Synopsis of Action

 

On April 17, 1945 Ernie Pyle was on the ship Panamint off the coast of the island of Ie Shima. He had just spent a week in sick bay because of a cold, but now he was sufficiently recovered to resume writing before going on shore. Just the day before, American forces landed on the island and took it over from the Japanese with little resistance.

 

Pyle had promised his wife Jerry a year earlier that he would never make another landing under fire. He kept that promise during the D-Day invasion and did not step foot on shore until the day after a beachhead was secured. He planed to do the same thing at Ie Shima.

 

In a few short hours, Ernie was going to leave the ship and spend a night on shore. He was going to tour the island with the 77th Division and gather information for stories he was going to write. He is just finishing up a story  “about some boys that I know” when the audience first sees him. He tells the people not go. Since he has some time before going to shore,  he wants to talk about his involvement in the war from the time he first set foot in England to cover the blitz to the present.

 

After talking to the audience, he leaves to meet up with the 77th. Ernie never made it back to the ship. The next day on shore, he and four other men set out in a jeep to inspect the island. They did not drive very far when they came under Japanese sniper attack. After initial shots were fired, everyone piled out of the jeep. A minute later Ernie lifted up his head to ask a buddy on the other side of the road if he was alright. It was then that Ernie was shot in the temple and killed.

 

It only took a few minutes for word to go down the line spreading the news that “Ernie got it.”

 

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