With The Old Breed

E.B. Sledge's account of his tour of duty with the 5th Marines in WWII, With The Old Breed is the second account of the Pacific theater that I have read. It is also one of the primary source materials for HBO's compelling miniseries The Pacific. Sledge's account is full of colorful accounts of his experience of WWII, much like John Leckie's book (another primary source for The Pacific) Helmet For My Pillow. I think what sets Sledge's account apart from others like it are his honest and thoughtful introspective musings on the inhumanity of war, fear, his anger and resentment against the Japanese, and many other heartfelt opinions. Furthermore, Sledge provides notes in italics describing the importance of battles and/or retroactive opinions about the validity of such battles. For example, one of the bloodiest, The Battle of Peleliu, has been suggested to have been superfluous since MacArthur was able to take the Philippines without that support from the western flank in some people's opinions. Also, he gives details about people who figure in his reminisces, whether they survived and what they went onto to do in civilian life or what awards they earned. His account is equally harrowing and full of details that were mined for the HBO series. I am inspired to read an overview of the Pacific theater and the battles to gain a greater understanding of the decision for some of these battles that were in obscure places like the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Overall, it was a compelling and informative account of life as soldier in some of the most brutal battles in WWII.