"I'm an Instant Rockstar!"
HBO made a series partly based on his work called "The Pacific". Robert Leckie was a journalist who joined the United States Marine Corps not long after Pearl Harbor. On the day he was shipped out to boot camp, he was loaded on a train with hundreds of others for the long trip to Parris Island. As the train chugged down the tracks, the young men began to interact with one another. Leckie noticed that many gathered around a fellow he names as "Red" because of his red hair. Red had been a catcher for the Saint Louis Cardinals, even hitting a homerun. "Red had been in the big time" wrote Leckie, and he became an instant hit on the lengthy trip. The other recruits began to gather around Red and "consult him about everything from pitching form to the Japanese General Staff. "Whaddya think it'll be like at Parris Island, Red?" "Hey, Red - you think the Japs are as tough as the newspapers say they are?" Red had become an instant Roc...