We are in a cluster-f of a political moment. It can be argued that America, with all its entanglements, is always in a cluster-f political moment. It certainly was during Ernie Pyle’s day. Pyle was a journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his World War II coverage. You can visit his home and library in Albuquerque as a lazy afternoon getaway.
Pyle wrote of soldiers as the underdogs slogging on to secure freedom and fighting against Nazis. In 1943, he was in northern Tunisia and described the infantry as, “the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities.” By 1945, Pyle died in an onslaught of enemy gunfire while covering the Pacific.
It seems not much has changed since then. Rich people are still sending the world into wars and working-class folks and journalists are on the front lines fighting Nazis. To study the past so we don’t keep repeating the same BS, visit the Ernie Pyle House and Library, 900 Girard Blvd. SE, Albuquerque. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and is a thoughtful place to spend the afternoon thinking about punching Nazis in print and person.
For more information, hit up www.facebook.com/ErniePyleLibrary.
Patty TempletonDGO Staff Writer
