Here are a few pictures from my visit yesterday to the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum in Dana, Ind. I was surprised at the number of WWII vets who attended.
I met Harry Momi, a young soldier in 1945, who met Ernie Pyle on the island of Okinawa and snapped his photo of him on the evening of April 17, the night before Ernie was killed on Le Shima. Momi, of Stockton, CA, donated his original photo for display at the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum. Momi is 90 years old.
Thomas Leech gave me one of his hand printed books of Ernie Pyle’s last column. The hand written column was found in his shirt pocket after he was killed by a machine gun bullet. There is a reproduction of the letter in a pocket inside the book. Anything written by Ernie Pyle reads like poetry. What a treasure to have this book.
In one of my motorcycle travels several years ago, I met Thomas Leech in Sante Fe. As we were talking he mentioned his potential project on Ernie Pyle. I made a video of him talking about the project and I connected him to the Friends of Ernie Pyle who operate the museum in Dana. Fifty of the books arrived this week, just printed, in time for the anniversary ceremony.
Below is the video.