E. B. Sledge · 2002 · sea

E.B. Sledge's 2002 memoir, the quieter sequel to With the Old Breed. Having survived Peleliu and Okinawa, Sledge and the 1st Marine Division are sent not home but to North China in late 1945, part of the occupation force receiving the Japanese surrender amid a brewing civil war. It is a strange coda to the Pacific war: a young veteran finding unexpected beauty and humanity in Tientsin and Peiping before the long voyage home.

1. 1
   Okinawa

   With Japan surrendered and the Pacific war won, Eugene Sledge and the 1st Marine Division expect to go home from Okinawa, and instead receive orders for China.

2. 2
   Tientsin

   The Marines land in North China at Tientsin, sent to disarm and repatriate the defeated Japanese and to hold the cities and railways as civil war reignites around them.

3. 3
   Peiping

   Sledge moves inland to the ancient capital of Peiping, a war-weary infantryman walking the walls and temples of a country sliding toward revolution, before he is finally sent home.