A Death in San Pietro: The Untold Story of Ernie Pyle, John Huston, and the Fight for Purple Heart Valley

Ernie Pyle's "The Death of Captain Waskow" is one of the most well-known columns about World War II, and yet the backstory of how he died during the Sicilian campaign is mostly unknown. People (like me) know the column, but the actual person is just a name - and the actual battle is lost among all the battles.This book gives a close-up view of that series of battles, culminating in the exchange that killed Waskow - it's a mundane battle...not even a battle, but just one another ongoing series of fights. Because Pyle never met him, he was able to write objectively not about the actual person, but how the loss of one soldier impacted the men of the unit, even if briefly. Now, the reader knows the before, of what was going on around everyone.It also gives background to Pyle's work. A lot of his columns lack present day context - his work from North Africa was relevant in 1942, but it's hard for readers of today to even remember that's where US forces first arrived overseas. Now, we can see the conditions that Pyle was reporting from.The battle itself is described in a bit much of detail, but it gives the entire story the necessary weight. John Huston is a secondary figure, probably not deserving of equal billing, but interesting all the same.This is good complementary history. I don't think it stands-alone, and readers will want to use this as a jumping-off point for more reading from Pyle. The column - "The Death of Captain Waskow" is reproduced here.I've reported from Iraq as an embedded journalist, same as Pyle did (and anyone who thinks 'embedded reporting' is a new idea, should refer to Pyle's work, which is exactly the embedded model to a tee), and it's always poignant to see accounts of Pyle on the job. We can only wonder what he might have written, had he been given the perspective of a few post-war years to gain perspective. But, like Waskow, Pyle died in 1945 in an equally mundane exchange of fire, not even a battle.

I read a lot of WWII including Ernie Pyle's books and I knew the story of Capt. Waskow and have also seen John Huston's documentary on the Battle at San Pietro but still found this book to be very interesting. It is not so much about the battle itself but about how all these people got there and were involved in this one small battle for an insignificant town. But certainly not insignificant to those, like Capt. Washko, who died. The whole Italian campaign has a real sadness to it. Far too many Americans were wounded or killed unnecessarily to further the ego of Gen. Mark Clark. History has pretty much placed the whole campaign on the back burner giving the glory (If there is such a thing) to other campaigns and battles.Nevertheless, if you are interested in WWII this is definitely a book worth reading

This book covers Pyle's time in Italy following the terrible, costly fighting. The fact Huston and others are involved is only because of the filmmaking that the Army wanted to chronicle the US fighting men after the Brits had basically embarrassed them in their ability to film the war. This book covers the confluence of some of the horrible fighting that took place, Pyle and Huston during a time in Italy. It is well written and powerful. For those unfamiliar with how brutal the Italian campaign was, I recommend this story.

Ernie Pyle's book ied to the movie G I Joe. A movie about Captain Waskow and the 36th Texas division struggle against the Germans in Italy. Such a tremendous tribute to the men of the 36th.

Very good book on some prominent individuals that played critical roles in the US action in Italy. Just the politics between the generals is of interest. The history of the T-Patchers (36th Division) is fascinating and the background on the key people Ernie Plye and Captain Waskow is well written. Overall an easy and enjoyable book to read.

One of the few books ever written on the 36 division at San Pietro. Excellent back and forth on Capt Waskow/Ernie Pyle, & John Huston. It could have been more detailed on the drive into San Pietro, but it certainly highlighted a key story of WWII and the forgotten campaign of the 5th Army at the Winter Line.

Excellent presentation of a slice of history. It mixed the mundane with the violent action to paint a picture that took the reader inside the story. I was extremely pleased with this book. jw

good read