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Description
Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts to ever come out of the Second World War. Robert Leckie was 21 when he enlisted in the US Marine Corps in January 1942.In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his journey, from boot camp 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 sacrifice of war, painting an unsentimental portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and all too often die in the defence of their country. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow is a gripping account from an ordinary soldier fighting in extraordinary conditions. Read more
Publisher : Independently published (May 28, 2019)
Language : English
Paperback : 148 pages
ISBN-10 : 107062117X
ISBN-13 : 73
Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.37 x 11 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #6,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #32 in World War II History (Books)
#32 in World War II History (Books):
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 13,146 ratings
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Top Amazon Reviews
Noted author Robert Leckie's first book, "Helmet For My Pillow", is rightly lauded as a stand out in war experience narratives. What sets Leckie's work apart from many others is the literary style in which the story of survival by front line troops in the atrocious battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu are drawn. Leckie volunteered for the Marine Corps the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He was part of a large group of enlistees who swelled the rolls of an unprepared military. Training was hard and dreary with the enlarged ranks living in tents upon marshy fields at New River and Paris Island. But battle and life in the South Pacific was an ordeal through which both Leckie's Marines as well as their Japanese foes lived, suffered and died in the most trying circumstances. Leckie's regiment, part of the 1st Marine Division, was early into Guadalcanal and would be on the front for four for five months straight. This was during the period in which the Japanese controlled the sea around the landing area forcing Americans on half rations and captured Japanese rice. Fighting was brutal and Marines faced a long period in which they were on the defensive before being able to advance and eventually be withdrawn as Army reinforcements were introduced. Leckie also experienced the Battle of Cape Gloucester before his final fight at Peleliu. Peleliu is described as hell on earth with the Japanese emplaced into a series of tunnel connected bunkers which they had had years to establish. And from which they had to be driven or killed by direct assault. Marine casualties were high, including Leckie who was withdrawn to a hospital after a close hit by an artillery shell. He would miss his division's fight on Okinawa, which may be the reason we are all able to read this very fine work. The 1st Marine Division also recuperated between battles, the most memorable being in Melbourne, Australia after Guadalcanal. With Australians believing the Marines had saved their continent from invasion (which they probably had along with the forces successfully holding New Guinea), Melbourne joyously welcomed their deliverers to their city and into their homes. With no Australian young men to be had, they quickly became the boyfriends, sons and spouses that were otherwise occupied in North Africa or New Guinea fighting with the Commmonwealth. His stories of drinking (constant), womanizing (frequent) and high-jinx are entertaining and add terrific color to this war story. Leckie is a gifted writer and his highly descriptive style breathes a literary quality into his story without ever seeming overdone. This is not a book that tells unit lines of advance and casualty rates in clipped recaps of battle history but rather the war and waiting between battles through the eyes of a front-line fighter in possession of a sharp wit, and great powers of observation and description. No character is addressed by anything other than his nickname in the story. Thus we read of The Chuckler, Souvenir, Hoosier, Runner and Captain High-Hips and Lt. Ivy-league. Leckie himself is the not-as-imaginative "Lucky." He also is brutally honest and the book does not spare Leckie, who almost broke in one battle and spent time in the brig as well as off-island in a mental ward (though the book does leave it up in the air as to whether or not this was a "not-enough-space in the medical ward" issue or Leckie was truly in need of psychiatric help). Souvenir has his nickname because of the scores of gold fillings he keeps in a bag tied around his neck, courtesy of dead enemy (except in one case where a wounded son of Nippon contributed), a pair of pliers and his dental flashlight. Leckie and some of his patrol come across a dead Marine who had the part of his arm tattooed with the Marine Corps shield ripped from his flesh and stuffed in his mouth. The repetitive brutality of war and misery are not spared. While winter in Bastogne was hard and the fighting dangerous everywhere American troops fought in World War II, Leckie's book describes service in the Pacific that seemed more miserable on a daily basis than that had in other theaters of the war. Because of the nature of the Japanese soldier, fighting was frequently to the end with no quarter given and none expected. Field torture of our captured soldiers was more than an occasional occurrence as was the same treatment meted the other way. Leckie's brutal, honest and descriptive book provides an excellent picture of the war through one Marine's eyes.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2012 by Wayne A. Smith
A true telling of Robert Leckie's war experience, good and bad. I'm troubled by this book. I consider myself a patriotic reader of the heroism of our soldiers but Leckie's book includes many acts of non-heroism: a month in a psychiatric ward where he didn't belong, repeated run-ins landing him in the brig twice, and a complete disrespect for authority when the mood so moved him. But also included are the many acts of heroism if heroism can be described as doing the mundane fighting necessary to achieve our victory in WWII. Approximately 40% of the book is of fighting, 30% of the layover and adventure with ladies, liquor and shenanigans in Australia and the remaining 30% is of the camaraderie of the soldiers, whether in the line of duty or usurping authority in theft of food or AWOL adventures. So, maybe this is the first truthful book I have read of WWII with the remaining of the books covering only what the author believes the readers will want to hear and not exposing the warts of war. It certainly leaves the reader with a perplexing feeling as it is so different from the typical book of war. Leckie joins the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor and after boot camp is stationed at New River NC, a marine base I lived on with my Naval father in the 1960s. Shenanigans and disrespect for authority prevail prior to departure to Guadalcanal where his unit performs masterfully in repelling the Japanese while stranded on the island. This is probably the clearest picture of battle as his ability to sense the state of the battle by who controls the air and sea is effectively relayed. The most telling part of this section is when they have no idea whether Americans even know what they are doing only to have this dispelled upon return to the ship when a sailor explains that all of the country know of the great victory and bravery of the soldiers of Guadalcanal. Next the book wanders into the stay in Australia where debauchery is reined on the nation and accepted by the welcoming ladies of Australia who feel they were rescued from invasion. This is a welcome interlude for the soldiers and for the readers and really provides a good look at what it was like even when not on the battlefield. This is also where his rebellious tendencies raise their head and he ends up in the brig twice. After battle in New Guinea Leckie's disrespect for authority land him in a mental ward which is really a strange segway for a book of a fighting hero. I applaud the honesty but must admit it was almost like he was hiding from the battlefield until he realizes where he should be. His fighting career ends on Peleliu in some of the most devastating fighting of the war. Of 1,500 in his regiment only 28 survive unscathed such was the horrible fighting. But there is a much better book of the fighting on Peleliu, "With the Old Breed at Pelelui and Okinawa" by E. B. Sledge. Leckie's career on this island only lasted a couple of days and then he was transported by ship to the states. I read this book as it was one of three used for the HBO miniseries The Pacific. From watching the show and having read one of the other books I conclude that this book dominated the most time of the miniseries, probably because he touched a number of campaigns as well as the noncombat sections. I'm curious as to the decision to keep so much nonessential parts of the War in the miniseries that came from this book. I'm always inspired as I read these stories, this being no different. But possibly this was the most disturbing and non-enjoyable of all the books I have read of WWII and its fighting men. Still a worthwhile story to read. Interestingly, Leckie, the writer closes with some very interesting and depressing thoughts of the "mushroom cloud" that ended the war vs. the American soldier.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2010 by Rick Spell