American journalist Ernest Taylor "Ernie" Pyle was one of the most famous war correspondents of WWII. Using his folksy writing style, Pyle connected with his readers and brought the realities of the battlefront to living rooms across America. At his peak, his columns appeared in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers. 
His devoted readers included political and military leaders and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. His coverage of campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and France earned him a Pulitzer Prize. While reporting on the war in the Pacific Theater in April 1945, Pyle was killed by enemy machine-gun fire on the Japanese island of le Shima.
Born August 3, 1900, in Dana, Indiana, Pyle grew up on a farm. After graduation from high school, he longed for adventure and registered for the WWI Draft and joined the US Naval Reserve. WWI ended before he got a chance to see the world, so Pyle enrolled in journalism classes at Indiana University after returning home. One semester shy of graduation, Pyle took a job at an Indiana newspaper. His unassuming nature, ability to make friends, and engaging writing style opened doors at a string of newspapers. He was eventually hired by Scripps-Howard and became a roving reporter.
In 1940, Germany invaded France and Pyle traveled to England to report on the Battle of Britain. His columns from London brought international acclaim, and Pyle became a household name. Pyle returned home, but when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the US entered the war, he headed back overseas. He petitioned for a draft deferment with hopes of remaining a war correspondent, and in 1942 he followed British and American troops during the invasion of North Africa.
On D-Day, Pyle was one of a few war correspondents chosen to accompany US troops during Normandy's invasion. He boarded General Omar Bradley's ship Augusta and went ashore at Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944. His poignant articles resonated with Americans who followed the progress of the war through his writings. Pyle returned home a folk hero in the fall of 1944. The stress of war and the impact of seeing so much death and carnage took an emotional toll. Pyle took a few months off but soon felt compelled to return to the battlefield. In January 1945, he headed for the Pacific Theater. He was with US forces on Iwo Jima, during strikes on Tokyo, and reported on Okinawa's invasion.
On April 18, 1945, Pyle went ashore on the island of le Shima with the 77th Infantry Division. Le Shima was a small island northwest of Okinawa, and the 77th was securing an airfield. Pyle was traveling by jeep with Lt. Col. Joseph B. Coolidge when they came under sniper fire. They jumped into a ditch to take cover. Pyle raised his head to look around, and a bullet from machine-gun fire hit him just below the brim of his helmet. He was killed instantly at just 44-years-old.
The 77th Infantry Division erected a monument at the site of his death, and Pyle was awarded a Purple Heart, a rare honor for a civilian. Tributes to Pyle poured in. Soldiers named a B-29 Superfortress in his honor, the film The Story of G.I. Joe premiered two months after Pyle's death. It was a tribute to American infantryman as told through Pyle's eyes and received four Academy Awards nominations. During the American occupation, a theater in downtown Tokyo was renamed the Ernie Pyle Theater, and the U.S. Postal service issued a postage stamp with Pyle's image on it. Ernie Pyle is buried in the Punchbowl Cemetery on the island of Oahu.
The Korean War was the first time the United States military engaged in a shooting conflict after the end of World War II; it was also the first of many sparks that really turned the Cold War hot.
From 1950 to 1953, the Korean War was at the forefront of American minds and politics. A public emerging from the World War II years and weary of fighting didn't fully understand the threat of Communism or the Truman administration's "containment" strategy - which meant they didn't fully understand what happened in the first place.
Initially, the war was popular because the threat of Communism had loomed over the U.S. and her allies since the end of World War II. It was popular for the United States to take action against it. However, as the war ground on, all the American public knew was that it certainly didn't end the way they wanted it to.
What Happened in the Korean War?
On June 25, 1950 - 70 years ago - North Korean tanks rolled across the 38th parallel and over the South Korean defenders of that border. It was not the heavily defended, ironically named "demilitarized zone" as we know it today. The early days of the Korean War were easy for the Communist North Koreans.
With indirect support from Communist China and the Soviet Union, 75,000 Communist troops overran the pro-Western South. Republic of Korea (ROK) defenders had no tanks, artillery, or heavy weapons to defend the position. Within five days, the South Koreans had lost 73,000 troops, and the capital of Seoul had fallen to the Communists.
As soon as the United States received confirmation that the Soviet Union would not directly intercede on North Korea's behalf, President Harry Truman ordered American land and naval forces to come to South Korea's aid. U.S. forces in Japan were quickly shuttled to the Korean Peninsula to prop up the resistance to the North Korean advance.
The Communists overran even the American reinforcements due to a general lack of weapons, equipment, and supplies needed to fight a war - especially in the blazing Korean summer. The Communist assault wasn't blunted until August when the Americans established a line around a small section of the peninsula, centered on Pusan's city (now Busan).
With Chinese supplies and Soviet support, North Korea looked ready to push the defenders into the sea. But time was not on the Communists' side. The United Nations passed U.N. Resolution 83, which called for military aid to South Korea to push North Korea back to the 38th parallel. Reinforcements from the mainland United States would arrive by September.
Meanwhile, air forces from the newborn U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy wreaked havoc on North Korean infrastructure and transportation capabilities. When the U.S. reinforcements did arrive, the Communists found themselves outnumbered.
In September 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur led an amphibious assault at Inchon with U.S. Marines and soldiers and ROK troops. The rope-a-dope was complete. American troops flooded into the peninsula behind the lines on Sept. 15, and the U.S. 8th Army broke out of the Pusan Perimeter on the very next day.
Against all advice from China and the USSR, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung (grandad to today's leader, Kim Jong-Un) did not redeploy to meet the Inchon Landing or to defend Seoul. Nine days later, Seoul was recaptured, and the road to North Korea's capital at Pyongyang was wide open. The North Korean People's Army (KPA) was rapidly disintegrating. On Oct. 1, 1950, U.N. forces invaded North Korea.
China had been ready to intervene in the war from the outset if it deemed it necessary. Knowing the Americans would advance north of the 38th parallel, it massed troops along the border with North Korea. In October, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) silently moved across the border. When the U.N. troops reached the Yalu River, China made its move.
The Chinese first encountered the Americans in November 1950. They routed the 8th Cavalry Division and forced its retreat before disappearing into the mountains. The attack was so fast and their disappearance so sudden that the U.N. command didn't even believe the Chinese intervention actually happened. Two weeks later, the war began in earnest.
On Nov. 13, 1950, the PVA forced the 8th Army to begin a retreat out of North Korea. The U.S. X Corps was surprised and encircled at the Chosin Reservoir two weeks later. The U.N. forces, Korean refugees, and all the supplies and materiel began to flood back down the peninsula, by land or by sea. Kim Il-Sung was relieved of any control of the war by the Chinese. Truman would fire MacArthur for expanding the war.
For the rest of the war, roughly two more years, the conflict turned into a bloody stalemate, with the frontline hovering around the 38th parallel, where it is today.
Why Was There a Korean War?
At the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula was occupied in the North by the forces of the Soviet Union and in the South by the Americans, split at the 38th parallel. Ever since the two sides established their preferred government in these areas, the Korean Peninsula clamored for reunification - under its own government, of course.
The North under Kim Il-Sung was ready to take the country by force from the outset but was always restrained by Joseph Stalin in Moscow, who believed such a move could spark a third world war with the West - something he feared.
After the KGB turned an American code clerk in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, they discovered that much of the American military power in the area had been moved to Japan. Believing the Americans would not move to defend Korea, the Soviets gave Kim Il-Sung the go-ahead.
But Truman believed the invasion was a challenge to the free world and the United States in particular. He believed it was necessary for the free nations of the world to contain the spread of Communism - that if the U.S. and the West allowed one country to fall to Communism, the rest of the nations in the region would fall one by one, or the "Domino Theory."
Who Won The Korean War?
By Christmas 1950, the Korean War ground to a stalemate at the 38th parallel, the place where it started and where the border is today. The war went on for two more years, but Truman opted not to run for another term as president of the United States, and the Democratic Party lost ground in the 1952 elections. Dwight Eisenhower and the Republicans won the presidency, despite the war's initial popularity. Republicans also gained control of the House and Senate.
The United States dropped more ordnance on North Korea in three years of fighting than it did on the entire Pacific Theater of World War II. According to the Korean War Project, the United States lost upward of 37,000 troops and suffered 102,000 wounded. The locals fared far worse - some 4 million Korean and Chinese (mostly civilians) were killed, wounded, or missing.
The governments in North and South Korea never changed, even if Kim Il-Sung was forced to cede control of the Korean People's Army to China, and President (and de facto dictator) Syngman Rhee's South Korea wasn't really that "free" to begin with. After a while, the only sticking point between the two countries centered on returning captured Chinese and North Korean prisoners who didn't want to go home.
How Did the Korean War End?
The fighting finally ended on July 27, 1953, after two years of negotiations. Seoul had switched hands four times. Newly elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower (formerly general and supreme allied commander during WWII) went to Korea to find out for himself how to end it. Indian General K.S. Thimayya laid out a solution to the problem of prisoners of war, one both sides accepted.
The shooting stopped that day, but the war never did
The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed by the United Nations, the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, but Syngman Rhee's government refused to sign. It is an armistice and not a peace treaty, which means the war is technically ongoing, though fighting has ceased.
Today, North Korea claims it won the Korean War, which it calls the "Fatherland Liberation War," and blames the United States for starting it in the first place. The armistice established the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as we know it today, where American and South Korean soldiers stare down North Korean soldiers every day.
The Korean War, sandwiched between the romanticism of World War II and America's traumatic experience in Vietnam, is often forgotten among the conflicts of the 20th century, so much so that it's often referred to as "The Forgotten War."
Throughout American History, Native Americans have distinguished themselves with bravery and courage in military service to their country, often without enjoying the same rights and privileges afforded other soldiers.
During WWI, more than 10,000 Native Americans served in the American Expeditionary Force. The majority were volunteers, and most were not considered U.S. citizens. Only U.S. citizens were eligible for the draft. Despite this, the government required Native American men to register for the draft, causing frustration and sometimes rebellion. Many hoped their service would lead to the government granting them full U.S. citizenship. At the time, only Native Americans who accepted an allotment of land under the Dawes Act of 1887 received citizenship. As a result, thousands of Native Americans served before they even won the right to vote. It was during WWI that military officials realized the value of Native languages to transmit sensitive information. German officials could not decipher coded instructions passed by telephone, radio, or telegraph using these Native languages. Code Talkers, as they came to be known, played a critical role in both WWI and WWII.
Native American soldiers participated in the WWI Meuse-Argonne offensive. William S. Harjo, a Creek Indian, was killed in France and awarded the Croix de Guerre military medal for his actions during that offensive. He served in the 142nd Infantry, 36th Division. An Oklahoma reporter accompanying the regiment spoke of the contributions of Harjo and other Native Americans who "gave their all" as German shells exploded all around them. "Among these men who gave their lives for the sake of all we hold sacred in the name of democracy are to be found numerous men of the original Americans. These Indians have borne their part all the way through," he said.
Native Americans also made remarkable contributions during WWII. In 1942, the first 29 Navajo Code Talkers we
re sworn in. Before the war ended, more than 400 Code Talkers participated, creating an unbreakable code that helped win the war. Samuel Holiday served in an elite Marine unit of Code Talkers. He went behind enemy lines on Iwo Jima to locate a Japanese artillery unit advancing on American forces. After locating the artillery unit, Holiday sent a coded message directing Marine artillery fire. With his help, U.S. forces eliminated the threat, and Holiday replied with a coded message saying, "Right on Target!" Code Talkers were a key factor in military victories at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and several other major battles in the Pacific Theater.
During the Iraq War, Pfc. Lori Piestewa became the first Native American woman in the military to die as a result of combat. She was killed in 2003 after her convoy was hit by a bomb in Nasiriyah. Piestewa, a single mother of two small children, was first reported missing. She became a household name and the adopted daughter of many Native American tribes as a worried nation awaited word of her fate. When military officials confirmed Piestewa’s death, the nation mourned with her family. She was 23-years-old, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, and the granddaughter of a WWII veteran.
The Outpost is the heartbreaking and inspiring story of one of America's deadliest battles during the war in Afghanistan, acclaimed by critics everywhere as a classic.
At 5:58 AM on October 3rd, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating, located in frighteningly vulnerable terrain in Afghanistan just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, was viciously attacked. Though the 53 Americans there prevailed against 40 Taliban fighters, their casualties made it the deadliest fight of the war for the fight for the U.S. that year. Four months after the battle, a Pentagon review revealed that there was no reason for the troops at Keating to have been there in the first place.
In The Outpost, Jake Taber gives us the powerful saga of COP Keating, from its establishment to eventual destructions, introducing us to an unforgettable cast of soldiers and their families and to a place and war that has remained profoundly distant to most Americans.
About the Book
"The Outpost is a mind-boggling, all-to-true story of heroism, hubris, failed strategy, and heartbreaking sacrifice. If you want to understand how the war in Afghanistan went off the rails, you need to read this book."
~Jon Krakauer
"Analyzing the consequences of decisions, large and small, is what makes Tapper's book so important…for those wishing to understand the middle years of the war, they could do no better than to read The Outpost."
~Time
"Jake Tapper has woven an intricate account about battlefield bravery hamstrung by military bureaucracy, [his] voice is understated, not polemical-just a good reporter letting his facts speak for themselves."
~Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
"[A] fascinating history. Tapper delivers a blow by blow account of [the soldiers' actions, their personal stories, and the tortured, often incomprehensible command decisions that kept them fighting despite inadequate support and an ally, Pakistan, that actively encouraged the enemy."
~Publishers Weekly
"One of the most important [books] of the year. Jake Tapper's book is meticulously researched, excellently written, and a must-read for everyone who does more than just mouth the phrase, ‘I support the troops."
~Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Jake Tapper has written perhaps the best book set in Afghanistan to date. He provides a window into the false hopes and visions that enabled this failed experiment, an attempt to create a government in spaces that had actively avoided such."
~Douglas Ollivant, Foreign Policy
"Brilliant, dedicated reporting by a journalist who goes to the ground to get the truth. A sad, real tale about this war, America and the brave warriors who live - and die - at the point of the spear."
~Bob Woodward, author of PLAN OF ATTACK, THE COMMANDERS and OBAMA'S WAR
"The power of THE OUTPOST lies in Tapper's development of the main characters. He juxtaposes dramatic battles, complete with limbs blown off and eyes dangling from the socket, with poignant scenes of wives and parents first learning of the deaths of their loved ones."
~Seth Jones, Washington Post
"Mr. Tapper lays bare the poor decision-making that shattered dozens of American lives in the pursuit of an ill-conceived goal."
~Wall Street Journal
"A heartbreaking chronicle of the rotation of soldiers asked to
oversee an underfunded, often thankless mission."
~Huffington Post
About the Author
Jake Trapper began his job as Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent for CNN in January 2013.
Prior to that, Tapper was named ABC News' senior White House correspondent on November 5, 2008 - the day after the 2008 presidential election. For an unprecedented three years in a row, the White House Correspondents Association has awarded the prestigious Merriman Smith Award fr presidential coverage under deadline pressure. He was a key part of the ABC News coverage of President Obama's inauguration that was awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story.
His devoted readers included political and military leaders and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. His coverage of campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and France earned him a Pulitzer Prize. While reporting on the war in the Pacific Theater in April 1945, Pyle was killed by enemy machine-gun fire on the Japanese island of le Shima.
On D-Day, Pyle was one of a few war correspondents chosen to accompany US troops during Normandy's invasion. He boarded General Omar Bradley's ship Augusta and went ashore at Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944. His poignant articles resonated with Americans who followed the progress of the war through his writings. Pyle returned home a folk hero in the fall of 1944. The stress of war and the impact of seeing so much death and carnage took an emotional toll. Pyle took a few months off but soon felt compelled to return to the battlefield. In January 1945, he headed for the Pacific Theater. He was with US forces on Iwo Jima, during strikes on Tokyo, and reported on Okinawa's invasion.
From 1950 to 1953, the Korean War was at the forefront of American minds and politics. A public emerging from the World War II years and weary of fighting didn't fully understand the threat of Communism or the Truman administration's "containment" strategy - which meant they didn't fully understand what happened in the first place.
As soon as the United States received confirmation that the Soviet Union would not directly intercede on North Korea's behalf, President Harry Truman ordered American land and naval forces to come to South Korea's aid. U.S. forces in Japan were quickly shuttled to the Korean Peninsula to prop up the resistance to the North Korean advance.
Against all advice from China and the USSR, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung (grandad to today's leader, Kim Jong-Un) did not redeploy to meet the Inchon Landing or to defend Seoul. Nine days later, Seoul was recaptured, and the road to North Korea's capital at Pyongyang was wide open. The North Korean People's Army (KPA) was rapidly disintegrating. On Oct. 1, 1950, U.N. forces invaded North Korea.
The North under Kim Il-Sung was ready to take the country by force from the outset but was always restrained by Joseph Stalin in Moscow, who believed such a move could spark a third world war with the West - something he feared.
The United States dropped more ordnance on North Korea in three years of fighting than it did on the entire Pacific Theater of World War II. According to the Korean War Project, the United States lost upward of 37,000 troops and suffered 102,000 wounded. The locals fared far worse - some 4 million Korean and Chinese (mostly civilians) were killed, wounded, or missing.
The shooting stopped that day, but the war never did
re sworn in. Before the war ended, more than 400 Code Talkers participated, creating an unbreakable code that helped win the war. Samuel Holiday served in an elite Marine unit of Code Talkers. He went behind enemy lines on Iwo Jima to locate a Japanese artillery unit advancing on American forces. After locating the artillery unit, Holiday sent a coded message directing Marine artillery fire. With his help, U.S. forces eliminated the threat, and Holiday replied with a coded message saying, "Right on Target!" Code Talkers were a key factor in military victories at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and several other major battles in the Pacific Theater.
About the Author