I’m kicking myself for not writing our own feature about HBO’s “The Pacific,” a series about the Marines’ experience during the Pacific theater of World War II. The series gets under way tonight and one of the main characters is E.B. Sledge, author of the incredible book “With the Old Breed.” Sledge was a native of the Mobile area and an Auburn man.
The Opelika-Auburn News posted a feature yesterday on their site.
I offered some details about him last Veterans Day and tried to point folks toward the wonderful site and archives that Auburn University keeps online.
And al.com offered a story back at the beginning of the month about Sledge and the upcoming miniseries.
Damn, that al.com story offers a haunting quote from E.B. Sledges’ son about his father:
It wasn’t horrific combat footage that upset Henry Sledge at a Hollywood screening last March. It was the likeness of his father, played by actor Joe Mazzello, breaking into tears and unable to pull the trigger at a quail hunt after the war.
“That is hard to watch, to watch your father breaking down like that,” his 42-year-old son said.
You see, when you read “With the Old Breed” you can see why E.B. Sledge would have trouble pulling that trigger. You can understand post-war why he seems to be such a gentle soul that teaches biology at the University of Montevallo. One thing comes across crystal clear when you close that book: War is hell.
Hell on Earth.
I’ll be interested in seeing how the series tonight (if I decide to order HBO today … but, man, I’ve gotta see my new hero Sledgehammer) handles the some of the horrifying things that Sledge writes about in his memoir. For example, when Sledge was involved in the campaign on Peleliu, he was deep in the shit. The hard rocky coral surface of that island made burying or moving the dead impossible with the changing battle lines and under constant heavy fire. The random, seemingly unending explosions day and night all around those guys … I can’t imagine living through that and keeping your nerves. The human costs (Japanese and Americans) of that war piled up all around the living and Sledge describes the smells and sights in a way that will churn your stomach. And please note: He doesn’t do it for a shock value. He does it so the folks back safe in the states can understand what TRULY went on during that campaign. Stinking, rotting corpses baked by the sun. Some of them were his countrymen. His brothers in the corps. Hollywood, at that time, glossed over all that.
The flies. The maggots. The land crabs eating away at the bodies. The bodies laying there for days, weeks. It is horrifying in its description. How in the hell can a person make it through something like that and not be changed or damaged?
Writing “With the Old Breed” had to be a way for Sledge to deal with what happened back on those islands. He doesn’t boast or brag. If he does brag, it is about fellow Marines. He just tells it like he saw it. I highly recommend taking the time to check his book out. It might change the way you look at war’s costs. It changed the way that I looked at some of our veterans and current, active soldiers. God, they have to be tough as nails. Tougher in spirit, mind and character than I’d ever imagine myself to be. It’s amazing. And Auburn’s lucky to have him as an alumni. Be proud Auburn!
My grandfather, Pa, passed away two weeks ago. During that war, he was a young, green Marine on a troop ship to the Philippines for training on taking the fight to mainland Japan. In the middle of the ocean, the captain came over the loudspeaker to announce that the United States had defeated Japan. The war was over. The troops were all allowed to drink two beers from the vast supply of brew being brought along with them. The captain jokingly said that if any Marine told about the celebration once they reached their destination they’d be in big trouble. That night those Marines celebrated the end of a war that could have well ended their young lives.
If it wasn’t for Sledge and the Old Breed, my Pa would have been thrown into the meatgrinder in the Pacific. I might not be here today.
Hopefully, I’ll be watching tonight and keeping a running weekly post where we can all discuss “The Pacific.”
War Eagle! And God bless Sledgehammer!
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“The old Breed” is a damn good book. I am in the middle of it right now after reading about your veterans day story about it. I was talking with my grandfather about this book and he actually knew Dr. Sledge personally. My grandfather is a retired Air Force Lt. Col and retired professor from Samford University’s history department and shortly after this book was published he got to sit down with Sledge and talk to him about it. He said Sledge was a fascinating man but absolutely hated discussing his memories from the war which after reading this book is completely understandable. Come to find out my mom was a student of his at Montevallo…she said it was the hardest class she ever took. Everyone should sit down and read this book.
Hey JR, thanks for the comment. There are some photos of Sledge and his students on field trips on Auburn’s site. Maybe your mom is pictured with him. Did you get to watch the first episode last night? It’s already getting intense. If you didn’t get to watch it, it contained just a little bit of Sledgehammer as a young man in Mobile. I think his storyline on Peleliu is going to be featured in the middle of the series, then it will shift to Iwo Jima then back to Sledge in the Battle of Okinawa.
Unfortunately i did not get to watch the show last night because I don’t get HBO. My in-laws do get HBO and they were supposed to set their DVR to record it, i haven’t been able to get a hold of them to see if that happened. I cannot wait to watch it though. I will definitely have to check out those pictures to see if my mom is in them. She told me she absolutely hated his class because it was so hard, unfortunately at the time i don’t think she had any idea what his background was because that was back in the 70’s and his book obviously had not even been written and he definitely didn’t talk about it. I mentioned something about my grandfather in my first post. He just finished his own book about Alabama men who served in the 8th air force. It is called the Alabama Bomber Boys. It is a good read, nothing compared to Sledge’s but it is an entirely different take on WW2 from the men who served in the Air and their own horrors they experienced. It is a good read and everybody in it is from Alabama.
Great! We need to plug “Alabama Bomber Boys” in the next post.
http://astore.amazon.com/moaawebbase-20/detail/0788446827
that would be awesome!
Sledge’s Grand-daughter is a freshmen at AU. I grew up with her. I’m surprised the Plainsman hasn’t covered her yet. So much for investigative journalism! 😉
This series should wake up the conservative no nothings. The men and women who served are really heroes. The people who are called heroes today are,for the most part , are not even close ! We owe these men and women more than we really could ever repay. Our elected officials today heven’t a clue about protecting this country !!!!!
The Old Breed is coming to me tomarow and I highly recamend a book called {Island of The Damned} which is about R.V. Burgin he also wrote it and Eugene Sledge was in his squad.
I agree with you 110% Mark Nusinov