With the Old Breed

â€Å"With The Old Breed† by Eugene Sledge is a startling account of World War II was based on his memoirs he witnessed as a mortar man with Kilo Company 3/5 on Peleliu and Okinawa. Less popularly know than other battles in the Pacific region, these battles were as bloody and ferocious as any other. Eugene Sledge gives a straightforward approach, illustrating the climate, conditions, and characterizing the morale of the Marines surrounding him fighting the Japanese. Eugene Sledge’s experience with the military began at Marion Military Institute. He later joined the V-12 officer-training program to prepare himself to become an officer in the military. He promptly left the comfortable life of college by leaving the program to enter boot camp at San Diego, California. The Marine Corp Recruit Depot, San Diego, became Sledge’s new home. The training He would receive would eventually save his life in the future. Corporal Doherty, Sledge’s drill instructor, amplified everything it meant to be a Marine and set a positive example for the recruits in his command. He demonstrated the attitude, character, strength, endurance, enthusiasm, experience, and determination of a true professional. He taught his platoon the basics of being a Marine. Weapons handling, shooting, marching, and discipline were emphasized through the entirety of boot camp. Sledge would use the basic Marine Corp knowledge as he furthered his training and preparation for combat at Camp Elliott. Arriving at Camp Elliott, Private First Class Sledge had to make a decision about which weaponry he wanted to be assigned and He would choose 60 mm mortars. A Non Commissioned Officer taught Sledge his entire knowledge of how to effectively operate his weapon, assemble and disassemble, and the knowledge to strike the enemy when the opportunity came. For PFC Sledge, the opportunity came earlier than he could imagine. PFC Sledge’s accounts of the battle are a great illustration to the actual battlefield. As though you are in the story, you can imagine the nervousness of the men, the sound of explosions, the whistling of rounds flying down range, and the cries of dying and injured Marines. From the beach assault to making landfall, Sledge carefully describes every footstep. September 15, 1944 was the day the Marines of Kilo Company 3/5 landed on Peleliu. Peleliu was a defensive stronghold for the Japanese, who were entrenched and waiting for the attack. The 10,000 Japanese defenders covered every square inch of Peleliu and fought use a new style of fighting. The defense-in-depth tactic would be used to cover more areas and inflict many more causalities than previous strategies. The bonsai attack, which sent the surviving Japanese on a suicide run towards the Americans, would not be used again. Private First Class Sledge would begin to learn that war does change a man forever. Sledged witnesses a human being cut open like an animal carcass for slaughter after the battle at Peleliu. A combat veteran comes upon the incident without hesitation and begins collecting all the gear of the dead man as though it is a scrap yard. Sledge freezes during the moment only focusing on the dead Japanese soldier. He would foreshadow the he too will be hardened later on as the battles become bloodier and the loss of friends weigh deeper on his mind. With the Old Breed His first tour of combat took place at Pipeline and Engineers where U. S. Soldiers and Japanese soldiers fought inhumanely and relentlessly, and maybe even pointlessly. He went on his second tour of combat at Okinawa, where he felt more obligated and certain of his duties. He had solid reasoning as to why everything was to take place with the second tour, unlike his uncertainty on the first one. With the Old Breed covers three mall themes: the Importance of being prepared, the cost of warfare and war stories.The importance of preparedness is a reoccurring theme in this narrative. Corporal T. J. Doherty, Drill Instructor of Platoon 984, was a great example of the importance of preparedness. For eight weeks of boot camp Corporal Doherty required the men to march on the beach in the sand, making it harder and more strenuous for them. Unlike other corporals and generals, Doherty does not engage In negative mental and psychological abuse. Corporal Doherty the highest level of performance from the men at the weakest times, for example, during their sleep schedules he would awaken them and demand unplanned hikes and exercise rituals.He made sure to train the men while they were sleep deprived and utterly exhausted. He also showed great attention to safety and weapons training. Sledge then went on to train for a few more months in infantry training school. Although this training not as stressful, It was equally demanding and intense. After this training was complete, Sledge was deployed to Fauve and received additional training that seemed pointless. All of this training was called upon when the united States invaded Pipeline. Other soldiers who had not completed this training or were pulled out of training early for battle were soon regretful.They did not last and were not as well equipped with skills to survive in battle. Some were even killed before their paperwork was processed. Sledge and others who had plentiful and adequate training held steadfast and fought an honorable fight. Sledge depicts himself as a patriotic, committed marine who was always prepared to serve his country under any circumstance; however, he understood and questioned the negative, sometimes unnecessary outcomes. He reflected in his passages the fatalities, the wounded soldiers, the psychological abuse of soldiers and even the brutality of the act itself.Sledge's subconscious often led him to question war, even though at the time of war he did not fight against It. As a marine, he did fact that other soldiers questioned were dominating Pipeline even relevant? Why not just bypass it like countless other Japanese possessed islands? Research of the Pipeline attack show that 6,256 U. S Marine soldiers and 10,900 Japanese casualties took place during this particular combat. The second battle, that took place in Okinawa, was fought with more evident understanding of why they were fighting.They did not question this battle as they did the first. He did not reflect upon this ba ttle as he did the first time. He condensed the fight to this quote, â€Å"their lives were wasted on a muddy stinking slope for no good reason† (p. 280). † With the Old Breed, in itself, is an old war story told by a marine veteran. This novel is a Sledge's personal recount of his strenuous training and time spent in battle, including people he felt were important to his story. He begins his story with his enlistment into the marines. He then takes us on a Journey through his career as a marine.He greatly details of his laborious, energy-consuming boot camp training, here they were greatly rest deprived, physically and mentally exhausted. He then continues with his infantry training, where he received even more training to prepare him, mind and body, for combat. His focus and emphasis placed on the training he received in the end was a grand part of the development of his story. Once the troops were sent in, Sledge and other soldiers of equal training endured, fought a nd strategists longer and stronger than their counterparts of lesser training. He went on to document and detail his time spent in Fauve, Pipeline and Engineers.After arriving combat in Pipeline and Engineers against the Japanese, Sledge was sent to Fauve for rest and work camp. His final combat zone was Okinawa; this was his second tour of combat. Needless to say, he survived here as well, thus the end of his war story. This personal memoir, or collection of war stories, recounts Sledge's experiences both in training and in actual combat. He analyzes what actually happens, whether it was the long, stressful training sessions or the even more brutal acts that took place on the battle field. He recounts and teaches a lesson.