Pyle reluctantly headed for the Pacific theater in January 1945 for what became his final writing assignment. While covering the U.S. Navy and Marine forces in the Pacific, Pyle challenged the Navy's policy forbidding the use of the names of sailors in reporting the war. He won a partial but unsatisfying victory when the ban was lifted exclusively for him. Pyle travelled on board the aircraft carrier . He thought the naval crew had an easier life compared to the infantry in Europe, and wrote several unflattering portraits of the Navy. In response, fellow correspondents, newspaper editorialists and G.I.s criticized Pyle (who was a former member of the U.S. Naval Reserve) for his negative coverage of the Navy in his columns and for underestimating the difficulties of naval warfare in the Pacific. Pyle conceded that his heart was with the servicemen in Europe, but he persevered. After traveling to Guam and resuming his writing, Pyle went on to report on naval action during the Battle of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific theater during World War II.