Eugene B. Sledge was born in Mobile November 4 ... With the Old Breed : At Peleliu and Okinawa He was assigned to the 1st Marine Division as a replacement, and trained as a mortarman.

The "Sledge" title is in honor of its namesake, Pfc. Eugene Sledge, who fought in the Battle of Peleliu with the 1st Marine Division and later authored one of the key Marine memoirs of the war ...

while budding journalist Robert Leckie enlists in the Marine Corps. Eugene Sledge, unable to enlist because of a heart murmur, says farewell to his best friend, Sidney Phillips, who is about to leave ...