re: #27 Pawn of the Oppressor

The Mayor’s dad was on Okinawa, too. Christ, I’ve read E.B. Sledge and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.

I don’t know whether or not you’re subscribed to this thread and will see this, but many thanks for mentioning E.B. Sledge. My dad was in the Marine Corps in WWII in the South Pacific. He didn’t talk about the war much and he died when I was a teenager, but I do remember him talking about Okinawa and how, as marines, they had to be the first ones in—off the ship, onto the beach, secure an area, then send up some kind if colored smoke signals (IIRC) so the rest of the troops would know where to go. I can’t even begin imagine how terrifying it must have been to have to be the first ones onto an unfamiliar enemy island.

Anyway, because of my dad’s presence there and what you said, I had some personal interest in the subject so I googled E.B. Sledge and found videos of his accounts of the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Okinawa. I had no idea.

Now I better understand why my dad didn’t want to talk about it. Hearing Sledge’s accounts was… I can’t even describe it. Suffice it to say that I ended up going over to Amazon and purchasing his book, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, so thank you for mentioning it.