- In With the Old Breed
- E.B Sledge in his account as one of the soldier who fought against the Japanese in the second world war faced different situation and moments, some stunning and other annoying. Sledge as a soldier in this war reflects the moments that he and the other comrades faced during the war and explains that although fighting or own country proves worthy, the enemy was not always a bad one, and that he comprehended that the war sought to enslave the Japanese. In his quote “Until the millennium arrives and countries cease trying to enslave others, it will be necessary to accept one's responsibilities and be willing to make sacrifices for one's country - as my comrades did” (Sledge 17), Sledge realized that the Japanese had not offending that much to deserve consequences of the war. He and fellow soldiers though they were loyal and being patriotic to fight for their country but they could not justify whether the war was worthy fighting for and whether the Japanese deserved it.
- They only had to fight and kill as a way of keeping the spirit of protection and to represent their country as heroes. However, Sledge and the other soldier realized that the Japanese were fighting to win and this made the war more brutal, dirty, and inhumane. Sledge, in his quote “Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive. But it also taught us loyalty to each other - and love” (Sledge 26) indicated that they would not just shoot at any member from the enemy side but they only did it if the situation was in a worse extreme in order to survive. They were in a war but tried to also sparing the enemy although the enemy was fighting to win and this led to a brutal fight. To some point, this indicates that they comprehended that killing was not the focus of the mission and this proved a sense of humanity. They cared about the Japanese ad they could not just go killing everyone in the country.
- Definitely, they knew they were not doing any good by killing but this was a mission and it was due to be fulfilled. As he narrates his flashback on the war, Sledge wonders on his early voyage and questions his mentality, “could I kill?” (Sledge 26) implying that he and fellow men has value for life but they could not be reluctant to do it since this would encourage cowardice and soon defeat would follow, they had to carry on with the attack against the Japanese. In essence, Sledge and fellow soldiers had to fight first, for the sake of their country, second to protect their lives in the mission and third to ensure that the Japanese conceded defeat. They knew clearly knew in their minds that it was not good to kill, since even during their training by the Marine Corps, they were taught to kill professionally, meaning they had to spare and only kill if the situation was threatening to be worse. Even in the war memories in the book ‘In With the Old Breed’, it reveals about the incidences that happened and concludes that it was brutal to kill. The actions they did during the war against the Japanese were inhumane.
- Work Cited
- Sledge, E B. With the Old Breed. London?: Ebury, 2011. Print.
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