- Veteran Sergeant John Basilone ships out soon after Pearl Harbor for Guadalcanal while other young enlistees are sent to boot camp.
- Directly following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sgt. Jon Basilone ships out to fight the enemy somewhere in the Pacific, and young journalist, Robert Leckie, enlists in the Marine Corps. Sidney Phillips ships off to boot camp after saying farewell to his friend Eugene Sledge, who cannot go with him due to a heart murmur. Eight months later, Phillips and Leckie have completed boot camp and are sent to secure an airfield on Guadalcanal, and defend it against counterattack.—David Fuller
- In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States prepares to go to war. The battle in the Pacific theatre will belong to the Navy and the Marine Corps. USMC Sgt. Jon Basilone gets to spend Christmas at home with his parents and his close-knit extended family. He invites two of his fellow NCOs along for the holiday festivities. Robert Leckie, meanwhile, enlists in the Marines and heads off to boot camp, not quite able to communicate his feelings to his father, who drives him to the bus depot. Sid Phillips also enlists and looks forward to serving his country but can understand his friend Eugene Sledge's disappointment at not being able to pass the medical. By mid-1942, Leckie and Phillips go ashore at Guadalcanal but the relaxed atmosphere soon changes to one of deadly terror when the US Fleet is forced to retire and the men spend five harrowing months fighting the Japanese for control of the airbase. They are finally relieved by a Marine force that includes Sgt. Basilone and his friends.—garykmcd
- After sinking the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese imperial troops quickly invade swarm over Pacific islands and coast states. Their plan to seize air control over Australia from an air base to build on Guadalcanal could close the south side, so the USMarines hastily raise and ship a division to conquer the island. Eugene Sledge cries his eyes out as a cardiac condition renders him unfit to serve with his mates after boot camp. Educated 'professor' Robert Leckie records their horrific adventure in paradise. Landing goes without resistance, but traps abound and the Japanese fleet eliminates their US Navy ride and most supplies. Sgt. John Basilone's men learn about losses against the fearless Japanese, even by friendly fire, hardening some close to sadism.—KGF Vissers
- December 1941. Pearl Harbour has been attacked by Japan and the US has entered World War 2. Robert Leckie immediately enlists in the Marines. Eugene Sledge would like to enlist but a heart condition prevents him from doing so. John Basilone is a Sergeant in the Marines. Leckie and Basilone will have their first taste of action at a remote island in the South Pacific, Guadalcanal.—grantss
- Part One
An historical introduction, narrated by producer Tom Hanks, explains that in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, that the United States faced a series of defeats in the Pacific. Plans were being drawn up by President Franklin Roosevelt's generals to begin a campaign to stop the Empire of Japan from invading Australia.
December 1941 -- The United States of America.
Winter. Inside of a stone church blanketed in snow, a man lights a candle, contemplates a statue of the Virgin Mary, and crosses himself before leaving. As he emerges from the church, he greets a woman on her way in. Calling her Vera, he introduces himself as Bob Leckie, her neighbor across the street. Vera laughs and says she knows who he is. He tells her he's joined the Marines, to do his part. She tells him that if she doesn't see him before she ships out, she'll pray for him.
"Maybe I'll write you," Bob says. Vera nods casually and replies, "Alright."
Elsewhere on a military base, Lt Col. Lewis 'Chesty' Puller briefs a group of men in the 1st Marine Division that includes John Basilone. The Lt. Colonel tells them that the uniforms they wear and what they represent mean the difference between the world's liberation and its enslavement. He explains that the army, air force and navy of the empire of Japan is intent upon taking over half of the world, and they will not stop until they do so by air, land and sea. What they are not expecting, he says, is the United States Marine Corps.
He tells the boys that Hitler and the European theater will be handled by the US Army, at least "not until they can't whip him without us." The Marine Corps will fight in the Pacific, island by island, on "tiny specks of turf" nobody has ever heard of. And they would not stop until they had marched on mainland Japan itself and every last Japanese soldier was dead.
Puller tells the men who are lucky enough to get home for Christmas to gather their loved ones and hold them all. Then they would meet back there, "ready to sail across God's vast ocean, where we will meet our enemy and kill them all. "
The commanding officer finishes with, "Merry Christmas. Happy 1942."
Jon Basilone approaches the map as the rest of the men disband, and he stares at the Japanese flag. Basilone takes two of his fellow enlisted men, J.P. Morgan and Manny Rodriguez, back to his family's place. They're having a great time when one of Basilone's brothers quiets everyone for a moment to make a toast, welcoming the men to their holiday dinner.
"When all this is over, let's say a year from tonight, we'll sit down at this table again for a welcome home feast," he says. "To all of you -- just get the job done and come home to us. "
It's a somber moment, broken up by some rambunctious kids. The only one who doesn't laugh is the Basilone family patriarch, who stares at his plate. John clasps his hand on his dad's forearm, and his father looks him in the eye and nods grimly.
Elsewhere, Leckie's father takes him to the bus station to ship out and remarks that his son didn't pack much. Leckie said the only thing he regrets is not being able to pack his typewriter -- he thought he'd fight by day and write by night. The old man bends down and fiddles with something in the car's front undercarriage, complaining that it needs a new axle.
"There's a war on. Everybody's got to make sacrifices," Leckie says with meaning. But the old man pretends to ignore him, complaining that he should have bought a Ford. He tells his dad goodbye, but all that the old man can muster is to extend his hand for a handshake.
In a large house in Mobile, Alabama, a doctor examines another boy and after a moment says, "Son...Eugene, I'm sorry." He leaves the room as the boy wears a look of shock. The doctor goes down and reports the news to his mother -- the murmur is still there. He said that the boy looks disappointed. "I'm his mother," the woman says stoically. Upstairs, Eugene cries.
As the doctor sits downstairs and listens to the radio with his other son (who is dressed in uniform) Eugene strides downstairs and outside, grabs his bike and rides off. He meets with his friend, Sidney Phillips, who is on the verge of shipping off. Sidney remind Gene that since he's 18, his parents can't tell him what to do. Gene hands Sidney a book, "Barrack Room Ballads" by Rudyard Kipling. Sidney tells him that he wishes Gene could be shipping out with him. Gene tells his friend to take care of himself, and he grins.
"You don't have to worry about me," Sidney says.
A slow zoom onto a map takes us to the Solomon Islands, and Guadalcanal. It is exactly eight months after Pearl Harbor.
Inside a transport ship, Marines are scrambling to get food in the mess. One of the senior officers yells out cheerily that today is the day. Around a table where Leckie sits, the men try to outdo each other with tough talk about how many Japanese troops they would take out. One, Lew 'Chuckler' Juergens, informs them all that it's going to be like a turkey shoot. Leckie tells him he doubts that. Then another man asks why they were all there anyway, and Juergens calls upon "Professor" Leckie to enlighten them.
"Want to know why we're here?"Leckie asks Then he takes a drag off a cigarette and quotes a line from Homer's "The Iliad": "Without a sign his sword the brave man draws/ And asks no omen but his country's cause."
The men fall silent.
On the deck of the boat, a commanding officer gives the men a pep talk loaded with racial slurs, saying that whatever the men think about the Japanese is absolutely incorrect. He finishes his speech with, "Once you see the Japs, kill 'em all!"
Leckie goes down the side of the ship into a landing craft with his squad, and the craft heads inland to the beach as American warplanes pass overhead. Behind him someone retches. It's very tense. Then the landing craft hits shore. The front door opens and they're greeted with ...calm. More than that, lethargy. A bunch of American troops are already on the beach, stretched out like it's a vacation. One of them yells out, "Welcome to Guadalcanal."
The boys recline on the sand and eat fruit, one of them ribbing another who claims the Japanese may have poisoned the coconuts on the island. Their commanders, Captain Jameson and 2nd Lieutenant Corrigan, come over and informs them that intelligence says the Japanese troops have fallen back into the jungle. The unit gathers its gear and moves out.
It's quiet and tense on the trail, and Leckie and his companions don't know what to think as they come across an abandoned camp with what looks like a rudimentary bunker. They stop for a moment as the officers consult a map, then move forward into the jungle.
They fall into line and head into the deep bush, crossing a river in the process. As it gets dark, they become anxious at every snapped twig and bird call. Eventually they encounter the defiled bodies of fellow American soldiers tied to trees. Some have been castrated. It's a sobering sight.
Night falls and they sleep back to back, interrupted suddenly when a gunshot goes off. The Marines begin firing until someone calls a ceasefire. In the morning, they bury a man -- he apparently went off to take a leak and was shot by one of their own. He neglected to say a password.
In the morning, they find their objective, and airstrip. Apparently the Americans have taken it and it's the troop's job to guard it.
At night, they watch the gunships fire on the Japanese, and most of the troops "ooh" and "aah" as if they're watching fireworks. Juergens assumes the American ships are taking out the Japanese Navy. Leckie doesn't look so confident. Morning light tells a different story - -it's the American Navy that took the biggest hit, having lost four ships in the Battle of Savo Island. One of them went down with most of their munitions and supplies. The remaining battleships left the area. The Marines are now on their own until reinforcements and supplies can be delivered.
The men take shifts guarding the position as night falls, and at first, nothing happens. Then a spotlight from a Japanese patrol boat turns on their position. The commanding officer tells them to hold their fire, that the Japanese are just trying to spot them. They hunker down and stay still, and the light goes away. In the morning they see that the Japanese Navy has gathered gunships in the distance. Leckie looks out with binoculars and sees thousands of troops. The officers decide to move the troops inland, toward Alligator Creek, where they dig in, setting up mines and barbed wire. Corrigan informs them that A Company made contact about three miles east of their position.
"Destroy any letters that you have containing dates or addresses," Corrigan tells them.
It's quiet as it gets dark...but then they hear the noise of the enemy getting a bead on their position. Suddenly the night rips apart with gunfire. The Americans are getting torn to pieces, and Jameson jumps into a foxhole and goes fetal. One of them notices Japanese troops crossing the creek to flank them. The Marines fire mortars, and Juergens and Leckie yell to their compatriots to pull up their weapons and move to cut them off.
The remaining men try to crawl out of the main firing area but take heavy casualties. Leckie and his companions take a forward position, when the Japanese troops are pouring across the creek toward them. The Japanese find their position again, and Leckie and the boys pack up so they can keep moving. They load up the machine gun, and with Juergens assisting him, Leckie rains fire down on the Japanese infantry relentlessly as the screen goes white.
Daybreak. The beach is thick with dead Japanese soldiers. The Marines are in awe at all the bodies floating in the water. "A real turkey shoot," Leckie says grimly.
"Lucky," Juergens tells him, patting him on the helmet.
Two Americans find a Japanese soldier still alive among the casualties and go over to pull him up. He screams in Japanese and pulls a grenade from behind his back, killing all three of them.
Across the creek, more Japanese soldiers run out firing, but Leckie and Juergens cut through them with the machine gun. One more runs out, but the other soldiers cut him off with rifle fire. The man takes off his hat and starts yelling in frustration, finally becoming hysterical. He stands and sobs as the American soldiers, laughing, take shots at him, hitting his shoulders and torso, taking him apart piece by piece as he weeps. Leckie, disgusted by this, finally stands up, draws his pistol and puts them man out of his misery with a shot to the heart, drawing criticism from a few of his comrades.
Later, Corrigan walks over and tells the boys that Jameson has been relieved of duty and relays the number of casualties, saying he had better start working on the letters to their families. He then compliments Juergens on moving the soldiers around during the firefight and promotes him to corporal. Juergens grins. " Yes, ma'am, I am a corporal," he says, practicing his next great pick-up line.
Leckie goes over to the Japanese soldier he shot and searches his body. He finds a picture of his wife and a colorful cloth doll. Leckie contemplates the photo, then throws it on a fire and starts a letter.
"Dear Vera: Seems a lifetime since we met outside St. Mary's. This great undertaking for God and country has landed us in a tropical paradise somewhere in what Jack London refers to as, 'Those terrible Solomons.' It is a garden of Eden. The jungle holds both beauty and terror in its depth, the most terrible of which is man. We have met the enemy and learned nothing more about him. I have, however, learned some things about myself. There are things men can do to one another that are sobering to the soul. It is one thing to reconcile these things with God, but another to square it with yourself."
Later as a medic tends to a seeping wound on Leckie's leg, Basilone's fresh outfit -- the reinforcements -- walks by. The units good-naturedly rib each other, and Basilone, Rodriguez and Morgan grimly remark to each other that Leckie's troop looks like they've gone through the ringer.
Phillips and Leckie read letters from home to the guys, and Phillips reads Eugene's letter out loud to the boys. They "ooh" salaciously when Eugene mentions his sister.
Corrigan comes by and tells them to gear up because they're moving out.
Phillips tells Leckie that Eugene finished with, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. Your humble and obedient servant, Eugene Sledge." He explains that Eugene couldn't come because he has a heart murmur.
"A murmuring heart," Leckie remarks, hearing the poetry in it.
One of the men asks Phillips asks when his birthday was. He informs him that he just turned 18 two weeks ago.
"Happy birthday," he says, handing him a yellow grenade. As Phillips takes it, the troop starts up a round of singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Phillips, happy birthday to you!"
As they walk into the treeline, they continue the song with, "How f****d are you now? How f****d are you now? How f****d are you now? You're surely f****d now."
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of Guadalcanal/Leckie (2010) in Brazil?
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