|
Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific |  | Author: Robert Leckie
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $7.97
as of 7/30/2010 14:07 MDT details
You Save: $8.03 (50%)
New (45) Used (16) from $6.95
Seller: Holston Book
Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 635
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0553593315
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.545973092
EAN: 9780553593310
ASIN: 0553593315
Publication Date: February 2, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780553593310 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II. Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his odyssey, from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war’s fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country.
From the live-for-today rowdiness of marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what war is really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. Woven throughout are Leckie’s hard-won, eloquent, and thoroughly unsentimental meditations on the meaning of war and why we fight. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow will leave no reader untouched. This is a book that brings you as close to the mud, the blood, and the experience of war as it is safe to come.
Now producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the men behind Band of Brothers, have adapted material from Helmet for My Pillow for HBO’s epic miniseries The Pacific, which will thrill and edify a whole new generation.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 64
Gear Up! You're going in! July 29, 2010
John E. Nevola (Mount Olive, New Jersey)
With a newspaper reporter's eye and the unique perspective of a front-line enlisted Marine, Robert Lecke weaves a cynical and satirical tale of his experiences in three Pacific battles. As a member of the vaunted First Marine Division, "The Old Breed", Lecke lived through (barely) the grinding battle of Guadalcanal, the filthy, wet, disease-infested campaign of Cape Gloucester and the wanton, and arguably useless, slaughter on the hot, dry island of Peleliu. His creative nicknames for both his buddies and his superiors result in memorable characters and sometimes serve to protect the guilty. Lecke's offbeat sense of humor colors his experiences but cannot hide the slow but immutable physical and mental deterioration he experiences as the grinding gears of war tear at him almost without reprieve. You will laugh with him and agonize with him and sometimes feel sorry for him but he will keep you enthralled as he takes you through his experiences both as a frightened but determined fighter as well as a reckless and carefree young man on leave in Australia. In the end you may not like the guy but you will love his story!
 A Veteran's Story July 20, 2010
Thomas J. Price (Sperryville, VA USA)
Mr. Leckie is an excellent writer who does an outstanding job of telling his story and bringing the reality of war home to the reader. As a Vietnam Veteran I can relate to his comments about heat and rain, and to a point understand what he went through. However, none of us can ever fully appreciate the hell that the Marines in the Pacific experienced. We are fortunate that Mr. Leckie left his story for us to read. So many WWII veterans were reluctant or unwilling to talk about their experiences and have died taking their stories with them. We all should be thankful for the gift that Robert Leckie left us.
Helmut For My Pillow July 19, 2010
Rebeldog109
Robert Leckie writes an interesting narrative, but as others have noted, his descriptions of his combat experience are muted. It is a good read but I would also urge you to read "With the Old Breed" by E.B.Sledge and also "Flags of our Fathers" by James Brady. Another very good book to gain a perspective on the early days of WW II is "1942" by Winston Groom.
Great damn book July 12, 2010
clpandrew
This is a great look inside of the mind and struggle of a young marine during ww2.
A non-American's review... July 12, 2010
Darren Hultgren (Perth, Australia)
I read Eugene Sledge's "With the Old Breed" two years ago when news of HBO's The Pacific was in production. I waited until the series passed before reading Leckie's. I wish I had read the 2nd book before the mini-series. I found the book very insightful and NOT a war history...but more of a personal biography, capturing feelings, grumblings and battle action.
If you are looking for an historical overview of the Pacific War - this is not the book for you. If you want to taste and feel what being there might have been like - read this book.
I have one final opinion: I read once that every soldier goes into battle with a bucket full of courage...and battle by battle that courage dissipates...until there is nothing left. I got the distinct feeling, reading between the lines of Leckie's final chapters, that he had little courage left when he arrived at his fourth battle zone. I sensed that he had an overwhelming premonition that he would be killed on this coral island. He almost appeared appreciative of the blast injuries he received that got him ferried back to the hospital ship. I even wondered if he may have been able to return to his unit if he really wanted to. Please DO NOT conclude that I am questioning Leckie's courage from the comfort of my lounge room - I refer to my first sentence in this paragraph. As we say in Australia, Robert Leckie had done his bit. No more could possibly be asked of him.
As an Australian, I have no preconceived patriotism toward books relating to U.S. military history. From that standpoint, I enjoyed this book and believe you will too, regardless of your geographical location. Thanks Robert.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 64
|
|
|
Contact Military Topix
Privacy and Legal CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
