Eugene Sledge was born in Mobile, AL, on Nov. 4, 1923, the second son of Edward and Mary Frank Sledge. His father was a successful and prominent physician. As a child Eugene was sickly, suffering from malaria and rheumatic fever, and was even confined to a wheel chair for a time. The rheumatic fever left him with a heart murmur which would play a significant role later in his life.

As Eugene grew he became healthier and soon was enjoying an active life. He hunted and fished with his father and played in the Murphy High School Band with his best friend, Sidney Phillips. Eugene also became interested in biology at an early age, especially the study of birds.

Driving home from a hunting trip in Mississippi with his father in December of 1941, news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crackled over the car radio. Eugene’s life, along with hundreds of thousands of other young men, would be changed forever. He began an officer training program, but because of youthful impatience and a fierce determination to serve his country, he and the rest of his class, purposely flunked themselves out.

Eugene enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and became a 60mm mortarman with K Company, 3d Battalion, 5^th Marines, 1^st Marine Division. He saw heavy action at Peleliu in 1944 and Okinawa in 1945. He kept notes in a pocket New Testament about his experiences. After surviving both of those campaigns without a scratch he was sent to North China for occupation duty.

Upon returning home in February, 1946 Eugene Sledge was discharged from the Marine Corps. He married Jeanne Arceneaux in March 1952 and eventually became a biology professor at the University of Montevallo. In 1981 his classic memoir of his time as a Marine infantryman, “With the Old Breed”, was published by Presidio Press. Eugene Sledge died at his home on March 3^rd, 2001, after a long fight with stomach cancer. His second book, “China Marine”, was published posthumously by University of Alabama press in late 2001. He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Jeanne, and their two sons, John and Henry.