China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II
by E. B. Sledge
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China Marine is the sequel to E. B. Sledge's critically acclaimed memoir, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Picking up where his previous memoir leaves off, Sledge, a young marine in the First Division, traces his company's movements and charts his own difficult passage to peace following his horrific experiences in the Pacific. He reflects on his duty in the ancient city of Peiping (now Beijing) and recounts the difficulty of returning to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, and show more resuming civilian life haunted by the shadows of close combat. Distinguished historians have praised Sledge's first book as the definitive rifleman's account of World War II, ranking it with the Civil War's Red Badge of Courage and World War I's All Quiet on the Western Front. Although With the Old Breed ends with the surrender of Japan, marines in the Pacific were still faced with the mission of disarming the immense Japanese forces on the Asian mainland and reestablishing order. For infantrymen so long engaged in the savage and surreal world of close combat, there remained the personal tasks of regaining normalcy and dealing with suppressed memories, fears, and guilt. show lessTags
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schatzi A prelude to this story; the author's experiences in the Pacific Theater during WWII.
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A very short postscript to Sledge's account of the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa, it deals with his deployment to Beijing as part of the US effort to both disarm and disband the Japanese forces still in China and to install Chiang Kai-shek's weak national army in Northern China. The first task was surprisingly easy, giving Sledge lots of free time to explore the marvels of China. The second task less so. The Americans even used the hated Japanese troops to fight against the Communists, which should have given them a hint that they were betting on the losing team.
Sledge, however, remained mostly uninterested in the big picture; his observations concern the people around him and the people he meets. This is both a strength and a show more weakness of the book. As good as he is on the small scale, his stoic acceptance of the status quo makes this a strange book, a look back in time, without reflecting on the profound changes that happened since. show less
Sledge, however, remained mostly uninterested in the big picture; his observations concern the people around him and the people he meets. This is both a strength and a show more weakness of the book. As good as he is on the small scale, his stoic acceptance of the status quo makes this a strange book, a look back in time, without reflecting on the profound changes that happened since. show less
It is really the closing chapters to "With the Old Breed". Covering Sledge's time immediately after the war ended in Okinawa, then as part of the Marine's occupation force in China - which for me make an interesting counter point to the experiences of Joseph Needham in China during WW2. THe book is once again written from a very personal view point and does not try to cover the bigger picture. THe final part of the book recounts briefly his return home and settling back into civilian life.
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E. B. Sledge was a World War II veteran, and a professor of biology at the University of Montevallo, Alabama. He died in March 2001
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
- Dedication
- To Jeanne
and
For all the Marines of K Company, Third Battalion,
Fifth Regiment with whom I served overseas,
in war and peace, during 1944-46.
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- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.84)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
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