Review of "With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa," by E. B. Sledge

 Review of

With the Old Breed At Peleliu and Okinawa, by E. B. Sledge

Five out of five stars

The brutality of the Pacific war

 The author patriotically signed up to be a U. S. marine and he was a member of the famed First Marine Division that fought some of the toughest battles with the entrenched Japanese forces on the Pacific islands of Peleliu and Okinawa. Despite the American superior firepower of planes and ships, the Japanese proved to be determined fighters and capable of creating very strong defensive positions. The casualty rates of some of the marine units was 150 percent.

 His account of the war is descriptive and moving. Sledge also mentions some of the nonsense of the service people that did not have the combat experience of the frontline units. Given how long Sledge’s unit was on the front lines with near constant shelling, the ubiquitous smell of death, being dirty and often soaked to the skin with no respite, it is amazing that more of the men were not psychological casualties.

 Sledge is also forthright in talking about the actions of the marines regarding the dead Japanese. While the cutting off of insignias for souvenirs is well known, his descriptions of marines “harvesting” gold teeth from the Japanese dead is not something that is often discussed. He is very matter of fact about this although he was disgusted by other acts of the desecration of the Japanese dead.

 This is a powerful war memoir. While it is unique to the author, the general story is one that could have been repeated many thousands of times, if only the men had been fortunate enough to survive the war.

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