With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (Classics of Naval Literature)

Additional With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (Classics of Naval Literature) Information

Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the vitality and bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1923 and raised on riding, hunting, fishing, and a respect for history and legendary heroes such as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene Bondurant Sledge (later called "Sledgehammer" by his Marine Corps buddies) joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. In those years, he passed, often painfully, from innocence to experience.

Sledge enlisted out of patriotism, idealism, and youthful courage, but once he landed on the beach at Peleliu, it was purely a struggle for survival. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, he simply and directly recalls those long months, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and cruelty, the stench of death, and, above all, constant fear. Sledge still has nightmares about "the bloody, muddy month of May on Okinawa." But, as he also tellingly reveals, the bonds of friendship formed then will never be severed.

Sledge's honesty and compassion for the other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, With the Old Breed is a moving chronicle of action and courage.

What Customers Say About With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (Classics of Naval Literature):

This book should be required reading for everyone especially those who make the decisions about whether we wage war or not. I'm not into the logistics of troops and such. Rather the descriptions of daily living conditions and mindsets were haunting.

This book lives up to all the praise it has received from reviewers such as Paul Fussell. It goes a long way in diminishing the romanticized and fictional idea of war, usually held by those who never go to fight it.

Outstanding first account of Marine Corps actions during WWII. Great to visit that place after so many years.

B. Over the last decade, I have given several copies of this book to friends who did not know about the horrible fighting that took place at Peleliu. Sledge's account of what happened there and at Okinawa to be told with compassion and humility. A Marine whose brother died there, first told me about the battle and loaned a copy of this book. I found E. The Marines who fought there overcame impossible obstacles and paid dearly. We owe them our respect and gratitude.

It's not just the combat, but more so the stresses of unrelenting heat, humidity, decay, exhaustion, fear, etc. Germany during the "cold war," with the US Army. I was fortunate enough to serve in W. I think taking a bullet through the head would have ended up the easy way out, it was those who survived that in some respects had it the toughest. Although there was the threat of combat, luckily it didn't happen for us. However, what these guys went through was pure man made hell on earth. This country can never fully repay these Marines. Hopefully, they all found their peace with God.