For the week ending June 5, Eugene B. Sledge’s memoir With The Old Breed ranked #5 on The New York Times Best Sellers List (Paperback Nonfiction). With The Old Breed has been among the top ranking books on the Best Sellers List for eight consecutive weeks. First published in 1981, With The Old Breed has received endless praise as one of the best accounts of World War II battle in the Pacific Theater. HBO used material from With The Old Breed as the basis for the miniseries The Pacific.

By Dr. Malcolm R. Braid 

University of Montevallo Professor Emeritus of Biology 

      To better understand my relationship with Dr. Eugene B. Sledge, it may be helpful to know that I come from a military family myself, my father having been an Ordnance officer who served on Admiral Nimitz’s staff during WW II and who helped plan what munitions would be necessary for the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and ultimately Japan itself. Dad eventually was medically retired as a full Colonel after 26 years of service. One of my grandfathers retired also as a Colonel after 36 years of service. In fact, my mother was born in what used to be Fort McAllen, Texas, as my grandfather was in the U.S. Army Cavalry chasing after Pancho Villa. My older brother and I were in the U.S. Army, and my nephew served for eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps which included a tour of duty in Iraq. 

Photo courtesy of the Auburn University Libraries

     I began my undergraduate career at the University of Montevallo (then Alabama College) in 1965. It was during my spring, 1966 semester that I had Dr. Sledge as my General Zoology professor. I found him to be an intelligent, fair, and likeable person. Eventually, I would take at least four courses with him. A group of us Biology Majors became very close to Dr. Sledge during this time, and we began to call him “Uncle Eugene,” as he was an excellent mentor and father figure to us. He advised us not only about academic matters, but about other life concerns as well. (more…)