Skip to main content

Ernie Pyle Monument, Japan dedication photographs

 Collection — Folder: SP117
Identifier: SP117

Scope and Contents

This collection includes 6 black-and-white photographs taken at the Ernie Pyle memorial and cemetery in Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan in 1945. Five of the photographs were taken during a ceremony for the erection of the new concrete memorial in Juy 1945.

Dates

  • 1945 July, undated

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Biographical Note

Ernie Pyle was an American journalist and war correspondent from Dana, Indiana. He was born Ernest Taylor Pyle on Augsut 3, 1900 at his childhood home in Dana. Pyle studied journalism at Indiana University, then had various reporter and editorial jobs and local newspapers before becoming a roving columnist with the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain. He married Geraldine "Jerry" Elizabeth Siebolds in 1925 and the couple moved to New Mexico.

When World War II broke out, he became a war correspondent, covering campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1944. Pyle moved on to the Pacific theater and accompanied U.S. armed forces on Iwo Jima. During the Okinawa campaign, he was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire while visiting the nearby island of Ie Shima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan on April 18, 1945. Pyle was initially buried in Japan, but eventually interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sources:

"Ernie Pyle." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Last modified July 30, 2021. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernie-Pyle.

Findagrave.com. "Ernie Pyle." Find A Grave Memorial. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2143/ernie-pyle.

Indiana University Media School. "New Scholars Visit Pyle Home Town." The Media School Report, August 29, 2016. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://mediaschool.indiana.edu/news-events/news/item.html?n=new-scholars-visit-pyle-home-town.

The Ernie Pyle WWII Museum. "Ernie Pyle's Boyhood Home." Accessed October 21, 2021. https://erniepyle.org/ernie-pyles-boyhood-home.

Historical Note

Combat engineers from the 77th Infantry Division erected a permanent monument dedicated to the late Ernie Pyle in July, 1945 at Ie Shima, Ryukya Island in Japan. The concrete marker replaced a painted board at the spot where Pyle was killed by a bullet from Japanese forces. The marker has two brass plaques made of shell casings. The first bears a replica of the division's Statue of Liberty shoulder patch, while the second states: "On this spot, the 77th infantry division lost a buddy, Ernie Pyle, April 18, 1945."

The memorial sat near a small cemetery where Pyle and other American soldiers were temporarily buried. Pyle's body was removed from Ie Shima, along with the other Americans who died there, and reinterred on July 4, 1947 in the Okinawa Island Command Cemetery. Later, his body was relocated to Oahu, Hawaii.

Sources:

"Ernie Pyle Monument." Colton Courier (CA), August 28, 1945, 1.

"Ernie Pyle's Body Removed from Ie Shima." The Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), July 3, 1947, 1.

"Monument Erected to Ernie Pyle." Ventura County Star (CA), July 2, 1945, 2.

"Yanks Dedicate Monument to Ernie Pyle." Salt Lake Telegram (UT), July 2, 1945, 2.

Extent

0.01 Cubic Feet (1 folder)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by subject.

Custodial History

This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Related Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN:

SP086: Ernie Pyle home photographs

Processing Information

Collection processing completed 2021/11/13 by Brittany Kropf. EAD finding aid revised 2021/11/13 by Brittany Kropf.
Title
Ernie Pyle Monument, Japan dedication photographs
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671