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Ernie Pyle’s 125th Birthday Celebrated in Style
By Andy Chandler
Ernie Pyle, is perhaps one of the most renowned columnists of the 20th century. From the likes of Joe Galloway, Dicky Chapelle to Catherine Leroy, his front line columns inspired subsequent generations of conflict reporters and photojournalists. His advocating for combat pay led to Congressional approval in June of 1944, and while it’s unlikely Pyle would recognize combat pay in its current form, to grant him the title of Father of Combat Pay is appropriate.
Every year, the Hoosier town of Dana opens its arms to locals and out-of-towners alike in celebration of its favorite son. Under normal circumstances, it’s a two-day festival held by the Helt Township Fire Department in collaboration with the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum. This hometown festival is celebrated like the Fourth of July with parades, car shows and food.
This year, because of the significance of Pyle’s 125th birthday, which coincides with the leadup to the 250th birthday of the United States 11 months from now, events were planned for the entire week leading up to it the Festival. Most of the events happened on the back lawn of the Ernie Pyle Birthplace and WWII Museum.
It began Saturday evening, Aug. 4, with an outdoor showing of the 1945 movie The Story of GI Joe, starring Burgess Meredith. Sunday saw a birthday party complete with cake, ice cream and a singing of “Happy Birthday.” Throughout the week, there had been activities planned leading up to the Festival. Bring Your Dog Day celebrated Pyle’s two dogs. Taco Tuesday celebrated Ernie’s and wife Jerry’s travels throughout South America. Every day had a theme and activity.
Friday saw the arrival of WW II reenactors who bivouacked on the museum grounds throughout the weekend. What they brought with them was decades of accumulated gear and expertise. In the case of Peter Fitzpatrick, a professor of visual arts at Columbia College in Chicago, he brought time period cameras that were still functional and demonstrated the photography experience of the United States military press photographers.
Despite temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, the heat did not keep people away. With Dana’s main street closed, there were vendors and a concert stage with shows, and the annual Ernie Pyle Fireman’s parade hosted by the Helt Township Fire and Rescue. Afterward, the stage opened up to a performance by the Stampede Band from Terre Haute.
It was an eventful week, and despite the ever increasing temperatures, the crowds were big.
So why did they come? Some stated they came to attend a festival they’d read about in the Indiana Festival Brochure. Some said they saw a large crowd and were simply curious. However, it is the view of this writer that they came for something more basic, yet significant.
Herbert Hoover once stated that the reason he chose his final resting place to be within sight of his birth cottage in West Branch, Iowa, was to remind Americans that even from simple and humble beginnings, anyone in America can become great.
I think that’s a big reason why we celebrate Pyle’s hometown on his birthday. We’re reminded that even from this small tenant farmhouse in the blue collar farming community of Dana, Indiana, was born and raised someone who would become the voice of the changing America of the 1930s and the voice of the common soldier on the frontlines of World War II in the 1940s. His reporting style, humanist and existential, served as the inspiration for future reporters to come. Myself included.
Andy Chandler is the current archivist at the Ernie Pyle Birthplace and WWII Museum in Dana, Indiana. He can be reached at archives@erniepyle.org.