Good Stuff

A young Eugene Sledge

The WSJ lists five of the best of WWII first person accounts:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703466704575489831012445628.html?KEYWORDS=QUARTERED+SAFE.  I've read two of them: Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here" and E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed."  Outstanding books, both of them.  Fraser is a superior writer (see the Flashman series), so his is very, very well done.  Sledge is an interesting story due to the fact that he was sort of a smart, sensitive type who got thrown into the maelstrom of the Pacific island fighting against the Japanese and he kept quite meticulous notes between the lines of his bible and later wrote it all down years later when he was leading the life of a quite biology professor.  Haven't read the others listed though Von Lauck's "Panzer Commander" looks eerily similar to the last on the list.