"March, 1944." "After four months of fierce jungle combat, the Marines of the 1st Division were withdrawn from Cape Gloucester." "We were absolute certain we were gonna go back to Melbourne to rest again." "But, uh, no, we ended up on an island called Pavuvu." "Pavuvu, part of the Solomon Island chain, is just north of Guadalcanal." "Once a thriving coconut plantation, it was abandoned when the war broke out." "The guy that picked that out, he sure didn't know what he was doing." "It was the nastiest, dirtiest looking place under the sun." "All kinds of things just grew in profusion, especially the rat population." "The land crabs would come out at night and you could hear them clackity-clacking and clicking around." "And they would get into your shoes." "A lot of training started." "And it seemed to get heavier and heavier, so you knew we were gonna go somewhere into combat." "In late August, 1944, the 1st Division shipped out again, headed for a small coral island between Guam and the Philippines..." "Peleliu." "Only six miles long and two miles wide," "Peleliu held an airstrip that was close to the Philippine Islands." "General Douglas Macarthur decided that the capture of that airstrip was critical to retaking the Philippines, as a stepping stone to the invasion of the Japanese mainland." "The Navy bombarded Peleliu for three days and the Marines followed." "The men were told that the fighting would last only a few days." "But the combat on Peleliu would last more than two months, and would become as deadly as any island invasion of World War II." "I don't think you could train for anything like that." "It started when we started in." "And it didn't cease." "It was... it was a nightmare." "You are about to be awarded the Medal of Honor." "Selling U.S. War Bonds is just as important as what you did on Guadalcanal." "Now pack your seabag." "You're going home." "Home?" "I'm enlisting tomorrow." "I'd do it tonight if they were open." " Eugene..." " I don't need your permission, Father." "Dear Vera, We haven't seen a Jap for two weeks now." "They got smart and got the hell out of this godforsaken spot." "Now our enemy is the jungle itself." "The jungle and the rain." "Lebec!" "All you need is a week or two." "That should do the trick." "They got a hospital over on Banika." "I'm gonna pull some paper and you'll be on your way in an hour." "Why am I in with guys who need to have their razor blades taken away?" "Most of the guys that come through here are simply... tired." "My guess is you fall into that category." "Hey, you're a dead man, you know it!" "Go get Dr. Grant!" "This isn't the right place for me." "I'm rested, I'm fit." "I want to return to my unit and my friends." "I hope it's quick and easy for you, Leckie." "No worries about ending up like me." "Big smile, Miss Grey!" " How's that, fellas?" " You look beautiful, Virginia." "When do we say, "Back the attack"?" "Every chance you get!" "Now the kiss on the cheek and we gotta go!" "Hold that!" "This is a shortcut." "Hey, that's Virginia Grey." "Hey, excuse me." "I don't believe this." "You're John Basilone." "I'm gonna be in the Marine Corps." "It's a fine branch of our armed forces." "I re... report next Tuesday." "Boot camp's a breeze." "You get to sleep in on Mondays." "What else?" "You coming?" "Uh, keep your head down and keep moving." "Look down, keep moving." "Listen to your NCOs." "Thanks." "What's an "NCO"?" "You handle it well." "Handle what well?" "Membership in the famous people's club." "Just, uh... don't be surprised if it's not quite what you expect." "Go on stage, say "Back the attack" a couple hundred times, get my picture took... there's not much to it." "You have no idea what's coming at you." "Better keep your head down." "What kind of message is that?" " Whoo." " Wow." "My kid brother comes to visit me." "Am I allowed to even speak to you without saluting?" " Sergeant Basilone?" " Shut up, you jerk." "You know I work for a living." "Early morning, Sergeant Basilone." "Morning, Al." "Hey, how did they let this palooka into a classy joint like The Biltmore?" "This is my brother George, Al." " Can I get you some coffee, sir?" " Please." "Hey, how about some breakfast?" "I got a train to catch at 0717." "No, no." "Al can swing it." "Right, Al?" " Breakfast?" " Absolutely." "One of us has to go back to the Marines." "Pendleton agreeing with you?" "Paradise by the sea." "Virginia Grey agreeing with you?" "Hey, don't you be thinkin' about her." "She's in good hands." "Yeah, but, uh, is she in the best of hands?" "Sit down!" "Here we are, gentlemen." " Thanks, Al." " You're welcome." "Giovanni, you're everywhere." "Yeah, they keep me running." "Listen to this. 0900, I got a meeting with the governor." "Then a rally at a plant in Glendale." "Tonight, some big deal at the Hollywood Canteen." "I had a six-hour pass." "I go to the movies and who shows up in the newsreel?" "You, Mom, Pa, and most of New Jersey at John Basilone Day." "That was crazy." "Now don't slug me, but can I ask you a question?" "Take your chances." "How scary was it..." "Guadalcanal?" "I hope I don't freeze up or make a mistake, is all." " I hope I can be as..." " George." "Don't feel like you need to prove nothin'." "You know what I mean?" " No, I..." " You know what I mean?" "Yeah." "Looks like Hawaii." "No, it doesn't." "Hey, Sledge, Leyden, what are you doing?" "Looking at land, Oswalt." "Attention, all hands, make way to debark station." "Make all preparations to offload personnel and cargo." "Let's go!" "Get your gear squared away!" "Look at the new guys." "Lookin' for How Company." " This How Company?" " Two in." "No." "Damn." "I could have told you." "I fuckin' warned you, you fuck." "What?" "Huh?" "Yeah." "Take that, you fuckin' Jap!" "And recover." "Hello." "This "K" Company?" "We're supposed to be in 60 mortars, second squad." "Jesus, these guys are supposed to be 60 mortars." "This is second squad." " Robert Oswalt." " Eugene Sledge." "You mortars too?" "Riflemen, third platoon." "Bill Leyden." "Then we'll ignore you." "That's Snafu." "That man's De L'Eau and I'm Corporal Burgin." "Find yourself a bunk." "Taken." "Taken." "Come on, I'll show you around, find you another tent." "This is where they dry-dock us when we're not killing Japs." "Over there is chow." "Heads." "King Company skipper, Captain Haldane." "Everybody calls him Ack-Ack." " What's your name?" " De L'Eau." "D-e..." "L'E-a-u, De L'Eau." "Jay De L'Eau." "Were you in Guadalcanal?" "Gloucester." "G-l..." "Grab a rack in that second tent over there." "Thanks." "Sure thing." "Oh, uh, you know where I could find a How Company?" "1st Marines?" "Somewhere over there." " Wanna get some chow?" " Been waiting for it." " Ho ho ho." " You know this guy?" "Mug's ugly enough to ring a few bells." "Gloucester, maybe?" "Was it Gloucester?" " Was it Gloucester?" " Was he on Gloucester?" " He may have been on Gloucester." " He looks familiar." "Maybe he was on Gloucester." " I don't know." "He's ugly." " Fuck you all." "Looks like a land crab that once crawled up my pee hole." "Hey, welcome home, Cobber." "You have a good vacation?" "Anything to get away from you bastards." "We're not so lucky." "Oh, jeez!" "Ho, there you go." "What's in this?" "When it tastes this bad, it's hard to tell." "What you got?" "Pens." "Tell Santa whether you been naughty or nice." "Naughty." "The naughtiest." " It's June." " It's the south Pacific." "Christmas comes in June." "For Hoosier..." "'Cause he's always saying his prayers, making his bed." " Look at that." " That's beautiful." " Chuckler?" " Yes?" " Thank you." " Heavier reading." " With pictures." " Here you go." "Something for Runner's stocking." "Oh, I read this already." "I don't believe it." "Oh!" "Something's wrong." "Something's very wrong if you made it through boot camp." "Give me a break, you old greaser!" "Get up off my deck." " Captain Haldane." " Sir." "What's this about, Marine?" "Some rite of greeting new to the Corps?" "Yes, sir." "Um, I mean, no, sir." " Who are you?" " Private Eugene Sledge, sir." "You fellas know each other or is this some kind of conflict resolution?" "Old friends, sir." "From Mobile, Alabama, sir." " Mobile?" " Yes, sir." " Old friends, huh?" " That explains it." "As you were." "But try not to dislocate a shoulder or break an arm." "We need both you men healthy." " Sir." " Sir." "Carry on." "Get me in hot water on the first day." "Yeah, well, you deserve it!" "Welcome to paradise." "How do you get used to the smell around here?" "Think this shitheap stinks now, you should have seen it when we first got here." "It was wall-to-wall rats, crabs, and rotten coconuts." "Thank god I'm rotating home." "I can't believe I finally get here and you go home." "When you leavin'?" "When the Marine Corps tells me." " What's your unit?" " K-3-5." "A mortarman, just like you." "Whoo-hoo!" "Hallelujah." "The health of the Corps is only as strong as the health of the individual marine." "Marines will make every effort to keep themselves clean." " Hey!" " Ahh!" "Hey, don't you quit on me, fucker!" " You gotta be kidding!" " Not till I've rinsed." "They get hot chow to you when they can." "You know, it might only be crud like this." "But when you been on the line taking fire, hot chow is a miracle." " Oh, for heaven's sake." " What is that, baby food?" "You know, you laugh... you laugh, but that might be worth its weight in gold someday." "You get hungry enough, somebody'll want to trade for it." "You do not trade this... ever." ".45 will stop a Jap better than a clip in your carbine." "You hit one of the suckers in the hand with that, heh, take his arm right off." "You can write your father a nice thank-you note for that." "Working party... three of you boots go with Snafu." "Hurry up!" "You heard the sergeant..." "Now!" "You don't mind, do you, Leyden?" "You assholes are gonna miss cleaning out oil barrels pretty soon." "You're gonna be humping up some fucking hill... or across a beach," "Japs pouring shit for fire, pissing your pants, crying "boo hoo,"" "and wishing you were back here with nothing asked of you but to scrub oil out of drums." "Why don't you grab a brush and give us a hand?" "Fuck that shit." "I scrub drums for no man." "Can we take a break?" "Do whatever you want." "This ain't my detail." "I was supposed to dump you all off here, then report back to the CP." "Then why are you still here?" "I like to watch the new guys sweat." "Ahh!" "Are those the most butt-ugly creatures you ever saw before in your life?" "Jesus, Sid." "When you start pulling them out of your hooch in the morning, you won't feel so tenderhearted." "Lost mine in the polk." "Or somebody took it." "Maybe one of the swabbies wanted a souvenir." "Yeah?" "Some of the guys think they're good luck." "I don't know." "You can have this one." "I got a couple." "Here." " Thank you." " Yeah, sure." "Sid?" "What's it like?" "I slept with a woman in Melbourne." "I'm not bragging." "But that's at one end, right?" "And then way down there, as far as you can go..." "And that's what it's like." "And that... that you could never imagine." "Okay." "I'm gonna miss you, Sid." "You'll be all right." "Roberto." "Are you angry about something?" "Of course not." "I'm glad." "I won't cry anymore." "Dear Christ in heaven, would you look at her?" "I don't know how to kiss, or I would kiss you." "Where do the noses go?" "There we go!" "What are you waiting for?" "Fuck her." "Think she's blonde down there?" "Look, Pilar!" "Roberto fell in the brook." "Fire!" "Cease fire!" "Cease fire on the firing line!" "You stupid, goddamn shavetail son of a bitch!" "You keep your fucking weapon pointed downrange or I will shove that fuckin' piece up your sorry fucking ass." "Don't look at me, lieutenant." "The gunny's right." "Next relay!" "You seen Phillips?" "I believe the angels are shipping out." "You might catch them back down at the dock." "Sid was my best customer." "When you've finished, please return it to the Pacific Library of Congress." "Kipling." "Always good." "Most of these jokers can't read." "Have you heard the latest about the other war?" "There's another war?" "We invaded Europe." "Landed last month in France." "Hell, unless you got a brother over there, most guys don't give a shit." "My brother landed in Italy, tank battalion." "Well, I guess you get to give a shit." "Just coffee, thanks." "Now, that explains it." "You're a believer." "Yes." "Okay." "Question." "God created everything, right?" "The Heavens, the seven seas, the Marine Corps..." "Sleeping Beauty there..." "Even him." "Land crabs, rats, mosquitoes." "The mosquitoes are a little tough to understand, I guess, but..." "God created Japs too, right?" "Yellow slants who've tried to kill me on many occasions?" "Japs come from the Garden of Eden too?" "Well, what we do is up to us." "He gives us the choice." "Free will." "Right." "Except he's God, of course, so he knows what we're gonna do before we do it." "Predestination." "So the whole game is fixed by the will of Gramps on his throne while we're down here for what?" "His entertainment?" "That makes us chumps, or God's a sadist." "And either way, I got no use for him." "So what do you believe in?" "I believe in ammunition." "Tell you what, though." "Since I'm not on speaking terms with him anymore, next time you're having a chat with the old geezer, can you ask him to sink a few Jap transports and have them all fall on their bayonets" "so I can get the fuck out of here and go home?" "I sure would appreciate it." "You go ahead and keep it." "I don't know why I have it in the first place." "No thanks." "I've got my own." "Follow the man in front of you and get off that beach." "And when you get to the tree line, remember to clear your weapons of sand." " Aye, sir." " Mortarmen..." "Here you go, Marine." "Make sure you have four H.E. rounds set for fire." "Good luck." "God bless." "You heard the skipper!" "Get your gear on." "Move!" "How's my pack?" "Let's get it done, Eugene." "Second squad, fourth boat!" "Get inside!" "Easy!" "Easy!" "Get inside!" "Section 1 and 2 loading." " Good luck, Sledge." " Thank you, Sir." "Sergeant." "I don't smoke." "Yeah?" "Here we go, boys!" "Stay the fuck down!" "My trespasses..." "Fire!" "Open fire!" "Load and lock, gentlemen!" "Load and lock!" "Load and lock!" "Stand by, Marines!" "Here we go!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Move move move!" "Go go go!" "Move out!" "Fuck!" "Let's move out!" "Let's go!" "Move out!" "Ahh!" "Keep moving!" "Keep it moving!" "Go go go!" "Move your ass!" "Move your ass!" "Keep moving!" "Sledge, get on the beach!" "Let's make a move!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Marines, move it!" "I'm hit!" "I'm hit!" "I'm bleeding out!" "I'm bleeding out!" "I'm bleeding out!" "Help!" "Let's go!" "Get fire on the greener!" "I'm hit!" "I'm hit!" "I can't breathe!" "Get up, get up, get up!" "Ahh!" "Corpsman!" "Marine!" "Let's go this way!" "Ahh!" "Come on!" "Hold the mortars down!" "Hold the mortars!" "Easy on the water." "Easy on the water." "Where the hell is Love Company?" " Is this 3-7?" " No, 3-5!" "Well, where the hell is the 7th Marines?" "You're on Orange Beach 3!" "3-7's supposed to be on our right flank." "Goddamn cocksucking son of a bitch." "Ahh!" "Go!" "Sledge, you gotta find a..." "They got us bracketed." "We gotta move!" "Let's go!" "Get your ass out of this hole!" "Let's go!" "Move!" "Move!" "Get up there!" "Come on!" "Hurry up!" "Let's go!" "Sledge, God damn it." "You gotta get your ass out of that hole right now!" "Move it!" "Move forward." "Join your squad!" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Keep your heads down!" "Aw, fuck!" " We gotta get off the beach!" " I know!" " Leckie, you gotta move!" " Leave me the fuck alone!" "I'm fucking bleeding out!" "Keep 'em here, Gunny." "I gotta find 2nd platoon." "Aye aye, sir." "Hillbilly!" "You're with me." "Bring a runner." "Let's go!" "You, let's go!" "K Company?" "Part of it." "You're supposed to hook up with the rest of the battalion in the southern edge of the airfield, in the brushline." "Got it." "You guys got any water?" "No, we ain't got any fucking water." "Southern edge of the airfield." "Everybody take another salt pill." "Gunny, bring them up here." "Do it later!" "We gotta move!" "Let's go!" " Keep moving!" " Ahh!" "First team on me!" "Let's go!" "Covering fire!" "Shift left!" "Ahh!" "Oh, fuck!" "Keep the fire on 'em!" "What's movin' that down?" "Oh, Bill." "Bill." "Dropped my fucking weapon." "Corpsman!" "Corpsman!" "Corpsman!" "Corpsman!" "Hey, everything's gonna be fine." "Bill!" "It ain't shit." "Everything's gonna be fine." "It ain't shit." "Damn it!" "Corpsman!" "There you are, god damn it!" "Pressure!" "Pressure!" " Sorry." " What?" " Bill?" " Help me carry him back." "Bill?" "Bill?" "Bill?" "Son of a bitch." "Those are Jap tanks." "Mortars!" "Get me some H.E. on those sons of bitches!" " Now!" "Let's go, let's go." " You heard the lieutenant." "Let's go!" "Move out!" "Hold here!" "Hold here!" "Hot load!" " Hanging!" " Fire!" " Hanging!" " Fire!" "Drop 2-5." " Hanging!" " Fire!" " Ahh!" " Hot load!" " Hanging!" " Fire!" " Hanging!" " Fire!" "Round's complete." "Fall back 50 and dig in!" "Let's go!" "Oh, shit." " Shit!" " Fall back!" "Fuck!" "Spread out!" "Spread out!" "Chuckler." "Chuckler." "You see Chuckler or Runner?" "Who?" "Juergins or Conley?" "H-2-1?" "Never heard of them." "Lieutenant wants us up front." "Let's go!" "Leckie!" "Leckie!" "Runner!" "Are you okay?" "Thirsty." "Yeah." "Hoosier got hit." "Keep moving, keep moving." "Let's go, let's go!" "You going Asiatic?" "Feet are soaking wet." "What you gonna do in your stockin' feet when the fucking Japs bust through the line?" "Get back!" "Take cover!" "Get back!" "Take cover!" "You men got enough ammo?" "Sure thing, skipper." "Perimeter's 30 yards out from your hole." "L.P.'s out beyond that." "The password's "lilliputian."" "One man awake at all times." "Lilliputian?" "Hard for the Japs to say." "Hard for me to say." "Trade you." "Shit, I forgot about that guy." "We're rich, boys." "Jap's got a shitload of gold in his teeth." "Gold is what?" "30 Bucks an ounce?" "Take the first watch." "Wake me up in four hours." "Anything moves, kill it." "Look at that." "You ever been to the Grand Canyon?" "No." "My dad went when he was a boy." "He was always going on about it when I was little." "I'd ask him about it." "He said I had to see it to understand." "Finally took me when I was 10." "We got there late at night to these cabins." "Couldn't see a thing on account of the dark." "Next morning we got up, went outside... 10 yards from where we slept, the fucking Grand Canyon." "A mile down, colors I'd never seen before." "My dad was right, pictures don't show it." "You have to be there, looking down into it." "Shut the fuck up, you idiot." "We have to go out there tomorrow."