# 1398 - 1971 16c Ernest Taylor Pyle
Birth Of Ernie Pyle
Pyle grew up on his family’s farm, but didn’t want to follow the family business – he wanted something more adventurous. After graduating from high school, he joined the US Navy Reserve and served three months of active duty before the end of World War I.
While attending Indiana University, Pyle discovered his knack for writing and pursued a career in journalism. The school didn’t offer a degree in journalism at the time, so he majored in economics. Despite this, he took all the journalism classes the school offered. He soon became editor of the school paper and worked on the yearbook, though he didn’t like working at a desk for long hours.
In 1922, Pyle and a few friends left school for a semester to follow the university’s baseball team to Japan. This experience gave him a great love for traveling the world. Pyle returned to school but left again a semester short of graduating to take a job as a reporter in LaPorte, Indiana. After three months there, he moved to Washington, DC to work at The Washington Daily News. Pyle remained there for a few years but quit to travel the country with his wife. Pyle served as both an editor and reporter for various newspapers. Then, in 1928, he became America’s first aviation columnist, with Amelia Earhart claiming, “Any aviator who didn’t know Pyle was a nobody.”
Click here to discover more about Ernie Pyle.
Birth Of Ernie Pyle
Pyle grew up on his family’s farm, but didn’t want to follow the family business – he wanted something more adventurous. After graduating from high school, he joined the US Navy Reserve and served three months of active duty before the end of World War I.
While attending Indiana University, Pyle discovered his knack for writing and pursued a career in journalism. The school didn’t offer a degree in journalism at the time, so he majored in economics. Despite this, he took all the journalism classes the school offered. He soon became editor of the school paper and worked on the yearbook, though he didn’t like working at a desk for long hours.
In 1922, Pyle and a few friends left school for a semester to follow the university’s baseball team to Japan. This experience gave him a great love for traveling the world. Pyle returned to school but left again a semester short of graduating to take a job as a reporter in LaPorte, Indiana. After three months there, he moved to Washington, DC to work at The Washington Daily News. Pyle remained there for a few years but quit to travel the country with his wife. Pyle served as both an editor and reporter for various newspapers. Then, in 1928, he became America’s first aviation columnist, with Amelia Earhart claiming, “Any aviator who didn’t know Pyle was a nobody.”
Click here to discover more about Ernie Pyle.