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Veteran Sergeant John Basilone ships out soon after Pearl Harbor for Guadalcanal while other young enlistees are sent to boot camp.
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Outmanned and with supplies low, Basilone and other marines on Guadacanal rally to repel superior Japanese forces.
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After arduous months in Guadalcanal, exhausted marines are given rest and recreation in Melbourne, where they find the girls friendly and the beer cold.
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After leaving Melbourne, the weather works against the leathernecks as Lechie falls seriously ill and Sledge gets assigned to New Britain.
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Basilone's fame keeps him in the U.S. selling war bonds, Leckie rejoins his company, and Sledge is reunited with Phillips in Pavuvu.
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Water is in short supply and the stifling heat takes control on Peleliu as Leckie is wounded and evacuated.
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Sledge finds the carnage and death of his companions on Peleilu increasingly difficult to bear as Basilone continues his bond drive in the States.
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Frustrated with his bond selling tour, Basilone goes back to training troupes and after marrying a pretty marine sergeant, leads his men at Iwo Jima.
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The 1st Marine Division fight a determined Japanese force on Okinawa who prefer death to surrender and are indifferent to the lives of Okinawan civilians.
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After V-J Day Leckie and Sledge return home and try to readjust to civilian life.