Who is Eugene Bondurant (E.B.) Sledge from With the Old Breed, at Peleliu and Okinawa and what is their importance?

E.B. Sledge, born November 4, 1923 and died March 3, 2001, is the author of the text and also the primary participant in most of the narrative structure; the text is presented as his memoir of World War II. Sledge was born in Alabama and graduated from a Mobile high school in 1942, subsequently joining the Marion Military Institute. Desiring to enter combat activities, he enlisted in the marines and was sent to an officer training academy. Fearing the war would end before he graduated, Sledge, along with many others, deliberately flunked out of the course and was subsequently assigned to the marine infantry as a private, ending in the 1st Marine Division, 5th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Company K, as a 60mm mortar assistant-gunner.