"Cape Gloucester, New Britain..." "It was one of the most brutal physical environments the Marines would face in the entire Pacific war." "At Cape Gloucester in a pre-invasion strike," "U.S. 5th Air Force planes strafed enemy positions and dropped 400 tons of bombs on the beaches." "The main objective was to capture two military airfields on the western tip of New Britain, in order to isolate a major Japanese base at Rabaul on the eastern end of the island." "The invasion began December 26, 1943." "It was the very beginning of the rainy season and honestly I have never seen it rain anywhere in the world, uh, like it did on Cape Gloucester." "We stayed wet most of the time." "And we wore the same clothes" "I think for at least three months." "My shoes had just about rotted off completely, and uh, two little toenails had completely gone." "Everywhere you went it was knee-deep mud." "Vehicles could barely move." "We actually saw a bulldozer go down and disappear in the mud." "For the Marines the conditions in the jungle and the unrelenting warfare took a physical and psychological toll." "The only place I ever saw the Marines morale go to hell." "As bad as it was in the other places, it didn't, but the morale went straight down." "Everybody was exhausted." "I mean, physically exhausted, mentally exhausted." "And, uh, you'd get to the point that you just don't give a damn." "You know?" "Welcome to Australia, mates." "We love you." "How many Japs you kill, Yank?" "You kill many Japs?" "Everyone's going AWOL, nobody's stopping them." "I've got to be a part of this." "Drink it out of the glass without spilling." " Excuse me." " Hey, Leckie!" "Whoa!" "Attaboy." "Are you proposing already, Yank?" "I'm proposing that you take a walk with me." "You never know what the future may bring." "You have to go away, Bob." "If you don't come back to us," "I don't just lose you, mama does too." "You're dumping me because you think I'm gonna get killed?" "Leckie, what are you doing?" "Manning this fucking post, lieutenant." "Are you out of your mind?" "I'm the fucking guard on guard duty, you fucking asshole." "You pull a fucking sidearm on an officer?" "Lieutenant, I went for a quick piss." "Leckie was just covering." "You fucking prick!" "I volunteered you for reassignment to the battalion intelligence section." "You're booting us?" "No, not you." "Leckie." " Hanging!" " Fire!" "73 1/2 charge zero!" " God damn it, Sledge!" " 73 1/2..." "Oswalt!" "Hurry!" "Come on, I'm waiting on you!" " Today!" " Guns up!" " Hurry!" " Ammo!" "Hurry!" "Fuck." "What happened, Sledge?" "You find out "Bob" was drilling your girlfriend?" "Dave wouldn't give you any more hand jobs?" "What was it?" "You shot outside the correction." "I thought you said "Drop 2-5," sir." "Oh, you thought?" "For Christ's sakes, if you don't know, you ask." "Say again your correction, sergeant." "You got artillery shrieking overhead, machine-gun fire, so you yell it." "You scream it if you have to because you just killed two of your best friends while Tojo and Fuck Face over there continue to hose our line." "Make a school circle!" "You're Marines now." "You're not recruits." "You ever think you're gonna fire a short round, you say so in the most forceful manner possible." "You hear me, Sledge?" "Yes, sergeant!" "Back to the line." "Let's try this again." "Porter and Barkley, you're up." "♫ hail the heaven-born prince of peace ♫" "♫ hail the son of righteousness ♫" "♫ light and life to all he brings ♫" "♫ risen with healing in his wings ♫" "♫ while he lays his glory by ♫" "♫ born that man no more may die ♫" "♫ born to raise the sons of earth ♫" "♫ born to give them second birth ♫" "♫ hark the herald angels sing ♫" "♫ glory to the newborn king. ♫" ""Silent Night"!" "♫ silent night ♫" "♫ holy night... ♫" "Dear Vera," "Merry Christmas to you." "I hope this holiday finds you well." "And I hope you had some snow for Christmas." "I can't tell you where I am right now, but suffice it to say we don't get a lot of snow here." "Ha ha." "We had a hearty Christmas dinner tonight and even sang some carols." "I just wanted you to know that I'm safe this Christmas night." "Your friend, Robert Leckie." "Hey, guys, this Jap likes Raleighs." "Yeah, well, there were no Japs in Guadalcanal the first day." "We all know how well that went." "Hey, Leckie, you're not in H Company anymore." "No, sir, I'm with Lieutenant Larkin in Battalion Intelligence." "He assigned me to any H Company patrols." "Well, that's Marine Corps in a nutshell, isn't it, Leckie?" "They make me an officer and they put you in intelligence." "Oh, and don't think that because you're machine guns and mortars, you're gonna get to skip these patrols." "Colonel wants everyone to grab a rifle and lend a hand." " You understand?" " Yes, sir." "Good." "Still chewing gum." "You gotta give him that." "He's the same as he ever was." "For now." " How's Frenchy?" " Who, Lebec?" "He was a commando at Dieppe." "Canucks got fucked." "I still can't figure out how the hell a Canadian gets all the way from the ETO to here." "I'm guessin' it involved a boat." "This one's got shrapnel." "They must be around here somewhere." "You hold back, bring up the rear." "I was on point." "Yeah, you were." "And now you're tail-end Charlie." "Tail-end son of a bitch." "Whoa, it's me." "It's Leckie, it's Leckie, it's Leckie!" "Jap patrol, four of 'em." "I got 'em all." "We follow the river down to the beach, then cut across to the bivouac." "Hey, good work nailing those Japs." "Chow down." "Save the cans." "Want some of this?" "It's basically soup." " Smoking lamps out." " Smoking lamps out!" "As if we can smoke underwater." "Smoking lamps out!" "Japs!" "They're coming!" "Move move move!" "Jesus!" "Stand by!" "Now!" "Leckie, go to the intelligence tent!" "If we get overrun, burn it!" "Up to the line!" "Up up, let's go!" "Move move move!" "Move it on left!" "Let's go!" "Yeah!" "Cease fire!" "Cease fire on the line!" "Cease fire!" "Cease fire on the line!" "Here you go." "That's the last of it." "Let's see if we can find another one." "They got Obie." "Macklin too." "I tell you, boys, next war there's gonna be two men missing..." "Me and the MP they send after me." " Anything else?" " Nothing over here." "G Company took three alive." "Well, good for them." "It was a bonsai suicide attack for the rest of these guys." "Hey, camera." "Apparently all the Japs on this end of the island are running like hell to rabaul." "They left their sick and wounded at a camp near here." "Another 100 volunteered for this shit." "100 against 1200." "They're either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid." "Or just really fucking hate us." "Martin, take care of this one." "Leckie, Phillips, check that hut." "Gibson, check the mess area." "Go." "Go." "Shit." "Leckie?" "I'll give you just about anything for this." "I don't even want you touching it." "Fucking rain never ends." "Gibson, is he okay?" "He's just tired." "No wonder you guys don't talk about Guadalcanal." "You didn't do anything." "Apparently, John Basilone did everything." " Oh, fuck you." " We all did shit like that and without all the grimacing." "No, he's back home selling bonds and dicking blondes while you're still here in paradise." "I gotta drop the kids off at the pool." "Anybody need anything from the bar?" " Dry martini?" " Well, it's not a real bar." "Dear Vera," "We haven't seen a Jap for two weeks now." "They got smart and got the hell out of this godforsaken spot." "They're not our enemy anymore." "Now our enemy is the jungle itself." "The jungle and the rain." "Ahh, fuck!" "Gah!" "Oh!" "Fuck fuck!" "Fuck!" "Somebody be a good guy and just fucking shoot me!" "What the fuck?" "Where's my chest?" "What the..." "Where the fuck is my Jap chest?" "Can I help you, private?" "You just borrowing that, sir?" "I need it to store battalion papers." "It's my chest, sir." "Oh?" "How so exactly?" "I can see where you're going with that, sir." "And if some dead Jap wants to come back and get his chest, he can get it from me." "I don't think so, private." "An enlisted man can't have something like that." "It's against regulations." "What about the pistol?" "Using that for a battalion paperweight, sir?" "What pistol?" "Battalion papers, sir?" "Get out of my tent, Leckie." "I'm not in your tent, sir." "God damn it." "All this water coming down, you didn't think to cover that up?" "A live grenade just happens to roll into his tent." "It's a damn shame." " Please shut up." " This is a dangerous place." "Any number of accidents could befall someone like lieutenant Larkin." "Terrible loss for our forces overseas." "Oh, for God's sakes, coffee is the one goddamn thing we got to enjoy around here." "We just want to enjoy it in peace." "So either kill Larkin or shut the fuck up." " Can't get the tent stakes in." " Leckie!" " Keep hammering." " That you, lieutenant Larkin?" "Out of the rack, now!" "Aye aye, sir." "As of immediately, you are no longer in intelligence." "Report for clean-up duty in the officers' mess where you will remain until I order otherwise." "You're the boss, sir." "Don't get cute with me, Leckie." "There's something missing from my tent." "Just to be clear, sir, you're punishing me on the suspicion I may have taken something, the very existence of which you denied..." "Something that, if it did exist, would rightfully belong to me anyway." "Enjoy your time in the galley, private." "Change of pace might do me some good, sir." "You might want to change your skivvies, private." "It appears you have pissed yourself." "What fucking kind of Marine pisses himself?" "Sounds like enuresis." "Is there anything you can give me for it, Doc?" "Sorry, Leckie, no magic pill." "What do I do?" "Stay dry." "Oh." "That's funny." "It's not raining today." "Not yet." "Lebec!" "Fuck!" "That's all I could find." "It's okay." "After the sweats, the chills feel so good." "I'll get some coffee going." "Let's go!" "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get some rest." "What?" "Read to me, Daddy." "Dear Vera," "It finally stopped raining, only making the smell of rotten coconuts worse." "The rats and crabs have come out of hiding." "I've killed more of them in the past week than I will ever kill Japs." "Everyone's sores have gotten worse, along with their dysentery." "My buddy Runner has a bone-cracking bout of malaria." "This island has an exotic name that translated means "The Death of Hope"." "Thinking of you always, Robert." "Pavuvu means "Death of Hope"?" "I don't know what it means and I don't care." "Hey, Leckie, your parents ever send you your dress blues?" "That joke stopped being funny a year ago, Hoosier." "I just thought you might want to get spiffed up." " Battalion's holding a lottery." " What's the prize?" " A bullet in the head?" " A ticket home." "You did put my name in here, didn't you?" "Okay, good luck, all of you." " G Company, second platoon..." " That's me!" "Private Bower!" "All right, settle down." "H Company, heavy weapons!" "Private Jackson." "I Company, first platoon!" "Private Guest!" "I pulled another crab out of my hooch." " Yeah?" " It's as big as a mortar." "Hey, Leckie, food." "Leckie, hot food." "Come on, buddy." "You still asleep?" "Oh, buddy." "Has he moved at all yet?" "Not an inch." " You feeling better, Conley?" " Swell." "Hey, Leckie." "I see your enuresis is acting up." "Hey, I got good news:" "They got a hospital over on Banika, a hop, skip, and a jump from here." "I'm gonna pull some paper and you'll be on your way in an hour." "All you need is a week or two..." "Get dry and stay dry." "That should do the trick." "You game?" "Great." "I'm gonna go get you some fresh dungarees." "I'll be right back." "Take off your clothes and put these on." "No razor blades." "I'll need your belt too." "What do you want me to do with this?" "You scared the living shit out of ruddiger." "He'll probably put in for a purple heart." "What am I doing here?" "It says here you have enuresis." "Why am I in with guys who need to have their razor blades taken away?" "The main ward is full." "They put overflow with me." "It's the navy." "What can you do?" "Smoke?" "I'll talk to a specialist about your urine problem." "Until then, it okay if Ruddiger wakes you up every hour or two during the night?" "Give you a chance to get to the head and stay dry." "Sure." "Go easy on him." "Is that it?" "That's it." "Don't miss dinner." "Pumpkin pie tonight." "You, uh, you ever think about selling this?" " No, sir." " Oh." "You get it back when you leave." "Mother of Christ." "Where the fuck were you?" "Hey, you want to keep it down?" "People are trying to sleep." "Put 'em on." "Don't mind Captain Midnight." "He does that most nights." "Congratulations." "You passed the test." "What test?" "You actually do suffer from enuresis." "You thought I was lying?" "Well, you know, a lot of guys will say just about anything to get a couple of weeks of clean sheets, burgers, and the pause that refreshes." "Fuck you." "What about Captain Midnight?" "Is he faking?" "Who?" "The guys that paces around all night flying his plane." "Ah, Stanfield." "No." "I'd say he's just... exhausted, worn out." "That's your medical opinion?" "Shit." " I could do your job." " I bet you could." "I get it." "Some give and take over hamburgers?" "I get it." "Okay, Doc, what's next?" "Wanna know how old I was when my mom took me off her tit?" "I mean, that's the type of shit you headshrinkers like, right?" "You wanna know why I'm in your loony bin." "Back home, after you've won the war for guys like me," "I'd be happy to take a run at shrinking your head... for 20 bucks an hour." "But here, all I do here is assess... who can return to his unit and who can't." "So your head is safe with me." "You know, most of the guys that come through here are simply tired." "My guess is you fall into that category." "They murdered sleep." "On Guadalcanal, the Japs would send a bomber in every night." "It was mostly just to keep us awake." "On Glucester, it was the rain." "On Pavuvu, it was just the fucking fact I was on Pavuvu." "For the record, Doc, I was a freshman in high school when my mom stopped breastfeeding me." "Do you see that as a problem?" "You're a coward!" "A fucking coward." "Hey hey hey." "I'm getting out of your reach, you fucking shit!" " Fucking coward." " Hey, shh." "Hey, shh." "You're a dead man." "You fucking shit!" "Go get Dr. Grant!" "Okay, right in here, boys." " Here you go." " Okay." "Okay." "Wanna put restraints on him?" "No no, not necessary." "He'll be out for the night." "Okay." "Thanks, Leckie." "How's your nose?" "You all right?" " I'll be all right." " Okay." "Hey, got a smoke?" "I ran out." "Gibson." "Hey." "Hey, it's me," "Bob Leckie." "Hey, Leckie." "You know Gibson?" "We were on Gloucester together." "The 'canal before that." "What's he doing here?" "Your buddy wanted to get off Pavuvu and go home." "There's nothing crazy about that." "He attempted to steal a plane to do it, and when they stopped him, he tried to kill himself." "I'm fortunate, aren't I?" "This is as bad as my war gets." "It would take more than hot water, I'll tell you that." "No offense, Doc..." "I don't think I like this place." "Why not?" "You know, people see places like Banika on newsreels, they think this is what the war is really like." "I don't know what the war is like." "Sure you do." "You see it in every guy who comes through here." "This isn't the right place for me." "Nothing against all of you, but I want to get back to my guys before they get sent on without me." "That's not some crazy thought, is it?" "Why not just... hang around for, say, another week?" "I don't think that would be healthy for me, Doc." "Listen, if you're not above taking a bribe, that Jap pistol I brought... you can have it." "Really?" "How much?" "Now it wouldn't be a bribe if I charged you." "It's on the house." "No ammo." "Things get crazy around here." "I wouldn't want you killing yourself." "That's not my style." "I drink and chase nurses." "Why just give me the pistol?" "I mean, you must have gone through a lot to bring it here." "Why just give it away?" "I'm rested, I'm fit." "I want to return to my unit and my friends." "Please." "Sign the papers, Doc." "Five, 10..." " Come on, big spender." " Jack." "King..." "King..." "Deuce..." "Seven." "Hey, Gib?" "I wanted to give you these before I take off." "Thanks." "They letting you out?" "I volunteered to leave, actually." "Why'd you do that?" "Eh, want to get back to the guys before they ship off without me." "I don't think they'll send me back." "I sure ain't asking." "Gib, you just need a rest." "That's all." "Just a break from it all." "You'll be all right." "You think so?" "On Guadalcanal," "I was coming back from the airfield with a work party." "Jap planes came in dropping 500 pounders while we were out in the open." "All we could do is jump into a slit trench and cover up." "There was this guy..." "I didn't know him..." "He was tucked in behind me." "I could feel his heart beating, his lungs fighting for air..." "And his lips on my back as he prayed to God to keep him alive." "He believed God would save him." "Jesus, I envied him." "Thanks for the smokes." "There's nothing to do in here but smoke." "Sure." "I hope it's quick and easy for you, Leckie." "Jap sniper, maybe." "You get nailed in the first two minutes." "No worries about ending up like me." "4-5." "Let's go."