With the Old Breed

Erik Schneider

Professor Jones

Assessment 3

4/7/13

Sledge

War has a colossal effect on the psyche of a soldier. All one has to do is pick up a soldier’s memoir to quickly realize this fact, and Sledge’s is no exception. The experiences he goes through very clearly change his character and outlook on war itself. At first he was eager to join the war and fight, even going so far as to drop out of officer training to get into the war sooner. He is unsure of how he will act when the time comes for him to fight, but he seems to be certain that he wants to fight. I would imagine had he known what he was in store for he would have stayed in training. His memoirs show just how terrifying war actually is. Society glorifies it and praises the soldiers that fight in it, but it’s done without an actual understanding of what fighting in a war is really like. He touches on this thought when he contemplates how trivial civilians concerns are and the difficulty he’ll have adjusting back into that lifestyle after experiencing something as horrible as war. His memoirs also give great insight into the bond shared between soldiers in combat. It really is different than any other type of bond made between humans. They love each other like brothers but they’re also always ready to see their friends die, like they’re tensing their muscles for a punch that they know is coming.

From the beginning of his time with the Marine Corps Sledge was infatuated with the entire process. He embraced his role in the corps with pride and very quickly became friends with his comrades. He talks about the hard training that they had to go through, but almost solely in a positive way, acknowledging that it would be extremely helpful during combat. After graduation he is proud of what he has accomplished and has a very hopeful outlook on his preparedness for the war. His time spent in combat training only solidifies this optimistic view. It’s not until he’s actually involved in combat that he loses...