and it's one of the reasons of ernie pyle's great power. you just feel that here's a guy who's baring his soul in a way that is unique. i found, i've lived with ernie pyle for the better part of 15 years, my admiration for him also only deepens. here's a guy from indiana who ends up in washington writing about aviation and things before the war, and then somewhat accidentally becomes a war correspondent. i think he'd written millions of words before the war began, and, of course, he's got the great knack of empathy, and his empathy is always with the grunt, with the enlisted man, with the infantryman. and he's often with them. he goes through hardship unlike very -- there are very few other correspondents who do it as intently or for as long as ernie pyle does. this is a guy in his 40s. he's no spring chicken. he's not a healthy man. he drinks too much. he weighs maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. so he's not a robust character. and yet here he's living this awful life with other infan trimanmen -- infantrymen. and, of course, they love him for

i remember as an 11-year-old kid my father taking the to ernie pyle's grave.ven if you are 11 years old and for us to remember the war we ought to remember ernie pyle. >> host: another close in "the guns at last light: the war in western europe, 1944-1945," going home to his wife, it is like if i hear the word again, i will it will be too soon. >> soldiers get on his nerves, profanity is one of the things, he was not a man who didn't occasionally -- use a four letter word himself but anyone who has been around soldiers a lot as i have, the intensity of that culture especially if you are older, a generation older as he was, it can cost you a sense of grievance and this outcry, really tired of being around these guys but i am stuck with them for the rest of the war. >> host: if you are world war ii better and would like to talk with rick atkinson about his trilogy 202-385-382. next call from martha in belgrade lakes, maine. high. >> caller: thanks for wonderful three hours, and honored to talk to with this 2 flags history. i have become ensconced in my history r

there's nothing that quite has the resonance and grittiness of sledge's book. >> host: you mentioned ernie pylethe day of battle in pyle's featured in all your books as well. this is pyle writing about italy. i looked at it this way, if by having only a small army in italy, we had been able to build up more powerful forces in england, and sacrificing a few thousand lives that winter, save a half million lives in europe. if those things were true, it was best as it was. us not sure they were true, i only knew i had to look at it that way, or else i couldn't bear to think of it at all. >> guest: incredibly poignant, one of the reason of pyle's great power. you just feel here's a guy bearing his soul in a way. my admiration for him only deepens. here's a guy from indiana who ends up in washington writing about aviation and things before the war, and then somewhat accidently becomes a war correspondent. i think he wrote millions of words before the war began, and, of course, he got the knack of empathy, and that's always with the grunt. he's with them. goes through hardship unlike very what others