With the Old Breed

As mentioned, there are a lot of details about battle that I don't think I was ever really aware of. Most of the time, Sledge's outfit makes progress yards at a time. Like maybe 5 or 10 yards a day. And there is incredible carnage and destruction. While most of the time dead Marines were taken back to a safe area for burial, the dead Japanese soldiers were left where they fell for days and even weeks it seems. But at many points in the Okinawa battle, even the dead Marines were unable to be taken off the field and so there were dead bodies all around were the men were fighting.

Sledge also describes how they just didn't have time or place to practice even the most rudimentary hygiene. Waste and human excrement were put in cans and thrown out of their pits and foxholes as best as was possible. Just getting some food and eating regularly was difficult. And these conditions went on for many days at a time. Sledge suffered from diarrhea, trench foot, and malnutrition. Heavy rains and slow progress coupled with soft clay ground made the Okinawa battle similar to the trench ware fare of WWI in France. Some of the most dangerous duty that Sledge (and others) had to do was being a stretcher bearer. The Marines have a policy of not leaving wounded soldiers on the battle field so whenever anyone was wounded, four guys would have to go out and bring the wounded soldier in.

Although many of us might think of the Japanese military in WWII as characterized by the Banzai charge and kamikaze attack, in reality the Japanese army learned and adjusted their tactics during the course of the war. By the time Sledge was involved in Peleliu, they had learned to organize defenses and build defensive structures with overlapping fields of fire. This made these battles very costly. Sledge also frequently mentions the hatred they had for the Japanese soldiers. In terms of combat skills, they respected them and Sledge often mentions the discipline and excellent tactics used during the battles. But also the pure ruthlessness is ever present in the minds of the Marines. Corpsmen (medics) were shot at as well as stretcher carriers. And the Japanese were taught that surrender was a sign of weakness and lack of courage. And consequently not many Japanese solders were captured. Even after the main force was defeated, many single and small groups of Japanese soldiers remained in their holes and pill boxes unwilling to come out. This resulted in mop up operations where flame throwers were used to flush them out and then they would come out with sword or rifle attempting to die fighting. This really struck me as meaningless when you see the numbers of soldiers who died. These guys were really sold a big lie to have to die this way.

This is a very realistic book. If you really want to understand what combat was like (and likely still is), this is a good book to read. It certainly also makes you think twice about sending young men to war and what kind of war is worth supporting.

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