Ernie Pyle center.
Bloomington, IN —The Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation created National Ernie Pyle Day and the United States Senate agreed to a resolution proposed by Indiana Senators Todd Young and Joe Donnelly designating August 3, 2018 as National Ernie Pyle Day. To commemorate this day the Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation has organized a celebration that will take place at Franklin Hall on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington.
The celebration, open to the public, will begin at 10 am, and will
Photograph by Christopher Michel in San Francisco in 2017
include recognition of special guests and speakers. The keynote speaker will be Joseph Galloway, Journalist and prominent war correspondent who began with four tours in Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Haiti Incursion, and then two tours in Iraq. Co-author of We Were Soldiers Once.. and Young which was made into a movie. All military veterans are encouraged to attend. At 12 noon, those in attendance will adjourn outdoors for a reception and light lunch and gather at the statue of Ernie Pyle. The statue’s sculptor, Tuck Langland, will deliver remarks about his approach to creating the Pyle statue. The American Legion will post the colors with a salute to all Veterans.
Immediately following the reception, a performance by Ronald May, in character as Ernie Pyle will be presented in Franklin Hall. This presentation will provide a perspective on Pyle’s relationship with soldiers during WWII and as a correspondent creating reports that meant so much to Americans at home.
National Ernie Pyle Day has the support of many groups, especially the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum, the IU Media School and the Foundation’s new partners, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the Scripps Howard Foundation.
