Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle*
a presentation by:
Gary W. Morrison
2647 Knightsbridge Rd. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616 975-0864
*listed in the2009 - 12 Michigan's Arts et Humanities Touring Directory
"Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle"
"Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle" is a tribute to the men and women who fought and died during World War II as told through the dispatches of Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Ideal for school groups--high school through college--and veterans groups, the play can also be used for fund raising events or reunion gatherings for veterans.
Veterans and history buffs will like the presentation of "Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle," a dramatization of the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist's coverage of World War II. Ernie Pyle covered the war from the soldier's view point, up close and personal, starting with the London blitz through the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, D Day, the liberation of Paris and in the South Pacific.
“Hi, I’m Ernie Pyle” is a sometimes touching, sometimes humorous look at the war through the eyes of Ernie Pyle as he and thousands of Americans boys lived it. In his dispatches Ernie Pyle gave his readers a first-hand view of what life was like on the front.
The play captures the period in Ernie’s life when his articles were the most widely anticipated of any war correspondent. Ernie Pyle was the first journalist to write a daily aviation column, and for five years he traveled the United States writing a column about anything that interested him. What the American public soon found was that what interested Ernie Pyle also interested them.
It was inevitable that Ernie Pyle be there when war broke out in Europe. He first reported on the blitz in London, and in 1942 covered American boys in North Africa. From there he followed the war to Sicily, Italy and France. After the liberation of Paris, and a short rest back home, he began reporting about the war in the Pacific.
Ernie Pyle died April 18, 1945, killed by a Japanese sniper, on Ie Shima, an island just off the coast of Okinawa. At the site of where he was killed his "boys" in the 77th Infantry erected a sign that read: "At this spot the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy. Ernie Pyle. 18 April 1945.
Biography
Gary Morrison was born April 18, 1945, the day Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese sniper's bullet on Ie Shima, a small island off the coast of Okinawa.
Besides performing "Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle" for service organizations, educational facilities and at libraries, Gary is a working freelance journalist and photographer. He earned a journalism degree from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan in 1996. In 1998 he earned his master's in communications, also from GVSU.
Learn how Morrison Theater Group can help your organization raise money; contact:
The Morrison Theater Group
2647 Knightsbridge Rd. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616 975-0864 or e-mail: gary@morrison-tg.com
"Hi, I'm Ernie Pyle" is a tribute to the men and women who fought and died during World War II as told through the dispatches of Pulitzer Prize award winning journalist Ernie Pyle.
The play follows Ernie Pyle's life from his coverage of the blitz in London to his coverage of American boys during in the North Africa invasion and then to Sicily, Italy, the D-Day invasion in France, and the South Pacific.