With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge: The Mental Cost of War Essay

The book "With the Old Breed" Witten by Eugene Sledge give a personal insight into what happened at Okinawa and Peleliu in the South Pacific during the World War II. Throughout the book, Sledge gives an honest explanation of what he experienced during the war making his documentation to be exceptionally relevant. Moreover, Sledge manages to describe what he and other soldiers went through during their time of service in Marine Corp in a manner that readers can follow and understand with ease. One year after the Pearl Harbor, Sledge (refereed as Sledgehammer) decide to join the Marines making him quit school. He did this against the advice of his colleagues and family since had a passion for fighting the Japanese who were an enemy of his country. What motivated him are some conditions that he considered threatening, for instance, he said: "what is it like, to be shelled by artillery or have mortars dropping all around," (page 80). Additionally, he noted it was hard for anyone to listen to instructions when there are constant explosions in the air.

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Sled significantly describes that mental torture was not only present in the battlefield but it was more during extensive and intensive training. Nevertheless, when they went into war, Sledge completely understood why it was important to have both physical and psychological strength as the war was very demanding as there was no room for mistakes. The enemies at Peleliu all cared about winning and they could use any method whether it was human or inhumane so long as they won. In his narration, the enemy was brutal in every way and the attacks made were a nightmare in his head attacking his mind from every angle. One moment that really caught him is when he witnessed his colleagues being slaughtered as if their lives did not matter at all. According to Sledge, every single step him and his colleagues made appeared to define if they lived or died and this was torture to their minds. He says "we ran into the water, my heart pounded in my throat" (Page 111). Therefore, training was key to ensure that he was ready mentally and physically to end the war and the constant loss of life.

Initially, when Sledge joined the war, he thought the war would end sooner but this was not the case leading him to ask numerous questions. For instance, he queried his sergeant severally making him to being described as dog meaning he was not of any importance. Sledge now understood even their own leaders did not care if they die or not but winning was everything. However, what was harder for Sledge was the night before they went to war as he could hardly sleep. He notes that the thought of him dying or being seriously wounded on the battlefield was the worst feeling. When the day of war came, Sledge says it was even worse, that he thought, "The temperatures reached 105 degrees in the shade and 115 degrees on subsequent days" (page 80). The effects of the war made the most soldiers look insane and he knew even surviving had its own impacts.

The impact of war could be significantly seen as the war ended with survivors looking insane, thousands dead and numerous diseases became a norm. Sled describes one moment he will never forget where he saw his fellow marine soldier dead and his private parts all sliced and put in his mouth. This signifies the brutal effects the war had on people where it turned them into animals and the most inhuman acts expressed signs of being brave. According to Sledge, these acts were ghastly and brutal rituals like it has never been seen before (page 120). To his, even if the war exposed people to death, tension, and terror, it was not justified for them to act so brutally inhumane. He says "such as the incredible cruelty that decent men could commit when reduced to a brutish existence," (page 120).

Sledge says that the war was a horrific and a shocking experience that destroyed the Marines not only physically but also emotionally yet it the war lasted for some few days (page 125). He describes his experience by saying "I felt myself choking up. I slowly turned my back to the men facing me, as I sat on my helmet, and put my face in my hands to try to shut out reality. I began sobbing. The harder I tried to stop the worse it got. My body shuddered and shook. Tears flowed out of my scratchy eyes. I was sickened and revolted to see healthy young men get hurt and killed day after day. I felt I couldn't take it anymore" (Page 125).

The emotional damaging done by the war changed the lives of every individual involved in the war whether they won or lost. The experience that every Marine went through is hard to describe and it's only a person who has ever gone to war that can understand them. The few days that the Marine spent during the war was their hardest as they faced death from every angle but each of them gave his best to ensure their side emerged with the victory. Sledge managed to experience what war can do to an individual mentality.

Conclusion

All in all, the description of what on during the World War II by Eugene Sledge is done in the highest order. Sledge manages to gives an account of what it was like to be a soldier in that war and more significantly, the mental cost the war brought. Furthermore, what I like about this book is that Sledge narrates his own story and the way he does it is quite remarkable considering that he was also affected by the war. I find the book very interesting and reading it was a great experience.