Funny Helmet Pillow and Duct Tape Helmet

---

Description

Includes over 220 photos, maps and plans following Robert "Lucky" Leckie's Pacific War with the 1st Marine Division

"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."-Print Ed.

• Asia

• Wars & Military

• Europe

• All categories

---

About the author

---

Related categories

---

Reviews

What people think about Helmet For My Pillow [Illustrated Edition]

3.2

Write a review (optional)

Reader reviews

• Well written account by a Marine in 1st Division who was present until wounded on Peleliu. It is not always pleasant or feel good in nature, which is appropriate for the subject matter. He was not a conformist and had a temper which lands him in the brig, which makes this account a bit more unique. The confusion and chaos that was the Pacific campaign is brought home painfully. There is a fair amount of bitterness in his story which I dont begrudge but do mention for those looking for a more light or heroic tale. Reccommended reading, especially for those interested in the Pacific campaign.

• Robert Leckie gives an honest and plain-speaking account of his experience of the war in the Pacific, he self censored to some extent but I guess that's what you'd expect from a book published in 1950s America. This, in my opinion, should be standard reading for school children during history lessons - it is certainly a book I wish I had read long ago.There are times when Leckie turns his hand towards the poetic and this didn't really work for me; saying that, it didn't detract from the book either. It will be interesting to read a few of his (30 or more) military history books to see how these differ from this autobiography.The ending of the book really struck a chord with me - Leckie quite matter-of-factly lists the good friends he lost during the various battles, and seems to accept that as part of life; he then discusses the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I have to quote him to have a chance of getting the severity across..."the whole world, racked for six years like a giant organism; and now the Sign of the Mushroom was rising over it. So it rose and I shrank in my cot...hearing now this strange cold incomprehensible jargon of the megaton. Someone had sinned against life, and I felt it in my very person." Finally, "...dear Father, forgive us for that awful cloud."

• I read this book in one sitting as I was engrossed in the experiences of Leckie and his fellow Marines in the Pacific campaign. The author uses his newspaper background to detail a very unsentimental account of how civilians become heroes in the anvil of war. He recounts the horrors of combat and the irreverent attitude of the marines towards authority when off-duty.This novel adds to the literature of personal memoirs of war.

• No matter which war, the most colorful stories from veterans are about the fun they had after hours, on R&R, or when they should have been working. Leckie is no exception to this rule. He gives all of his experiences, on and off duty, equal weight, but the war chapters read more like literary journalism -- densely-packed sentences where all the details are provided in lyrical abundance, but you have to work to picture the experience -- whereas the drunken shenanigans are effortlessly easy to follow. By the end of the book you have gotten to know Leckie and really like him, but the war parts of this memoir leave you wishing they had been fleshed out more. Nevertheless, this is a priceless first-hand account of Marines in the Pacific.

• As a former Vietnam era Marine, I've always been fascinated by the history of WWI. This is an amazing, well written book that keeps the reader engrossed through out the entire length. Loved it!

• This is the story of Robert Leckie's experience as an enlisted marine in the Pacific during World War II. Although the hell of war is aptly portrayed, a better "feel" for a foot soldier's war can be had by reading, With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. As evidenced in the broad-spectrum of narratives of war, my question at the end of these is, How do these men survive being led by such baseless, conceited and inept officers? My only criticism of the book is that a lot of it tells the tale of the moments away from the madness of battle and gives lets one "rest" rather than be bombarded with the cruelty of battle.

whitebefecon.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.scribd.com/book/293579519/Helmet-For-My-Pillow-Illustrated-Edition

Share this post