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World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote of the regular soldiers in his syndicated columns. The Story of G.I. Joe depicts Pyle's experiences.

Free Tickets: Admission is free to the showing, which is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15. But you must have a ticket to attend. Pick up yours in the main office at Ernie Pyle Hall.

Related Learn more about Ernie Pyle and his ties to IU journalism. Read about the movie at the Internet Movie Database. See other Centennial Weekend events. Check out the IU Cinema website. Aquila to attend ethics conference as team's coach (Feb. 18) Ibold guest of Kling Center Speaker Series (Feb. 9) Ibold to talk on 'Dissent at Distance' (Feb. 9)

At noon on July 6, 1945, the U.S. Army marched through Indianapolis.

The men of the 3rd and 4th Indiana State Guard were joined by a battalion of Camp Atterbury military police, and the 200th Army Ground Forces band marched to remember the man who brought the war home and to commemorate “Ernie Pyle Day.”

That night, celebrities and press from all around the state and nation came to see the first public screening of The Story of G.I. Joe, a movie based on Pyle’s experiences as a war correspondent during World War II.

Thursday night, IU Cinema will show the film to celebrate IU journalism’s 100th anniversary. While this showing may not draw military troops or bands, it will attract students and alumni visiting for the school’s Centennial Weekend, Thursday through Sunday. The film starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a brief talk by associate professor Owen Johnson, who has studied Pyle’s life and writing.

Today, the film is a reminder of what made Pyle such a powerful figure in journalism. The IU Cinema and the School of Journalism partnered to show the film, and the film’s perspective on the war made it a natural choice for the IU Cinema, said Matthew Kerchner, administrative support specialist at the theater. It starred Burgess Meredith as Pyle and featured Robert Mitchum.

“The Story of G.I Joe is a perfect fit,” he said “It's a classic, it provides an unsentimental insight into the experience of war from a foot soldiers perspective, and has a direct tie to the School of Journalism.”

An Indiana native, Pyle attended IU in the early 1920s, leaving before graduating to start his career as a reporter. During World War II, he became a national figure thanks to his syndicated columns that told the story of battle through the perspective of the soldiers.

An article in the Indianapolis Star from the day following the premiere featured an interview between The Story of GI Joe producer Lester Cowan and former AP war correspondent Tom Carnegie. Cowan was clear that Pyle didn’t want the movie to be about him.

“Ernie did not want to be the ‘whole show,’” Cowan said in the Star article. “He wanted the G.I. to be the show and it was his desire that the picture portray the misery that the foot solider goes through.”

Johnson said Pyle’s dedication was to the troops, and that if he’d been alive during the premiere, he would have skipped it. Pyle was killed by sniper fire in April, two months before the film’s premiere.

“He wouldn’t have come back for it,” Johnson said. “He would have said since the war isn’t over yet, his place to be is with the troops, and that’s where he would have been.”

Johnson said the film’s premiere in Indianapolis was an important moment for IU.

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Pyle, seated center, didn't just write about the regular soldiers, but he also spent time getting to know them.

“It was important in helping raise the national visibility of the school,” Johnson said. “Not only did money come in from the premiere, but Roy Howard, the president of Scripps Howard newspapers, donated money and other individuals donated money.”

The audience of 2,400 raised nearly $20,000 for the Pyle Scholarships, and another $2,000 to provide seats for 300 wounded warriors at Billings and Wakeman general hospitals. The Ernie Pyle Scholarships continue today, with preference given to veterans. Johnson said for years, scholarship recipients were given a
check and the choice of a book from Pyle’s personal library.

Along with the money, fundraisers donated a bust of Pyle by artist Jo Davidson, which now resides in the Ernie Pyle Hall lounge along with Pyle’s Pulitzer Prize certificate and a shovel like the one he carried with him in the field.

That night, Davidson wired a message to those attending the premiere. It said, “I want to join with you to pay homage to that undaunted soul, Ernie Pyle, who still lives on and always will in the hearts of thousands of brave men he understood so well and portrayed so beautifully for those of us he left behind.”

More:

• Admission is free, but you must have a ticket to get a seat. Pick up yours at the Ernie Pyle Hall main office.
• Learn more about Ernie Pyle and his ties to IU journalism.
• Find out about the school's centennial celebration.

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