| Tony "Kathy" Peck | |
|---|---|
 Peck in Okinawa | |
|
Actor |
Christopher Foy |
|
Rank |
Private |
|
Battles |
Battle of Okinawa |
|
Status |
Unknown |
Pvt. Tony "Kathy" "Boot" Peck was one of two replacements in Eugene Sledge's unit who was deployed to Okinawa.
History[]
It is mentioned in Eugene Sledge's memoirs that Tony Peck was already married to someone else before meeting Kathy, a beautiful chorus girl from California from whom the others derived Peck's nickname, who he had an affair with some time after, causing him to go into conflict with himself since he still loved his wife very much, but he could not stop thinking about Kathy.
He was drafted into the marines, earning some backlash from the veterans of Peleliu, before he could resolve this issue.
Okinawa[]
Peck first appears in Okinawa along with fellow replacement Pvt. Hamm. It is clear from the start just how inexperienced he is when a Peleliu veteran, Cpl. Merriel "Snafu" Shelton, tricks him out of his new poncho. He is instead left with Snafu's nasty old poncho which had holes in it.
This causes problems early in the battle, as he finds a new and better poncho being used to cover some mortar rounds from the rain. Peck immediately switches ponchos which causes the rounds to be rendered unusable by a rainstorm. This earns some backlash from the veterans.
One of the veterans was particularly unpleasant towards Peck, Pfc. Bill Leyden, constantly making perverted comments towards Kathy and teasing him at every oppurtunity. Eventually, even the veterans know that he takes it too far when he snatches Peck's picture of Kathy away from him. Leyden got wounded by an explosion (again) shortly after. He survives, but Peck feels a bit guilty after this turn of events.
Mental Breakdown[]
Things only get worse for Peck as afterwards, he finally breaks during a verbal fight between Sledge and Snafu. He runs to an exposed position and tries to goad the enemy to shoot him. He succeeds partially, as none of the bullets actually hit him yet. Snafu, Hamm, and Sledge go over to get him out of the line of fire. Peck is saved, but Hamm is killed, leading Sledge to beat him until he is stopped by Snafu. A superior officer arrives and orders two marines to lead Peck off the line. He is presumably sent either home or to the mental facility on Banika.
Like Ronnie Gibson before him, his eventual fate is unknown.
Trivia[]
- In With the Old Breed, Sledge mentions that he and Peck (referred to by his nickname) actually became good friends in Pavuvu before the Battle of Okinawa, even exchanging some friendly dialogue before an episode with 1Lt. Lovejoy (replaced by 2Lt. Mac in the series)..
- In With the Old Breed, Sledge makes no mention of his status as a draftee. Sledge and Peck had a friendly relationship and there is no allusion towards his perceived cowardice or mental breakdown that resulted in Hamm's demise.
- There's still a bit of an argument whether Peck is nicknamed by Cpl. Shelton as "Boot" which is the most likely term as it is used to call the newly arrived replacement Marines (As compared to Salt or Old Salt, A veteran Marine).
- He is sometimes refered to as "pecker".