With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by E.B. Sledge
Book Summary Information
Author: E.B. SledgeEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-25
ISBN: 0891419195
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Presidio Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780891419198
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
Book Review: Epic memoir of the brutal war with Japan
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an epic memoir about the author's time with the 1st Marine Div (K Co, 3rd Bn, 5th Marine Regt) on Peleliu and Okinawa. In a word, it is outstanding! It is a true war memoir in that it is virtually entirely about the authors combat experiences. The first 40 pages or so recount his basic background and then his training. The next 100 pages are entirely about the combat on Peleliu. The next half of the book is almost entirely about Okinawa. There is combat on virtually every page but it is never overblown. There is a great deal about the front line conditions, digging foxholes, being thirsty, being miserable, about living beside the dead.
Most of the text though recounts the authors involvment in combat. At times there is a breathtaking story on every page. Some of these I'd read them before - they were so momentous they'd been selected in others peoples books as quotes. Many of these are not for the faint hearted. Sledge spares no one in terms of the awfulness of many of the events. His view that the war was an awful waste is very strong and he has chosen to detail things like they were to prove his point. He is also concious though that regardless of this the war had to be fought. He is exceedingly proud to have been a member of the 1st Marine Division. He also had a great hatred of the Japanese, given what he'd learned of them in combat. He comes to the conclusion that "To defeat an enemy as tough and dedicated as the Japanese, we had to be just as tough. We had to be just as dedicated to America as they were to their emperor." (Pg 156) A very profound observation for a 20 year old to make.
Above all, one is left with his deep sadness about buddys lost. His unit landed at Okinawa with 235 men, received 250 replacements and departed only 50 strong. The fighting before Shuri is ferocious and it sickens him. We read of Japanese infiltration at night, mutilated bodies and mistakes by fellow Marines that cause 'own' deaths. The idea of a terrible waste is revisited again and again. As is the authors disgust and fury towards the Japanese in the way they fought the war.
This book has been described as a classic and I agree. Another reviewer compared "With the Old Breed' to Sajer's 'Forgotten Soldier'. Given the scope of Sledge's writings and the revelation of his deepest thoughts, I'm inclined to support that. This book is one of the top three memoirs of war that I have ever read. Very Highly Recommended!
Summary of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
In The Wall Street Journal, Victor Davis Hanson named With the Old Breed one of the top five books on epic twentieth-century battles. Studs Terkel interviewed the author for his definitive oral history, The Good War. Now E. B. Sledge's acclaimed first-person account of fighting at Peleliu and Okinawa returns to thrill, edify, and inspire a new generation.An Alabama boy steeped in American history and enamored of such heroes as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene B. Sledge became part of the war's famous 1st Marine Division-3d Battalion, 5th Marines. Even after intense training, he was shocked to be thrown into the battle of Peleliu, where "the world was a nightmare of flashes, explosions, and snapping bullets." By the time Sledge hit the hell of Okinawa, he was a combat vet, still filled with fear but no longer with panic.
Based on notes Sledge secretly kept in a copy of the New Testament, With the Old Breed captures with utter simplicity and searing honesty the experience of a soldier in the fierce Pacific Theater. Here is what saved, threatened, and changed his life. Here, too, is the story of how he learned to hate and kill-and came to love-his fellow man.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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