With the Old Breed

The successful battle of Kunishi marks the end of organized Japanese resistance on Okinawa. Sledge’s company is soon relieved by Marine replacements, who seem unprepared for battle on Okinawa, as many of them were sent to the war directly after having barely a few weeks of training.

During the days before the final securing of the island, the Marines fight scattered groups of Japanese soldiers and capture others, as the enemy knows that they are no longer going to be able to win. On June 21st, Marines learn that the island is officially secured. However, after celebrating this event by eating two fresh oranges and looking out at a beautiful sunset on the sea, Sledge and his companions receive the instructions to move north, where they will need to kill any remaining enemies and bury all the enemy dead.

Sledge and his companions cannot comprehend such orders, which they find unacceptable after all the fighting they have been through. For the first time, Sledge even sees some of his veteran comrades stand up to officers, defying their orders. In the end, however, the Marines are forced to throw dirt over the enemy dead, while cursing their superiors.

After a few days, Sledge and a friend are finally able to rest in a beautiful, wooded area overlooking a field. They find the scene magnificent and unreal. There, they finally begin to relax. However, an NCO suddenly appears, telling them to move out, because this area is off limits to enlisted men. Sledge and his friend cannot believe that they are being forced to leave this area when they are not even close to the other officers. They find it hypocritical to note how friendly the officers were barely a few days ago, when the enlisted men were still fighting with them.

Suddenly, though, they all hear a rifle shot and see a Marine fall dead, shot by his own buddy. The buddy explains that his friend dared him to shoot, believing that his rifle was unloaded. The buddy’s shock and horror at having killed his best friend is evident on his face. Sledge explains that this man later went through a general court-martial, but that his greatest punishment is undoubtedly to have caused the death of his best friend, simply for playing with a loaded weapon.

Finally, Sledge is sent in a small group to guard some of the company’s gear and, as he moves farther from the battlefield, finds himself back in civilization, as the Americans have built modern roads and tent camps where the Marines once fought. As friends return from the hospital, fully recovered or bearing the effect of severe wounds, Sledge realizes how many of his companions are gone. Of the men Sledge knows, only twenty-six veterans from Peleliu have survived. Sledge notes that, overall, Marine casualties amount to around one-third of the Japanese’s.

On August 8, as the Marines are relaxing, they learn that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. The war finally ends on August 15, 1945. Although the Marines feel deeply relieved, they are also amazed at the fact that the Japanese finally surrendered and remain in shock, as they remember their dead friends. Shocked and quiet instead of ecstatic, most Marines attempt to grasp what the future might look like, in a world without war.

Sledge later spends four months on occupation duty in Beijing and finally returns home. Although he is overjoyed to go home, he also finds the separation from his companions painful. K/3/5 has become his home in the most extreme circumstances, allowing him to form a lifelong, family bond with his companions.

Sledge notes that it is ironic that, in such an elite company, so few members received decorations for bravery. He concludes that the men demonstrated courage so often that no one noticed. In reflecting that almost everyone in his company received the Purple Heart, Sledge is grateful to have been one of the few men who survived.

Sledge concludes his narrative by insisting on how savage and wasteful war is. He explains that the only aspects that made life bearable were his companions’ solidarity and courage, which has taught him loyalty and love. He argues that, until the world is free from inter-country domination, it will always be necessary for men like his companions in Company K to sacrifice themselves for their country. He recounts a frequent trope among troops: “If the country is good enough to live in, it’s good enough to fight for,” agreeing that privilege necessarily entails a sense of responsibility.