[MacNaughton]

Truly 1 of the best 1st person accounts of WWII. It covered the battles for Pelilu (sp) and Okinawa. Victor Davis Hanson wrote the foreword for 1 of the later editions. He was named after an uncle whom he never met who perished on Okinawa. Should be required reading for every American. The 2010 mini-series, “The Pacific”, was partly based upon this book.

[awelliott]

Truly 1 of the best 1st person accounts of WWII. It covered the battles for Pelilu (sp) and Okinawa. Victor Davis Hanson wrote the foreword for 1 of the later editions. He was named after an uncle whom he never met who perished on Okinawa. Should be required reading for every American. The 2010 mini-series, “The Pacific”, was partly based upon this book.

I agree. With the Old Breed is hands-down the best 1st person account of the war in the Pacific Theater. Sledge didn't glamorize or glorify the war; he laid out the facts and painted a harrowing picture of its cost.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think VDH's relative who died on Okinawa (in the battle of Sugar Loaf Hill) was a first cousin, not an uncle.

My father was in the Sixth Marine Division which landed on Okinawa 80 years ago today. My father was wounded in the battle of Sugar Loaf Hill and evacuated, several days before Victor Hanson was killed. My father was in the 22nd Marines and Hanson was in the 29th so they did not know each other.