I think we who lived during WW2 recall him. I know I do. He was one of the most famous war reporters. Pyle had been in Europe then in the Islands conflict with Japan when he was killed. Question: Who heard of Ernie Pyle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Pyle#Pacific_theater
I have, and read his articles. My Dad and uncles were quite fond of him. Journalists during the war were very limited in what they could report, so they instead focused on personal stories of the GI's during WW II. Pyle was one of the few who went in with the invasion forces and stayed at the fronts.
Bill Maudlin was a popular cartoonist of GI's then ,too, in the same vein of 'the cult of the GI', as it was referred to.
I've heard of Ernie Pyle; he was a very well known and respected journalist who spent time on the front lines with the troops and was killed during a mission. It broke the hearts of many soldiers.
As someone who studied history extensively, I have read Pyle’s story. But, as someone who was raised in the EU and traveled a good deal of the EU’s battlefield (beside all of the EU), it’s Killjoy I am interested in; he, presumably, he, seems to have been everywhere.
I remember doing some diving off Ie Shima. I was the only member of the group who knew who he was, and told them the story of his writing and his being killed there 45 years earlier.
Funny, when I saw the OP, Inknew the name so I started reading g, but, the name that immediately popped to mind was KillJoy. Between the ages 4-6, I traveled extensively in Europe with my wwII vet Da who I figure was retracing his steps. I do remember seeing “KillJoy” or “kill joy was a here”written everywhere. I always wondered who Killjoy was, But my guess it wasn't so much the signature of one person, but of many, kind of leaving a sort of FU for the Germans. I remember asking my Da who has and he said I don't know, I never met him, but he seemed to carry a lot of while and black paint with him”.