Finding stories in the midst of chaos

I missed Ernie Pyle Day, which was Tuesday, Aug. 3. A reporter and writer like Ernie Pyle is just too important to only be remembered once a year, and I have referred to him for many years to so many students.

So better a couple days late than never to point out his influence.

Ernie Pyle is the pride of Indiana, the first person to receive an honorary doctorate from IU (1944), and an acclaimed author. He may be best known as the inspiration for "GI Joe," which was a movie released in 1945 that relied heavily on Pyle's columns from the Battle of Kasserine Pass, which was a chaotic defeat in the Italy campaign.

Pyle was killed two months after the movie premiered during the invasion of Okinawa.

Most war reporters of the time concentrated on generals and headquarters, but Pyle placed himself right alongside the infantrymen (GI Joe).

His columns resonated with readers who could relate to the "regular guys" who did the dangerous and often frustrating work of actually fighting the war.

Ernie Pyle once wrote: "If you want to tell the story of a war, tell the story of one soldier." He understood that there was grand strategy and that important decisions were often made far from the front, but the foot soldiers were more compelling. And who else would tell their stories?

My version of Pyle's reporting advice to high school journalists has long been: "If you want to tell the story of a high school, tell the story of one student."

I am sure the basic advice to radically tighten our focus in most writing projects could apply to a long list of occupations and situations. Want to tell the story of x group of people? Choose one person from that group and really explore THAT story.

There is certainly a place for the "wide screen" perspectives that historians and journalists can provide, but those articles and columns and reports must be a bit general, a bit sweeping.

Want to tell the story of Covid hospitalizations? Tell the story of one person clinging to life in a hospital.

Once you do that, pick another person and do it again. 

The overall truth I eventually learned was that we can't get it all done in one news article or one essay or one book or one film. But all those focused stories can add up.

We get as many chances as we choose.