Whakakihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Eugene Bondurant Sledge i te Noema 4, 1923, i Mobile, Alabama, ki a Edward Simmons Sledge, he taakuta, me Mary Frank "Sturdivant" Sledge, he tumuaki mo nga akonga wahine i te Whare Wananga o Huntingdon. I puta ia i te Kura Tuarua o Murphy i Mobile i te puna o te tau 1942. Ko tana tuakana, ko Edward Simmons Sledge II, i whanau i te Mahuru 10, 1920, ka uru ki te Ope Taua o te United States. I haere ia ki te mahi i roto i te
Te whare tapere o Ūropi ki te Uru, i mahue i te ope taua me te taumata o te rangatira, a, i mate ia i te 23 o Mahuru, 1985. He tamaiti mate a Eugene, e rua nga tau o te kura i ngaro na te mate reumatic me tenei mate i waiho ai ia ki te ngakau. Heoi, i te wa i heke iho ai te ahua, i whakatenatena tona whanau ki a ia kia uru ki te whare wananga kaua ki te whakauru ki te ope taua. Ko tana hoa tata o te tamarikitanga a Sidney Phillips i tuhi ano ki a Sledge mai i Guadalcanal me te akiaki ia kia kaua e uru atu ki tetahi mea.