Robert Leckie (author)

Robert Hugh Leckie (December 18, 1920 – December 24, 2001) was an American author and journalist. After serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, Leckie worked as a writer and newspaperman, eventually writing more than 40 books, both non-fiction and fiction. His war memoir Helmet for My Pillow, along with Eugene B. Sledge's With the Old Breed, formed the basis for the HBO's 2010 television series The Pacific. In the series, Leckie is portrayed by James Badge Dale.

Early life Leckie was born on December 18, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of eight children in an Irish Catholic family. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey, where he attended St. Mary High School.Rohan, Virginia. "War Through His Eyes", The Record, March 14, 2010. "Leckie and Vera Keller lived next door to each other in Rutherford..... But Vera was three years younger than he, and she went to Rutherford High School, while he went to St. Mary's High School."

Military service On January 18, 1942, Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in combat in the Pacific theater as a scout and a machine gunner in H Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division; among his company mates was Sidney Phillips.

Leckie saw combat in the Guadalcanal campaign, including the Battle of the Tenaru, and the Battle of Cape Gloucester in 1942–1943. He was sent on leave twice: first a prolonged stay in Melbourne, Australia, after Guadalcanal, and then a hospital stay at Naval Base Banika Island to recover from frequent nocturnal enuresis brought about by combat stress. In Melbourne, Leckie spent time in a military prison after brandishing a firearm at his commanding officer while inebriated.

During the airfield assault at the Battle of Peleliu, Leckie had to run back the opposite way to fetch a radio operator after one was killed in the assault. While searching, Leckie was caught in the ammo supply explosion, which sent him flying into a tree. Leckie suffered a blast concussion and internal wounds from this, and was evacuated to an army field hospital in the Russell Islands, never serving in combat again. He returned to the United States in March 1945, and was honorably discharged shortly thereafter. Leckie's decorations include the Purple Heart and the Navy Commendation Ribbon with a "V" device.

Writing career

Leckie began writing professionally at age 16, working as a sports writer for The Bergen Evening Record in Hackensack, New Jersey. Following World War II, Leckie attended Fordham University but did not graduate, saying he "never liked the classroom." Instead, he 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.

In 1951, Leckie was inspired to write a war memoir after seeing the musical South Pacific, saying, "I have to let people know the war wasn't a musical." The resulting memoir was his first and best-selling book, Helmet for My Pillow, published in 1957.Booknotes, Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II, Transcript of Interview with Robert Leckie, 3 September 1995 Leckie wrote more than 40 books, with his histories spanning from the French and Indian War to Desert Storm.Interview with Brian Lamb, 1995.

Personal life and death After returning home from World War II, Leckie married his childhood friend and neighbor Vera Keller, with whom he had three children. Leckie died of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 81 at his home Byram Township, New Jersey, on December 24, 2001."HBO series based on Byram man's war story", New Jersey Herald, March 6, 2010. Accessed February 23, 2022. "One night in 1951, Robert Leckie and his wife Vera stepped out to see the musical South Pacific.... The Byram writer and his memoir are the main focus of the HBO miniseries The Pacific, debuting March 14." He was interred at St. Joseph's Mausoleum in Newton, New Jersey. Vera died in 2024 at the age of 100.

Bibliography

Military history

Warfare: A Study of War

Autobiography

Catholic history These Are My Heroes: A Study of the Saints A Soldier-Priest Talks to Youth American and Catholic

Fiction Ordained

The Bloodborn Forged in Blood Blood of the Seventeen Fires

Youth books

The Story of World War Two The Story of World War One The War in Korea "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." The World Turned Upside-Down 1812: The War Nobody Won The Big Game Keeper Play (Sandy Steele #1, as by "Roger Barlow") (Sandy Steele #2, as by "Roger Barlow") (Sandy Steele #3, as by "Roger Barlow") (Sandy Steele #4, as by "Roger Barlow") (Sandy Steele #5, as by "Roger Barlow") (Sandy Steele #6, as by "Roger Barlow")

Robert Leckie (author)

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