Private First Class Robert Leckie was born in Philadelphia on December 18, 1920.

He is portrayed by James Badge Dale in the HBO series The Pacific. Leckie was the youngest of eight children and was raised in an Irish Catholic family in Rutherford, New Jersey. Prior to the war, he worked as a sportswriter for The Bergen Evening Record. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 18, 1942.

Leckie served in the Pacific theater of WWII as a scout and machine gunner in H Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. He participated in the Battle of Tenaru, the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of Cape Gloucester, and the Battle of Peleliu. It was at Peleliu that Leckie was injured by the concussion from a blast. He was taken to an army field hospital in the Russell Islands and he returned to the United States in March 1945, after which he was honorably discharged. He received the Purple Heart for the wounds he sustained.

Leckie continued his work as a journalist after the war, writing for the Associated Press, the Buffalo Courier-Express, the New York Daily News, and other papers. He wrote dozens of books, mainly on military history. His first book, Helmet for My Pillow, was one of two books that became the basis for the HBO series.

The other book, With the Old Breed, was written by Marine Eugene B. Sledge, who is portrayed by Joseph Mazzello in the series. The Pacific depicts Leckie and Sledge meeting, but in real life, Leckie and Sledge never actually met.