With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge
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Book Reviews of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
Book Review: A Debt We Can Never Repay
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a compelling first hand account, from a U. S. Marine private's view, of the hourly and daily horrors American Marines suffered when in battle in the Pacific during WWII. Frankly, I am surprised anyone could endure the strain, both physical and mental, imposed upon these American soldiers. After reading this relatively short, but detailed book, you will reach several conclusions: first, the Pacific campaigns were absolutely hellish; second, the Japanese WWII soldier was fanatical and bestial--virtually devoid of any humanity; third, after Okinawa, the U.S. was absolutely right in using the atomic bomb to end this war; and fourth, we can never repay the men (primarily U. S. Marines) who made the sacrifices necessary to conquer the evil that was Imperial Japan.
The book is centered on two battles, Peleliu and Okinawa: the former fought in 100 degree heat on a coral island lacking any shelter or cover, while the latter was fought in mud on a battlefield reminiscent of trench warfare in WWI Flanders. Both battles were fought against a determined, merciless, and barbaric enemy who fought virtually to the last man and were more than willing to sacrifice their individual lives if they could trade it for the life of but one American. For example, on Peleliu the Japanese committed approximately 11,000 soldiers to the battle and only about 200 surrendered, yet of that number approximately 180 were Japanese sailors, or civilians forced to assist the Japanese. The rest died to a man. The price for their lives and this miserable island was approximately 1800 American dead and another 8000 wounded.
The book explains the Japanese strategy of "defense in depth" adopted after the fruitless banzai charges of Guadalcanal and Saipan. This strategy entailed the construction of mutually supportive tunnels, caves, and other defensive positions that the Japanese defended in a prolonged, organized retreat. Essentially, they knew they could never win these battles, but hoped, through attrition, to convince the Americans that it was too costly in blood and treasure to conquer Japan. E. B. "Sledgehammer" Sledge lets you experience what fighting against this strategy was like as he watches his friends and comrades die day after day during these long campaigns. He especially relates, in an immediate manner, how taxing the fighting conditions were--intolerable heat, knee-deep mud, the constant stench of decaying bodies and the innumerable flies and maggots attracted to them, the poor food, undrinkable water, malaria, dysentery, constant rain, and filth each marine had to endure in wresting these islands from the Japanese. Yet that is only the beginning, for the true horror was the Japanese themselves. Nightly they sent out raiders to try to infiltrate American lines, willing to die just to kill one American in his foxhole. Every night these marines were shelled, and everyday they were forced to move out against an enemy who would never surrender and wanted only to kill them.
You are left with an unshakable belief of this war being worse than hell itself, worse than anything you can imagine. The stories of discovering the mutilated bodies of fellow marines, and the cold-blooded nature of the enemy, explains why this enemy had to be defeated and why these marines had absolutely no pity for them. And once you read the nature of the battle for Okinawa, and learn how the U. S. was forced to sacrifice over 12,000 of its young men to kill 110,000 Japanese who refused to surrender in a battle hopeless for Japan from the start, you should have no reservations about the wisdom of using atomic weapons against Japan. If they were willing to fight like this for an island hundreds of miles from their homeland, you realize they would have fought even harder for their own islands and homes.
Book Review: War as it truly is
Summary: 5 Stars
It took me over fifteen years to read this book. During my sophomore year in college "With the Old Breed" was listed as required reading in my modern US history course. As I remember it, the "Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie" was also required, and when I read that cover-to-cover only to discover that just one question on the mid-term addressed that book, I decided to blow off reading the memoir of WWII Marine private Eugene Sledge. In hindsight, I'm glad I did. The guilt of having not read the book (not to mention my shock and consternation to find many questions about the memoir on the final) kept it on my bookshelf and a volume that I resolved to read eventually.
Thus, I had the opportunity to read this unforgettable story in my mid-30s, with all of the "wisdom" had I gained in the intervening decade-and-a-half, and in the midst of another American war, rather than as a naïve 19-year-old in the fat-and-happy post-Cold War years.
Simply put, this memoir is mesmerizing. In the introduction to the paperback volume by the incomparable Paul Fussell, Sledge's writing is described as so honest, so unadorned that it allows the reader to peer into the horrors of modern combat like looking through a pane of glass. Fussell is absolutely correct.
What makes this memoir so powerful and unique is the mixed perspective that Sledge brings to his experience in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theater in 1945. On the one hand, Sledge is undeniably anti-war. The experience of combat described by Sledge is horrifying and an utter waste. Never once does Sledge contend that the Marines are engaged in a necessary and just war against an Imperial Japan that attacked his country and committed unspeakable atrocities against fellow Americans, as well as innumerable others. His commentary is reminiscent of Jonathan Shay's "Achilles in Vietnam," a brilliant and original take on the effects of close order combat. Sledge and his fellow Marines in the Pacific could care less about the surrender of Nazi Germany or the death of Franklin Roosevelt in the spring of 1945. All that matters is Company K and what their next assignment will be. The most critical question on their minds is whether or not to drop their gear when given a break on a forced march or keep it on in the event that the break is cut short.
On the other hand, for all of the terror and waste of combat, Sledge is clearly a proud Marine, a man who in the twilight of his life still signs his letters "Semper Fi." He praises his drill instructor for the hardships he was forced to endure as, he claims, it saved his life when he was confronted with the nightmare of modern war on Pelileu and Okinawa. Sledge's descriptions of his experiences in the Pacific, especially in Okinawa, are unsettling. The putrid smell of rotting flesh, the constant rain, lack of sleep, maggots and flies in the millions, Japanese shelling and nighttime infiltrations, psychiatric breakdowns of fellow Marines, it reads like an additional level of Dante's Inferno.
The penultimate paragraph of the memoir sums up the themes best:
"War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades' incredible bravery and their devotion to each other. Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive. But it also taught us loyalty to each other - and love. That esprit de corps sustained us."
God bless the United States Marine Corps.
Book Review: The view of war from "hell's own cesspool."
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed (WTOB) several times, starting back in the 1980's, and I've found it a rewarding experience each time. We see the transformation of the mild-mannered nineteen year old as he becomes a well-trained, then a battle-hardened Marine, known by the deceptively tough-sounding nickname of Sledgehammer. He sees fellow Marines maimed and killed, the ruthlessness of his enemy, who must be answered in kind, and the wearing away of the veneer of civilized life. Sledge describes in uncommonly vivid detail the degrading conditions he and his comrades must endure for weeks on end as they confront a foe who neither grants nor expects quarter. Among the many memorable scenes are the nights on Half-Moon Hill on Okinawa, with constant rain falling, and star shells illuminating the corpses in the hellish, devastated landscape. All of that is certainly memorable stuff, but if that were all there were to WTOB, we would have an excellent memoir, but one better than others only by degree.
I find what sets WTOB apart from the rest, however, is the capacity on the author's part for sober and honest self-examination. Sledge tells us bluntly that as his landing craft approaches Peleliu that he is afraid of losing control of his bladder. When he sees his first dead Marine up close, he says he is glad the Marine's mother can't see him. Perhaps the most revealing episode about Sledge is when he is forced to shoot a Japanese soldier at close range, after the Japanese emerges from a bunker and tries to throw a grenade. As Sledge's first bullet strikes the soldier's chest, Sledge sees the man's face "contorted in agony." Sledge first feels revulsion that he just killed a man at close range, then shame that he feels that way, given the situation and is glad his comrades can not read his thoughts. That type of self-revelation is rare, and stands in contrast to more swaggering, self-serving memoirs. It may also explain why Sledge, although he breaks down a few times, sobbing, he never becomes unhinged, and is able to continue under the most appalling conditions during his time in combat.
In a recent edition of Military History magazine (Nov/Dec 2008), the writers were polled to each give their top-ten best military history books of all time. When the results were tallied, the name of Eugene Sledge stood next to those of Clausewitz and Thucydides. No less a military historian than John Keegan has called WTOB, "one of the most arresting documents in war literature." No higher recommendations are needed. But before you read WTOB, do yourself a favor and find a Sledge interview on Youtube, and listen to the audio files of his interview at the Studs Terkel website, and browse the Eugene B. Sledge collection at the Auburn University digital library. Hearing Sledge talk, with his gentle, mellifluous southern accent, and seeing his mild-mannered nature, will give a "voice" to the narrative of WTOB that will enrich your reading experience.
Book Review: Haunting. Simply the BEST.
Summary: 5 Stars
Haunting.
Mr. Sledge"s reminisces of WW2 Pacific combat is one of the 3 best memoirs in that genre. The other two being William Manchester's Goodbye Darkness, and Robert Leckie's Helmet for my Pillow. War is ugly, messy, misery and a terrible thing, but the courage and sacrifice of the warriors is the beauty of it all. It is utter madness that muddles the mind, yet brings clarity of thought to a razor's edge. It dulls one's sensibilities yet heightens the senses to maximum perception. With the Old Breed is gritty realism, that will assault one's reality with the true nature of combat without philosophical metaphors. It is love, hate, disgust, kindness, sympathy, revulsion, and understanding wrapped in the simple prose of one who has seen the utter madness of combat up close and personal. Mr. Sledge graphically brings the sounds, sights, stink, and corruptions of the battlefield to the written page and slaps the reader in the face with the reality of it all. At times it is revolting but yet it is ALL true. The ambivalence of combat is the true mystery of its schizophrenic nature: To be drawn to it and repulsed at the same time its mystique. To use Mr. Paul Fussell's own words, "It is about the mystique of killing to avoid being killed, torturing to avoid being tortured." The front line is both a place of passion and madness. As Mr. Sledge said, "[combat] made savages of us all. We existed in an environment totally incomprehensible to men behind the lines..." And so it was at Peleliu and Okinawa, where Mr. Sledge, "tasted the bitterest essence of war, the sight of helpless comrades being slaughtered, and it filled me with disgust. Furthermore, Mr. Sledge opines, "We were surrounded by maggots and decay . Men struggled and fought and bled in an environment so degrading I believed we had been flung into hell's own cesspool."
And yet, "War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades' incredible bravery and their devotion to each other."
Maximum recommendation for anyone interested in actual combat in general and/or WW2 Pacific combat in particular. BE WARNED this is an extremely graphic memoir. It is NOT for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is maximum realism and it is ugly at times. Nevertheless is probably the best book ever written on the realities of war in the Pacific during WW2.
Finally, to sum up, "If the country is good enough to live in, it's good enough to fight for. With privilege goes responsibility." And as Wilfred Owen's poem "Insensibility" states, "those who feel most for others suffer most in war." Mr. Sledge suffered a great deal.
Book Review: Outstanding book, outstanding person!
Summary: 5 Stars
My grandfather was an infantryman in Germany in WWII and in trying to gain insight into his service, I read several books on the war in Europe. Later I picked up a copy of this book seeking comparisons between the war against Germany and the struggle against Japan.
I'm glad I did because this outstanding book is hard to put down. Sledge is graphic and truthful of his experiences in a truly hellish war. But what struck me as being a bit different than some other similar books is that "Sledgehammer" as he was called, does not use any profanity or embellish anything at all. He doesn't need to.
He is instead very humble and matter-of-fact, realizing that the truth is more than enough to draw you into the carnage, brutality and the waste. His message is that yes "war is hell" and a tragic waste of good men, some of whom were still just as much boys as soldiers.
These guys were trained to kill. There was no choice either, you killed or were in turn killed yourself. After terrible months enduring the crippling heat, disease, incredibly rugged terrain, a fanatical and brutal enemy, the constant sickening stench of death and seeing their friends slaughtered, they finally prevailed.
You'd think then they would be sent somewhere to recover from the living hell that was Peleliu and Okinawa...maybe to Hawaii for some much-deserved rest. But instead they were ordered to bury the rotting, maggot infested enemy dead! It's an unbelievable story.
Sledge's book will give you the most sincere appreciation for the men who have given so much so we can enjoy the freedoms we all take for granted. In reading it, I realized the war on both enemies was terrible. Yet, a German would surrender while a Japanese soldier would very seldom ever do so. I think when you combine the horrible battleground conditions with the fanaticism of the Japanese soldier, it's obvious the war in the Pacific was even more hellish. (Don't worry Grandpa, I still think you had balls the size of cantoloupes to do what you did in Germany).
For a perspective on the war against Germany I'd recommend "You can't get much closer than this" by A.Z. Adkins and "Taught to kill" by John Babcock. Both of the above are also truly outstanding books.
The next time you are having a bad day and need a little perspective in life, pick up a book like "With The Old Breed" and re-set your prioritys and values a bit.
In so doing take a look at the obituries in your local paper and you realize there aren't many of these great men left. My grandfather has been gone for years and Sledge passed on in 2001.
For many, it's too late to say "thank you".