This man had one helluva story ........ Eugene B Sledge . This is definitely the view of war from the foxhole. From that perspective, this is no doubt, the best WW II book I've read.
As a compliment to the HBO series " Band of Brothers " , Tom Hanks produced a 10 part series " The Pacific " . It was mostly based on two books written by Marines, " A Helmet for my Pillow " by Robert Lecke and this book. I've read both, but its very easy to see why Mr Sledge's book was chosen.
Mr Sledge was a thoughtful man, the son of medical doctor, who after the war went on to get a PHD in zoology and taught microbiology and ornithology at the Univ of Montevallo in Alabama. Not what you would think from a Marine Corp private. He had enrolled at Georgia Tech and was in Officer Training, when he gave that up to enlist as a private. He became a mortar man.
I've not read a book that describes the experience of combat like this one. And its not pretty and he leaves no doubt there's no glory in war. My thoughts after reading this, was the Marines in the Pacific had the toughest duty of any service member in WW II.
Mr Sledge fought at Peleliu and Okinawa with the 1st Marine Division, 5th Marines, 3rd Battalion, Company K . The conditions they fought under were unlike any other theatre. Peleliu was on coral rock in 115* heat. Okinawa was in constant rain and mud. They lived in this for weeks at a time while getting shot at and shelled by artillery from a diehard, fanatical enemy who fought to the very end.
BTW, the HBO Pacific series is on DVD, the entire 6 disc set can be had for less than $20 and its unique in it provides a choice of watching the original series, or the series with historians commenting on the scenes.