Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the World War II battles of Peleliu and Okinawa. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, E. B. Sledge simply and directly recalls those long months of combat, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and cruelty, the stench of death, and, above all, constant fear. Sledge's honesty and compassion for the other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, With the Old Breed is a moving chronicle of action and courage.