Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II. Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his odyssey, from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war’s fiercest … fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country. From the live-for-today rowdiness of marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what war is really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. Woven throughout are Leckie’s hard-won, eloquent, and thoroughly unsentimental meditations on the meaning of war and why we fight. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow will leave no reader untouched. This is a book that brings you as close to the mud, the blood, and the experience of war as it is safe to come. Now producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the men behind Band of Brothers, have adapted material from Helmet for My Pillow for HBO’s epic miniseries The Pacific, which will thrill and edify a whole new generation. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Beware! Once you start reading this book, it is very difficult to put down!! Such a well-written, first-hand experience of the war, from an on-the-ground marine’s perspective.
Wonderful accounting of an irreverent Marine’s experiences in the WW2 Pacific.
I liked it…. he writes smoothly…tells it like it was …..brings up little known items and terms to those of us never having been in the armed forces… includes his compatriots and it adds to the story line. As with all war stories, there are lots of casualties , but that is to be expected….it’s guaranteed. This was real life, not a made …
Robert Leckie was an infantryman in the First Marine Division who survived three amphibious landings in the South Pacific between 1942 and 1944. He was wounded on Peleliu in Sept. 1944 and spent the rest of the war in hospitals back in the States. He describes his experience in harrowing terms, particularly his days fighting the Japanese at Cape …
I looked for this book years ago after watching the HBO series Pacific. Here you are given a look through words Leckie’s from his start with the Marines at Paris Island then to his and many others first landing and then months of fighting on Guadalcanal. It is there that I believe that he like so many others begin to change. He may not have …
As the book that started Leckie’s long career as a historian, this is a must read. Particularly for the young who may have never heard of Guadalcanal. As my nephew commented, “You don’t expect so many long words from a Marine.” He vividly paints a picture of the Pacific war from the eyes of an enlisted man. Like Sledge’s book it provides …
it truly showed the horrors of the war
WWll outstanding first hand account.
As a MegaReadaholic of 10K books I enjoyed this book. It is one of many covering the same period and place. I had an uncle who was a Marine he 16 enlisted and spent the better part of the war in the Pacific. Survived, got his engineering degree from Georgia Tech and was called back in to report to Korea. He told me he was standing on the aft …
Wonderfully written which made me think how lucky we are not to have had our country invaded.
Lays bare all the emotions that men can experience when engaged in continuous Zcombat
Excellent first hand accounting of the U.S. Marine Corps actions in the Pacific during WWII. It’s the story of the “Old Guard” Marines who fought at Guadalcanal, New Britain and Pelilou. The story covers the time from a young man’s enlistment into the Marine Corps a few weeks after Pearl Harbor until his discharge in 1943. He gives history a …
good read!
This is one very good book to read about WWII.
I love personal histories, particularly those of the military. The author thoughtfully presents his experiences, showing an emotional side which is sometimes lacking in books written by his contemporaries. A great read and thought-provoking
Not a writing style I would have expected from an ex Marine.
Informative, touching memoir of a Marine who survived three WW II island campaigns, Guadalcanal, New Britain and Pelilieu, without a wound but with significant illnesses and a major concussion. Good read.
authentic
Anyone interested in WWII should read this book.
Best true military book I’ve ever read.