“As they prepared themselves to go ashore no one doubted in theory that at least a certain percentage of them would remain on the island dead, once they set foot on it. But no one expected to be one of these. Still it was an awesome thought and as the first contingents came struggling up on deck in full gear to form up, all eyes instinctively sought out immediately this island where they were to be put, and left, and which might possibly turn out to be a friend's grave.” DeathFriendsArmyInstinctGravesGuadalcanalDisembarkation Book:The Thin Red Line Source: The Thin Red Line
“There was no feeling of dedication because it was absolutely involuntary. I do not doubt that if the Marines had asked for volunteers for an impossible campaign such as Guadalcanal, almost everyone now fighting would have stepped forward. But that is sacrifice; that is voluntary. Being expended robs you of the exultation, the self-abnegation, the absolute freedom of self-sacrifice. Being puts one in the role of victim rather than sacrificer, and there is always something begrudging in this. I doubt if Isaac would have accepted the knife of his father, Abraham, entirely without reproach; yet, for the same master, he would have gladly gone to his death a thousand times. The world is full of the sacrifice of heroes and martyrs, but there was only one Victim.” SacrificeWorld War IiVictimsIsaac NewtonGuadalcanal Book:Helmet for My Pillow Source: Helmet for My Pillow
“Some read to remember the home they had left behind, others to forget the hell that surrounded them. Books uplifted their weary souls and energized their minds…books had the power to sooth an aching heart, renew hope for the future, and provide a respite when there was no other escape.” World War IiThe Great GatsbyBanned BooksOkinawaBook BurningNormandyGisFranklin Delano RooseveltIwo JimaPearl HarborGuadalcanalSaipanGi BillArmed Services EditionsBetty SmithOperation TorchVictory Books Campaign Author:Molly Guptill Manning
“Whenever a soldier needed an escape, the antidote to anxiety, relief from boredom, a bit of laughter, inspiration, or hope, he cracked open a book and drank in the words that would transport him elsewhere.” World War IiThe Great GatsbyBanned BooksOkinawaBook BurningNormandyGisFranklin Delano RooseveltIwo JimaPearl HarborGuadalcanalSaipanGi BillArmed Services EditionsBetty SmithOperation TorchVictory Books Campaign Author:Molly Guptill Manning
“It was a darkness without time. It was an impenetrable darkness. To the right and left of me rose those terrible formless things of my imagination, which I could not see because there was no light. I could not see, but I dared not close my eyes lest the darkness crawl beneath my eyelids and suffocate me. I could only hear. My ears became my being and I could hear the specks of life that crawled beneath my clothing, the rotting of the great tree which rose from its three-cornered trunk above me. I could hear the darkness gathering against me and the silences that lay between the moving things.” Darkness Before DawnGuadalcanal Book:Helmet for My Pillow Source: Helmet for My Pillow