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Accession Sheet ACCESSION SHEET AUBURN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES Record Group: 96 Accession: 96-38 Collection Name: Eugene Sledge Papers Dates: 1937- 1996 Cubic Feet/Number of Items:. 3.8 cu ft. Number of Boxes: 3 r.c. boxes, 1 small flat o.s. box, 1 document tube Contents/Scope: This collection contains notebooks, memorandums, Marine Corps records, and a portion of the original outline that formed the basis for With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, Sledge’s memoir of his service in those campaigns during World War II. Many letters to Sledge commenting on With the Old Breed contain wartime reminiscences of soldiers who also served in the Pacific in World War II. The collection includes photographs including World War II era photos of his platoon, contemporary photographs of Peleliu and Okinawa, and photographs of veterans’ groups. It also contains articles by Sledge and other authors concerning World War II in the Pacific, clippings relating to the 50th anniversary of World War II, correspondence (including wartime correspondence), and artifacts. Biographical / Historical Sketch: Eugene B. Sledge was born November 4, 1923, in Mobile, Alabama, son of Edward S. and Mary Frank Sturdivant Sledge. He volunteered for the Marine Corps in 1942 during World War II, and after a brief stay in an officer training program at Georgia Tech, enlisted and fought with the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater of the war, participating in the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa in 1944 and 1945. He spent some time with the Marine Corps in Beijing, China after the war, before being discharged from service in 1946. He earned a B.S. from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1949, and an M.S. in botany in 1955. In 1960, he earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Florida. From 1962 until his retirement in 1990, he taught biology at the University of Montevallo. He wrote a bestselling memoir of his service in the Pacific in World War II, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, published in 1981. A memoir of his postwar service in China, China Marine, was published in 2002, after his death the preceding year. Restrictions/Access: Physical Condition: Good Processed by: Dixie Dysart Date: 4-23-96 FINDING AID AUBURN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES Acc. No. 96-38 Collection Name- Eugene Sledge Papers R.G. No. 96 Listed By- Dixie Dysart Date- 4-23-96 BOX FILE DESCRIPTION 1 1 Notebook and memorandum book of E. B. Sledge containing observations about Peleliu, Okinawa, and China; portion of original outline for With the Old Breed 1946; notes; War Area Service Corps Diary for 1946 (China); miscellaneous business cards, etc.; certificate of ownership of .45 caliber Colt Automatic pistol, Sheriff’s certificate of identification of .45 caliber Colt Automatic pistol; letter from E. B. Sledge to Dr. and Mrs. E. S. Sledge 7-3-44; World War II letter from Eugene B. Sledge to his parents, May 1945; correspondence with The Leatherneck 1947; correspondence concerning Peleliu campaign; clipping concerning Eugene B. Sledge 4-14-37; draft of forward for With the Old Breed; miscellaneous correspondence 1944-62; letter from Marcel van Hendryck with 1 photo of van Hendryck ca. 1957 and 1 photograph of Chieh-ni, Hsiu-chen, and Margaret Song 2 Letters with 7 photographs of veterans of Peleliu and Okinawa campaigns 1981 (T. J. Stanley); Letter with 1 photograph of veterans 1983 (P. C. Juliam); letter with 7 photographs of Okinawa (Sammy M. Ray) 1984; letter with 5 photographs of K-3-5 veterans 1980 (Velton Burgin); photograph of K-3-5 insignia and casualty list from Pacific operations in World War II; 1 photograph concerning K-3-5; 2 photographs (Lee Marvin and film crew, Camp Pendleton); photograph of Sgt. Earl Dobrinsko I-3-5; 5" x 7" photograph of survivors of K Co. 3rd Bn., 5th Marines, First Marine Division attending the Division’s reunion, Indianapolis, IN Aug. 7-10, 1980; 1 photograph of survivors of K-3-5, White House Rose Garden 8- 10-84; 1 photograph of wives of members of K-3-5, White House Rose Garden 8-10-84; letter from T. J. Stanley 8-31-82, 1 photograph of R. V. Burgin at 1st Marine Div. Reunion, August 1982, 1 photograph of E. B. Sledge with plaque presented to him for writing With the Old Breed August 1982; letter from Eric Mailander 1-3-83 and 7 photographs taken on Peleliu 1981; letter from Ed Ward 8-15-95 and 1 photograph of Tex Barrow and Jim Anderson, August BOX FILE DESCRIPTION 1995; Letter from Leonard Hancock, Jr. 10-29-94, 1 photograph of display concerning the battle of Peleliu (1994), 3 photographs of Peleliu display 1994; letter ca. 1990; 3 photographs taken at August 1990 reunion of K-3-5, and list of men in the photographs; 1 photograph of Hill 69, Okinawa, 1983; Letter 5-5-91, 8 photographs taken on Okinawa March 1991, and description of photographs; letter 11-30-91 and 8 photographs taken in Palau 1991 3 Eugene T. Sledge: general correspondence 1981-90 4 Correspondence concerning Sledge genealogy 5 Correspondence with Brig. Gen. Austin C. Shofner, USMC (Ret.) 1976-95, including an account of his escape from a Japanese POW camp after the Bataan Death March. 6 Correspondence, etc. concerning USS Peleliu; 8" x 10" photograph of USS Peleliu autographed by Capt. Thomas P. Scott; booklet marking the commissioning of the USS Peleliu 5-3-80; letter 6-10- 80 concerning the commissioning of the USS Peleliu 7 Miscellaneous clippings, certificates, etc. 8 Correspondence with T. J. Stanley 1980-83 9 Correspondence and clippings concerning the article “Peleliu: A Neglected Battle” 10 Correspondence with or concerning servicemen and veterans 1975- 89 11 General correspondence 1961-91 12 The Atlantic July 1974 (containing an excerpt from The Good War: An Oral History of World War II by Studs Terkel concerning E. B. Sledge), Letter from Judy Farlan to E. B. Sledge dated 6-13-84 13 Marine Corps Gazette November 1979, containing “Peleliu: A Neglected Battle” (Part I) 14 Marine Corps Gazette December 1979, containing “Peleliu: A Neglected Battle” (Part II--Assault into Hell) 15 Marine Corps Gazette January 1980, containing “Peleliu: A Neglected Battle” (Conclusion--Victory at High Cost) 16 Leatherneck November 1964 (containing “Pacific ‘44"); Leatherneck September 1983 (containing “Peleliu--Recollections of a Pfc” by E. B. Sledge); correspondence concerning these articles; Leatherneck April 1985 autographed by Paul E. Ison containing “`Death Valley’ Photo” with photographs by Paul E. Ison, letter from Ison to Sledge 6-17-85 17 Montevallo Today September 1981 (containing “`War is Hell’” concerning Eugene Sledge’s writings about World War II) 18 After the Battle No. 43 (containing “Okinawa: A Marine Returns”) 19 Texas Monthly August 1994 (containing “War Paint” by Anne Dingus) BOX FILE DESCRIPTION 20 A Brief History of the 5th Marines (1963) 21 Readings in the History of the Marine Corps (containing a reprint of Eugene B. Sledge’s article “Peleliu: A Neglected Battle”) 22 “Dated Events War Map” (1942); “One World One War” map 1942 23 Letter from Japanese journalist Seishiro Hokama to E. B. Sledge dated 10-8-90 and 19 5" x 8" photographs of Okinawa and 1 4" x 5" photograph of Hokama 24 Japanese newspapers 25 Correspondence with Robert W. Smith 1980-82 26 Clippings, correspondence, etc. regarding Studs Terkel 1983-84 27 Correspondence with Thomas J. Stanley 1980-83; 1 photographic negative 28 Correspondence with Waite W. Worden 1984-86, including letters describing his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II and afterward, remarks concerning Japanese prisoners convicted of war crimes, etc. 29 “Guadalcanal Remembered” by Nikolai Stevenson; “Captain Munsch and the Skytrain: A Forgotten Episode of the Battle of Midway” by Robert J. Cressman; “The Confederate States Marine Corps” by Ralph W. Donnelly; “Big-Foot Brown” by Edwin H. Simmons; correspondence with Col. Albert S. Munsch, USMC (Ret.) 30 Scrapbook pages containing 13 photographs of Okinawa, China, etc. 31 Portion of memoir of Col. Harold Harris (CO of 5th Marine Regt. at Peleliu) 32 “The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor” by John T. Flynn 33 Letters, clippings, etc. concerning The Old Breed 1982-89 34 Letters, clippings, etc. concerning The Old Breed 1982-89 35 Excerpts from Japanese Ground and Air Forces (Washington, DC: War Department, 5-1-42) 36 Documents concerning Eugene B. Sledge’s Marine Corps service 37 Correspondence concerning E. B. Sledge’s participation in Psychological Preparation for Combat Panel, Marine Corps Command and Staff College; correspondence with Marine Corps Leadership Department Education Center 38 New York Times Book Review 9-3-89 (with review of Wartime by Paul Fussell), letter 10-4-89 concerning Wartime; The Atlantic August 1989 containing “The Real War 1939-45" by Paul Fussell 2 1 K Company (correspondence, etc. 1980-83) 2 K-3-5: 4 photographs ca. 1983 of members of K-3-5, 1 photograph taken at Guadalcanal memorial monument ceremony 8-13-82, muster roll 1982, correspondence, etc. BOX FILE DESCRIPTION 3 “Okinawa: `What’s Past is Prologue’” 4 Gazette correspondence: 2 photographs of Eddie Miller (9-17-77 and 1943); letter 9-15-83 and 1 photograph of Charles Leonard, Okinawa, March 1983; letter 2-28-83 and 1 photograph of Japanese bunker on Tarawa; letter 1-15-83 and 1 photograph; Christmas card and 1 photograph of Maj. Gen. James Day and Terry Doherty 3-17- 81; letter 9-25-81 and 3 photographs of “reunion”; letter 1-27-82 and World War II era photograph of Andy Haldane and John A.
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