| Summary: | Eugene B. Sledge's gravestone in Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. The stone lists Sledge's dates, his academic degree, the titles of his books, and his U.S. Marine Corps unit. It also has a quotation from "With the Old Breed" and an anonymous quatrain about a Marine reporting to St. Peter at heaven's gate. Sledge fought with the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific in World War II. After the war, he returned to the United States and obtained degrees from Auburn University and the University of Florida in biology, then spent his career teaching biology at the University of Montevallo. In later years, Sledge wrote a book of his combat experiences called "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa". A second memoir, "China Marine", was published posthumously.Eugene Bondurant / Sledge, Ph.D. / November 4, 1923 - March 3, 2001 / Author / With the Old Breed / China Marine / U.S. Marine Corps / K/3/5 1st Division / "Combat leaves an indelible mark / The only redeeming factors were / My comrades' incredible bravery / And their devotion to each other / That esprit de corps sustained us" / W.T.O.B. / "And when he gets to Heaven / To St. Peter he will tell / Another Marine reporting Sir / I've served my time in Hell" / Anonymous
|
|---|
