Friendship and Camaraderie Theme Analysis

After witnessing so many horrors on Peleliu and Okinawa, Eugene Sledge concludes that war is savage and uncivilized. However, he also realizes that he has formed special bonds with his companions, established in a context of intense solidarity and emotional turmoil. He concludes that fighting would have been impossible without the support he drew from his comrades in Company K. Paradoxically, though, these special bonds of friendship, based on a commitment to each other’s lives, highlight how intensely different the realm of war is from the routine of ordinary civilian life. Ultimately, the book suggests that, although friendship formed around shared combat experience plays an essential part in maintaining soldiers’ well-being, it also highlights soldiers’ exclusion from the civilian population, thus making their return to civilian life all the more difficult.

To Sledge, none of what he experienced in the war would have been endurable without the support of his war companions. To him, shared feelings of companionship and solidarity play a crucial role in giving the Marines the strength to fight. The 5th Marines Regiment that Sledge is assigned to has a long history of military success and valor. Such prestigious history builds a strong sense of pride and loyalty (an “esprit de corps”) among its members, which makes Sledge feel as though he is part—as the book’s title suggests—of “the old breed,” an honorable line of esteemed combatants. In fact, Sledge often notes that his division’s discipline, sense of duty, and patriotism gives his comrades the high morale necessary to get through the war. Far from being trivial, this feeling of being part of a tight-knit family allows Marines to cooperate and rely on each other during the difficult moments of combat.

Beyond group identity, shared physical and emotional experience also plays an important role in bringing fighters together. On Peleliu, Sledge once confides in “Hillbilly,” his machine-gun platoon leader, about how depressed and terrified war makes him feel. Hillbilly then explains that all soldiers, including himself, experience fear, but that what ultimately matters is being able to do one’s duty. Sledge draws much comfort from this conversation and admires Hillbilly for his honesty. In turn, on Okinawa, Sledge is later able to recall this episode and reassure one of his comrades, who is overcome by fear and despair. Sledge thus realizes that he is paying Hillbilly’s kindness forward and participating in a network of solidarity, based on the shared emotional trauma that all soldiers endure. This allows Sledge to conclude that the only thing that makes war tolerable is friendship among the fighters: “War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades’ incredible bravery and their devotion to each other.”

However, if such friendships, formed in intense life-or-death situations, sustain soldiers during the war, they also make the return to civilian life all the more jarring. Indeed, as soldiers return home, the absence of such a tight-knit community often makes them feel depressed and isolated, unable to connect with the non-combatants at home. On Peleliu, Sledge understands that a deep gap has grown between him and ordinary civilians. “The fierce struggle for survival in the abyss of Peleliu eroded the veneer of civilization and made savages of us all. We existed in an environment totally incomprehensible to men behind the lines—service troops and civilians.” As Sledge abandons certain civilian principles, such as the duty not to kill others, he realizes that people back home will never fully understand his experiences during the war.

Although Sledge does not narrate his return to civilian life in With the Old Breed, he recalls other soldiers’ difficulties to adjust to life at home. When Sledge and his companions receive letters from former Company K members who are back in the U.S., they notice that these former fighters initially express relief at being back in a peaceful American setting, but “later the letters became disturbingly bitter and filled with disillusionment. Some expressed a desire to return if they could back into the old battalion.” The Company K Marines who are currently risking their lives in battle do not understand such attitudes, since they all dream of going home. However, the former Marines’ narratives suggest that peace and safety might be pleasant, but that “the good life and luxury didn’t seem to take the place of old friendships forged in combat.”

Company K members thus realize that, although war risks taking their lives, it also gives them the comfort of a community that cannot be replicated anywhere else. Even though all soldiers dream of returning home safely, they do not necessarily anticipate how isolated and lonely they are likely to feel once they are back. Although surviving the war is the soldier’s primary challenge, it appears that new, equally challenging ordeals might await them at home, as they will have to overcome the trauma of war and find new meaning in the routine of civilian life.