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A review by nelsta
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
5.0
"With the Old Breed" is both a memoir and a tonic. Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge gives us an unvarnished view of frontline warfare without any of the "oorah" or "Curahees" that often pepper tales of blood and battle. Sledge shares little resemblance to the paradigms of dutiful soldiers we see on television or read in books. He doesn't look like Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson. He isn't Captain America, nor Jason Bourne. But his mildly sanitized history (the "f" in SNAFU, as defined by Sledge, stands for "fouled," for example) of K/3/5's journey through the campaigns at Peleliu and Okinawa should convince any reader of his duty, bravery, and honesty.
You could summarize Sledge's masterwork in three short words: war is hell. But the brevity of that statement cannot adequately convey the depth, horror, and misery contained within its final word. Sledge experienced anguish on a scale unknown to most other humans. His experiences in the Pacific may even be unknowable to most of us. When HBO adapted "With the Old Breed" into its critically acclaimed miniseries "The Pacific"--which was lauded for its reasonably accurate portrayal of the Pacific War--it avoided some of the more monstrous anecdotes relayed by Sledge. If anything, "hell" feels too sanitary a descriptor.
What makes Sledge's account so extraordinary is that he conveys this horror to the reader without subjecting them to it. If we read his words and internalize them, we need not experience them ourselves. We can learn from his generation; we can be better. If you are concerned about the conflicts around the globe, whether they be in Israel, Ukraine, West Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, or elsewhere, I strongly encourage you to read "With the Old Breed."
You could summarize Sledge's masterwork in three short words: war is hell. But the brevity of that statement cannot adequately convey the depth, horror, and misery contained within its final word. Sledge experienced anguish on a scale unknown to most other humans. His experiences in the Pacific may even be unknowable to most of us. When HBO adapted "With the Old Breed" into its critically acclaimed miniseries "The Pacific"--which was lauded for its reasonably accurate portrayal of the Pacific War--it avoided some of the more monstrous anecdotes relayed by Sledge. If anything, "hell" feels too sanitary a descriptor.
What makes Sledge's account so extraordinary is that he conveys this horror to the reader without subjecting them to it. If we read his words and internalize them, we need not experience them ourselves. We can learn from his generation; we can be better. If you are concerned about the conflicts around the globe, whether they be in Israel, Ukraine, West Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, or elsewhere, I strongly encourage you to read "With the Old Breed."