- Water is in short supply and the stifling heat takes control on Peleliu as Leckie is wounded and evacuated.
- The battle on Peleliu goes on as the Marines continue towards the airfield. It's only the second day of fighting on the island but water is in short supply and the heat is excruciating. They are under constant bombardment from Japanese artillery located in the Peleliu Hills but the only way they can get there is to cross the airfield, a vast, open expanse. Bob Lechie is wounded and subsequently evacuated to a nearby ship. Sledge proves to be a steady hand in the battle. Back in the USA, Sid Phillips drops in on Eugene Sledge's parents.—garykmcd
- Despite the suffocating 115-degree heat and a lack of clean drinking 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.—HBO Publicity
- Part Six
September, 1944 -- Mobile, Alabama
A car drives up to the Sledges' home at night. Inside, a servant pours Mrs. Sledge her tea, and she asks him to see who's calling so late in the evening. The servant looks outside. He tells her that it's a man in uniform. The color drains from her face.
The servant opens the door, and it's Sidney Phillips. From the back room, Dr. Sledge emerges and joins his wife in greeting Phillips warmly. They sit him down for a meal and a drink.
Mrs. Sledge asks after Eugene, and Phillips' face suddenly become very serious. He tells the Sledges that he's with a lot of good Marines, that the 1st is the best there is, and that Eugene is a mortar man, like he is. Phillips says that he can't say this about every Marine he knows, but he's not worried about Eugene. Mrs. Sledge looks relieved. Dr. Sledge puts his arm around his wife and casts a grateful look at Phillips, which Phillips acknowledges silently as he takes a deep drink of water from a crystal glass.
September, 1944 -- Peleliu
Private Eugene Sledge and other members of the first are still guarding the airfield as the hot sun beats down on them, punctuated by explosions. Sledge has his Bible open, and inside he's writing his temperature estimates on a dirty slip of paper: 105 to 115 degrees. Private Merriell ''Snafu'' Shelton sees what he's doing and tersely orders him to break down the armaments, that they're moving.
Elsewhere, Private Leckie and Private ''Runner'' Conley are holding their position in a shallow foxhole. 2nd Lieutenant Stone runs up to them, and Leckie asks if he has any word on Hoosier. The only news is that the beach had a high number of casualties and it's hard to keep track. In other words, no. Runner gripes that he's desperate for water. Leckie sees a canteen on the ground nearby and checks it -- it's dry. Then he eyes a tarp. He gingerly heads over and lifts it and searches the bloody corpse of the dead Marine beneath, finding his canteen. He picks it up, but notices Runner and Stone looking at him disgusted, so he puts it back and restores the tarp.
One of Sledge's squad walks up and announces that they've found water, and a group excitedly runs to what looks like a well. One of the men is filling canteens, and another dips in his helmet. Another man reaches in and pulls up something, jumping back when he realizes it's the rotting body of a dead ram. The Japanese already poisoned it.
One of the commanding officers, Captain Haldane, pulls them together to give them orders: In order to cease the bombing, they'll have to fight their way through the forest into the hills, where the enemy is dug in. That means crossing the airfield. Once they start moving, they cannot stop. They reply with an "aye sir," and when Haldane asks if there are questions, a corporal bleakly tells them they're desperate for water. Haldane says he's working on it. He orders them to get their gear ready and stand by. A blast goes off nearby.
Sledge's mortar squad grimly eyes the heavily fortified field they have to cross, and one of the men voices his fear. Another asks if anyone has toilet paper, and Snafu says no -- no paper, no rations, no water. He proceeds to torture them with thoughts of water -- a little sip of cool water? A little splash on your face? Yep, put that right out of your mind, he says. Everyone looks like they want to slap him. Then Oswalt produces his canteen and shares it with the entire squad. Each of them takes a sip, savoring it like it's the last drop of water in the world. The last man passes Oswalt his canteen and, much to the entitled Snafu's chagrin, the team's mortar sight. "Least I can do for the water," the man says.
Oswalt and Sledge exchange a look, and an NCO barks at them that they'll be moving shortly.
Runner, Stone and Leckie are waiting for the action to begin when Leckie suddenly stands up, removes his helmet, stares at the airfield, and yells that he can't believe command sent them out there without water. A bomb going off nearby snaps him back to reality, and he puts his helmet back on. Stone yells out orders to prepare to move.
The air is thick with bombers overhead. Sledge starts to breathe heavily. Snafu hands him his cigarette, and Sledge takes a deep drag. The orders go up, and the battalions begin moving forward and are ordered not to stop. What they don't see is that in the building the Japanese forces are locked and loaded, waiting for them to come into range.
The bombs drop on the airfield almost immediately as the troops push forward, blasting the men to pieces. Sledge and Snafu press on as their compatriots scream around them. The mortar squad finds a barricade and drops down.
Sledge, Runner and Stone are part of the second wave, and get going. The men around them are cut down as they run to cross the airfield. Leckie sees a man's leg blown in half at the knee and immediately finds Runner. Leckie grabs his friend's arm and they move forward together.
The mortar squad gets ready to move up, but is forced to pause when one of the men is shot through the back. A Japanese sniper is hiding in a hole behind him, and the men turn and take him out with a storm of machine gun fire. They move up through the chaos.
Leckie and Runner are still up, trying to rendezvous with Stone in the chaos. At one point a frightened Runner leaps behind an oil drum, but Leckie pulls him up and assures him he's OK. They press on until they find Stone with the radio man crouched behind a downed fighter plane. When they get there, Leckie sees Runner has been hit in the upper left arm. It looks bad.
He takes a bandage and attempts to use it as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, but Runner's going into shock. Nearby the radio man is desperately trying to contact command to get air support but as Stone and Leckie look on, they see the man is barely holding it together -- a hole's been blown through his torso. He soon loses his ability to speak, sputters blood, and dies. Stone grabs the comm and tries to get through, but realizes it's not reaching anyone. He tells Leckie he'll stay with Runner, whose eyes are now unfocused, and sends Leckie back to update command and find a corps man to help his friend.
Leckie runs back through the oncoming Marine squads and explosions, all but blinded by the smoke and flying dirt. He runs by a man who gets blown apart moments after he passes. He waves to another group of men to fall back, but they don't hear him -- a bomb drops into their midst, and they're gone.
Leckie finally gets to the communications officer, but they can't reach anyone either. He continues to run and sees a corps man in a Jeep. He waves to get the Jeep's attention, but they don't see him...or the bomb that takes them out. The force from the blast wave sends Leckie flying head first into a tree.
The mortar team is pressing forward, and Sledge sees Snafu get knocked back by a mortar blast. He runs back to help him up -- he's OK, just shell shocked. Sledge pulls him up, and Snafu grabs the helmet that the blast knocked off of him, and they keep running, arm in arm. Ahead of them, Oswalt is carrying the weapons, and keeps looking back to see if his friends are OK. But his care costs him. He back around and runs into a bullet, which slices through his face.
Sledge and Snafu grab their friend and drag him into a foxhole as heavy bombers rain fire down on the field. Sledge calls Oswalt's name, but he's gone. He grimly takes the mortar sight, and he and Snafu get into position.
Haldane calls out the orders, and Snafu and Leckie send mortars into the building, taking out nests of Japanese gunners with support from snipers. With the field clearer, other Marines press toward the building. A Japanese soldier hides in a hole, taking out a man or two as they pass, but one Marine finds him, knocks him in the face with the butt of his gun and angrily stabs him through the skull. With mortar support, the Marines finally make it across the airfield and clear the building.
Leckie comes to, choking as he's lifted onto a stretcher.
An armored transport rolls up to the mortar team and asks for the location of another company, but a junior officer that replies doesn't know where the company he's looking for is located. He tells the man in the transport that they need him to take their wounded back to the beach, but the transport refuses, saying they have other orders.
The vehicle starts to roll away, but Haldane steps in front of it, forcing it to stop. The junior officer angrily climbs on top of the vehicle and, pulling out his pistol, knocks on it. He tells the driver that his new orders are to get their wounded to the beach and after that, they can roll their asses anywhere they damn please. Snafu and Sledge grin as they hear the "yes sir" in reply.
Leckie is on board the hospital ship and sees another badly wounded man being desperately bandaged up by a nurse. He coughs up his own blood and weeps.
At night fall, the mortar squad is holed up in the building, and Snafu watches the men as they recover. One man, Daniels, is on watch and nervously counting out loud. He's up to 65 when Sledge asks him what he's doing.
"Counting Japs," Daniels murmurs.
Haldane comes up with Sgt. Haney (aka "Gunny") and tells him that another platoon needs a man. Gunny steps up to Daniels, but Haldane can see he's not fit for that duty, and orders Gunny to choose someone else. Haldane gently relieves Daniels from watch and tells another Marine to take him to count bandages.
Sledge shares with Haldane that he could have been the one counting Japanese he can't see. "But it's not you," Haldane tells him. Sledge admits that crossing the airfield made him more afraid than he's been in his life, and Haldane comforts him by telling him that everyone is afraid and that the man who says he's not is either a liar or dead. Snafu watches this exchange with a look of curiosity.
Haldane continues by telling him that history is full of wars for any number of reasons, but when he stepped out onto that airfield, that regardless of the men he lost, that he had to believe that in this war, it's worthwhile because their cause is just. "Of course," he adds, "if the just cause came with some hot food and some cold water, that would be OK too." Sledge reflects on that and smiles, and Haldane tells his men to get some rest.
The junior officer remarks that he got his first battlefield commission on Guadalcanal, which seems so long ago. He tells Sledge that he handled himself well today and to just remember his training.
At daybreak, the men grab some pork chops and much needed water and march to their next mission. Sledge is walking when Snafu sidles up next to him. He tells Sledge that he saw him reading and writing last night, which Sledge admits to. Snafu tells him he's not supposed to do that, since it might give the Japanese valuable intel if he gets caught. Sledge deadpans that he won't show it to them, then. Snafu grins. He asks Sledge, who before landing on the island said he doesn't smoke, for a cigarette. Sledge pulls out a pack and hands him one without blinking an eye, then lights up with him. Snafu smiles and says, "Thanks, Sledgehammer."
The rest of their squad looks upon this exchange. One of them says he likes that nickname, Sledgehammer. Snafu gives the other men a friendly ribbing, telling them that they'll all get nicknames.
At the next location, Haldane gets the men together and sets up a security perimeter. Sledge joins a recon group headed up by Gunny and Haldane, and comes to a rocky outcropping with a gap ahead. The junior officer orders Sledge to go ahead and see what up there, and Haldane holds him back, saying he just got there. Haldane carefully stays behind rocks, moving forward, and peeks up to see Japanese troops fortified in what looks like a fortress. The enemy starts firing on them, and Haldane tells his men to fall back.
He tries to radio back that the objectives cannot be accomplished without support and unacceptable casualties, but the radio doesn't work. He leaves the company in the command of the junior officer, saying that he's going to head back to command and tell them himself.
At night, Gunny tells the men to check their weapons and make sure they have a round in the chamber. He gripes about command having sent out a dog to sniff out the enemy and brags that he can sniff 'em out better, thanks much. Sledge sheepishly says he has a dog named Deacon. Gunny roughly tells him to shut up and asks "Sledgehammer" if he can get a flare up if the Japanese come through with their bayonets. Sledge says he can. Gunny gets up to leave, then crouches down quickly and leaves him with "woof." Snafu and the guys laugh softly.
Later, Sledge is struggling to sleep when he suddenly hears moaning. It's a man having a nightmare. Someone calls to get the man to shut up, and a group of Marines try at first to snap him out of it. Waking the man only makes him scream louder -- he's snapped. The men worry that if he keeps screaming, the Japanese will find their position. The junior officer in charge first calls for morphine to calm him down, then lacking that, order the men to hit the snapped Marine with something to shut him up. One picks up a shovel wallops him in the head...too hard. The rest of the men look on in silence as they realize what just happened.
The next day, someone covers the dead man with a tarp, and Sledge remarks out loud that it was better that it was him than the entire platoon. Snafu agrees.
On the hospital ship, Leckie is hollowly staring at his meal in the mess hall, playing with some peaches on his plate, when someone behind him says, "Hey, Peaches."
It's Runner. Leckie tells him that he tried to get him a corps man, and Runner stops him -- he knows. Still no sign of Hoosier. Leckie seems to be beating himself up for leaving his friend on the island, but Runner quiets him and asks if he wants coffee. Leckie says no, he wants to go topside for some air.
Sledge and the rest of his group are preparing to fall back, since Haldane came up and got their orders changed. Haldane comforts the junior officer, assuring him he made the right call with the screaming Marine. Led by a Sherman tank, they grimly march back the way they came.
Leckie and Runner look out at the smoking Peleliu from the transport, and have empathy for the men still there getting pounded. Runner feels the engines of the hospital transport rumble to life, and he turns to his friend.
"Hey," he says gently. "Let's go home, cobber."
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