30 pages • 1 hour read
Eugene SledgeWith the Old Breed
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1981A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
E.B. Sledge (Sledgehammer)
The author, nicknamed Sledgehammer by the rest of his company, is eighteen when he enlists in the Marines. His parents oppose his decision to enlist, wanting him to acquire an education first, but he is determined. Throughout the book, his love of nature is apparent, as he finds moments during the hellishness of war to briefly savor the beauty of the surrounding sea or passing avian wildlife. A proud Southern man, he is pleased when Shuri Castle is captured from the Japanese and a Confederate Flag is raised. He is determined to show bravery throughout the conflict and tries equally hard to keep his mental state fit, at moments referencing writers such as Wilfred Owens to help process the horrors around him. Though he has the opportunity to lead, he prefers to work alongside his fellow Marines. He attempts to judge fairly, letting the actions of unpopular leaders such as Shadow or Mac speak for themselves. Praying and keeping a moral compass are important to him. Though he nearly takes a gold tooth as a souvenir for himself early on, he learns from the lapse in ethics in others, and corrects another man he sees hunting for souvenirs among the Japanese dead.
Corporal Doherty
Doherty, the drill instructor at boot camp, introduces the author to the values and hard work required of the Marines. Sledge describes him as not physically imposing but still able to motivate and intimidate. As the author notes, “I disliked him but I respected him” (14). It is Doherty’s job to make them into Marines and he does just that.
Snafu
Merriel Shelton, nicknamed Snafu, is the author’s frequent foxhole partner. The two both serve as mortarmen. Before the conflict at Peleliu begins, the author decides to stay close to Snafu, who is a veteran and a man he trusts. Snafu is unflinching in the face of danger and quick thinking, ready to fire off rounds if snipers are near at hand.
Ack Ack
Captain Andrew Haldane, known as Ack Ack, is the Commanding Officer of Company K when Sledge joins the unit. He is respected and loved by his men, leading them effectively when they felt most lost. Though he is strict, he is fair, and gives orders without shouting. His intelligence and self-confidence empower his troops. Ack Ackis killed during the fight at Peleliu, a devastating blow for Company K.
Doc Caswell
A corpsman who accompanies Company K to Peleliu and Okinawa, Doc is admired by all the men, the author included. When Sledge almost begins souvenir hunting, as he sees other Marines doing, Doc Caswell encourages him to resist, saying the gold teeth might carry germs, though it is clear to the author that Doc Caswell is more concerned about the lack of humanity and ethics in souvenir hunting. As Sledge notes, Doc Caswell was “a fine, genuine person whose sensitivity hadn’t been crushed out by war. He was merely helping me retain some of mine” (124). Doc Caswell is hit in Okinawa and the author fears for the worst, though he later learns that Doc survived and was sent home to his native Texas. Sledge reveals that they maintain their friendship after the war.
Mac
When Mac becomes mortar section leader, he irritates and exasperates others with his over-the-top bravado and constant “big talk.” The author says he “felt embarrassed for Mac, because it was so obvious that he conceived combat as a mixture of football and Boy Scout camp” (173). During actually combat, Mac is infected with the same fear as everyone else, which he displays in his frantic, overly-deep foxhole digging. He irritates the author by going out of his way to demean Japanese corpses when the Marines come across them.
Shadow
Like Mac, the first lieutenant, known simply as Shadow, is not of “the old breed,” and as a leader bears no resemblance to great men like Ack Ack. The author describes him as “the sloppiest Marine—officer or enlisted—that I ever saw” (226). Foul-tempered and eager to pitch a fit, he frequently yells at the men as though he were a drill instructor in boot camp. As Sledge notes, “his performances…never ceased to amaze as well as disgust me” (227). His presence is noxious at a time of already-damaged company morale.
