Eugene Sledge

Infobox Military Person
name= Eugene Sledge
born= birth date|1923|11|04
died= death date and age|2001|03|03|1923|11|04
placeofbirth= Mobile, Alabama
placeofdeath=


caption= Eugene Sledge
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Marine Corps
serviceyears= 1942 - 1946
rank= Corporal
commands=
unit= 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
battles= World War II *Battle of Peleliu *Battle of Okinawa
awards=
laterwork= Professor of Biology, Author

Eugene Bondurant Sledge (November 4, 1923 – March 3, 2001) was a U.S. Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" was, in part, the basis for Ken Burn's PBS documentary on World War II and for the upcoming HBO series on the Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

ledge's books

"With the Old Breed"

In 1981, Sledge published "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa", a memoir of his World War II service with the United States Marine Corps. "With the Old Breed" was reprinted in 1990 (with an introduction by Paul Fussell) and again in 2007 (with an introduction by Victor Davis Hanson). In April 2007, it was announced that "With the Old Breed", along with Robert Leckie's "Helmet for My Pillow", would form the basis for the HBO series "The Pacific",cite web|accessdate=2008-02-06
url=http://www.hbo.com/films/news/
date=2007-08-16
title=Production Begins on 'The Pacific'
publisher=HBO] the successor to "Band of Brothers".

"China Marine"

A second memoir, "China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II", was published posthumously in 2002. "China Marine" discussed his postwar service in Beijing, his return home to Mobile and his recovery from the psychological trauma of warfare.

Biography

Eugene B. Sledge was born on November 4, 1923 in Mobile, Alabama. He graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile in May 1942 and entered Marion Military Institute (MMI) in Marion, Alabama, that fall. Sledge enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in December 1942 to train as an officer, but in order not to "miss the war" he joined as an enlisted man and was eventually assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (K-3-5). He served as a Private First Class in the Pacific Theater and saw combat at Peleliu and Okinawa. After being posted to China after the war, he was discharged from the Marine Corps in February 1946 with the rank of Corporal. [ [http://content.lib.auburn.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ebsledge&CISOPTR=209&REC=16 USMC discharge certificate] ]

After the war, Sledge attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in the summer of 1949. He returned to Auburn in 1953 where he worked as a research assistant until 1955. That same year he graduated from API with a Master of Science degree in botany. From 1956 to 1960 Sledge attended the University of Florida and worked as a research assistant. He received his doctorate in biology from the University of Florida in 1960. He was employed by the Division of Plant Industries for the Florida State Department of Agriculture from 1959 to 1962.

In the summer of 1962, Sledge was appointed Assistant Professor of Biology at Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo). In 1970 he became a professor, a position he held until his retirement in 1990. He taught zoology, ornithology, comparative vertebrate anatomy and other courses during his long tenure there.

Book reviews

* [http://ww2db.com/read.php?read_id=21 "With the Old Breed - at Peleliu and Okinawa"] review by Bryan Hiatt for "World War II Database"

Notes

ee also

References

*cite web|accessdate=2008-02-06
url=http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/find-aid/096.htm
title=Guide to the Eugene B. Sledge Papers, RG 96
author=Ullrich, Dieter C.
date=August 2003
publisher=Auburn University

External links

* [http://diglib.auburn.edu/collections/ebsledge Eugene B. Sledge Collection in the Auburn University Digital Library]
* [http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/find-aid/096.htm Finding aid to the Eugene B. Sledge Papers in the Auburn University Special Collections & Archives Department]
* [http://www.studsterkel.org/gwar.php Studs Terkel audio interview with E.B. Sledge (6 parts)]
* [http://www.alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=18 "E. B. Sledge" in "This Goodly Land: Alabama's Literary Landscape"]
* [http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson072507.html Victor Davis Hanson's introduction to the 2007 edition of "With the Old Breed"]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1796 Eugene B. Sledge article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama]