"The American Sea has been and will continue to be a gift to humankind. It brings beauty into our lives and invigorates the human spirit. It gives us food, moderates our climate, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and puts oxygen into the same. There is a kind of nourishing energy out in the gulf that doesn't pump from a well."
Interestingly, it is, on average, only a mile deep. There are nearly 200 estuaries ringing its shores. The mild temperatures assured that the shoreline in Florida was rich in wildlife, a perennial store of food for the indigenous peoples. "The Indians were tall in stature because they were rich in food." The natives lived in total harmony with nature. "The European conquest introduced a future of imprudent relationships with nature." It is believed that over 350,000 aboriginals populated the Gulf coast. The unwelcome Spanish incursions of the 16th century "planted genocidal time bombs that helped clear the way for future colonization." The Spanish were replaced by the French, then the English, and the Americans. The indigenous population was no more.
The purchase of Louisiana in 1803 and Florida in 1819 ceded most of the Gulf coast to the US. The admission of Texas a few decades later finished the process. Mapping the ever-changing coastline of inlets, bays, marshes and deltas was a job that occupied the government for most of the century. Fishing became the Gulf's primary occupation and Pensacola was its capital. Fishing off Florida's coast was so popular that it ignited a tourism boom. Of all the Gulf fish, it was the tarpon that attracted Americans as well known as Grover Cleveland, TR, Edison, Ford and Ted Williams. It was six feet long and often over 100 pounds. Hemingway and Zane Grey wrote about it and railroads were built to transport people south to catch it.
However, it was not the attractions around nor the fish within, but the fuel below the Gulf that brought it to its pivotal role in the American economy. The 1901 the Spindletop gusher that ushered in the petroleum era in America occurred just a couple of dozen miles from the Gulf. Soon thereafter, the first ever water rigs appeared. Just after WW2, the first over-the-horizon rig drilled off the Louisiana coast.
The Florida coast has been protected by mangrove trees living comfortably between sea and fresh water for eons. The post-war era saw a vast immigration to the coast, one that cleared away the mangroves and replaced them with canals, breakwaters and cement seawalls. The sunbelt was attracting people and the onslaught of the Gulf's natural ways was underway. Pollution, meaningful and massive, followed the population increases and most importantly, the industrialization of the estuaries. Throughout the Gulf, and in particular at the mouth of the Mississippi, the waste, nitrates and pollution of two-thirds of the nation flowed into, and poisoned the Gulf of Mexico. A vast dead zone the size of New Jersey was discovered as early as the eighties. Throughout the region, pushback by private entities and pieces of local, state and federal governments are trying to turn the environmental depredation tide. "Fortunately, every estuarine bay and river has at least one organized group defending its ecological integrity. Multiple concerns are doing the same for the larger gulf."
This book is very well-done, and at 531 pages, pretty long. I can clearly state that if you want to know everything possible about the Gulf, this book is for you.
5.23.2018
Tiger Woods, Benedict and Keteyian - B +
Every aspect of Tiger's story requires us to reach for superlatives to discuss his golf. Phenomenal, greatest of all time, unsurpassed, extraordinary, remarkable, exceptional, astonishing, and on and on - his golf career included the most dominating decade of any athlete in any sport at any time. He was bigger than Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan. He drove the television ratings of the PGA ahead of the NFL. A young golfer of color took a sedate sport played by the few and made it more popular than America's secular religion. Incomprehensible. It was, and still is, Tigermania.
Yet, his personal story is terribly sad. His parents created a person barely capable of functioning. He grew up friendless, never learned how to talk to or treat colleagues, teammates or coaches, blew off his high school/college girlfriend when told to do so by his folks. He told sophomoric, moronic, off-color jokes in attempts to relate to women. He eventually took control of his life in his early twenties. He found some space for privacy and established an important relationship with Joanna Jagoda, a woman who had a settling effect on his life. But she moved on to law school and out of the limelight. He found friendship and camaraderie in Las Vegas with the rich and famous, particularly Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. For the high rollers in sin city, discretion was part of the appeal. Another part of the appeal was the endless buffet of available and attractive women. Las Vegas provided privacy and a release from the high-pressured life of being Tiger. However, it was at home at Isleworth where the aspirational role model for his life lived happily, with a beautiful wife and two kids. Mark O'Meara was Tiger's friend, neighbor, and mentor. Mark and Alicia provided Tiger his home away from home. In 2004, he married Elin Nordegren. However, being married to a gorgeous woman was not enough for Tiger's narcissistic personality. Las Vegas beckoned and Tiger continued years of endless serial philandering that exceeded that of his father's. As Tiger grew older, one aspect of his life remained mired in the past and that was his complete lack of human understanding and empathy. After insulting then president Bill Clinton by declining a White House invitation, he later asked Clinton to make an appearance at an event in California. The ex-president duffer asked for an 18-hole round in exchange; Tiger ignored him on the course, walked off greens chatting on his cellphone while Clinton was putting, and generally treated Bill Clinton like crap. Jerk is an inadequate descriptor. After Earl died in 2006, an unhinged Tiger went off to take SEALS training rather than prepare for the US Open. He later won the British and crushed it for the balance of the year. His golf kept getting better, but his personal life was on the brink. He escaped exposure of an affair with a waitress in the 'Enquirer' in exchange for an interview in 'Men's Fitness.' His daughter Sam was born in early 2007. Years of weight-lifting and very physical golfing led to medical problems that peaked in 2008, when he won the US Open with no ACL and two stress fractures. Painkillers became part of his life, while the great golf and good times in Las Vegas continued. His son Charlie was born early in 2009. His womanizing was getting worse and worse and he actually lost a major, after leading going into the final day. Thanksgiving weekend of 2009 was when the world that Tiger had created fell apart. Elin, and soon everyone, learned of his multiple transgressions.
After 45 days at a sex addiction clinic, he made a televised apology to the world at PGA headquarters. He then played well in the 2010 Masters, but seemed uncomfortable. Hank Haney, his coach of many years, walked away. Elin finalized their divorce over the summer. He and his caddie, Steve Williams, had a nasty falling out in the fall. And the injuries started piling up. He missed most of 2011, but had a very solid stretch in 2012 and 2013 and regained his number one ranking after winning a few tournaments. His personal life was shaping up after he and Lindsey Vonn got together. Back surgery in 2014 was followed by some absolutely horrible golf the following year and the end of the relationship with Vonn. In the summer 2015, his once only friend on the tour was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame before the British Open. Mark O'Meara twice specifically asked Tiger to come. Although he was in St. Andrews, Woods did not join the other almost two dozen tour players who attended the ceremony. He spent most of 2016 recovering from two more back surgeries. A year later, he had back fusion surgery that was followed by an arrest after he nearly overdosed on painkillers. Tiger has put his medications behind him, is free of pain and has played some competitive rounds of golf this year. There are reports that he may even be a better man. Let's hope he is.
Yet, his personal story is terribly sad. His parents created a person barely capable of functioning. He grew up friendless, never learned how to talk to or treat colleagues, teammates or coaches, blew off his high school/college girlfriend when told to do so by his folks. He told sophomoric, moronic, off-color jokes in attempts to relate to women. He eventually took control of his life in his early twenties. He found some space for privacy and established an important relationship with Joanna Jagoda, a woman who had a settling effect on his life. But she moved on to law school and out of the limelight. He found friendship and camaraderie in Las Vegas with the rich and famous, particularly Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. For the high rollers in sin city, discretion was part of the appeal. Another part of the appeal was the endless buffet of available and attractive women. Las Vegas provided privacy and a release from the high-pressured life of being Tiger. However, it was at home at Isleworth where the aspirational role model for his life lived happily, with a beautiful wife and two kids. Mark O'Meara was Tiger's friend, neighbor, and mentor. Mark and Alicia provided Tiger his home away from home. In 2004, he married Elin Nordegren. However, being married to a gorgeous woman was not enough for Tiger's narcissistic personality. Las Vegas beckoned and Tiger continued years of endless serial philandering that exceeded that of his father's. As Tiger grew older, one aspect of his life remained mired in the past and that was his complete lack of human understanding and empathy. After insulting then president Bill Clinton by declining a White House invitation, he later asked Clinton to make an appearance at an event in California. The ex-president duffer asked for an 18-hole round in exchange; Tiger ignored him on the course, walked off greens chatting on his cellphone while Clinton was putting, and generally treated Bill Clinton like crap. Jerk is an inadequate descriptor. After Earl died in 2006, an unhinged Tiger went off to take SEALS training rather than prepare for the US Open. He later won the British and crushed it for the balance of the year. His golf kept getting better, but his personal life was on the brink. He escaped exposure of an affair with a waitress in the 'Enquirer' in exchange for an interview in 'Men's Fitness.' His daughter Sam was born in early 2007. Years of weight-lifting and very physical golfing led to medical problems that peaked in 2008, when he won the US Open with no ACL and two stress fractures. Painkillers became part of his life, while the great golf and good times in Las Vegas continued. His son Charlie was born early in 2009. His womanizing was getting worse and worse and he actually lost a major, after leading going into the final day. Thanksgiving weekend of 2009 was when the world that Tiger had created fell apart. Elin, and soon everyone, learned of his multiple transgressions.
After 45 days at a sex addiction clinic, he made a televised apology to the world at PGA headquarters. He then played well in the 2010 Masters, but seemed uncomfortable. Hank Haney, his coach of many years, walked away. Elin finalized their divorce over the summer. He and his caddie, Steve Williams, had a nasty falling out in the fall. And the injuries started piling up. He missed most of 2011, but had a very solid stretch in 2012 and 2013 and regained his number one ranking after winning a few tournaments. His personal life was shaping up after he and Lindsey Vonn got together. Back surgery in 2014 was followed by some absolutely horrible golf the following year and the end of the relationship with Vonn. In the summer 2015, his once only friend on the tour was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame before the British Open. Mark O'Meara twice specifically asked Tiger to come. Although he was in St. Andrews, Woods did not join the other almost two dozen tour players who attended the ceremony. He spent most of 2016 recovering from two more back surgeries. A year later, he had back fusion surgery that was followed by an arrest after he nearly overdosed on painkillers. Tiger has put his medications behind him, is free of pain and has played some competitive rounds of golf this year. There are reports that he may even be a better man. Let's hope he is.
The Flight Attendant, Bohjalian - C
The first nine-tenths of this novel is about the trial and travails of Cassie, a woman who drinks herself into blackouts, pretty much sleeps with whoever is at hand and lies to everyone in her life. Her family, colleagues, union and lawyer do their best to keep her on an even keel after she wakes up in a Dubai hotel with a dead man. The first implausible plot twist is followed by a few more on a way to an unforgettable conclusion. For me, it doesn't even rate a look-see at the beach.
5.10.2018
Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Evolution, Purdum - B +
They are America's most successful song writers, winners of 34 Tonys, 15 Oscars, 2 Pulitzers, 2 Grammys and 2 Emmys. They were very skilled businessmen who controlled their product and maximized their revenue. The created Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific and The Sound of Music. "Oklahoma! was the first musical to fully integrate song, story and dance in the service of a realistic narrative and character development, revolutionizing the Broadway theater forever." They were also the producers for other works such as Annie Get Your Gun and I Remember Mama. In October, 1957, their 90-minute live television presentation of Cinderella preempted Ed Sullivan and was watched by 107 million people, two-thirds of the country's population. Walking through Disney World today, one of the theme songs in the background is Surrey With the Fringe on Top. They created the modern musical; their songs permeate our culture.
Ockie Hammesrstein had it easy. He was born into the business, seamlessly slid into a job, and began producing and creating in the 1920's. He had middling success until he teamed up with Jerome Kern and created Showboat in 1926. He tried his hand in Hollywood and felt he was over the hill, done for and a has been by the early '40's. Richard Rodgers grew up in a prosperous musical house and was writing musicals with Lorenz Hart while still a teenager. They had a run of successful shows in NY and London, and in the late '30's, they created hit after hit including I'd Rather Be Right, starring George M. Cohan, On Your Toes, featuring a George Balanchine ballet, and Pal Joey, which brought a new depth of character development to a musical, and featured Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. However, Hart's drinking brought an end to their collaborations.
The play Green Grow The Lilacs was written in France by a young man trying to recreate his youth in Indian Territory. It had a brief run in NY in the early '30's but had made an impression on both Rodgers and Hammerstein, who decided in 1942 to do it together. It took Hammerstein three weeks to write Oh What A Beautiful Mornin and ten minutes for Rodgers to bang out the tune. They created, raised money, hired the cast and the director, arranged for the orchestration and took it on the road. Oklahoma! premiered on March 31, 1943 and was an instant sensation. It ran for a little over five years. It was the most successful musical ever and perfectly matched the mood of a nation fighting a war to build a better world. Seventy-five years later, it still stirs the soul.
They worked together on a redo of State Fair before adapting a turn of the century Hungarian drama called Liliom, which they turned into Carousel. Backed by the same creative teams, it previewed out of town and was severely panned in Boston. Reworked and cut by almost a third, it opened April 19, 1945 to rapturous reviews. It featured You'll Never Walk Alone and If I Loved You. It was Dick Rodgers favorite of them all.
They then turned Michener's loosely connected Tales into the majestic South Pacific. It won every award imaginable, including the Pulitzer, and launched what the author calls the empire phase of their careers. Anna and the King of Siam became the King and I, which required more pre-Broadway cutting than any of their other works. It was also a resounding success. They finally began to allow Hollywood to film their works. They actually produced Oklahoma themselves and let the studios do Carousel and The King and I. They succeeded spectacularly with their tv production of Cinderella. To be fair, the 50's were not all magic for them as both Pipe Dream and Me and Juliet were flops and Lerner and Lowe was pushing them with My Fair Lady. Rodgers had had cancer surgery a few years back, drank too much and had a breakdown after Cinderella. He spent three months in a high-end private hospital in Manhattan. They produced the film version of South Pacific in 1958. Because they had allowed their long-time director to use ill-advised color filters throughout, the critics panned it. Rodgers thought it was "awful." But as the author points out, the material was "indestructible", a smashing success and the album sat atop the charts for a year. They followed up with Flower Drum Song which was, at best, ok, but paled compared to what Oscar's protege, Stephen Sondheim, had done with West Side Story. Their final magical transformation was to convert a 1956 German movie, Die Trapp Familie into The Sound of Music. While the show was in previews in Boston, Hammerstein, dying of stomach cancer, penned his last work, Edelweiss. The show opened in late 1959 and the New York reviewers felt it was too old fashioned. The public disagreed. The cast album and the later movie soundtrack made The Sound of Music the "best selling Broadway score of all time."
Ockie died at 65 on August 22, 1960. Rodgers would struggle to find his footing for the balance of the almost twenty years he had left. He was involved with the capstone of their career, the movie version of The Sound Of Music. The film was panned as saccharine by the NY critics, but won the Best Movie Oscar and is so revered in American society that Lady Gaga and Julie Andrews reprised songs for the Oscar show fifty years later. He tried his hand at a few things, but there was no magic left. He had a heart attack in the late 60's, that was followed up by the removal of a cancerous larynx. He died at the end of 1979 as an Oklahoma revival opened on Broadway. "As had been done for Oscar Hammerstein nineteen years earlier, the lights of the Broadway that Richard Rogers had changed forever were darkened in his honor."
In the '70's and '80's, their "wholesome, cheery land" fell out of favor. Some blamed them for America's Vietnam policies because of the western exceptionalism in South Pacific and The King And I. It was a passing fad as revivals in both NY and London returned them to their rightful place. It has been estimated that "Rodgers ranks as the most-played composer of any kind of music, ever." Hammerstein's lyrics are part of our everyday life. I grew up in a house where the 78rpm albums for Oklahoma, The King and I and South Pacific played often. I love the theater, am happy to have introduced my daughter to it and am looking forward to an Oklahoma show next week with Lauren and her daughter Eloise. What more could anyone ask of such magnificent artists than to have enriched the lives of generations.
Ockie Hammesrstein had it easy. He was born into the business, seamlessly slid into a job, and began producing and creating in the 1920's. He had middling success until he teamed up with Jerome Kern and created Showboat in 1926. He tried his hand in Hollywood and felt he was over the hill, done for and a has been by the early '40's. Richard Rodgers grew up in a prosperous musical house and was writing musicals with Lorenz Hart while still a teenager. They had a run of successful shows in NY and London, and in the late '30's, they created hit after hit including I'd Rather Be Right, starring George M. Cohan, On Your Toes, featuring a George Balanchine ballet, and Pal Joey, which brought a new depth of character development to a musical, and featured Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. However, Hart's drinking brought an end to their collaborations.
The play Green Grow The Lilacs was written in France by a young man trying to recreate his youth in Indian Territory. It had a brief run in NY in the early '30's but had made an impression on both Rodgers and Hammerstein, who decided in 1942 to do it together. It took Hammerstein three weeks to write Oh What A Beautiful Mornin and ten minutes for Rodgers to bang out the tune. They created, raised money, hired the cast and the director, arranged for the orchestration and took it on the road. Oklahoma! premiered on March 31, 1943 and was an instant sensation. It ran for a little over five years. It was the most successful musical ever and perfectly matched the mood of a nation fighting a war to build a better world. Seventy-five years later, it still stirs the soul.
They worked together on a redo of State Fair before adapting a turn of the century Hungarian drama called Liliom, which they turned into Carousel. Backed by the same creative teams, it previewed out of town and was severely panned in Boston. Reworked and cut by almost a third, it opened April 19, 1945 to rapturous reviews. It featured You'll Never Walk Alone and If I Loved You. It was Dick Rodgers favorite of them all.
They then turned Michener's loosely connected Tales into the majestic South Pacific. It won every award imaginable, including the Pulitzer, and launched what the author calls the empire phase of their careers. Anna and the King of Siam became the King and I, which required more pre-Broadway cutting than any of their other works. It was also a resounding success. They finally began to allow Hollywood to film their works. They actually produced Oklahoma themselves and let the studios do Carousel and The King and I. They succeeded spectacularly with their tv production of Cinderella. To be fair, the 50's were not all magic for them as both Pipe Dream and Me and Juliet were flops and Lerner and Lowe was pushing them with My Fair Lady. Rodgers had had cancer surgery a few years back, drank too much and had a breakdown after Cinderella. He spent three months in a high-end private hospital in Manhattan. They produced the film version of South Pacific in 1958. Because they had allowed their long-time director to use ill-advised color filters throughout, the critics panned it. Rodgers thought it was "awful." But as the author points out, the material was "indestructible", a smashing success and the album sat atop the charts for a year. They followed up with Flower Drum Song which was, at best, ok, but paled compared to what Oscar's protege, Stephen Sondheim, had done with West Side Story. Their final magical transformation was to convert a 1956 German movie, Die Trapp Familie into The Sound of Music. While the show was in previews in Boston, Hammerstein, dying of stomach cancer, penned his last work, Edelweiss. The show opened in late 1959 and the New York reviewers felt it was too old fashioned. The public disagreed. The cast album and the later movie soundtrack made The Sound of Music the "best selling Broadway score of all time."
Ockie died at 65 on August 22, 1960. Rodgers would struggle to find his footing for the balance of the almost twenty years he had left. He was involved with the capstone of their career, the movie version of The Sound Of Music. The film was panned as saccharine by the NY critics, but won the Best Movie Oscar and is so revered in American society that Lady Gaga and Julie Andrews reprised songs for the Oscar show fifty years later. He tried his hand at a few things, but there was no magic left. He had a heart attack in the late 60's, that was followed up by the removal of a cancerous larynx. He died at the end of 1979 as an Oklahoma revival opened on Broadway. "As had been done for Oscar Hammerstein nineteen years earlier, the lights of the Broadway that Richard Rogers had changed forever were darkened in his honor."
In the '70's and '80's, their "wholesome, cheery land" fell out of favor. Some blamed them for America's Vietnam policies because of the western exceptionalism in South Pacific and The King And I. It was a passing fad as revivals in both NY and London returned them to their rightful place. It has been estimated that "Rodgers ranks as the most-played composer of any kind of music, ever." Hammerstein's lyrics are part of our everyday life. I grew up in a house where the 78rpm albums for Oklahoma, The King and I and South Pacific played often. I love the theater, am happy to have introduced my daughter to it and am looking forward to an Oklahoma show next week with Lauren and her daughter Eloise. What more could anyone ask of such magnificent artists than to have enriched the lives of generations.
5.01.2018
Eat The Apple, Young - B+
Sixty years makes a difference. It is a long way in American history between 1945 and 2005, when this profane and uncertain Marine memoir begins. Recruit (fill-in-the blank), Past-me, Person thing (some of the ways the author refers to himself here) keeps wondering why the hell he volunteered for this. Ironically, he is assigned to mortars and trained at Pendleton, just like Sledge. He's off to Iraq in January 2006. You fly from California, to Maine, to Frankfurt, to Kuwait filled with fear, anxiety, self-loathing and more fear. " I feel like an animal in a trap waiting for some hunter to come put a slug between i's eyes." After being in-country for a while, they occupy part of a village. "The house is a terrarium of horror; we are being eaten alive. Our feet and hands split and puss and crust, and sleep does not come." "We pray for a barrage of mortars to wipe us away." In April, the Humvee he is in is flipped by an ied. Two of his comrades are sent away never to come back; he is concussed, confused, in the hospital and soon back on duty. After eight months in the sand, you get to go back to Camp Pendleton and merit some leave time. Drink yourself insensitive as much as you possibly can. Fuck anything that will let you, while feeling bad about your fiancee back in Indiana. By September of 2007, the battalion is back in the exact same place they left the previous year. But, it is different this time - there is little if any shooting going on. Back to the states for more drinking, fucking and fighting in bars. He volunteers for a third tour and convinces the ready-to-be-convinced psychiatric officer that he is ready to go. No sir, I don't smoke, I don't have nightmares, I don't get into bar fights, I don't drink, I don't take drugs, my family is behind my decision. No sir, I do not dream of being devoured by decaying dogs. The third time's a charm. At the HQ security detail, there's hot food, air-conditioned barracks, a swimming pool and a Burger King. "There are no more tactical firing ranges, no more sun-bleached camouflage utilities, no mud, no detainees." It's a quick 12 week tour and back to California, to do steroids with Hang Ten Tony. Barely surviving and staying out of the brig, his enlistment is up.
Unlike Sledge, Young did not have his proverbial shit together when he joined up. Sledge was half-way through college, came from normal family and knew what he was doing when he joined. Young was a crazed, angry teen from a broken family who escaped a drink and drug filled life of failure when he enlisted. Is that the reason for the difference? Was it generational? Was it the mission? I do not know. Either way, loyalty to comrade is the constant. Marines are exemplary in their commitment to each other. The author pulled his life together, married, went to Oregon State, obtained a Masters at the University of Miami and has written a helluva story here.
Unlike Sledge, Young did not have his proverbial shit together when he joined up. Sledge was half-way through college, came from normal family and knew what he was doing when he joined. Young was a crazed, angry teen from a broken family who escaped a drink and drug filled life of failure when he enlisted. Is that the reason for the difference? Was it generational? Was it the mission? I do not know. Either way, loyalty to comrade is the constant. Marines are exemplary in their commitment to each other. The author pulled his life together, married, went to Oregon State, obtained a Masters at the University of Miami and has written a helluva story here.
With The Old Guard, Sledge - A*
Thirty-six years after his experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa, E. B Sledge, by then a retired ornithology professor and PhD., published what is generally considered the finest memoir of the war in the Pacific. His story was the foundation of HBO's 'The Pacific' and the audio version of this book is voiced by Tom Hanks.
He volunteered for the Marines and arrived in 1944 in the Pacific as a Pfc. 60mm motorman and replacement in the 1st Division. On 15 September, they stepped out onto Peleliu. Whether the battle was worth the effort has been long debated. Many think it was not strategically necessary. It was the first time the Japanese utilized defense-in-depth, as opposed to fighting on the beach. The result was a Marine casualty rate twice that of Tarawa and later equalled at Iwo Jima. Day one was gut-wrenching fear, anxiety, confusion, incoming artillery, no sleep, filth and thirst. Advancing across a Japanese airfield, "bullets snapped and cracked, and tracers went by me at waist height. To be shelled by massed artillery and mortar is absolutely terrifying, but to be shelled in the open is terror compounded beyond the belief of anyone who hasn't experienced it." On the third night, an experienced officer made the observation that courage was a matter of doing your duty while afraid. There was no ever being unafraid. They were relieved on D +10 by Army soldiers, only to march around to another part of the island and continue the fight. "The war was a netherworld of horror from which escape seemed less and less likely...........Time had no meaning; life had no meaning." Added to the physical threat and emotional exhaustion was the stench. They were on a rocky atoll, surrounded by decaying corpses, accumulated human waste and rotting food. Sledge survived and on 30 October left the island. His company left with 85 of 235 unhurt. The Marines suffered 1252 dead and 5274 injured. The Army lost 542 with 2736 wounded. As for the defenders, they had 10,900 dead, and of the 312 captured, only seven were soldiers. The rest were civilians.
They were sent back to the Solomons for rest and refitting. The war in the Pacific was not non-stop and Marines had months off between action. Okinawa, only 350 miles from the home islands, was expected to be, and was, the longest and largest battle in the Pacific. It had 110,000 defenders. The Marines were advised their beach casualties would be 80-85%. At 0830 on April 1, Easter Sunday, they went ashore. Fifty-thousand men landed unopposed. Although there was heavy fighting, the 1st Marines were in the rear and not in the mix for the entire month of April. They went into action on May 1 and would stay at it for 50 days. The fighting on Okinawa is well-known for it's intensity, and compounding the tension in May was rain, lots of rain. He describes trying to dig a foxhole through a decaying maggot-infested Japanese corpse with hands deformed by malnutrition. As good as the US was at supporting its frontline troops, weeks of cold food, rotting clothes, the unburied dead and endless enemy fire took its toll. Okinawa was finally taken on 21 June. Their war was over. Company K had gone to Peleliu with 285 men. Eighty-five landed on Okinawa. Only 26 were there when the battle ended. ""War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it."
This extraordinary story is highly regarded because it is so plainly and almost matter of factly written. Sledge does not deal with any big picture issues. He never mentions Pearl Harbor and barely comments on FDR's death or V-E Day. There are no histrionics or paeans to patriotism. It was about being a Marine and doing your duty. He does observe that they hated the Japanese because they had mutilated American dead. That's it. No more, no less.
He volunteered for the Marines and arrived in 1944 in the Pacific as a Pfc. 60mm motorman and replacement in the 1st Division. On 15 September, they stepped out onto Peleliu. Whether the battle was worth the effort has been long debated. Many think it was not strategically necessary. It was the first time the Japanese utilized defense-in-depth, as opposed to fighting on the beach. The result was a Marine casualty rate twice that of Tarawa and later equalled at Iwo Jima. Day one was gut-wrenching fear, anxiety, confusion, incoming artillery, no sleep, filth and thirst. Advancing across a Japanese airfield, "bullets snapped and cracked, and tracers went by me at waist height. To be shelled by massed artillery and mortar is absolutely terrifying, but to be shelled in the open is terror compounded beyond the belief of anyone who hasn't experienced it." On the third night, an experienced officer made the observation that courage was a matter of doing your duty while afraid. There was no ever being unafraid. They were relieved on D +10 by Army soldiers, only to march around to another part of the island and continue the fight. "The war was a netherworld of horror from which escape seemed less and less likely...........Time had no meaning; life had no meaning." Added to the physical threat and emotional exhaustion was the stench. They were on a rocky atoll, surrounded by decaying corpses, accumulated human waste and rotting food. Sledge survived and on 30 October left the island. His company left with 85 of 235 unhurt. The Marines suffered 1252 dead and 5274 injured. The Army lost 542 with 2736 wounded. As for the defenders, they had 10,900 dead, and of the 312 captured, only seven were soldiers. The rest were civilians.
They were sent back to the Solomons for rest and refitting. The war in the Pacific was not non-stop and Marines had months off between action. Okinawa, only 350 miles from the home islands, was expected to be, and was, the longest and largest battle in the Pacific. It had 110,000 defenders. The Marines were advised their beach casualties would be 80-85%. At 0830 on April 1, Easter Sunday, they went ashore. Fifty-thousand men landed unopposed. Although there was heavy fighting, the 1st Marines were in the rear and not in the mix for the entire month of April. They went into action on May 1 and would stay at it for 50 days. The fighting on Okinawa is well-known for it's intensity, and compounding the tension in May was rain, lots of rain. He describes trying to dig a foxhole through a decaying maggot-infested Japanese corpse with hands deformed by malnutrition. As good as the US was at supporting its frontline troops, weeks of cold food, rotting clothes, the unburied dead and endless enemy fire took its toll. Okinawa was finally taken on 21 June. Their war was over. Company K had gone to Peleliu with 285 men. Eighty-five landed on Okinawa. Only 26 were there when the battle ended. ""War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it."
This extraordinary story is highly regarded because it is so plainly and almost matter of factly written. Sledge does not deal with any big picture issues. He never mentions Pearl Harbor and barely comments on FDR's death or V-E Day. There are no histrionics or paeans to patriotism. It was about being a Marine and doing your duty. He does observe that they hated the Japanese because they had mutilated American dead. That's it. No more, no less.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)