With the Old Breed; At Peleliu and Okinawa

New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2010. Presidio Press Trade Paperback Edition. Later printing. Trade paperback. Good.. Glued binding. xxiv, 326, [2] p. Footnotes. Illustrations. Maps. Appendix (A Roll of Honor). Bibliography. Index. Cover as some wear and soiling. Some edge wear. Eugene Bondurant Sledge (November 4, 1923 - March 3, 2001) was a United States Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa chronicled his combat experiences during World War II and was subsequently used as source material for Ken Burns' PBS documentary, The War, as well as the HBO miniseries The Pacific, in which he is portrayed by Joseph Mazzello. He achieved the rank of Corporal in the Pacific Theater and saw combat as a 60 mm mortarman at Peleliu and Okinawa. When fighting grew too close for effective use of the mortar, he served in other duties such as a rifleman. During his service, Sledge kept notes of what happened in his pocket sized New Testament. When the war ended, he compiled these notes into the memoir With the Old Breed. From Wikipedia: "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa is a World War II memoir by Eugene Sledge, a United States Marine. Since its first publication in 1981, With the Old Breed has been recognized as one of the best first-hand accounts of combat in the Pacific during World War II. The memoir is based on notes Sledge kept tucked away in a pocket-sized Bible he carried with him during battles. Sledge began writing the memoir in 1944, "immediately after Peleliu while we were in rest camp on Pavuvu Island", and continued working on it "as soon as I returned to civilian life" in 1946. Nicknamed "Sledgehammer" by his comrades, Sledge experienced combat during the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa as a 60 mm mortarman while part of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (K/3/5). The book's working title was A Marine Mortarman in World War II, which Sledge later changed to Into The Abyss. The book was first published under its final title by the Presidio Press in 1981.