Join the George R. & Edith Angell Cook Special Collections Department for “The Soldier’s Friend: World War II Correspondent Ernie Pyle” on June 11, 2024 from 12p.m.-1 p.m.  This is a virtual program that will be offered in the Special Collections Department on the second floor.

About the program:

Ernie Pyle was so beloved by members of the Armed Services and their families back home that, when he died from Japanese machine gun fire on the island Ie Shima, it was President Harry Truman who announced his death. Ernie gave a “worm’s eye” view of the global conflict, so that Americans could know what husbands, sons, and siblings were enduring during the war. He advocated that frontline troops be given “fight pay,” and Congress listened, passing the “Ernie Pyle Bill.” This legislation established combat pay, which service members have received since World War II.