The Soldier's Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II

by David Chrisinger

A beautiful reckoning with the life and work of the legendary journalist Ernie Pyle, who gave World War II a human face for millions of Americans even as he wrestled with his own demons

At the height of his fame and influence during World War II, Ernie Pyle’s nationally syndicated dispatches from combat zones shaped America’s understanding of what the war felt like to ordinary soldiers, as no writer’s work has before or since. From North Africa to Sicily, from the beaches of Anzio to the beaches of Normandy, and on to the war in the Pacific, where he would meet his end, Ernie Pyle had a genius for connecting with the full gamut of emotions his beloved dogfaced grunts were feeling. A humble man, himself plagued by melancholy and tortured by marriage to a partner whose mental health struggles were much more acute than his own, Pyle was in touch with suffering in a way that left an indelible mark on his readers. While never defeatist, his stories left no doubt as to the heavy weight of the burden soldiers carried. He wrote about post-traumatic stress long before that was a diagnosis.

In The Soldier's Truth, acclaimed writer David Chrisinger brings Pyle’s journey to vivid life in all its heroism and pathos. Drawing on access to all of Pyle’s personal correspondence, his book captures every dramatic turn of Pyle’s war with sensory immediacy and a powerful feel for both the outer and the inner landscape. With a background in helping veterans and other survivors of trauma come to terms with their experiences through storytelling, Chrisinger brings enormous reservoirs of empathy and insight to bear on Pyle’s experiences. Woven in and out of his chronicle is the golden thread of his own travels across these same landscapes, many of them still battle-scarred, searching for the landmarks Pyle wrote about.

A moving tribute to an ordinary American hero whose impact on the war is still too little understood, and a powerful account of that war’s impact and how it is remembered, The Soldier's Truth takes its place among the essential contributions to our understanding of war and how we make sense of it.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, World War II, American History, Biography Memoir, War

400 pages, Hardcover

Published May 23, 2023

About the author

David Chrisinger is the executive director of the Public Policy Writing Workshop at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and the director of writing seminars for The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom dedicated to reporting on the human impact of military service.

He is the author of several books, including "The Soldier's Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II, "Stories Are What Save Us: A Survivor’s Guide to Writing about Trauma," and "Public Policy Writing That Matters," which in 2022 received the National Council of Teachers of English George Orwell Award.

Reviews

[Matt- History on the Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️Upcoming Release 5/30⭐️

A few months ago Penguin Press reached out and asked if I’d like an advanced copy of David Chrisinger’s new Biography, The Soldiers Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II, out on May 30th. Of course I said yes, secretly overjoyed this being the first time something like this happened.

Chrisinger delivers a stunningly detailed story of the famed war correspondent’s life. Pyle came to fame for his closeness to the frontline infantry man, becoming their chief representative back home in the states. While he was continuing his war in Europe, Pyle had battles at home brewing with a complicated relationship with his mentally ill wife. Trying his best to navigate both, it never felt Pyle could catch a break and find peace, which ultimately led to his stent to the Pacific where Ernie Pyle was killed.

Not only following Pyle through North Africa and Europe but from Dana Indiana and New Mexico. Chrisinger writes about Pyle as if Pyle were still alive, going so far as to retrace Pyle's steps as Chrisinger galivants the world as Pyle did. It was his description of Tunisia in the early chapters of the book that really show how Chrisinger could take is prose to another level. Chrisinger gets a major assist from Pyle, as many private letters and of course the famed column survive. Not only is this a great and unique biography but it duals as a good history of the war in Europe. I really enjoyed Chrisingers writing and I highly recommend this book. Thanks again to Penguin Press for sending me a copy!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I know more about Ernie Pyle other than he was a beloved journalist killed on Ie Shima off Okinawa, I’m neither a fan of his writing nor of his character. He was a neurotic guy who was a war profiteer. His relationship with his wife who was bipolar and attempted suicide several times turned his life into a private hell and a cliche: he couldn’t live with her nor could he live without her even after a divorce.

Pyle is criticized for being more of a propagandist than a journalist. Concur. I found his writing didn’t resonate with me. It doesn’t stand the test of time. He reminded me of another messenger, Anthony Bourdain, in terms of popularity and appeal with Pyle probably having the larger audience but Bourdain being the superior communicator without the constraints of censorship.

The author traces Pyle’s steps in Europe but doesn’t go into his life before World War II in as much detail. An afterword about his wife, house in Albuquerque, and museum in Indiana would have been nice. Marines aren’t referred to as soldiers either. Glad I read it.

[Doug Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad was a WWII vet in the European Theater and also acted as a correspondent for his Division in "Stars & Stripes" as well as his hometown newspapers. So I heard a few basic things about Ernie Pyle and I'm sure my dad's family read his columns regularly. However, this book illuminated a lot of things that I never knew about him, not shying away either from his various personal struggles. It certainly gave me even more appreciation for what my dad went through and the things that he must have seen and experienced.

The author also had a bit of a "gimmick" going in that he traveled to various locations where Ernie had been in North Africa, Italy, and France, and tried to see if there was still any evidence of him having been there. These interludes are scattered somewhat randomly throughout the book and, frankly, I don't think they added much and could just as well have been left out. It was still a 5-star read for me.

[Eric Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

You probably think you know about Ernie Pyle. I highly recommend David Chrisinger's book because you will learn that you don't. His meticulous research humanizes the man and places Pyle's remarkable writing into context. Pyle's personal medical issues. His wife's mental health challenges. All while he was writing columns from the front in North Africa, Europe, and lastly, in the Pacific. Chrisinger masterfully weaves in his own personal trips to follow in Pyle's footsteps. I learned details about the battles at Kasserine Pass and Operation Cobra that I never knew. Just like the unflinching look at Pyle's personal life, I learned uncomfortable things about those two battles for the first time. This is a great, incredibly detailed book that will pull you along non-stop from start to finish.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Interest


My paternal grandmother was an avid follower of Ernie Pyle’s column. He went pretty much along with my grandfather’s war so that’s likely part of it. I have a two of his books –one thanks to her. Back in the 1980’s at Indiana University, I used to regularly leave cookies in a mailbox for a boyfriend who was a graduate student in Journalism in Ernie Pyle Hall. (Today it is the School of Media).
The Story

Ernest Taylor Pyle went to war and told the soldiers’ stories. He told their personal stories as well as the stories of the battles in which they fought. He was, if you will, the “voice” of World War II to many on the home front– Mrs. Verne R. Hayes of Indianapolis, Indiana, among them. As Ernie and the “dogfaces” –the foot soldiers went through Northern Africa and around Italy and onto Omaha Beech on D-Day, my grandfather and his truck were nearby.

This book has, in a way, three stories: Ernie’s war, Mrs. Ernie Pyle’s story of manic depression in a era in which electric shock therapy was the newest thing, and the story of the author’s grandfather who fought the same war as mine. “Jerry” [Geraldine] Pyle’s battles with mental illness make Ernie’s achievements all the greater. He loved her and supported her through it all.

Ernie turned down amazingly lucrative deals for the best of reasons. He did not seek fame. He did not need to be a millionaire (though, had he lived, he would have been). He did not need much beyond a decent home, meaningful work, and care for Jerry. That’s a good man.
My Thoughts

Claimed both by his “native” state, Indiana, and his transplanted state, New Mexico, Ernie was the same sort of humble as the men I grew up around. Depending on the family you grew up in, you were “No better than anyone else” or you were “As good as anyone else.” These men made it through the Great Depression, did what their country required of them in the war, and came home and raised up one of the most entitled generations ever–mine (I am just barely a Boomer–born in ’62).

Sadly, Ernie didn’t live to see the 1960s, though from many of his sentiments, I think he’d have had a lot of sympathy for both the draftees who did their duty and went to Vietnam and those who fled to Canada.

I found it sad that he is buried in the Punchbowl Crater military cemetery in Hawaii instead of in one of the cemeteries in Europe. He spent nearly all of his war career in Europe. That he died soon after arriving in the Pacific was sad, but being left to lie among the men he’d barely known seems too sad.
My Verdict

4.0

The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II by David Chrisinger

I listened to the audio version.

Pet Peeves Ticked

I must, however, harp again on a pet peeve: The ridiculous overuse of the worlds “tasked” and “narrative”. Can any writer today find synonyms? So tedious. And, the dignitaries at Ernie’s funeral were “helmeted”? That raised a “duh” from me–it was in a war zone, during a war! A tad precious was the phrase her hair “kissed” her shoulders. Gag. At least nothing “informed” anything of Ernie’s, nor did he view anything through a lens of anything but his sunglasses! He did not yearn for “agency” thank goodness. Like most people in the world, he likely thought “agency” referred to an insurance office.

I really wish publishers would hire real editors who would help with this sort of thing. This is an EXCELLENT book, but would have been a step better had the author owned a thesaurus.

#nonficnov23

[Paul Callahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before the internet and before cable and before the evening news on network tv there were newspapers. The events and progress of World War II were reported back to the people of the United States by war correspondents working for various newspapers and wire services. Ernie Pyle was probably the most beloved of all of the men covering the war. Pyle lived for the most part, with the infantry soldiers as they marched through Europe. He ate what they ate, slept in the rain with them and wrote about them in an uncluttered, simple prose. Through Ernie Pyle the families of American service men got to experience what their sons faced during the liberation of Europe.
The Soldier’s Truth tells Pyle’s story. It’s not a biography. David Chrisinger follows Pyle’s footsteps across Europe and eventually to the war in the South Pacific. He tells about Pyle’s difficult marriage and the way his growing popularity at home made him a reluctant celebrity.
My generation grew up in the shadow of WWII. My dad served on destroyers in the South Pacific when word from the front could take months to reach home in the form of letters. By the time the war in Vietnam rolled around the action of the day was immediately available on television screens on the six o’clock news. The world was a different place for the generation that fought in World War II and this book gives good insight into just how important the work of the journalists assigned to cover that war was.
In my house growing up we knew who Ernie Pyle was. We knew who Willie and Joe were and we knew the graffiti that declared Kilroy was here! I remember a Charles Schultz cartoon of Snoopy raising a can to a photograph of Pyle with the caption “Another C-ration consumed in your honor Ernie. We’ll never forget you.”
The Soldier’s Truth is a nice tribute to a guy who wrote from his heart.

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a biography of the American journalist Ernie Pyle.

It is also a travelogue as the author follows Pyle's path during World War 2.

As the author's grandfather fought in the war, it is also a mediation on what it means to understand soldiers, and whether that is even possible, considering Pyle's contributions.

And in the particular light of Pyle's contributions towards reportage on soldiery, it is an essay on what the appropriate role for journalists are in a war.

I do not fault it for ambition. And I think that it does all of these things well. In particular on the last one, it could do so with a heavy hand, but resists, presenting less an answer and more evidence for arguments or consideration. In fact, I suspect that criticisms of the book are going to fall on these lines. Not necessarily on one side of the line, but in that Chrisinger provides something that amounts to even-handed reportgage, people with axes to grind will complain for the lack of a whetstone. But in the enormous undertaking, I feel like the author ran out of space, time, energy, and money at some point in the pursuit of it, which leaves the book in a good but not great category, fun if you are interested in the topics but not something to persuade others to be.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2023 Audio found this book hard to follow. The author jumped back and forth in time in a way that really did not move the story along for me and left more unexplained than explained But to be fair, I only got a few chapters in before stopping in disgust.

What I got about Ernie in the amount I heard was.,. Ernie may have written stories that brought sympathy and understanding of what a soldier goes through, but he was a deeply flawed individual, who treated his wife, whom he supposedly loved enough to talk her into marrying him, with total disregard for her feelings or health. After promising her a house where they could stay at home together, he abandoned her shortly after it was built to pursue the adrenaline rush of battle and the fame he got writing about it. I already knew he was killed in battle. So didn’t need to follow book to its eventual end. He was a drunk, who cheated on his wife, and whom readers thought was great for the stories he wrote. Might enjoy reading the stories he wrote, but learned quite enough about Him. No need to finish this book.

[University of Chicago Magazine]

From our Summer/23 issue:

Ernie Pyle’s empathetic dispatches from the WWII front lines invited millions of Americans into the day-to-day experien-ces of ordinary soldiers: fingers numb from the Algerian winter, constant dust clouds, the aches of “battlefield fever,” the dullness of routine. David Chrisinger draws on Pyle’s columns and personal correspondence to reconstruct Pyle’s perspective on the war and to offer a glimpse of his and his wife’s mental health struggles during and after the war. Along the way Chrisinger shares his research process, which took him around the globe to the landmarks of Pyle’s writing. With this biography, Chrisinger brings to light the impact of Pyle’s work and raises questions about how we perceive and make sense of war. Chrisinger is the executive director of the writing workshop at the Harris School of Public Policy.

https://mag.uchicago.edu/university-n...

[Kent Dorr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A number of biographies have been published in the last 20 some years relating the life and challenges the late war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, faced. This new work takes the reader on that journey by visiting and tracking the numerous sites Pyle encountered during the period he covered WWII. Those old enough to remember Pyles welcome columns relating the war through the eyes of the common soldiers he met in N Africa, Sicily, Europe and finally the Pacific where he was killed loved his work but knew little of the man behind the typewriter. As one reads this story and follows the author in tracing Pyles wartime footsteps, inner details of Pyles life are explained. The tragic story of his relationship with his mentally ill wife and her struggles are revealed as well as his own fight to maintain his own well being doing his job in a warzone.
This work is personal to me, as my late grandfather was a friend to Pyle during his time overseas in N Africa and Europe.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look behind the scenes of this WWII journalist, and the anguish of his personal life. His thoughts seem very relatable, as he struggled with his choices and role. I am not sure the author's personal narrative tracing Ernie's footsteps was additive.

p.183 - bitchhead at Anzio, 6
'By empathizing with the American infantryman, by helping make sense of their defeats and their deaths, Ernie helped to maintain morale and stir up the American public to do all that they could to help finish the fighting so that their boys could finally come home. The war was messy and confusing, but it was also necessary. There was no place for judgment. Not yet, anyway. "History is lived forward but it is written in retrospect," the English historian C.V. Wedgwood once wrote. "We know the end before we consider the beginning and we can never wholly recapture what it was to know the beginning only." (C.V. Wedgwood 'William the Silent: William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, 1533-1584)

[Dawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m forgetting now where I saw this book profiled (the Wall St Journal perhaps). I have always been moved by Pyle’s writings on the war- they are read by a character as an integral part of the “Beyond All Boundaries” movie at the WWII Museum in New Orleans. I’ve seen the movie probably a dozen times and it’s very affecting, and Pyle’s words are a big part of that. I was, then, primed to enjoy this.

The book, however interesting its premise, is very very repetitive. We hear repeatedly about his wife, his own mental and drinking issues, and his travels. It does raise some worthy issues about journalism and truth and manipulation. I think it would have been fine as a 4 hour or so read, but it tops out over 15 hours, and it just didn’t sustain my interest. I also knew his ultimate fate. Sad to say, this is a DNF at the 32% point.

[Rick Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be closer to a 2 than a 3.

The book is terribly disjointed and consists of three elements: the author and his experience, the history surrounding Pyle's experiences and Ernie Pyle. Often, I had the feeling that that was the order of the author's priorities. Once you weed out the superfluous, there are some interesting anecdotes and background on the Pyle. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more depth to his wife's depression and suicide attempts than in the portrayal of Pyle. I think a good editor could have done wonders.

One kudo: the author reads the audiobook and does a very good job

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did learn a lot in this book about Pyle and his experience of WW2 but I had issues with this book. Firstly I would have liked context. There is no information about Pyle before diving in to his work as a journalist, there is no context to his marriage. I feel that I would have had a better handle on who Pyle was with at least a chapter about his background and his relationship with Jerry. I also didn’t get anything from the author’s travels in Ernie’s footsteps. It added nothing for me. If all you want is a history of Pyle’s experiences in the war and passages from his columns then you will get a lot from this book.

[Monte Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ernie Pyle was the most famous American newspaper war correspondent during World War II. He wrote about the men in the trenches and lived with them in North Africa, Italy, France, and finally in Okinawa where he was killed in April, 1945. His life had many troubles and problems, but he was able to overcome them and write very personal columns which brought the real war home to the home front. I found the book very interesting and was moved by some of his writings. It tells a story about Ernie, the enlisted men of the US armed forces, and the American citizens during the war. I enjoyed reading this book.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is part biography and history, and part travelogue. Chrisinger uses diary notes, letters, military records and newspaper columns to tell the life of WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle. There is much about the man that I did not know, and Chrisinger draws a very human portrait of the man, his personal struggles, and his devotion to the American fighting men that would eventually cost him his life. Chrisinger also makes an effort to follow in Pyle's footsteps, and while this occasionally provides interesting insight into how Pyle and the war are remembered in the regions where it was fought, they just as often fall flat.

[Patti Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, pure and simple.
Of course, it goes without saying that I am a fan of Ernie Pyle. His writings express what all of us want to know about war and how it affects those who fight our wars without doing it ourselves.

Pyle represents a generation of men and women who are a part of our history and it is important that we remember them and him for what they stood for.

PS: My husband and I found his grave at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. It is where the book says it is - right between two unknown soldier graves, known only to God. Fitting, to be sure.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read about Ernie Pyle a little before I listened to A Soldiers Tale but, I hardly knew anything about him.

I liked that the author travels some of the same places that Pyle did during world II. I got to learn a little about what those places are like today.

One of the things that I remember about the book is that Geraldine who Pyle was married for awhile had serious mental problems and she tried to commit suicide with scissors. Before listening to the book I did not know about her.

I can't think of anything more to say about the book except that I know more about Ernie Pyle went through in his personal life and his reporting during world war II.

[Steven Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. The book covers Pyle’s evolution from a “roving reporter” during the Great Depression to World War II’s preeminent storyteller. Less of a biography than a journal that juxtaposes his experiences with those of the author, who retraces Pyle’s wartime travels.

There are times when the book drags, and the temptation to skip ahead is strong. During those times, the book just doesn’t succeed in holding the reader’s attention. Overall, a good book but there are better chronicles of Pyle’s life.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid reader of WWII non-fiction, I have naturally encountered Ernie Pyle. Although Hemingway may dispute this, I believe Mr. Pyle was the best reporter covering the war (with the possible exception of Walter Cronkite). I believe he tried to speak honestly for the American soldier which sometimes got him into hot water. The book motivated me to read his reports / books. I thought the visits by the author to the sites from Ernie's articles were well meant, but did not add to the narrative. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Dave]

When I was young I remember hearing the name of Ernie Pyle mentioned as a war correspondent. Recently I came across his name along with accolades for being the most influential and most widely read correspondent of "the greatest conflict in history". His daily columns were known for describing the war from the soldier's perspective and appeared in about 500 hundred newspapers across the country. He lived with the troops and was beloved for his humanistic touch by millions of soldiers. Very well written.

[Elaine Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although almost all the events related in this book occurred about 80 years ago, the story of Ernie Pyle is very timely. Reporters and journalists are under attack worldwide and people need to be reminded about what valuable services they usually provide. Unfortunately, too much misinformation is circulating, particularly through social media, but there is so much value in revealing the truth to the public. Given that Ernie Pyle's reports were sometimes censored or self-restrained, they really helped the war effort in boosting the morale of everyday citizens.

[Bill Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One good read. Ernie Pyle was one of the most widely read WW2 correspondents. His life ended tragically on an island in the Pacific, but his story before his death is very poignant. In some ways I learned more about the man than I needed to know. His personal life was a tragedy in its own way. Fascinating effort to retrace his wartime travels, but that takes a backseat to a man who ultimately was a reluctant correspondent.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent telling of Ernie Pyle's years as a journalist in Africs Europe and the South Pacific during World War 2. The author uses letters that Ernie wrote to his wife and close friends which provide a lot of insight into his internal conflicts about his job, his hopes for the future, and his wife's medical problems. The author also includes his own travels to some of the locations, several decades later. This was of little interest to me.

[Mary Keen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always heard about Ernie Pyle and how he helped with communications between WW2 soldiers and their families. His newspaper columns told the truth about what was happening in the war: in Europe and later in the Pacific.

Of course, i didn't think about how he and his family (wife) must have suffered with the long times away from home. Sad about his wife's mental health issues and then later and completely understandable, his too.

This book was well documented and interesting, but the author would all of a sudden be describing his current day experience as he was tracing where Ernie Pyle had been and if i wasn't paying very close attention, it was a bit of a jolt.

I'd like to borrow a book format to go back and keep track of what happened. If I'm able to do that, I'll update this report.

audio overdrive @ 1.15 speed. Well narrated.


UPDATE : I got the book version from the library. Reread some sections and looked at the many photos of Pyle at work, spread throughout the book, including of his 4th story bed at Nettuno, Italy (which he had left just before the roof fell in) and even his flag-draped casket brought to the new Nat Mem Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

[Keith Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like World War II history, this is a book
for you. Ernie Pyle was labeled as the greatest
war reporter during WW II. He followed men going
into battle and gives the clear picture what it was
like to be in battle. Ernie Pyle feeling of his need
to be with the soldiers going to battle cost him his
life in the end.

[Eileen McCauley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pyle's focus on the experience of "grunt" infantry men, actual time with them near the front, and empathetic writing made him the favorite war correspondent of both soldiers and people at home. I had no idea that he was juggling serious health and family issues at the same time. But his disjointed life gave a disjointed sense to this book.

[Mary Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story of Ernie Pyle a journalist who was on the front lines with the infantry during World War II. His journalistic columns became the connection between the soldiers experiences and those at home. His personal life was very complicated with a wife who had severe mental issues. Only complicated by his own depression, which he understood the infantry soldiers mindset.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic tale both in the public eye and behind the scenes. Ernie Pyle was one of the most beloved columnists in the country who died much too soon as so many others during WWII. Tying the old with the new Mr. Chrisinger follows in the footsteps of Mr. Pyle a number of years later in a manner that does not loose the reader. Well worth the read.

[Jay C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got one more completed book in for the year! 🙂 Great bio, which I read via Audible (as read by the author). Met the author at the Indiana Historical Society’s “Holiday Author Fair” a couple weeks ago. One of those biographies that you, of course, know the subject “dies at the end” yet you are still thrown into sadness when you get there.