Helmet for My Pillow

From Parris Island to the Pacific: A Young Marine's Stirring Account of Combat in World War II

By: Robert Leckie

Narrated by: James Badge Dale, Tom Hanks (introduction)

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries. James Badge Dale (who portrayed Robert Leckie) and Joseph Mazello (who played Eugene Sledge) bring all the passion and emotion of their riveting television performances to these new audio productions.

In Helmet for My Pillow, Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This riveting first-person account follows 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.

BONUS AUDIO: Tom Hanks, one of the executive producers, has written and narrated an original introduction to Helmet for My Pillow, where he describes his appreciation for the book's author, the narrators, and the soldiers who had fought in the cauldron of the Pacific Theater during World War II.

For more from Audible and Playtone, click here.

©1957 Robert Hugh Leckie. "The Battle of the Tenaru" c. 2001 by Robert Hugh Leckie. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Robert Leckie's unvarnished 1957 memoir paints a vivid picture of his experiences as a Marine on the frontlines of the Pacific Theater in WWII. Using the unadorned demeanor of a tough Marine, narrator James Badge Dale delivers Leckie's eloquent text with intensity and respect. He adopts a touch of humor when describing the occasional raucous camaraderie of the men but mostly employs a hard-boiled, sturdy veneer for Leckie's revealing and sometimes shocking narrative. Dale's unrelenting pronunciation of long "a"s (such as "a gun") is at first distracting but eventually comes to feel like the unyielding backbone of a young warrior facing the brutal action of battle. A brief introduction from Tom Hanks helps the listener anticipate the significance of this powerful American chronicle.” ( AudioFile)

“ Helmet for My Pillow is a grand and epic prose poem. Robert Leckie’s theme is the purely human experience of war in the Pacific, written in the graceful imagery of a human being who—somehow—survived.” (Tom Hanks)

“One hell of a book! The real stuff that proves the U.S. Marines are the greatest fighting men on earth!” (Leon Uris, author of Battle Cry)

One of the best account from WW2 1st hand

The HBO series The Pacific was an accurate series about the PTO (Pacific Theater of Operations) just as Band of Brothers was for the ETO (European Theater of Operations). I loved both series and since Robert Leckie was one of the main characters (as was Eugene “Sledge Hammer” Sledge. Both series are a true account of the respective of the 1st Marine Division in The Pacific and the 101st Airborne Division in Band of Brothers (Richard “Dick” Winters was one of the most significant men out of many who’s stories was portrayed in all 10 episodes- in addition to writing his own book. Highly recommended for anyone interested in WW2. Both of the two series on HBO or even the books. Personally I still which each series now and then. For me it was a prerequisite for any book about the events because once I saw the visual story, I wanted to read the books of Robert Leckie and Dick Winters.

Great marine first person perspective!

The book was a great story of sacrifice and the experience of those who served in the Pacific

Leckie took me with him and made me weep.

As the daughter of a decorated [discovered only after his death] quiet WW2 Army airman who served in the Philippines, Leyte Gulf, and Manilla, and the daughter-in-law of a US Marine, 3rd Div., who faught in Bougainville, then was moved to 1st Div. to fight in Guadalcanal and whose best friend was in 2nd Marines and who became MIA on Day 2 of Tarawa, I followed Leckie hungrily. Helmet for My Pillow helped feed that seemingly insatiable hunger to understand their untold stories.

Excellent

Worth every minute. Descriptive, personal, and gripping prose. One of a very fre books tgat captures the evil of war.

Great story makes me sad in the end but loved it overall

Great book really loved it. Makes you thankful for what you have for sure. Good book

read it many times, such a good writer

As I enjoy personal memoirs over historical, not only is Helmet an awesome 1st hand account, but Lucky is such a good writer. Would that we all lived our lives daily demonstrating attitude, character, courage and belief in the Constitution. Living daily remembering what that great generation accomplished to honor their memory and fidelity. Hoosier, Chuckler, Runner and Lucky.

~ Semper Fi

What an Amazing Account!

Amazing ,shocking, funny and so very Sad..
His account from Parris Island to Peleliu was so vivid I could almost visualize it all ..He was a Soliders Solider Brave, tough, fearless in Battle just as he was careless, selfish, thoughtless and
ill tempered while Stateside and In Melbourne.
He Loved his comrades as most Soliders do.
The Lost Comrades in Arms I am certain he though about everyday until his death..
may they all rest in Peace.

Excellent books!

Very easy to listen to and enjoy!
I now want to go back and watch the HBO “The Pacific “ again!!

Thought I was listening to Shakespeare

The story was well documented . I thought it was over the top sometimes, to flowery. Thought I might be listening to Henry the fifth sometimes. It seem he was a antihero ,a rebel against all things. At the end he pulled hisself together and paid proper respects to himself and the men he served with.

Outstanding!!!

Beautifully written, and honest in every way! A testament to the fighting men of the Marines in the Pacific!