Catch-22

In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Marine Sgt. John Basilone prepares to ship out and confront the enemy somewhere in the Pacific, while budding journalist Robert Leckie enlists in the Marine Corps. Eugene Sledge, unable to enlist because of a heart murmur, says farewell to his friend, Sidney Phillips, who is about to leave for boot camp.

Basilone and the 7th Marines arrive on Guadalcanal to reinforce Leckie and the rest of the 1st Marine Division as they continue to defend the crucial airstrip. Basilone plays a key role in repelling a nighttime Japanese attack, but suffers a frightful personal loss. After four months of continuous action, the exhausted 1st Marines are evacuated off the island.

Physically and mentally debilitated after Guadalcanal, Leckie, Basilone and their comrades land in Melbourne, where they are greeted by adoring crowds. While his buddies carouse, Leckie becomes attached to an Australian woman and her Greek family. Meanwhile, Basilone is awarded the Medal of Honor and is asked to return home to help sell U.S. war bonds.

Finally enlisted as a Marine, Sledge trains for combat at Camp Elliott. The 1st Marine Division lands at Cape Gloucester on the Japanese-held island of New Britain where Leckie and the other Marines battle the enemy as well as the jungle itself. Leckie begins displaying the physical and mental effects of combat and is sent to a naval hospital on nearby Banika.

Basilone's celebrity grows as he travels across the country on the war bonds tour. On Pavuvu, Sledge, assigned to the 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, is briefly reunited with Phillips, and Leckie rejoins his company. Sledge then gets his first taste of combat as he, Leckie, and the rest of the division meet fierce Japanese resistance while landing on the island of Peleliu.

Despite the terrible heat and a lack of water, Sledge, Leckie and the other Marines confront the highly-fortified enemy as they attempt to capture the Peleliu airfield. After seeing his comrades badly injured, Leckie himself is wounded and evacuated from the island. Sledge witnesses the shocking truth about what is sometimes required to survive and fight another day.

The Marines, including the newly christened Sledgehammer, continue the battle of Peleliu against an enemy determined to fight to the last man. Devastated by the loss of a revered leader and witnessing unimaginable barbarity on both sides, Sledge veers to the edge of moral collapse. Their objective finally secured, the Marines return to Pavuvu fundamentally changed.

Increasingly frustrated by his role campaigning for war bonds, Basilone convinces the Marines to allow him to train troops headed for combat. Transferred to Camp Pendleton, he enjoys a whirlwind romance with an initially reluctant female Marine, Lena Riggi. But the couple know they are living on borrowed time, as Basilone is soon to take part in the Marine landing on Iwo Jima.

After battling across Okinawa for over a month, Sledge and the rest of the 1st Marine Division are ordered to relieve an Army division that has been in combat against the most strongly defended Japanese position on the island. The conditions and the moral dilemma posed by civilians put great strain on the physical and psychological endurance of Sledge and the other Marines.

After the Japanese surrender, a healed Leckie returns home, while Sledge heads back to Alabama to be reunited with his family and Sid Phillips. Lena visits Basilone's home and has an emotional meeting with his family. Leckie adjusts to post-war life by resuming his old job and starting a new relationship, but Sledge will require more time.