Brave Men Paperback – Big Book, April 1, 2001

As a man, Pyle was the getter of the story. But as the legend he became, he was the voice of the everyday Joe. I dread to think how America could have faced the war without him because he humanized the war in such a war as to portray each man as just that. Not a cog or a faceless war dog but a human with an address and a family and life outside the war.This should be required reading in every high school in America. Period.

I had often heard of 'Ernie Pyle' from people who had been around to read his newspaper columns during 'The War' and—more often—from those whose parents had done so. But it was not until a solemn stroll through Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific brought me unexpectedly upon Pyle's gravesite that he became a real human being to me. Ironically, for me he was humanized in his death. It is a sentiment that Pyle might have been expected to appreciate, for he humanized the American fighting man and woman precisely in their deepest extremis.I immediately ordered this remarkable collection of Pyle's columns, filed from a very mobile front.It took a bit of time for Pyle's writing to grow in me. His vocabulary, his pacing come—after all—from a different generation's English. But grow on me it did.By all accounts a complex man and by some accounts a troubled one, Pyle shines no light on himself. His singular focus is on the American GI and sailor. The title of this compilation might suggest a romantic touch. Yet romance is not what Pyle brought to war, and certainly not to his supreme lay empathetic picture of the American warrior in a war that not one of them had invited to interrupt his life.I am tempted to say that every American school child should be required to read this book.But that will never happen, and is hardly worth the words.The good news is that some of us, more often than not those who have grown to appreciate the citizen soldier with all his warts, will pick up and read this extraordinary collection of journalistic snapshots. Some of us will pause quietly at the end of one or more of the book's 35 chapters. To wonder how we would have performed under similar duress. To honor those who endured. To grieve those who did not.

I was born 9 years after the end of WWII. The brand-new neighborhoods bore as street names the names of generals, local heroes, and battles. Every one of the fathers, and some of the mothers had fought in the war- but for us, the young free-range boomers, the visible signs of war were limited to tattoos (either patriotic, or death camp-applied), cartoons left from the previous decade, drive-in movies, and the times that the men would huddle in a darkened backyard, lit by cigarettes. My late mother in law was an Army nurse, working with getting German POWs well enough to transported out of France.I had her photo with me when I worked in Paris in 2007. When I told her ztory, the degree of love which Pyle reports at the liberation of Paris was still visible in my colleagues' eyes.Through Ernie Pyle's words and stories, I see the war and the lives of those swept into it, in a way I never imagined.

This is the second book that I have read that is written by Ernie Pyle. My comments pretty much remain the same. He spends the majority of the book in dealing with his conversations with the soldiers who fought the battles. In this book, he discusses his conversations with the soldiers by their job specialties (Infantry, Artillery, Aviation etc) and further breaks the discussions down by unit designation. It was a great idea to read about these discussions because I can relate to them as a retired veteran of 22 yrs (USA). He points out that besides getting shot at and possibly killed, that there were other aspects of the war that were not brought out in movies such as the fear and barbarism that combat can bring out in man. A veteran who has humped the ruck and slept in the mud of a foxhole can relate to these events. His comments on D Day + 2 can bring flashbacks to a vet who has seen death and the chaos that combat can create. Its not like those John Wayne/Chuck Norris movies with all the glory. He hits home and the manner in which he describes the battles he experienced are evidence that war is hell. In peace time, a son buries his father and in war time a father buries his son. Its sad to imagine how many of these veterans who returned home and had to endure the flash backs and post traumatic stresses of these horrific events.

He's almost lost to history nowadays, but back in his time, there was no writer as widely respected by American GIs as Ernie Pyle. He told their stories, not "guts and glory", but the real stories, from the trenches and foxholes, from the cockpits and ball turrets, from the decks and engineering spaces, Ernie went there and talked with the ordinary Americans who fought in The War, and told THEIR stories, neither embellishing nor leaving things out. It took a tremendous toll on him, but he was dedicated to being an honest storyteller, for the guys and their families back home. "Brave Men" is one of his finest works, and includes the story that won him a Pulitzer back in 1944. If you want to know what it was really like, there's Ernie Pyle's books, and Bill Mauldin's cartoons. Generally, the real combat vets from those days didn't talk much about their experiences, and most of them have passed on by now. So we're left with books like this, and "Brave Men" certainly does justice to those brave men and women who answered their country's call to duty, laid aside whatever was going on in their lives, left home and family behind, traveled to far away lands and paid the price, and by so doing brought the war to an end--an end that Ernie didn't live to see.

Ernie was a truly committed war reporter. He always got right inside whichever unit he was reporting on and lived and talked with the men. This book recalls his time during the campaign in Europe, from Sicily to the end of the war in Europe. He writes in a totally personal way, as if he was writing a letter. I now intend reading the other books that this great man wrote.

I chose to read this book initially because I heard the name of Ernie Pyle on a TV show, a number of months ago. I found it hard going at first and put it down (metaphorically) for a few months. I then read a review of the author and his eventual fate during the D day commemorations and decided to resume. I'm glad I did. The writing gets more evocative as the story (the war) develops and I felt more and more immersed in the scenes described. Of course their is an American bias but it is never gratuitous. The use of full names and addresses of the servicemen interviewed is interesting and a very useful reminder that war is about human beings.

The first I've read or Ernie Pyle and I am blown away by his writing. His description of his own feelings and those of the troops he encountered.Its no surprise that he is so well regarded. Leaving aside my British bias this book is one of the most interesting accounts of WW11 I have ever read, the style and honesty of Pyle's writing is amazing.

I can see why Ernie Pyle was loved and admired by so many soldiers he endured and suffered with front line soldiers put his life on the line to tell their story and he always made a point of remembering there names and home towns when he died in the Pacific his loss was felt throughout the American army and the British military it was a great read and brought home the suffering and almost pointless sense of loss in a pointless war I would recommend all military buffs to read it a great insight to soldiers in war

Excellent book. Only heard of Mr. Pyle by watching that old Burgess Meredith film on BBC2. Book far surpasses anything Hollywood can even hint at, not least the author's sense of humour - surprisingly very British (I could imagine Mr. Pyle speaking some of his lines in an English accent and it worked perfectly). And then he turns it around - Chapter 32 is surprisingly intense; and again for the final chapter. This book takes you through the 'ups and downs' of the European campaign during WWII - clearly written by someone who experienced many aspects of it. A very good read.