With the Old Breed

“About this time, I began to feel a deeper appreciation for the influence of the old breed upon us newer Marines.” 

The author has great admiration for the veteran officers who conduct themselves with quiet dignity. He notes the courage and intelligence of “the old breed,” as well as their understated confidence. Unlike ineffectual leaders such as Shadow or Mac, “the old breed” inspires without shouting, and is demanding but fair. 

“I shuddered and choked. A wild desperate feeling of anger, frustration and pity gripped me. It was an emotion that always would torture my mind when I saw men trapped and was unable to do anything but watch as they were hit.” 

While the thought of being shot and killed tortures the author, he is also tortured acutely when he is forced to watch fellow Marines trapped and about to die. He knows he cannot save them and finds the scene unbearable.

“The corpsman was on his knees, bending over a young Marine who had just died on a stretcher. A blood-soaked battle dressing was on the side of the dead man’s neck. His fine, handsome boyish face was ashen. ‘What a pitiful waste!’ I thought. ‘He can’t be a day over seventeen years old.’ I thanked God his mother couldn’t see him.” 

Sledge is disgusted by the loss of life, especially when Marines are cut down in their youth. This victim of Peleliu is not even eighteen and his future has been ended by combat.