Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific

Written by Robert Leckie

Narrated by John Allen Nelson

Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II. Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In Helmet for My Pillow, we follow his odyssey, from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war's fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country.



From the live-for-today rowdiness of marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what war is really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. Woven throughout are Leckie's hard-won, eloquent, and thoroughly unsentimental meditations on the meaning of war and why we fight. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow will leave no one untouched. This is a book that brings you as close to the mud, the blood, and the experience of war as it is safe to come.



Now producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the men behind Band of Brothers, have adapted material from Helmet for My Pillow for HBO's epic miniseries The Pacific, which will thrill and edify a whole new generation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 26, 2010
• ISBN: 9781400180509

Robert Leckie

See Book Description

Reviews for Helmet for My Pillow

[Thomas J. Moore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Robert Lucky’s book is his personal account of the war. It’s raw, emotional, humorous and eloquent at times. His writing is sometimes poetic. It is his experience and honestly, I am honoured to be allowed this glimpse into his life. Thomas

[Matt Bowen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

excellent book, great writing of a personal war story, WW2

[Nick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Made the characters real and was as a very gripping account.

[Christian Schneider · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Leckie is often hard to sympathize with in his story, but ultimately, you come around to sympathizing and being impressed by him and his honesty. This is a real and human experience and he does a great job telling it. If you found this book because of HBO's "The Pacific" you'll find they did a lot to make him more sympathetic character. The narrator of this audio version as an odd, halting voice, but he does great accents and voices so it might just take getting used to.

[read4to4live · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No matter which war, the most colorful stories from veterans are about the fun they had after hours, on R&R, or when they should have been working. Leckie is no exception to this rule. He gives all of his experiences, on and off duty, equal weight, but the war chapters read more like literary journalism -- densely-packed sentences where all the details are provided in lyrical abundance, but you have to work to picture the experience -- whereas the drunken shenanigans are effortlessly easy to follow. By the end of the book you have gotten to know Leckie and really like him, but the war parts of this memoir leave you wishing they had been fleshed out more. Nevertheless, this is a priceless first-hand account of Marines in the Pacific.

[marcuskb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Robert Leckie gives an honest and plain-speaking account of his experience of the war in the Pacific, he self censored to some extent but I guess that's what you'd expect from a book published in 1950s America. This, in my opinion, should be standard reading for school children during history lessons - it is certainly a book I wish I had read long ago.There are times when Leckie turns his hand towards the poetic and this didn't really work for me; saying that, it didn't detract from the book either. It will be interesting to read a few of his (30 or more) military history books to see how these differ from this autobiography.The ending of the book really struck a chord with me - Leckie quite matter-of-factly lists the good friends he lost during the various battles, and seems to accept that as part of life; he then discusses the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I have to quote him to have a chance of getting the severity across..."the whole world, racked for six years like a giant organism; and now the Sign of the Mushroom was rising over it. So it rose and I shrank in my cot...hearing now this strange cold incomprehensible jargon of the megaton. Someone had sinned against life, and I felt it in my very person." Finally, "...dear Father, forgive us for that awful cloud."

[kslade-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great Pacific war memoir. Compares to "With the Old Breed" which I also read.

[timbazzett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another library sale find, HELMET FOR MY PILLOW (2010 reprint edition) Robert Leckie's memoir of his time In the Marines in the Pacific Theater of WWII, immediately caught my eye because it's a book I remember being passed around between a group of high school classmates my senior year of high school (1961-62). And these were guys who hated school and normally didn't do ANY extracurricular reading. And four of those guys dropped out of school before graduation and enlisted in the Marine Corps. That's how influential this book was, and maybe still is. It was first published in 1957, and has, I think, remained in print ever since in various editions. Leskie, an award-winning newspaperman and writer, was a machine gunner and scout with the First Marines and fought in Guadalcanal, after which he enjoyed a rowdy R&R in Melbourne, made stops in New Guinea, New Britain and Goodenough Island, then fought in the bloody battle for Peleliu, before being invalided home for a severe case of shell shock. A Catholic boy from New Jersey, Leckie tells his story vividly, from Boot Camp at Parris Island all the way to a rehab hospital in West Virginia. Leckie wrote dozens of other books, mostly war histories, including books for YA readers.. He died in 2001. HELMET is a good book, a classic of the Second World War, and a valuable addition to my war lit collection. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA

[kcshankd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solid enlisted Marine's memoir of his war. Leckie became a career journalist, and this reads like it was reported from a local park.

[Rossysa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

He was just a dead soldier, and we cannot say that the mystery of the universe has left him, nor is it worth saying that the riddle is solved, that the mystery has ended just because it has changed residence. What shaped the fluttering of that nose, that widened the arm now bleeding, that forged a hand so fine that now hung limp, that still exists and still has the power to make that nose flutter, to bend that arm, to close that fist exactly as it did before. (Translated from Spanish)

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Newspaper reporter’s narrative of his life in the Marines during WWII, which is a lot more boredom and hunger than terror, though there is a fair amount of horror and death. Also a lot of racism; “Japs” is the only word ever used for the Japanese, and the various indigenous people of the Pacific appear as mostly silent and/or ridiculous, plus there’s the Southern racist whose charming quirk is how much he hates black people, but you had to like him anyway because “you” was a bunch of white guys. Takeaway: it’s possible to be a sharp observer of certain white/military foibles without being reflective in other ways.

[RafaVelasco92 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Simply spectacular (Translated from Spanish)

[whiskey3pa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written account by a Marine in 1st Division who was present until wounded on Peleliu. It is not always pleasant or feel good in nature, which is appropriate for the subject matter. He was not a conformist and had a temper which lands him in the brig, which makes this account a bit more unique. The confusion and chaos that was the Pacific campaign is brought home painfully. There is a fair amount of bitterness in his story which I dont begrudge but do mention for those looking for a more light or heroic tale. Reccommended reading, especially for those interested in the Pacific campaign.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Helmet For My Pillow is the written account of U.S. Marine, author and military historian Robert Leckie on his experiences during the Second World War. The book starts on the day of his enlistment and takes the reader through basic training and his assignment to the 1st Marine Division. He was deployed to the Pacific theatre with his first stop being the island of Guadacanal.

Helmet For My Pillow is a personal story about one actual on-the-ground ‘gyrene’. From his time fighting from island to island and his liberty adventures in Australia, his recollections are vivid and gives the reader a sense of what these young men went through on a day-to-day basis. The author was 21 when he enlisted and he and his fellow marines were sent into some of the war’s fiercest fighting. Eventually Robert Leckie was evacuated with wounds from the island of Peleliu.

From his sense of kinship with his fellow marines, the laughter and fun they shared to the harrowing battle scenes and the horror of dead bodies strewn about, the author gives the reader a glimpse of one man’s war experience which makes for a very gripping, interesting and intense read.

[marcusb01 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Robert Leckie gives an honest and plain-speaking account of his experience of the war in the Pacific, he self censored to some extent but I guess that's what you'd expect from a book published in 1950s America. This, in my opinion, should be standard reading for school children during history lessons - it is certainly a book I wish I had read long ago.

There are times when Leckie turns his hand towards the poetic and this didn't really work for me; saying that, it didn't detract from the book either. It will be interesting to read a few of his (30 or more) military history books to see how these differ from this autobiography.

The ending of the book really struck a chord with me - Leckie quite matter-of-factly lists the good friends he lost during the various battles, and seems to accept that as part of life; he then discusses the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I have to quote him to have a chance of getting the severity across...

"the whole world, racked for six years like a giant organism; and now the Sign of the Mushroom was rising over it. So it rose and I shrank in my cot...hearing now this strange cold incomprehensible jargon of the megaton. Someone had sinned against life, and I felt it in my very person." Finally, "...dear Father, forgive us for that awful cloud."

[kirklowery · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An "on the ground" memoir of a "foot slogger" of the 1st Marine Division in WWII: Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and elsewhere. The basis for the Spielberg/Hanks production "Pacific". Very engrossing.

[marshapetry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story but, I gotta admit, "With the Old Breed" was a better all around story. They are similar stories but this guy seems like he's always trying to get away with something... that's fine - it's his story - but not all that interesting. Worth a read, though, if you're like me and like to get your hands on any and all war stories.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent page turner that I could not put down. Leckie spends a good deal of the book chronicling his training at Parris Island and New River. Through his eyes, we enjoy the many characters he met while training and with whom he fought his battles against the Japanese and the military establishment. Bloody battles at Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu are vividly described as is the R & R he spent in Melbourne, Australia. This is one of the memoirs upon which the TV series, The Pacific, is based.

[coffyman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a former Vietnam era Marine, I've always been fascinated by the history of WWI. This is an amazing, well written book that keeps the reader engrossed through out the entire length. Loved it!

[prograde_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like some others wanted to watch the HBO miniseries THE PACIFIC that was based on books HELMET FOR MY PILLOW by Robert Leckie AND WITH THIS OLD BREED by E.B.Sledge after I had read the books first.

To be honest I kept asking myself "where was Leckie's editor?". He would use a certain phase or word every few pages and you knew you would see it again (and again) shortly. It was a very sing song type of writing that I found distracting to the story being told.

I'm not discounting this man's courage in the slightest just offering an opinion.

I was glad I read it before seeing the series.

[rory1000 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is at its best when describing the soldier's life outside of the combat zone. From a social history perspective the relationship between American servicemen and their Australian hosts was deeply fascinating.
This work is also a useful addition to the ever expanding literature on the effects of combat stress, and has great utility considering the era it was written in.

[mfrerichs_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is very well-written. A great and informing account of the war in the Pacific from the eyes of an enlisted man.

[steverambach · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to watch the HBO miniseries THE PACIFIC which was based on two books HELMET FOR MY PILLOW by Robert Leckie AND WITH THIS OLD BREED by E.B.Sledge. Together they take you through Guadalcanal through Okinawa. Leckie has a rich vocabulary and Sledge writes with his heart. Both powerful books with Sledge's book is extraordinary. Ken Burns featured Sledge in his documentary THE WAR. Reading done and not I can reward myself and watch THE PACIFIC.

[creighley_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Robert Leckie's experience as an enlisted marine in the Pacific during World War II. Although the hell of war is aptly portrayed, a better "feel" for a foot soldier's war can be had by reading, With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. As evidenced in the broad-spectrum of narratives of war, my question at the end of these is, How do these men survive being led by such baseless, conceited and inept officers? My only criticism of the book is that a lot of it tells the tale of the moments away from the madness of battle and gives lets one "rest" rather than be bombarded with the cruelty of battle.

[tbrennan1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book in one sitting as I was engrossed in the experiences of Leckie and his fellow Marines in the Pacific campaign. The author uses his newspaper background to detail a very unsentimental account of how civilians become heroes in the anvil of war. He recounts the horrors of combat and the irreverent attitude of the marines towards authority when off-duty.This novel adds to the literature of personal memoirs of war.

[linedog1848 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

From time to time someone writes a war memoir that is self-glorifying drivel. Those memoirs are worthless. Of the others, there really is no way to say that one is any more "true" than another as an account of military history; after all, they are not histories, they are personal narratives, and 100 people in the same place at the same time will have 100 unique experiences and interpretations of it.

With that said, I found that Leckie's memoir rang truer to my own experience of service and combat than any other war memoir I have read. Leckie's insights reflected a co-incidence of interests between me and him, and a commonality of how we interpreted much of what we have seen. The "polite deprecation" of civilians toward soldiers; the significance and pervasiveness of caste within the military structure; the counterintuitive value of "brig-rats" railing against that caste system; and simultaneously the disgust with those in the higher castes who, upon hearing the "shibboleth" of intellect, show pity toward you for the misfortune of serving in the infantry.

That life is full of contradictions--anger against the separation of classes, but pride in knowing oneself fit to be peers with the brass, yet choosing to be a private in the line. Having more in common with officers than with your fellow enlisted-men, yet looking down upon those officers for the weakness of moral character evidenced by their needing the privileges of rank.

And these ironies: excuses. All contradictory. All self-protective. All self-serving. All rationalizations. Most self-deceiving. But without them, how could one function in that world?

[mjmorrison1971 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very real account of the Pacific War from a front line solder. It is honest about the attitudes and behaviour these men but also places this into the context of the deprived conditions they were fighting in. It is interesting to compare Leckie's account of the early war in the Pacific, which seems to have included, for him less direct contact with the Japanese than the experience of Eugene Sledge fighting in the latter parts, and more psychological conflict with the jungle and the weather. Leckie and Sledge also provide a contrast in attitudes; Sledge the 'good' marine who never saw the brig and Leckie who made several visits there in his time. The final contrast of note between the tow marines is on the dropping of the Atomic bombs - the is no doubt that after his experiences at Okinawa Sledge feels it was full justified and save lives on both sides where as Leckie, while I think relieved the War was over describes the mushroom cloud the "symbol of our sin".

A very personal account of the war that does not try to give a big picture of what was going on but rather the everyday experience of the front line private. I don't know who said "war is a lot of waiting, followed by moments of intense fear" but this book describes both parts well and probably with close to the right weighing.

Well written and well worth the time and effort to read.