In 2008, Gerald Maschino called Owen Johnson, an associate professor at Indiana University and scholar of Ernie Pyle. The two thought it was important for the university to establish a relationship with Pyle's living relatives. Five years later, as the university began receiving more requests to use Ernie's name, an attorney reached out to the family. At the university's suggestion, the family began the process of starting a non-profit foundation. On Aug. 19, 2013, the Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation was established, with six of Ernie's cousins elected to the board. Our attorney established rights of publicity to give control over any commercial activity, and the family obtained several trademarks as the legal entity for Ernie Pyle.

• Held a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of Ernie Pyle's death at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in 2015.

• Announced the creation of National Ernie Pyle Day at a ceremony in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Aug. 3, 2017.

• Collaborated on a Senate resolution with U.S. Sens. Todd Young and Joe Donnelly to establish National Ernie Pyle Day on Aug. 3 of each year, beginning in 2018.

• Created the Ernie Pyle Legacy Award for outstanding journalists, and partnered with media organizations such as the Scripps Howard Foundation, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the Associated Collegiate Press to recognize professional and student journalists who embody the spirit of Ernie's work.

• Maintained partnerships with the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum, the Media School of Indiana University and the University of New Mexico.