With the old breed, at Peleliu and Okinawa

Summary of With the old breed, at Peleliu and Okinawa

1. 1

   Through Hell's Gates: A Marine's Journey

   

   00:00

   00:00

   In 1981, HBO aired "The Pacific," featuring Eugene Sledge, whose memoir captured the brutal reality of Pacific combat with unflinching honesty. Tom Hanks later called it "the most honest and horrifying account of what combat is actually like." This unassuming Alabama professor's book became required reading at military academies worldwide. What makes this account extraordinary is how it documents the transformation of a sheltered young man from the American South into part of "the old breed" - Marines who endured some of history's most savage fighting on remote Pacific islands. Against his family's wishes, Sledge abandoned college in December 1942 to enlist as a Marine private. "I wanted to be a Marine because I knew they had the most discipline and were the best trained." Boot camp in San Diego was a deliberate shock designed to break down individuality and rebuild men as Marines. Days began at 0400 hours with endless drilling in deep sand, meticulous rifle care, and constant harassment. "The discipline and esprit de corps we had: that's what saved me in combat," Sledge reflected. Their greatest fear wasn't death but appearing cowardly under fire - until veterans assured them: "Listen, mate, everybody gets scared, and anybody says he don't is a damn liar."

2. 2

   Training and Preparation for War

   Start Listening

   Sledge joined the 1st Marine Division on Pavuvu, a coconut plantation turned military base. The "old breed" veterans, marked by severe jungle rot, contrasted sharply with new replacements. They painted themselves with gentian violet and modified boots for their swollen feet. Living conditions were harsh - weevil-infested bread, hot C rations, and bathing only during tropical downpours. "I think God has forgotten where Pavuvu is," one Marine remarked. Two leaders were crucial: the tough Gunnery Sergeant Haney and Captain Andrew "Ack Ack" Haldane, whom Sledge considered "the finest officer I ever knew." Unit discipline and anti-Japanese sentiment maintained morale as training intensified for the upcoming battle on Peleliu.

3. 3

   Baptism by Fire: The Battle of Peleliu

   Start Listening

   On September 15, 1944, Sledge experienced his first amphibious assault through a wall of flame and smoke, with Japanese shells creating water geysers around the approaching amtracs. Leaping from his amtrac, he dodged machine-gun fire before dropping into the sand, where a fellow Marine helped him crawl to safety. Watching comrades die around him, he questioned God's purpose in the carnage. The battle centered on "Bloody Nose Ridge" - limestone formations housing Japanese defenses. On September 17th, Sledge's unit crossed the exposed airfield under intense enemy fire. Four infantry battalions advanced through 105-degree heat as Japanese fire claimed lives around them. Sledge recited Psalm 23 during what he would later call his worst combat experience. The Japanese displayed tactical excellence, firing for maximum effect from interlocking positions that created deadly crossfires. They sheltered in caves during bombardments, then emerged to counter attacks. The physical horror was inescapable. Decomposing Japanese bodies on the coral created an overwhelming stench that Sledge found impossible to describe to civilians. Captain Haldane's death by sniper fire on October 12th devastated Company K's morale. The battle's final toll was severe: the 1st Marine Division suffered 6,526 casualties, with Company K losing 64% of its men.

4. Chapter 4

   The Respite Between Battles

   After Peleliu, Sledge and the survivors returned to Pavuvu in early November 1944. The reality of their losses hit hard, with most of Sledge's old companions wounded or killed. A friend questioned the necessity of taking Peleliu, suggesting the island could have been bypassed. On Pavuvu's beach, the sight of an American Red Cross girl serving grapefruit juice struck Sledge as surreal after Peleliu's violence. At camp, new replacements waited, their innocence making the survivors feel like veterans. The holidays brought welcome relief. They enjoyed Christmas turkey after evening services, and New Year's Eve became memorable with stolen turkey, beer, and "jungle juice." Sledge would remember it as his finest New Year's party, a rare moment of joy amid war.

   Chapter 5

   The Invasion of Okinawa

   Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, began with the traditional steak and eggs breakfast. The Marines were stunned to find Okinawa's beaches completely undefended, leading to celebratory reactions. This was Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima's strategy - positioning his 110,000 troops in southern Okinawa's ridge systems rather than defending the shoreline. Sledge's unit spent the first month in central Okinawa, encountering mainly civilians and sharing rations with local children. On May 1st, as reports of intense southern fighting grew, they were ordered south. Approaching their assigned ridge, they faced heavy Japanese shelling, sprinting across open ground past retreating soldiers. Sledge noted his Peleliu experience helped him manage his fear and maintain composure.

   Chapter 6

   The Hell of Shuri Ridge

   The battle reached its nadir at Wana Draw and Ridge - a natural corridor to Shuri Castle. Heavy rains beginning May 6th transformed the area into a quagmire where tanks and mortars became immobilized. "The mud of Okinawa transformed every movement into an exhausting ordeal," Sledge recalled. "We trudged through slippery terrain with mud from inches to knee-deep, while rain fell constantly." From Half Moon Hill, Sledge witnessed what he called "the most ghastly corner of hell." Marine corpses lay in water-filled shell craters, weapons still clutched. "The stench of death was overpowering," he wrote. "I could only bear this horror by looking skyward and telling myself it was just a nightmare." To manage flooded foxholes, Sledge and Snafu built platforms from ammo crates, with drainage sumps at one end. After breaking through at Shuri Castle in late May, they advanced through worsening conditions and torrential rains, digging in among decomposing bodies. By mid-June, Company K had lost thirty-six men on June 1st and another twenty-two to immersion foot shortly after.

   Chapter 7

   Victory and Reflection

   With roughly a hundred men - half their original force - they advanced on Kunishi Ridge, the western anchor of Japan's final defensive line. The Japanese had fortified this coral escarpment with caves on both slopes. "The ridge's silhouette reminded me terribly of Bloody Nose Ridge on Peleliu," Sledge wrote, "nearly buckling my knees with dread." By June 17th, Company K reached the ridge's eastern end, having lost forty-nine men in twenty-two hours. The company now stood at just twenty-one percent strength. After Okinawa's securing on June 21, 1945, Company K faced a final task - mopping up resistance and cleaning the battlefield. Some veterans, at their breaking point, nearly refused these orders. Following the atomic bomb, Japan surrendered. On August 15th, 1945, Sledge and his comrades received the news in "stunned silence," contemplating their fallen friends. Only 26 of the original 65 Peleliu veterans in Company K survived Okinawa. "Something in me died at Peleliu," Sledge reflected, "perhaps a childish innocence that believed man is basically good." Yet he learned vital lessons about comradeship and the resolve needed to defeat a committed enemy. Sledge later transformed his wartime notes, written in his Bible's margins, into one of war's most powerful memoirs. His raw account continues to educate new generations about combat's true nature and the brotherhood forged in war.

   Continue Reading