The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
There are numerous memorials around Indiana to famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle. They honor his legacy in such places as the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis, Ernie Pyle Hall on the campus of Indiana University-Bloomington, and an impressive World War II museum in northeastern Indiana.
But there is none more special on Hoosier soil than a memorial in the tiny, remote town of Dana, where Pyle was born and raised. This rural outpost probably does not have the most exhaustive collection of Pyle artifacts. Yet there are other, more important attributes to define the site. This was Ernie’s neighborhood, a farm community that helped form his personality and character. When you walk through the Ernie Pyle State Historic Site, you feel as though you are walking in his footsteps.
This place was created by people who care about Ernie’s legacy, not only because he was famous around the world as a skilled writer and story teller, but because he was one of them. His life helped give their town an identity. They are proud of him, and they are grateful his exploits gave Dana a taste of recognition. They are intent to repay him by honoring his memory the best way they know how.
Unfortunately, the state historic site dedicated to Pyle in this quiet town is in danger of disappearing. Low visitor totals and Dana’s off-the-beaten path status led the Department of Natural Resources to target the site for closure late last year when the State of Indiana went looking for places to cut its budget.
The state did close the site in early 2010 and is asking the Friends of Ernie Pyle, an organization that helped make the site possible through the years, to find a way to save it by transferring ownership to other hands, and making the memorial financially viable.
If the group does not meet the state’s request, the alternative is for the property on which it stands to be sold at auction and the contents of its buildings, including those in Pyle’s birth home, to be shipped to the Indiana State Museum.
It has been a difficult time for the Friends of Ernie Pyle. As a mere support group, it was ill equipped to handle immediately the state’s demand for future options. But its members and officers are a resilient bunch. They are now on track to offer the state some realistic plans for retaining the site and re-opening it to the public. With help from a diverse and far-flung set of groups, organizations and individuals interested and supportive of their cause, there are reasons to be confident they will succeed.
We hope so. The Friends of Ernie Pyle, as a group and as individuals, have poured their hearts and souls into preserving their native son’s legacy at his birthplace. They deserve to succeed, and we urge the state to show them the respect and support they’ve earned as they move forward.
Ernie Pyle has been dead for 65 years, but his legacy lives on. And so do his legions of friends, many of whom were not even born until after he was gone. These friends understand that a vibrant and ongoing memorial should be present in the town that continues to embrace him as their own.
We count ourselves among them.
