Aldo Giannini signs up for the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. Training first in San Diego and then in New Zealand, Aldo is part of the Battle of Tarawa, one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. Enduring a shrapnel injury and witnessing a staggering 3,250 U.S. casualties, Aldo reflects on a battle which gained the U.S. very little in the war. Aldo was hospitalized for three months in Hawaii following the battle, and returned to participate in the invasion of Okinawa. Following the destruction of Nagasaki by the atomic bomb, Aldo is part of the occupying force in the ruined city, finding the Japanese civilians to be friendly to the U.S. military. Having lived through some of the harshest battles of the Pacific Theater, Aldo returns home and marries his high school sweetheart.