The Old Breed

[FC]

I'm just about done with reading, "With the Old Breed", by Sledge. It was written by a Marine who was at Peleilu and Okinawa in WWII. It makes just about any other war experiences look pretty tame. Some really horrible recollections on his part, but I'm glad the now deceased author wrote the book. Any of you read it?

[Gothmog]

Hi Tony, I haven't read that one, but did read one called 'Tarawa' by Martin Caidin (IIRC).

 

An excellent read, but very intense stuff to be sure.

 

I'll see if I can't track down a copy of the book you're posting about. I find non fiction way more interesting to read lately so this should be right up my alley.

[TwistJG26]

Just got done reading Sledgehammer's book. I cannot think of a better description of combat by any other author. More graphic than Saving Private Ryan's opening battle scene. Notice that he never went hunting after the war? I recommend this book to everyone.

[FC]

I really think I would have gone crazy going through what he did.

I didn't suffer even a fraction of what he did, but I identified with the filth, the emotions, and the hatred of the enemy. The bosses I have that haven't gone over have the notion of the goodness of providing the same care to the enemy our guys get. I get mad, and my stomach ties up when I hear this. I have to make myself shut up. I cut loose on that chaplain at the leadership course during the lecture about the insurgents being covered by the Geneva Conventions. After reading it, I'm afraid he may be right.

The very worst part of the book was when he was digging a foxhole on Okinawa and hit a Japanese corpse covered with maggots and have decomposed.

I bought my copy on Amazon.

[TwistJG26]

Yeah, the entire Okinawa scene once he was committed to battle was the very example of hell. The constant rain and mud and the inability to have the dead removed. Having to stare at the dead half headless marine staring at his foxhole day in and night long for about a week must have been maddening. His description of the Graves Registration crews removing week+ old dead soldiers with giant spatchulas is something I never read before. I was kinda hoping that his CO Mac would have gotten killed. It is a wonder he was never fragged.

 

Purchased the paperback at local grocery store last month. Could barely put the book down.

[FC]

I think "Shadow" was worse than Mac.

How can a human being put up with war every day and every night? At night worrying about Japs sneaking up on your foxhole?

What about the GI who wanted to keep the mummified hand?

[Jimro]

War brings out the extremes in people, the very best and the very worst.

 

As far as the Geneva Convention goes, it requires medical personnel to treat casualties based on seriousness of injury irregardless of nationalitity. This works out fine when modern industrialized nations fight, German doctors treating allied casualties, allied docs treating krauts. Doesn't make much sense when the other side is a bunch of camel loving goatherds who can't even spell penicillin.

 

But then again war isn't supposed to make sense, at least not at our level.

 

As a junior officer you can rest assured that my boys come first. I'm responsible for those men, not for enemy.

 

Jimro