Ernie Pyle

Törmäsin Ernie Pylen nimeen ensi kertaa kai lukiessani Valittujen Palojen 1967 julkaisemaa kokoelmaa Toisen maailmansodan sankareita ja vakoilijoita. Pyleltä mukaan oli valittu Pitkä kotimatka, kuvaus Lentävästä Linnoituksesta, joka 1943 pommituslennolla Pohjois-Afrikassa oli saanut pahoja vaurioita, kadonnut näkyvistä ja todettu kymmenhenkisine miehistöineen menetetyksi.

Illan hämärtyessä Pyle ja muita kokoontui lennonjohtotorniin katselemaan auringonlaskua ja tähystämään mahdollisia vihollisen pommituskoneita.

The sunsets in the desert are truly things with souls. The violence of their color is incredible. They splatter the sky and the clouds with a surging beauty. The mountains stand dark against the horizon, and palm trees silhouette themselves dramatically against the fiery west.

As we stood on the tower looking down over this scene, the day began folding itself up. Fighter planes, which had patrolled the field all day, were coming in. All the soldiers in the tent camps had finished supper. That noiseless peace that sometimes comes just before dusk hung over the airdrome. Men talked in low tones about the dead pilot and the lost Fortress. We thought we would wait a few minutes more to see if the Germans were coming over.

And then an electric thing happened. Far off in the dusk a red flare shot into the sky. It made an arc against the dark background of the mountains and fell to the earth. It couldn't be anything else. It had to be. The ten dead men were coming home!

"Where's the flare gun? Gimme a green flare!" yelled an officer.

He ran to the edge of the tower, shouted, "Look out below!" and fired a green rocket into the air. Then we saw the plane - just a tiny black speck. It seemed almost on the ground, it was so low, and in the first glance we could sense that it was barely moving, barely staying in the air. Crippled and alone, two hours behind all the rest, it was dragging itself home.

Tällä viikolla kerrottiin, että kuva japanilaisten konekivääritulessa kaatuneesta Pylesta oli ilmestynyt julkisuuteen. Pylen kaatuminen kuuluu aikanaan hiljentäneen ison osan Amerikkaa.

The first night in Leipzig we went to bed early. At midnight Hal Boyle, the most indefatigable of the old-timers, woke us up. He said, "Ernie got it". Far away from us, Ernie Pyle was killed that day on Ie Shima. We all got up and drank ourselves stupid in silence.

Robert Capa: Slightly out of focus

Näköjään Pylen kirjoituksia on koottuina verkossa.