
Description
The intertwined journeys of three U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War II who see combat from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Moods
- Gritty
- Somber
- Gory

The intertwined journeys of three U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War II who see combat from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Leckie returns home; Sledge reunites with his family in Alabama, but is unsure why he survived unscathed.
Conditions and morality strain the Marines when they are sent to relieve an Army Division.
Basilone convinces the Marines to allow him to train troops headed for combat; Basilone enjoys a whirlwind romance with a female Marine.
The Marines are determined to fight to the last man; Sledge veers to the edge of a moral collapse.
The Marines attempt to capture the Peleliu airfield; Leckie is evacuated from the island; Sledge learns what is required to fight another day.
Basilone's celebrity grows on the war bonds tour; Sledge gets his first taste of combat; the 1st Marine Division meets Japanese resistance.
Sledge trains for combat at Camp Elliott; Leckie is hospitalized after displaying physical and mental effects of combat.
After the four-month ordeal on Guadalcanal, Leckie, Basilone and thousands of their comrades land in Melbourne; Leckie becomes involved with an Australian woman; Basilone is asked to return home to help sell U.S. war bonds.
Basilone and the 7th Marines arrive on Guadalcanal to reinforce the 1st Marine Division as they defend a crucial airstrip; Basilone suffers a personal loss; the exhausted members of the 1st Marine Division are evacuated.
In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Marine Sgt. John Basilone prepares to ship out; budding journalist Robert Leckie enlists in the Marine Corps; Sidney Phillips leaves for boot camp; the 1st Marine Division lands on Guadalcanal.