You'll Be Sor-ree!: A Guadalcanal Marine Remembers the Pacific War

I love this book and the way it was written. Sid Phillips comes across as a funny, mischievous, happy person, and it shows in the way he writes his books. He keep me engaged from beginning to end, there was not one dull moment in his book. I recommend it. Also, I recommend watching the Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks Series, "The Pacific." I believe some of it was based on Sid Phillips's experiences of WWII, in the Pacific. A++

Nice read about how the GIs survived between battles.

Sorry, Dr. Sid and fellow vet. Wish you had written a fresh combat account much earlier in your life or, ideally, right after the war. Or even two separate books if you felt your family needed this white-washed one. This one is supposed to be some humor and no combat, but most anecdotes are mild, tongue-in-cheek, and the reader hardly knows that there is a brutal war going on all around these congenial young fellows in the Pacific. Sid says his wife censored even more. Too bad for WWII historians. This is like reading about the stage sets and props for WWII, some of the mechanical and logistical details of train and ship movements and food available, without any fighting going on. It is a disservice to suggest that Guadalcanal was a casual bunch of laughs and lightheartedness.

This book is a classic Non Fiction piece of work about what the Heroes of WWII went through to save our Freedoms during these many horrible battles that took place in the Pacific.The are man to man stories about the experiences of these Vets and the horrible conditions they fought in and also first hand details about what the war was really like with Japan.Did you all know that Japan never had to pay any money back to the free world for the people they killed and the damages they caused? In fact they only have less than a sentence in their Jap History books about the war and only 4 or 5 words talk about the horrible massicure that occured in "The Rape of Nan King" when the Japanese went into China and killed over 300,000 Chinaese women, children and older people. If you have not read this book buy it, It is a horror filled book that all need to read,Then maybe we will not be so anxious to go to war.I could only read a few pages at a time of this book written by a Japanese woman because of the details she gives. But it is a part of History we must NEVEr let be forgotton

This book was just so easy to read I wanted a follow up. The narrative is so easy to follow and the text is just so enjoyable. I had just finished reading Island of the Damned and watching The Pacific and this book filled in a few of the loose ends and helped me to understand many of the things that the mini-series didn't explain.The book is affordable, colorful, and easy to read. I got the distinct feeling that Sid Phillips was a fairly naive young man when he joined the Marines. He often describes times when he was pulling this or that fellow Marine out of a fight or away from a bar. We don't often hear of Sid himself committing any such sins which may be more of a reflection of his audience (the book was originally written for his family members to read) than the true nature of his behavior.There were also a number of technical issues that were made clear when reading the text such as the mechanics of operating a mortar and the way a mortar team worked. I greatly enjoyed this aspect of the book and the care taken to describe uniforms, the way meals were prepared, types of rations and so forth.I guarantee that you will be happy to have this book in your collection.

I bought this book after reading Helmet For my Pillow by Robert Leckie, and I wanted more. Unlike Helmet For my Pillow, Sid Phillips' book is written from the perspective of a man recollecting events many years after the fact. As some reviewers have pointed out it's sometimes hard to follow the events and how they correlate to specific battles, but that seems to be pretty typical of first-person accounts. That's the fog of war plus 50 or so years. Regardless, I loved this book. Like Leckie, Phillips really captures the individual hardships faced by a young, non-rate Marine. His struggle was right in front of his face as he had little idea what the big picture was. He did it right though because he talked about what he knew and didn't second-guess it later. Phillips has a great sense of humor and that's a big part of what he remembers. As a 14+ year Marine I can relate to his experiences, although times and the Marine Corps have certainly changed from his era. My advice: read it!

The author tells his stories in much the same way as my uncle told his about the hell of war on Guadalcanal. Veterans of that campaign of 1942/43 did not offer to tell their stories. If family and friends wanted to hear them, and we did, it was necessary to coax them into saying more about their harrowing experiences. The author does not claim to be a skilled writer, but he does a nice job of telling intriguing stories and anecdotes. He writes them as he would speak them. Reading his words brings back vivid memories of stories my beloved uncle told of the same events. Who knows? Sid Phillips and J.D. Beilue may have known each other. I can never know now if they did, but what I can know, and do know, is that both of these men fought valiantly alongside each other on that God-forsaken island in the Pacific Ocean.

Having read Eugene Sledge's book, With The Old Breed, and Bob Leckie's, Helmet For My Pillow, both tours de force on the experience of the Marine grunt in WW2, I was keen to read Sid Phillips perspective on the matter. I was not disappointed. Although the book lacks the literary style of Sledge and Leckie, it shines as a tale of the basic life of a Gaudalcanal Marine. There are no heroics, no dwelling on the strategy, just life as it was. Hard, yes, dirty, yes, dangerous and deadly, hell yes! But above all there is the sense of the cameraderie, the closeness and friendship of men in combat. I can remember hearing Sid Phillips' voice from 'The Pacific' and it formed the soundtrack as I read this book. His Alabama lilt served to tell the tale for me. Absolutely 5 stars and a worthy piece of writing from a generation of men (and women) to whom we can never truly repay our debt.

This book is written in a little lighter than average vein of the usual book of war stories.I wanted to read this book as the author is a contemporary of Eugene Sledge who wrote With the Old Breed, one of the definitive books about the Marines' Pacific campaigns. Sid Phillips doesn't try to outdo what has been written before. He puts a bit lighter spin on things.Quite an enjoyable book.

Bought this book as I love reading the stories from the people on the ground. Excellent book.. It is not written like most books where it's doom and gloom with grotesque details but of funny experiences and just the day to day BS these guys had to put up with.

This book tells the remarkable true story of a brave & heroic generation...They are (The Allies) the greatest generation to have ever lived...We live in freedom because they stood, looked into the Abyss & didn't turn back...I'm so proud & grateful...God Bless Them All...

I didn't read it but bought it for my Dad who loves real life story's of the wars.He really enjoyed this book and would recomend it to someone else.