Chapter 9, Stay of Execution Summary and Analysis

The chapter title is derived from the fact that the landing is largely unopposed. Sledge lands amidst only intermittent and desultory fire. The various units move inland very quickly. A map of the initial force deployment at landing is provided. On the first night ashore, nerves get the best of Sledge and he fires at what he is sure is a Japanese infiltrator. In the morning he discovers it to be a haystack. K/3/5, with other units, quickly traverses the island and gains the far shore, encountering only a few Japanese soldiers—Okinawa civilians are more common but also fairly scarce. One day Sledge and a few other marines watch with interest as a Japanese mother nurses her baby. On another day Sledge and men from the entire company rescue a horse from a...