by E.B. Sledge
Reviewed by Bruce Lesh

In such a visual age, sacrifices made during war are often reduced to images of limbless soldiers, exploding body parts, or blind charges into enemy lines. Films such as Wind Talkers, Thin Red Line, Pearl Harbor, and Saving Private Ryan–although useful classroom tools for examining memory, image, and interpretation—visually paint what is often told more comprehensively in text. E.B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa provides a ground-level view of the war in the Pacific and does so in a manner that will make a long-lasting impression on students, generate classroom discussion, and challenge students to reconsider the racial nature of the Pacific War.

Written as a memoir for his family, E.B. Sledge’s gripping tale of his time in the United States Marines was composed from notes written during the war, collected in his copy of the Old Testament, and hidden in a waterproof bag. Organized into two sections, the book is ready-made for classroom use. Part one examines Sledge’s travels from civilian life to the Marine Corps and eventually to the invasion of Pelieu. The second part finds the First Marine Division invading Okinawa. Both sections move the reader quickly through the battles and allow students to gain insight into the motivations of the soldiers. Sledge’s ability to place the reader in the maelstrom of war helps students understand the true emotional, physical, and psychological costs of war.

If time constraints, curricular standards, or students’ reading abilities make lengthy reading difficult, the book is ripe for excerpts that could be organized into categories such as soldiers’ view of the enemy, American battlefield tactics/strategies, conditions particular to the War in the Pacific, and Japanese strategies and methods. These excerpts allow students to develop a picture of the Pacific War from the soldiers’ point-of-view and then use this picture to reconstruct a more expansive history of the war. In addition to its utility as a unique source on the Pacific War, sections of the With the Old Breed could be compared with the documentary treatment of the Pacific War found in the PBS’s The American Experience Installment, Victory in the Pacific, or with Elizabeth Norman’s We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Battan by the Japanese. Each source provides both points of comparison and contrast with the image depicted in Sledge’s reminiscence. In addition, by utilizing a local veteran’s organization, teachers could facilitate a visit by a veteran of the Pacific War to compare and contrast their experience to that described by Sledge.

For teachers, the greatest shortcoming of Sledge’s memoir is its failure to place the events depicted into the larger political and military struggle of the time period. Students, even reluctant readers, will be drawn into the mind of the Marines fighting in the Pacific, but will need instructional guidance to place Sledge’s narrative into the broader political, military, and diplomatic contours of the war. In addition, when considering adopting the text as part of a United States history course, teachers should be aware that With the Old Breed contains both graphic language and disturbing depictions of war, and brutality. The book may require consideration of parental concerns, district policies, and the age appropriateness of the material being utilized. Despite concerns over the big picture coverage proved by the book and the necessity for considerations about content, the book provides a well written and thought provoking analysis of the battle for the Pacific and will be remembered by your students when they have long forgotten island-hopping, Iwo Jima, and other aspects of the war.

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