In 1944 Ernie Pyle lived with an infantry company of the 34th Division in Italy. One day Pyle was walking with the company commander when they approached a group of men sitting on the edge of their foxholes, cleaning their weapons. The company commander told Pyle he wanted to introduce Pyle to his "personal hero," who turned out be a platoon leader named Buck Eversole.
Eversole was a soft-spoken man from Idaho, who had been a cowboy before the war. Pyle and Eversole had several conversations, which Pyle turned into a number of columns. Pyle's columns captured the way Eversole, a kind and moral man, was able to become a killer by necessity. Pyle later referred to Eversole as "my cowboy friend."
Here is the first column Pyle wrote about Buck Eversole: One of the Great Men of the War. The above photo shows Pyle (center) making coffee with 2 soldiers.
