This country is at war with Germany.

We shall go under the end.

I remember the sheets of flame that came up and almost blinded us for my guns.

Hello, welcome to another episode of the World War II podcast. I'm Alex Wallace.

In September 1944, a young marine Eugene Sledge landed on the Pacific Island of Pellalu.

As a Mortemann, Stretchbearer and Rifleman, Sledge would fight his way across Pellalu

and then the Japanese Island of Okinawa.

Arguably two of the fiercest and filthiest battles of the Pacific campaign.

After the war, Eugene Sledge will become a university professor and turn his diary notes

from the war into a memoir of his experiences in the Marines, entitled,

with the all-breed at Pellalu and Okinawa.

The book relates to the dehumanising brutality displayed by both sides and the animal hatred

that each soldier had for his enemy.

Sledge writes of the conditions on the islands that meant the Marines often could not wash,

stair-dry, digler trains, or even find time to wait.

Suffering from constant fear, fatigue and filth,

the struggle of simply surviving in a combat zone was utterly debilitating for these men.

With the all-breed, has proved to be highly influential and has been used as source material

for Ken Burns PBS 20 or 7 documentary The War, as well as the HBO 2010 mini-series The Pacific,

where Eugene Sledge was played by Joseph Mozilla.

Joining me today is Henry Sledge, Eugene's son.

But before we get started, just to remind you, if you enjoy the podcast every few weeks,

...