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Here Is Your War: Story of G.I. Joe

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This book is an edited compilation of Ernie Pyles' dispatches during the North African Campaign of World War Two (each chapter was originally two or three columns and were woven together to make the story flow better). It describes the sea voyage from England, the landing in Algiers, and the drive across North Africa, ending with the German retreat and surrender.

Pyle gives a great accounting of all of the different types of people that compile a war effort - the nurses, cooks, mechanics, pilots, and of course the infantry. He tends to stay away from the brass and talk with the soldiers. The style of writing is very quaint - when ever a soldier is introduced in a story, Pyle gives his/her hometowm and often his/her address as well. The writing flows surprisingly well - and I say surprisingly because if one just looks at the text, consisting of short sentences and paragraphs, it would give the illusion of being choppy. It is infact beautifully written from a humanistic stand point.

Pyle doesn't gloss over the horrors of war, his own fear, the hardships or the set backs. He talks about the mistakes we made in the administration of captured Algiers, and how we were defeated in the initial combat against the Germans.

The reason why Pyle was/is so famous is he brings to life all of the warm anectodes that make life in a combat zone bearable - the unselfish acts of courage and kindness - as well as the sense of loss when a friend will no longer be with us. That was the true beauty of Pyle's work.

Again, this is a fantastic book for anyone seeking to learn who were the men and women that fought WWII and what life was like for them.

Ernie Pyle, probably the greatest journalist who ever lived, presents his best work from the American campaign in North Africa. Through Ernie's words, we see how life was like in WWII for the average soldier. Ernie never cared for raving on about generals and admirals -- just the average "Joe." His books read like the greatest screenplays. And yet they are not fiction. They are real stories, memoirs, recollections, biographies of hundreds of soldiers. His book is a living, breathing echoe of America's blood and tears in World war II. A must for any journalist, journalism student or anyone interested in World War II and military history

As a combat veteran, I have always admired Ernie Pyle. He stood head and shoulders above other reporters in World War Two. He was in the thick of battles, shoulder to shoulder with the troops. More than that, he saw war through the eyes of individual soldiers. He shows us their human side while they do a dirty job, and he gives them dignity that they richly deserve. If you haven't been in combat, you haven't a clue as to what it is like, but Ernie Pyle's words come closer to a realistic picture of the many facets of war than anything else I have read. Here Is Your War begins on a ship carrying inexperienced, American troops to the invasion of North Africa in November, 1942. Through Pyle's eyes, we follow their landing at Oran, their pounding and defeats by the Germans as they struggle eastward, the bitter battles in Tunisia, and final victory in the Spring of 1943. If you are in combat long enough, you will die, and it happened to Ernie Pyle on Okinawa in the Spring of 1945. But he left us memorable words about war, such as those in this book. It is well worth reading.

I've been reading Pyle's "Here is Your War," his accounts from the North African Campaign. It is easy to see why Pyle was beloved, not just by the soldiers (especially the infantrymen), but by the folks at home too. Pyle loved these guys and they loved him. He was "embedded" with them for years. He and they hated the job they had to do, and they were grimly determined that they were not going home until they had done it. Ernie never did get home--he is still out there, still telling his stories, still helping us feel why his guys and his words are still important.

Pyle was not shy in telling readers that he was never big on going on "heroic" missions just so he could write about them. He would pass on opportunities to stick his neck way out. It is interesting and ironic that Ernest Hemingway, another war correspondent, who sought any opportunity to make a hero out of himself, frequently and enviously mentions Pyle, but Pyle never mentions Hemingway. When they were both in Paris in 1944 at the Liberation, Pyle was with the GIs, Hemingway was in the Ritz Bar with the generals.

Pyle was always ready to go anyhwere with the troops, and if that meant being shot at, he just hung on with the rest of the fellows. Pyle made it clear to the readers that the real heroism was being there and sticking it out, not the particular feats of bravery that garnered the headlines and the medals. He showed all the guys (and the gals; Pyle's second love were the ladies in the uniforms) were heroes and he told the folks at home why.

There are never any "minor combat actions" for the lads and lasses under fire, and Pyle gives the feeling of that "pucker factor," when the enemy is shooting, strafing, and shelling. But he also conveys a deeper feeling that is largely missing from combat today. In the 1940s, Americans went to war knowing not just that they or their friends might die, but that our side could lose the whole war. Today, the individual American soldier knows he or she might have a "bad day," but we are all pretty sure we know who's side is going to win. In 1942 or 1943, the fate of the world was riding on those young boys Ernie Pyle loved so deeply. What is beautiful is that Ernie never had to write anything profound about why these guys were out there doing the fighting. He just told their personal stories in a way that told the whole story for all of us.

I would recommend any of Pyle's books, to be read along with a copy of the late Bill Mauldin's "Up Front," his WW II cartoons of Willie and Joe. Mauldin drew cartoon versions of the GI infantrymen that Pyle loved the most. Pyle and Mauldin are the very best way I know to introduce a young person to the Americans in World War II. Pyle and Mauldin are the words and the pictures that provide the feel, of the life and the death, the humor and sadness, the guts and the fear and the bravery, of this Greatest Generation of Americans at war. There were no two journalists as loved by combat soldiers. Without the feel that only they convey it is very hard to give the history of WW II much real human meaning.

Colonel (ret.) Frank Stech, PhD USAR

A fascintating read. This book gets you right into the actual experiences faced by our soldiers. It is about feelings, conditions, etc.

Ernie Pyle was the best known of the cadre of World War II correspondents. This volume follows "GI Joe" during the invasion of North Africa and the battles that followed. While Pyle was most comfortable with the foot soldier, he also accompanied medical units, fliers, and generals. He tells their stories, gives their names and addresses, with real insight into the mind of the average American boy in an era long gone. It's all here - the black humor needed to cope with the horrors these boys saw, the pets and children they "adopted," the tension of creeping into position at night to attack an enemy who was, at that point, superior to the Americans. The Germans were battle-hardened veterans, with intelligent and innovative leadership, whereas the Americans were green troops, frightened of the unknown, and prone to run. Once Patton, Bradley, and Truscott took firm hold of the reins of leadership, discipline was restored and our men quickly became a very effective fighting machine. Pyle describes it all, and his pride in the average Joe and his abilities is obvious. This volume is an intimate look at that era, written as it happened, and therefore a valuable resource for anyone interested in the "Forgotten Front" - the invasions of Africa, Sicily, and finally Italy.

War is more than just battles, bullets, fighting and killing. It's about soldiers who go for weeks without bathing, nor even taking their socks off. It's about simple delights such as finding a nice foxhole without having to dig it yourself, or a fellow soldier sharing his fresh eggs for breakfast. It's about making friends quickly and deeply, then never seeing them again.

At least this is the picture of war painted by correspondent Ernie Pyle in "Here is Your War: The Story of G.I. Joe." This fascinating book is a compilation of Pyle's newspaper dispatches from 1942-43 when he accompanied U.S. soldiers fighting in Algeria and Tunisia, and told their stories to the folks "back home."

Pyle is a masterful journalist; any reporter could learn from his careful attention to detail. Every page in "Here is Your War" is filled with stories and anecdotes that are brought alive by his colorful and nuanced observations.

He tell us, for example:

* Infantry constantly watched the sky; nothing scared them more than strafing planes.
* A jeep going fast makes a humming noise that sounds distressingly like an incoming enemy fighter.
* The less a soldier washed the less he was bothered by insects.
* Repair crews improvised methods to keep planes flying that would have frightened the plane's makers
* A tired soldier -- sometimes they would go for two or three days without a break -- could sleep right through an artillery shelling.
* In war, "camouflage became second nature. Near the front no one ever parked a jeep without putting it under a tree. If there were no trees, we left it on the shady side of a building or wall. As we neared the front we folded our windshield down over the hood and slipped a canvas cover over it so it wouldn't glint and attract a pilot's eye."

Along with such details, Pyle introduces us to many dozens of the soldiers. Most of these are ordinary men who were living ordinary lives as doctors, carpenters, furniture movers, or some such occupation before the war. Now suddenly they're off on the biggest adventures of their lives. For each man, Pyle find a story or detail that makes him unique, then quickly moves on. There are no continuing characters in the book, other than the author himself, but that's the nature of war, Pyle explains:

"In wartime people leave without saying good-bye -- a fellow would be gone for three or four days before we realized his absence. It was no use to inquire. We just accepted it, and months later we were likely to be pumping his hand in some other foreign country. Or maybe we would never see him again. There was no telling."

A big strength of this book is that Pyle is just plain likeable. He's down-to-earth, self-deprecating and admittedly human. I especially liked when he confessed that he was too scared to go along with a bomber crew on a dangerous mission.

The book is filled with funny and offbeat anecdotes, and you'll no doubt gets some laughs from the book. But this is still war, and Pyle acknowledges that as the fighting goes on, it changes the men: "The most vivid change was the casual and workshop manner in which they talked about killing. They made the psychological transition from their normal belief that taking human life was sinful, over to a new professional outlook where killing was a craft no longer was there anyting morally wrong about killing. In fact, it was an admirable thing."

Despite the hardships and the dangers, Pyle finds a generally upbeat tone among the American soldiers. Sure, they might be homesick and hungry for a comfortable bed and Mom's cooking, but no one seems to question the war itself. The fact that that there's a clear goal and that the soldiers can see progress being made clearly helps their morale.

Ernie Pyle was one of the finest war reporters of his generation and this book shows us why. Pyle writes simply and describes what he saw, day in, day out, never exaggerating, never descending into hyperbole. A tank drives up, the commander laughing about something, and then heads into combat. In the next line Pyle tells us the crew died half an hour later, using curiously dispassionate yet effective language to do so. This is an account of the U.S. combat campaign in North Africa, the first major European theatre conflict that American troops took part in. Pyle pulls no punches and describes the endless problems the troops came up against thanks to what he saw as excessive bureaucracy. Nor does he hide unpleasant facts -- he correctly describes the Battle of Kasserine Pass as a major defeat for the fledgling troops but goes on to say they'll do better the next time. This is a wonderful book and I cannot recommend it too highly.

AN incredible view of WWII from that of a correspondent. A summary of his articles that he submitted during his being "imbedded".

For the people back home Pyle gave personalities and identification to the men and women who served our country in the largest conflict known. The leaders and generals and admirals stories were told. This is the story of the other guys who served in the trenches and the bowels of the ships and aircraft. A salute to the 'little guys'!