With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

Rating:
Summary: An honest reflection of combat in the South Pacific.
Review: I read " With the Old Breed : At Peleliu and Okinawa " after reading Paul Fussell's " Wartime ". I was absolutly fascinated by the exerpts in " Wartime " and had to read the book. Once I began to read, I could not put it down. I have shared it with several of my fellow Marines. I think that " With the Old Breed " is the closest a person can get to the conditions on Peleliu and Okinawa without being injured or becoming sick from the sites. Thank you and Semper Fi Sledgehammer!

Rating:
Summary: Sledgehammer is my hero!
Review: I was introduced to this amazing book via a WWII history course at the University of Kansas. Sledge transports the reader to a place and time foreign to many, yet makes us feel everything that happened to him and his company. If you don't think that "War is Hell", read this book, and you will change your mind. This is such an amazing book that I actually did not sell it back at the end of the semester - quite a feat for a starving college student!

Rating:
Summary: Great book of everyday life of soldier in battle
Review: This book was used in a college course that I took concerning World War II in the Pacific. It is an excellent book concerning the daily life and feelings of the combat soldier. Very vivid account of experience of a battle weary veteran. This book makes you feel as if you are in the fox hole with the veteran experiencing the weather, fear, weariness and emotions of battle. After you have read the books on strategies of World War II in the Pacific you must read this book on the experience of the battlefield.

Rating:
Summary: ....the feel, the taste, the smell of island combat in the P
Review: If you ever wander why the combat veterans of WWII don't wish to discuss their experiences,read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Marines and history buffs
Review: Quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. Sledge captures the gritty reality of combat and the subtle nuances of being a United States Marine. Our generation is twice indebted to Professor Sledge- for his courageous service and for his outstanding account of the horrors of war. Semper Fi Sledgehammer.

Rating:
Summary: Superb, emotional, stirring.....
Review: Perhaps the defintive Marine memoir of ground combat in the Pacific. Shows us all the paradox of war; horror and savagery beyond belief and the love, dedication and espirit de corps that holds men together through the hell of it all. It's simply a masterpiece; one of the most emotionally stirring WWII books one will ever read.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece written by a front-line combat Marine
Review: When reading about historical events, one must consider the source. Dr. Sledge is an excellent source on the subject of Marines in combat in WWII. Dr. Sledge was really there at Peleliu and Okinawa, and on the front lines. No post-war historian could possibly describe the realities of combat with the accuracy of one who was really there. This book is a treasure not only because of its accuracy, but because it is so rare. Bookstores today are full of first-person accounts of Vietnam War veterans, but similar writings by veterans of WWII are extremely rare. If you want to read a generalized, sanitzed version of combat in the Pacific war, pick up a typical history book. However, if you want a definitive description of young American Marines fighting the ghastly horrors of combat-the worst reality of war-then this book is a must read. In my opinion, books such as this should be mandatory reading for high school students, so that they might have some understanding of how many Americans have fought and died to preserve the freedoms they now enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: One of the few honest books about war ever written.
Review: In this moving personal account of his experiences as a Marine in WWII E.B. Sledge shows war as the horrifying, bloody, often pointless, mayhem that it really is. Young men and women enamored of glory and bravery should be required to read this book. By describing his experiences clearly, candidly and graphically, he shows the reality of war. I wish I had read this when I was a younger man.

Rating:
Summary: My husband made me read this, but I'm glad I did!
Review: My husband perscribed this book to me after we got married so that I would understand what being an infantryman in the Marines was like. I was enthralled with the narrative, and my heart broke for what all of the men went through. I wish this had been assigned reading in high school because my generation really has NO appreciation of what giving your life for freedom means. I recommend this to any military wife who wants to understand her husband better, and to any parent who wants their child to better appreciate the relatively easy life we have today.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best battle memoirs ever written
Review: sledge pulls no punches whatsoever -- he condemns disgusting behaviour by his fellow marines as well as by the japanese. all those who still think war is glamorous should read this book.