China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II : typescript
Collection
Identifier: W-0120
Scope and Contents
This collection contains a 107-page typescript of China Marine, a memoir written by Eugene Boundrant Sledge and published posthumously by the University of Alabama Press in 2002. China Marine serves as a sequel to Sledge's 1981 memoir With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa in which Sledge described the World War II island battles. China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II describes the post-war occupation of China and Sledge's return to civilian life in Mobile.
Dates
- 2002
Creator
- Sledge, E. B. (Eugene Bondurant) (Author, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.
Biographical / Historical
Eugene Bondurant Sledge was born on November 4, 1923, in Mobile, Alabama. In 1942, he enrolled as a student in Marion Military Institute; in December 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Sledge attended a military officer training program at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1943-1944. After finishing the program, he completed basic training and was assigned as a mortarman in Company K, Third Battalion, Fifth Regiment, First Marine Division.
The division was assigned to the Pacific Theater, where they participated in a number of costly island battles. In September 1944, Sledge fought in the Battle of Peleliu Island. On April 1, 1945, he fought for eighty-two days at Okinawa, in the bloodiest campaigns fought in the Pacific. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Sledge was stationed Beijing, China. He served in China as a member of the occupation force until his honorable discharge in February 1946.
After the war, Sledge enrolled in Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). He received a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1949. After a short-lived real estate career in Mobile, Sledge returned to Auburn and earned his master of science degree in botany. He completed his studies at the University of Florida, earning his doctorate in zoology in 1960. After graduation, Sledge worked for two years at the Florida State Department of Agriculture before joining the faculty of Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo). Sledge taught biology at Montevallo until his retirement in 1990.
He married Jeanne Arceneaux in 1952; the couple had two sons, John and Henry.
Sledge published two notable memoirs describing his wartime experiences. The first, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa was published in 1981; the second, China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II, was published in 2002.
Sledge died on March 3, 2001, and was buried at Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile.
Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama
The division was assigned to the Pacific Theater, where they participated in a number of costly island battles. In September 1944, Sledge fought in the Battle of Peleliu Island. On April 1, 1945, he fought for eighty-two days at Okinawa, in the bloodiest campaigns fought in the Pacific. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Sledge was stationed Beijing, China. He served in China as a member of the occupation force until his honorable discharge in February 1946.
After the war, Sledge enrolled in Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). He received a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1949. After a short-lived real estate career in Mobile, Sledge returned to Auburn and earned his master of science degree in botany. He completed his studies at the University of Florida, earning his doctorate in zoology in 1960. After graduation, Sledge worked for two years at the Florida State Department of Agriculture before joining the faculty of Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo). Sledge taught biology at Montevallo until his retirement in 1990.
He married Jeanne Arceneaux in 1952; the couple had two sons, John and Henry.
Sledge published two notable memoirs describing his wartime experiences. The first, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa was published in 1981; the second, China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II, was published in 2002.
Sledge died on March 3, 2001, and was buried at Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile.
Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Overview
Unbound typescript of China Marine, written by Eugene Bondurant Sledge. The manuscript is 107 pages long and contains typed publisher's notations about formatting.
Physical Location
The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, The University of Alabama
Provenance
Gift of A. S. Williams III, 2010
Processed by
Haley Aaron, 2013
Creator
- Sledge, E. B. (Eugene Bondurant) (Author, Person)
- Williams, A. S., III (Collector, Person)
Source
- Williams, A. S., III (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Guide to China Marine: An Infantryman's Life after World War II : typescript
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- January 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository