Trivia

The G.I. Joe toy line got its name from the 1945 movie "The Story of G.I.Joe", which retold the story of war correspondent Ernie Pyle's days on the front lines. It starred Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum.

Pyle was not shy in telling readers he was never big on going on "heroic" missions just so he could write about them. He would pass on opportunities to stick his neck way out. But Pyle was always ready to go along with the troops, and if that meant being shot at, strafed, or shelled, he just hung on with the rest of the fellows. Pyle made it clear to the readers that the real heroism was being there and sticking it out, not the particular feats of bravery that garnered the headlines and the medals. He showed all the guys (and all the gals; Pyle's second love were the ladies in the uniforms) were heroes and he told the folks at home why.

I would recommend any of Pyle's books and a copy of Bill Mauldin's WWII cartoons of Willie and Joe (Mauldin's cartoon versions of GI infantrymen that Pyle loved the most) as the very best way to introduce a young person to the Americans in World War II. They provide the feel, of the life and the death, the humor and sadness. Without that feel it is very hard to give the history much real meaning.