Book Recommendation: With the Old Breed

“If the country is good enough to live in, it’s good enough to fight for”

From time to time, I like to share a book recommendation with my readers, it’s that time again. I’ve written about Triggernometry and The Power of Awareness recently, very different books but both great reads.

Today I’m offering another great read but with more sobering content. With the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays recently passed I found myself reflecting on America and the sacrifices made by many men and women of previous generations to ensure the freedoms we all enjoy today. This led to the purchase of several books one of which I’ll share with you today.

With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge is the gripping story of a Marine private who fought in the Pacific during World War Two. Sledge participated in the invasion and battle for Peleiu and again several months later did the same on Okinawa. Sledge’s book is considered the definitive description of what combat was like in the Pacific as seen by the Marines actually doing the fighting. Victor Davis Hanson writes the introduction to With the Old Breed and considers Sledge’s book to be a military classic.

Sledge didn’t start out with the intention of writing a book. During his time in the Pacific, he made notes of his experiences and kept them in a small bible he carried. After the war he intended to document his war experiences as a memoir for his family so that they might have a better understanding of those events. That memoir for the family eventually evolved into the book.

Sledge survived the war and eventually became a college professor, it wasn’t until later in life that he published his book which became, in Hanson’s words, “the finest literary account to emerge about the pacific war”.

It’s difficult for those of us who have not experienced combat to understand what those who have were forced to endure. The fighting in the Pacific was probably at the extreme end of what any combat soldier has experienced. Sledge describes in detail the brutality and savagery he witnessed perpetrated by a fanatical enemy as well as that which our own troops were driven to commit.

Sledge goes on to describe the horrors of living in a battlefield for days or weeks on end, in blistering heat and humidity, and among the casualties of both his fellow Marines and the enemy. He describes the physical and psychological toll of being under almost constant artillery and mortar fire, of the constant threat of sniper fire and of a fanatical enemy willing to fight to the death.

It's easy to forget how fortunate we are to live in America and what price others paid to ensure our freedoms. Looking at our society today it’s difficult to imagine being able to produce an army of young people like Sledge who could step into the breech and defend us if needed. With the Old Breed is an excellent book that I highly recommend for those who appreciate what it means to be an American.

©2024 Joseph T Drammissi

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