Eugene Sledge
Eugene Bondurant Sledge (born November 4, 1923 in Mobile, Alabama , † March 3, 2001 in Montevallo ) was an American soldier, author and university lecturer. His war memories From the old blow: The Second World War at the other end of the world. Memories formed one of the sources for both the seven-part (in Germany fourteen-part) documentary series The War and the ten-part miniseries The Pacific .
Military career
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , Sledge wanted to volunteer for the United States Marine Corps with his best friend Sidney Phillips , but this was not yet possible due to a not fully healed heart disease. After graduating from high school in May 1942, he initially briefly attended the Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama. It was not until December 1942 that he was able to realize his original wish and join the US Marine Corps. After training as a mortar shooter , he was assigned to the 1st US Marine Division. In the Pacific War he took part in the battles for Peleliu and Okinawa as a private first class . His experiences recorded in a New Testament later served as the basis for his war memories.
After the war, Sledge initially served in Beijing until he was dismissed from military service in February 1946 with the rank of corporal .
Scientific career
After his release, Sledge enrolled at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API) (now Auburn University ), where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the summer of 1949 . In 1953 he returned there as a research assistant and in the summer of 1955 earned a Master of Science degree in botany .
From 1956 Sledge was a research assistant and graduate student at the University of Florida , specializing in helminthology . In 1960 he received his PhD in biology ; his doctoral thesis dealt with nematodes and their influence on different types of grain . Until 1962 he was an employee of the Division of Plant Industry at the Florida Department of Agriculture.
In the summer of 1962 Sledge was assistant professor of biology at Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo ), in 1970 full professor . Among other things , he taught zoology , ornithology and comparative anatomy .
Private life
In 1952 Sledge married Jeanne Arceneaux. In 1957 and 1965 the couple had two sons, who were named John and Henry. In 2001, Sledge died in Montevallo, Shelby County, Alabama of complications from stomach cancer .
Works
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
Published in 1981 under the title Sledge With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (dt .: From the old school: The Second World War at the other end of the world memories. ) His memories of his commitments with the United States Marine Corps ; New editions appeared in 1990 and 2007.
China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II
A second volume of memoirs, titled China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II , was not published until posthumously in 2002 (paperback was published a year later). In this book, Sledge describes his service in Beijing after the end of the war, his return to Mobile and the effects of his traumatic experiences on his later civil life.
watch TV
In 1992 Eugene Sledge appeared in the documentary Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific .
In 2006, American director Ken Burns used With the Old Breed as one of the sources for his seven-part (in Germany, fourteen-part) documentary series The War about World War II . Verbatim quotations from the book could also be heard in the series.
In the ten-part miniseries The Pacific , produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and aired for the first time in 2010 , With the Old Breed not only served as one of the two main templates (along with Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie ); Eugene Sledge was also one of the three main characters in the series. He was portrayed by Joseph Mazzello .
medal
Sledge received the following medals:
- Navy Presidential Unit Citation
- Good Conduct Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Service Medal
Works
- EB Sledge: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa . Oxford University Press , USA, 1990, ISBN 0-19-506714-2 .
- EB Sledge: The old school: The Second World War on the other side of the world. Memories . Riva , Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-7423-1166-5 .
- EB Sledge: China Marine . University of Alabama Press, USA, 2002, ISBN 0-8173-1161-0 .
Web links
- Eugene B. Sledge in the Alabama Encyclopedia
- Eugene B. Sledge Collection in the Auburn University Digital Library
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sledge, Eugene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sledge, Eugene Bondurant (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soldier, author, and professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 4, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mobile, Alabama |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 3, 2001 |
| Place of death | Montevallo , Alabama |