“My facial muscles were so tensed from the strain that I actually felt it was impossible to smile. Whit a shock I realized that the faces of my squad mates and everyone around me looked mask like and unfamiliar.” FacesSmileP72 Book:With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Source: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
“As Peleliu dragged on, I feared that if I ever lost control of myself under shell fire my mind would be shattered.” MindPtsdShellingP79 Book:With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Source: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
“The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.” WarMilitaryWwiiOkinawaMarinesPeleliu Book:With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Source: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
“Everything my life had been before and has been after pales in the light of that awesome moment when my amtrac started in amid a thunderous bombardment toward the flaming, smoke-shrouded beach for the assault on Peleliu.” AssaultInvasionWwiiWw2Peleliu Book:With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Source: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa