940s

I still remember the scent of World War II books in the Seven Oaks Elementary library. They smelled of battleships and fatigues. I loved these non-fiction accountings of soldiering on against Nazis and Japs. Liked stories of the Pacific Theater best. The high heat and sand and palm trees of the islands reminded me of my home in South Carolina.

The release of HBO’s The Pacific has sent me back to those books. I’ve not seen this follow-up to Band of Brothers yet, but I am already waist-deep in Robert Leckie’s stark and gorgeous “Helmet for My Pillow.” That and E.B. Sledge’s muscular “With the Old Breed” were the basis for the mini-series.

Leckie’s descriptions in “Helmet for My Pillow” read more as poetry than pure prose. Though a chronological account, he often inserts flash-forwards to the horror of island fighting...to chilling effect.