WITH THE OLD BREED.
The book “With the Old Breed” written by Eugene. B. Sledge was published in 1981. It was used by Sledge to show the terrible memories and experiences that he had in the Pacific during World War 2. It acts as a report of the things he went through during the war. The gruesome experiences that he had and the memories that remained in his mind, made him pursue a degree in biology as a way to help him cope with the memories that kept haunting him when the war ended. Throughout the book, commitment and self-control happened to have been the only things holding the soldiers to fulfill their mission.
“With the Old Breed” brings about the experiences that the author faced in the war including the training through the boot camp and mortar man training and his participation in the Peleliu and Okinawa conflicts that happened in the Pacific campaign up to the times that the war finally ended. It shows the pain, and the terror that they had to face as part of the army including the massive loses among their members and the killing of the other people.
Sledge is seen to have wanted to escape his parents by signing up for war without knowing what was waiting him (5). The enlisted however had to go through some form of training before they would be allowed to fight in the war. He however failed after the first semester and ended up in boot camp where it would start as early as 0400 and end at 2200 hours with intensive and basic rifle training. At the end of the one month training he was later assigned to the 1st Marine Division at Pavuvu Island. The first battle was of the Peleliu where they fought victoriously and after a month they came back for reinforcements and to be reequipped. The Marine Division is then sent on the Okinawa assault where after two months of fighting, they came back victoriously but were followed aby serious of bombs in Nagasaki and Japan.
Throughout the book Sledge keeps to the picture the disturbing images of the men who died during the combat. The largeness of the land and the rough terrain made it hard for the people to have a clear map of the area. The marine men end up being totally fatigued and rest deprived that the break that they had between the two wars of Peleliu and Okinawa. The men had become so depressed and psychologically hurt that when Sergeant David Bailey encouraged them it made them feel good and appreciated. As much as there were many incidences that were more hurting that pleasing to the marines, a few days they would see the Japanese women nursing or they would rescue a horse which was not part of their orders.
Sledge tries to bring about the pain and the struggle that the soldiers face in the war. I believe it was a cry for help from Sledge and a plea for understanding of the numerous cases of post-traumatic stress disorder that the men usually have are explainable. The cost that the soldiers face at the expense if the peace that most of the countries end up having is quite big and should not be taken lightly. The war was known to bring out the most unhuman of the people and the only ways that they could handle it is holding it in which ends up bubbling and results in immoral acts, brutality during the wars and even suicide among others. The soldiers were subjected to intense training to ensure that they can endure the pressure and the tension that is put on them on the field to allow the preserve their own life as well as fulfill the order assignment.
At present the people who fought during the war happen to be old and weak but the book clearly shows the efforts they made and that their efforts were not in vain. However the pain and the terror still lingers in them. The nightmares and the lack of trust in people happens to be something that the soldiers will have to live with or find ways of reducing the effects the way Sledge did by getting involved in biology.