Robert Leckie (author)
Encyclopedia
Robert Leckie was an American
author of popular books on the military history
of the United States. As a young man, he served in the Marine Corps
with the 1st Marine Division during World War II
. His experiences as a machine gunner
and intelligence scout during the Battle of Guadalcanal and later campaigns are said to have greatly influenced his writing.
on December 18, 1920 to an Irish
Catholic
family of eight children. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey
. He began his professional writing career, before World War II, at age 16 as a sports writer for The Bergen Evening Record in Hackensack, New Jersey
.
In 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor
, Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps
. He served in combat in the Pacific theater, as a scout and a machine gun
ner in H Company, 2nd Battalion
, 1st Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division. He participated in every major 1st Marine Division campaign except Okinawa
. Robert Leckie was wounded by blast concussion on Peleliu
and evacuated, ending his combat tour.
Following World War II, Leckie worked as a reporter for the Associated Press
, the Buffalo Courier-Express
, the New York Journal American
, the New York Daily News
and The Star-Ledger
. He married Vera Keller, a childhood neighbor, and they had three children: David, Geoff and Joan. According to Vera, in 1951 he was inspired to write a memoir after seeing South Pacific
on Broadway and walking out halfway through. He said ‘I have to tell the story of how it really was. I have to let people know the war wasn’t a musical.’ His first and best-selling book, Helmet for My Pillow
, a personal war memoir, was published in 1957. Leckie subsequently wrote more than 40 books on American war history, spanning from the French and Indian War
(1754–1763) to Desert Storm (1991). Robert Leckie died in 2001 after fighting a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease
.
Leckie's war memoirs, Helmet for My Pillow
, along with Eugene B. Sledge
's book With the Old Breed
, formed the basis for the 2010 HBO series The Pacific
, the successor to Band of Brothers. He was portrayed in the miniseries by James Badge Dale
and Vera was portrayed by Caroline Dhavernas
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author of popular books on the military history
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
of the United States. As a young man, he served in the Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
with the 1st Marine Division during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His experiences as a machine gunner
MOS 0331
MOS 0331 is the U.S. Marine Corps infantry specialty for crew-served machine guns. A machine gun team can use a medium machine gun , a heavy machine gun , or an automatic grenade launcher . A machine gun crew is trained in the maintenance, first echelon repair, and deployment of these guns...
and intelligence scout during the Battle of Guadalcanal and later campaigns are said to have greatly influenced his writing.
Biography
Leckie was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
on December 18, 1920 to an Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family of eight children. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 18,061. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
. He began his professional writing career, before World War II, at age 16 as a sports writer for The Bergen Evening Record in Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....
.
In 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He served in combat in the Pacific theater, as a scout and a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
ner in H Company, 2nd Battalion
2nd Battalion 1st Marines
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed "The Professionals," the battalion consists of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors...
, 1st Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division. He participated in every major 1st Marine Division campaign except Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
. Robert Leckie was wounded by blast concussion on Peleliu
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S...
and evacuated, ending his combat tour.
Following World War II, Leckie worked as a reporter for the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, the Buffalo Courier-Express
Buffalo Courier-Express
The Buffalo Courier-Express was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 1982.The Courier-Express was created in 1926 by a merger of the Buffalo Daily Courier and the Buffalo Morning Express. William James Conners, owner of the Buffalo Courier, brought the two...
, the New York Journal American
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
, the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
and The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
. He married Vera Keller, a childhood neighbor, and they had three children: David, Geoff and Joan. According to Vera, in 1951 he was inspired to write a memoir after seeing South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
on Broadway and walking out halfway through. He said ‘I have to tell the story of how it really was. I have to let people know the war wasn’t a musical.’ His first and best-selling book, Helmet for My Pillow
Helmet for My Pillow
Helmet for My Pillow is the personal narrative written by World War II United States Marine Corps veteran, author and military historian Robert Leckie...
, a personal war memoir, was published in 1957. Leckie subsequently wrote more than 40 books on American war history, spanning from the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(1754–1763) to Desert Storm (1991). Robert Leckie died in 2001 after fighting a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Leckie's war memoirs, Helmet for My Pillow
Helmet for My Pillow
Helmet for My Pillow is the personal narrative written by World War II United States Marine Corps veteran, author and military historian Robert Leckie...
, along with Eugene B. Sledge
Eugene Sledge
Eugene Bondurant Sledge was a United States Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa chronicled his combat experiences during World War II and was subsequently used as source material for Ken Burns's PBS documentary, The War, as well as...
's book With the Old Breed
With the old breed
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa is a World War II memoir by Eugene Sledge, a United States Marine. Since its first publication in 1981, With the Old Breed has been recognized as one of the best first-hand accounts of combat in the Pacific during World War II...
, formed the basis for the 2010 HBO series The Pacific
The Pacific (miniseries)
The Pacific is a 2010 television series produced by HBO, Seven Network Australia, Sky Movies, Playtone and DreamWorks that premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010....
, the successor to Band of Brothers. He was portrayed in the miniseries by James Badge Dale
James Badge Dale
James Badge Dale is an American actor who starred in the AMC drama series Rubicon. He is most famous for his role of Chase Edmunds in the third season of 24 and Robert Leckie in the HBO miniseries The Pacific.-Early years:...
and Vera was portrayed by Caroline Dhavernas
Caroline Dhavernas
Caroline Dhavernas is a Canadian actress. Dhavernas is best known in the United States as "Jaye" from the short-lived television series Wonderfalls on Fox. She starred as Dr. Lily Brenner in the ABC medical drama Off the Map.-Life and career:...
.
Military history
On the Korean War. "Summary: A review of America’s major wars, from the French and Indian War to the War in Korea, with emphasis on eleven important battles: Quebec, Trenton, New Orleans, Mexico City, Chancellorsville, Appomattox, Santiago, Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and Pusan-Inchon."Medals and decorations
- Navy and Marine Corps Commendation RibbonCommendation MedalThe Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star, the Valor device may...
w/ Combat V - Purple HeartPurple HeartThe Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
- US Navy Presidential Unit CitationPresidential Unit Citation (US)The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941...
w/ 4 starStarA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalAsiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalThe Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was...
w/ 5 campaign stars - World War II Victory Medal