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Rating: 
Summary: Best WWII Memoir I Have Ever Read
Review: Leckie's book is top notch. He weaves into the narrative a profound
insight into the spiritual side of warfare. It's not a religious
book in any sense of the word, but you will begin to understand what
goes on inside a man's soul as he faces the terrible rigors of
brutal combat. He describes living conditions in the jungles of
Guadalcanal and on the horrible wasteland that was Peleliu. His
narrative waxes eloquent as he tells the story of young Marines ripped
from the innocents of boyhood to the reality of Warriordom. You will
feel what he must have felt, surrounded by the unspeakable misery of
Jungle warfare against a bitter enemy. The book is unique in style and
difficult to put down. Leckie brings to life a period of our history
we all need to focus more attention on. Without the sacrifice of these
fine young men human liberty would be vanished from the face of the
earth. May their memory forever be enshrined in the pages of this
book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Warrior's Saga
Review: Leckie's talent as a writer is surpassed only by the visceral drama of his story. His story is riveting as he takes the reader from boot through his participation in the 1st Marine Division's battles in the Pacific through Peleliu. He literally lived out of his ruck, never seeing his sea bag, for over two years. Leckie is a craftsman, and entertains too with his tales of debauchery in Australia, tempered with the vocabulary of an earlier, more decorous America. He also warns, "Keep it up, America, keep telling your youth that mud and danger are only fit for intellectual pigs. Keep on saying that only the stupid are fit to sacrifice, that America must be defended by the low-brow and enjoyed by the high-brow. Keep vaunting head over heart, and soon the head will arrive at the complete folly of any kind of fight and meekly surrender the treasure to the first bandit with enough heart to demand it." The thoughtful military reader will be interested in the differences between today's warrior culture and that of half a century ago. Leckie's story is purely from his vantage point, and a great read in it's own right, but don't expect perspective or analysis. Anyone interested in Leckie's story would probably also enjoy With the Old Breed by Sledge. Sledge was also at Peleliu and went on to Okinawa with the 1st Marine Division. I found Sledge's story more gripping, visceral and grim, ranking with The Forgotten Soldier by Sajer as some of the best chronicling of war.
Rating:
Summary: A Warrior's Saga
Review: Leckie's talent as a writer is surpassed only by the visceral drama of his story. His story is riveting as he takes the reader from boot through his participation in the 1st Marine Division's battles in the Pacific through Peleliu. He literally lived out of his ruck, never seeing his sea bag, for over two years. Leckie is a craftsman, and entertains too with his tales of debauchery in Australia, tempered with the vocabulary of an earlier, more decorous America. He also warns, "Keep it up, America, keep telling your youth that mud and danger are only fit for intellectual pigs. Keep on saying that only the stupid are fit to sacrifice, that America must be defended by the low-brow and enjoyed by the high-brow. Keep vaunting head over heart, and soon the head will arrive at the complete folly of any kind of fight and meekly surrender the treasure to the first bandit with enough heart to demand it." The thoughtful military reader will be interested in the differences between today's warrior culture and that of half a century ago. Leckie's story is purely from his vantage point, and a great read in it's own right, but don't expect perspective or analysis. Anyone interested in Leckie's story would probably also enjoy With the Old Breed by Sledge. Sledge was also at Peleliu and went on to Okinawa with the 1st Marine Division. I found Sledge's story more gripping, visceral and grim, ranking with The Forgotten Soldier by Sajer as some of the best chronicling of war.
Rating:
Summary: An Eloquent Account of Wartime Experience
Review: Robert Leckie gives a gripping first person narrative in which he seemingly pulls no punches about life in the mud and among the flawed but heroic men of the First Marine Division. He recounts hardship, cameraderie, and combat in an engaging, almost lyrical, fashion. I came away from "Helmet" with a renewed respect for the sacrifice of the Greatest Generation. Uncommon valor was truly a common virtue. Leckie's story will make any 18 year old want to march down to the recruiting station and sign up. Leckie's story dovetails quite nicely with another memoir, "With the Old Breed at Peliliu and Okinawa," the account of another First Division rifleman, E.B. Sledge. The First Marine Division's WWII career began in the jungles of Guadalcanal, went through New Britain and on to Peliliu and ended at Okinawa. Leckie was in at the beginning, but his combat career ended when he was wounded in the Hell of Peliliu. Sledge's combat career began at Peliliu and ended on Okinawa. Together the two give you an enlisted man's eye view of all the First Division's campaigns. Sledge doesn't turn a phrase as well as Leckie, but his description of combat will make your blood run cold in a way that "Helmet" does not. Any 18 year old reading "Old Breed" will want to tear up his enlistment papers. It seems odd that Leckie, obviously the more accomplished wordsmith, does not paint as horrific a picture of combat as Sledge. Could it be that Leckie has shied away from revealing the full extent of the hardship of combat? Or could it be that Peliliu and Okinawa served up privation and hardship on a much grander scale than Guadalcanal and New Britain? Read both books and decide for yourself. For all its stark description, "Old Breed" will engender the same kind of respect for the men of the First Division that the reader takes away from "Helmet."
Rating:
Summary: An Eloquent Account of Wartime Experience
Review: Robert Leckie gives a gripping first person narrative in which he seemingly pulls no punches about life in the mud and among the flawed but heroic men of the First Marine Division. He recounts hardship, cameraderie, and combat in an engaging, almost lyrical, fashion. I came away from "Helmet" with a renewed respect for the sacrifice of the Greatest Generation. Uncommon valor was truly a common virtue. Leckie's story will make any 18 year old want to march down to the recruiting station and sign up. Leckie's story dovetails quite nicely with another memoir, "With the Old Breed at Peliliu and Okinawa," the account of another First Division rifleman, E.B. Sledge. The First Marine Division's WWII career began in the jungles of Guadalcanal, went through New Britain and on to Peliliu and ended at Okinawa. Leckie was in at the beginning, but his combat career ended when he was wounded in the Hell of Peliliu. Sledge's combat career began at Peliliu and ended on Okinawa. Together the two give you an enlisted man's eye view of all the First Division's campaigns. Sledge doesn't turn a phrase as well as Leckie, but his description of combat will make your blood run cold in a way that "Helmet" does not. Any 18 year old reading "Old Breed" will want to tear up his enlistment papers. It seems odd that Leckie, obviously the more accomplished wordsmith, does not paint as horrific a picture of combat as Sledge. Could it be that Leckie has shied away from revealing the full extent of the hardship of combat? Or could it be that Peliliu and Okinawa served up privation and hardship on a much grander scale than Guadalcanal and New Britain? Read both books and decide for yourself. For all its stark description, "Old Breed" will engender the same kind of respect for the men of the First Division that the reader takes away from "Helmet."
Rating:
Summary: The Man Can Write
Review: Robert Leckie, machine gunner and then scout in the 1st Marine Division, retells his battle experiences on Guadalcanal, New Britain and the horrific losses suffered on Peleliu. In addition to the battle descriptions, this rebel and admitted brig-rat, writes of time spent in the brigs and bars from the states to the South Pacific. The loss of friends and the meaning of war itself are woven into the narrative with skill absent any maudlin sentiment. He paints a vivid picture of the fear brought on by night in the jungle during war. "I could not see, but I dared not close my eyes lest the darkness crawl beneath my eyelids and suffocate me. I could only hear. My ears became my being and I could hear the specks of life that crawled beneath my clothing... I could hear the darkness gathering against me and the silences that lay between the moving things." If this is "brig-rat" writing, then bring on more of it.
Rating:
Summary: Best WWII Memoir I Have Ever Read
Review: Simply put, this is a forgotten classic that is beautifully written and is hands down the best WWII memoir out of the over 100 I have read. Do yourself a favor and get this book now since it was out of print for a long time and won't be in print for much longer.
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