DANA, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – The Ernie Pyle Museum will offer free admission to all free admission to visitors through the entire 2021 season.
This move comes after an agreement between The Friends of Ernie Pyle Development Fund and the Helt township agreed to eliminate cost of admission.
“This removes cost as an obstacle for interested visitors to enjoy the museum and learn more about World War II’s preeminent war correspondent,” said Stephen Key, President of The Friends of Ernie Pyle Development Fund.
Ernie Pyle was known for his writings about the lives of soldiers in war. Key believes that his blunt, direct style of writing resonated well with the people of this country and in our area
“His columns during the war were carried by hundreds of newspapers. He struck a chord with people at home because he wrote about the guys in the trenches,” says Key.
Pyle was able to convey the realism of war, but balanced that with being like a liaison between the Homefront and enemy territory.
“He told their story and what they were going through which was very important for those at home because they’d get their occasional letter from the front,” says Key. “But, they could read the stories that he wrote about the soldiers and they knew that what those experiences of the people he was writing about were being shared.”
Pyle won a Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1944.
The Museum, which is a non-profit organization, includes two Quonset Huts that exhibit stories that Pyle wrote during WWII.
The admission lasts through the end on this calendar year, but Key hopes that date can be extended.
