparks appetites, then satisfies them. Hunts knows what America wants in tomato sauce and 50 other fine hunt foods. So don't be satisfied with just any tomato sauce. Get Hunt tomato sauce in the bright red can. And remember, it's Hunt for the best every time. And now back to Dave Vale with the second act of today's I was there story on Ernie Pyle as told by our three guests. A sergeant, an army nurse, and a lieutenant commander in the navy.

[Dave Vale]

And so, Sergeant Gilligan, when you last saw Ernie Pyle in Italy, he told you of his premonition of death and said that he wasn't going on to France.

[Frank Gilligan]

That's right, Mr. Vail. But of course, Ernie went on to France anyway. In all my lifetime, there have been five men whose passing have brought a real and lasting grief to my heart. Will Rogers, Knut Rockland, Wendy Williams, President Roosevelt and Ernie Pyle. Of course, of all the five, I only knew one personally, and I can say Ernie Pyle was my friend. I was there.

[Dave Vale]

Thank you, Sergeant Gilligan. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we present our second. I was their guest on today's story of Ernie Pyle. She is an army nurse now on duty at Birmingham Hospital. Lieutenant Genevieve Bayreuther.

[Ernie Pyle]

Thank you.

[Lieutenant Genevieve Bayreuther]

Thank you, Mr. Vail. My meeting with Ernie Pyle, while it may have been brief, left a lasting impression. It was on board a ship coming from England to the United States, and it carried wounded men. Ernie was on the ship and he was tired and ill. We wanted him to go to Bed. But he couldn't. Something happened to prevent his going to bed. I remember I was making my rounds among the wounded men. Men of the fourth to be here.

[Joe Walters]

How you doing, soldier?

[Ernie Pyle]

All right, nurse. Good.

[Joe Walters]

That's fine. Oh, say, fellas, you know Ernie Pile's aboard.

[Ernie Pyle]

Ernie's aboard? Yes.

[Announcer]

Well, when you tell him we're here, the fourth division, tell him we're here, will you?

[Ernie Pyle]

Now, now, wait, fellas.

[Joe Walters]

He's sick.

[Lieutenant Genevieve Bayreuther]

He's very sick.

[Joe Walters]

I don't think he can.

[Ernie Pyle]

Oh, you don't know Ernie.

[Announcer]

Just tell him we're here, that's all. He'll come down to see us.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

You just.

[Ernie Pyle]

Well, I went up and told Ernie that the wounded men of the 4th Division were on board. It didn't take Ernie long to make up his mind what to do.

[Joe Walters]

Get to bed or see the boys.

[Ernie Pyle]

Hey, hey, here he comes.

[Announcer]

Here comes Ernie. Fellas.

[Ernie Pyle]

Hiya, fellas. How are you?

[Announcer]

Oh, we were just sitting down to play some cards.

[Ernie Pyle]

Ernie, you want to join us?

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Sure, sure.

[Ernie Pyle]

Deal me right, boy.

[Announcer]

I'll never forget the last time I saw you, Ernie.

[Ernie Pyle]

Fellas, listen to this.

[Announcer]

We were in the muddiest ditch you ever saw. Ernie, what's the matter?

[Ernie Pyle]

That boy over there. Oh, yeah, he's. He's pretty badly hurting, but he's just a youngster, not over 18. Yeah, he looks to me like he's crying. We'll deal you out if you want to talk to him. Thanks. Hello, son. Hello, Ernie. What's your name, son? Paul. Paul Kinley. I'm from Boise. I'll give you back in the state soon. Paul. What are you so sad about? Come on, son, you can tell me. Is it your wound? In a way or. But not really. What is it? My mom. Your mom? Yeah. She sort of thinks of me as the baby in the family. She's been awfully worried about me. When she finds out about me being.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Being like this, she's liable to worry herself sick.

[Ernie Pyle]

And I wouldn't want her to worry. Yeah, teleport mothers are pretty brave. She won't worry about you at all. Not if she thinks that you're not worried about yourself. Not if she thinks that this business here won't interfere with you being happy. My shucks, Ernie, I'm not worried about it a bit. Well, snap out of it, son. Now, I'll tell you what. I'll have the boys drag a card table over here and you think you could go for some poker, huh?

[Lieutenant Genevieve Bayreuther]

Yes, Mr. Vail. Ernie didn't rest a minute on that trip, though. He was sick with a fever. He spent all his time going around the ship talking to the men. Before the trip was over, he talked to every man aboard. That's the kind of man Ernie Pyle was. I saw it, ladies and gentlemen, I was there.

[Dave Vale]

Thank you, Lieutenant Genevieve Beiruto. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we present our next I was There guest on today's story of Ernie Pyle. He is a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, a man who knew Ernie Pyle in Normandy, who traveled with him through the many islands of the Pacific, and who was aboard ships with him there. Ladies and gentlemen, author of Daybreak for Our Carrier and the Far Shore, Lieutenant Commander Max Miller.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Thank you, Dave Vale. Thank you. Yes, I had known Ernie for many years. In fact, I've known him since we're both learning how to write, you might say I've always watched. I've always watched, too, and admired the.

[Ernie Pyle]

Way he always stuck to the truth.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

I saw Ernie again in Normandy, of course, and I was with the Navy and he was with the army, but we kept seeing each other. I remember how he used to talk. I certainly remember how he used to talk and how he felt about the.

[Ernie Pyle]

Whole business of war. I hate it, Max. I hate war and everything connected with it. It's such a horrible waste, such a terrible, useless thing.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

I know how you feel, Henny.

[Ernie Pyle]

I also fear it, Max. Sometimes I feel as though I could never go out on Facebook Fire again. Sometimes I feel that just the sound of a bullet will crack me. I think I'll be leaving France soon.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

You know, Ernie, there's another war going.

[Ernie Pyle]

On over in the Pacific. Got to take a look at it.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

It's a honey. Yeah, it's an odd war. You know, those Japs are like monkeys.

[Ernie Pyle]

I think after I leave France, I'll go over with the Navy and take a look.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

Now that was Ernie, fearing and hating war like no other man I'd ever met. Yet in the same breath, driving himself to keep on going, driving himself to new battle fronts, to new horrors, just.

[Ernie Pyle]

Because he had to.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

On the way over to the Pacific islands, all of Ernie's friends, Fred Peyton, the magazine correspondent who later died on Guam, myself and everybody else who knew Ernie urged him not to make any more landings. And of course, Ernie made his promise.

[Ernie Pyle]

Don't worry about me, fellows. I won't make any landings. I promise.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

And Ernie meant it when he said it. Together, we traveled through the islands of the Pacific, Guam, Saipan, Tinian and many others. Every place where Ernie went, the men would recognize him and they Gather around.

[Ernie Pyle]

At talk to them.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

Ernie had been GI and was now becoming Navy. They'd use his canteen, take his chewing gum and borrow his socks. And Ernie would take up their gripes and go to bat for them. Remember, Ernie wanted to invite the men to his house in Albuquerque. He knew Mexico.

[Ernie Pyle]

After the war, I want to get together with the fellows from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps whom I've actually learned to love. There'll be no rank, no distinction. Only a bunch of guys I just want to see again.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

It was on the island of Guam where I last saw Ernie. I was preparing to fly to Iwo Jima, and Ernie was getting ready for something.

[Ernie Pyle]

Max.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

What is it, Annie?

[Ernie Pyle]

Max, I'm going to have to go back on a promise.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

What do you mean?

[Ernie Pyle]

I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm going to the makeup area for the invasion of Okinawa. I know I promised you and Fred and everybody else that I wouldn't make any landings, but. Well, I've been thinking about it. These last three days, I haven't slept a single night trying to make a decision. I tried to figure everything out logically. I tried to weigh everything. I sort of know that I'll be killed if I hit another beachhead. I'm afraid, Max, and you know I am. But even after all that thinking, I've just got to go. Surely I know now that I've definitely made up my mind. I feel all is right again. I'll probably sleep tonight. I think I'll come through after all. But if something should happen to me, I hope I'm killed outright. Max? Yeah? If. If I don't come out of this Okinawa invasion alive, I think I'll have only one regret. I'll miss everything going on. I don't want so much to be around as it is to be around to see how the thing all ends. Well, I better be moving along. I've got some stuff to get together. Right.

[Sergeant Frank T. Gilligan]

Good luck, Annie.

[Ernie Pyle]

Well, good luck yourself. And by the way, Max, when you get back to the States. Yeah? Tell my wife that this Okinawa business will be my last landing.

[Dave Vale]

And that, Commander Miller, was the last time you saw ERNIE PYLE?

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Yes, Mr. Vail, it was the last time Ernie went to Okinawa to be with the Marines. He hadn't been with them before. Just the other day, of course, I received a letter from Ernie, I believe one of the last letters he ever wrote. I could read you one line. Ernie wrote, quote, I've got a spooky feeling, Max. I've got a spooky feeling about it. That I've been spared once more and I would be asking for it to tempt fate again. So I'm going to keep my promise to you.

[Ernie Pyle]

I'm going to keep it and to.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Myself that this will have been my last landing, end of quote. Well, it was Ernest that now, but he's more alive in my mind than many people who presume they are living.

[Ernie Pyle]

So long, Ernie.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Gee, we don't know what we'll do without you.

[Dave Vale]

See you later, Ernie. See you later, gi.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

We're gonna miss you, boy.

[Ernie Pyle]

Don't think we're not. Losing you is like losing our second father.

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

Hey, Ernie, you're going to run into a lot of our old buddies now.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Say hello to them for us, will you?

[Lieutenant Commander Max Miller]

And take care of them like you.

[Soldier (various wounded men)]

Always used to do.

[Dave Vale]

Thank you, Lieutenant Commander Max Miller for your I was there story on Ernie Pyle. We wish also to thank army nurse Lieutenant VAY Ruther and Sergeant Frank Gilligan. Now, to add greater pleasure to your eating, here's your announcer Joe Waters with a suggestion.

[Announcer]

No woman objects to being talked about this way.

[Joe Walters]

Now, isn't Janet amazing? I mean, the way she can create cook. We had dinner at her house the other night and she serves macaroni. No point, you know, but the way she cooked it with a special tomato sauce, well, honestly, as I told Bob later on, it was the most delicious macaroni I've ever tasted.

[Announcer]

And ladies, we'll be glad to let you in on Janet's secret of being praised for her cooking. She depends on ration free Hunts tomato sauce for cooking dishes that call for tomatoes in any form. Spicy, appetizing Hunt's tomato sauce is delicious different because it's made by the exclusive Hunt's recipe and made from the biggest, reddest, juiciest tomatoes that ever graced a garden. 100% sunrise. In fact, ladies, Hunt's tomato sauce is so full bodied and nourishing that one low price can just about equals a full pound of fresh tomatoes. So right now add Hunt's tomato sauce with the bright red label to your shopping list and get extra flavor and extra vitamins for better appetite like so many nutrition wise women are doing. In fact, more women are switching to Hunts tomato sauce than to any other brand that hunts Hunt tomato sauce. It's Hunt for the Best every time I was there. Presented each Sunday at this time by Hunt's Fine Foods is directed by Robert Hafter with music by Lud Gluskin. Story dramatized by Larry Roman. Your narrator was Dave Vale. This is Joe Walters.

[Ernie Pyle]

Speaking.

[Announcer]

Hunt for flavor.

[Joe Walters]

Find it easily in Hunt's Tomato Sauce.

[Announcer]

Hunt for quality.

[Joe Walters]

Get it always in Hunt's Tomato Sauce.

[Announcer]

Hunt for the best.

[Joe Walters]

And be sure of the best by asking for Hunt tomato sauce and 50 other famous hunt foods.

[Announcer]

This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.