From “the land that God forgot” to “Hell with the fire out,” the men of First Battalion, 24th Marines saw the worst of the Pacific war. They endured four major Pacific campaigns in thirteen months—from their baptism of fire at Namur, through the bloody hills of Saipan and the burning cane fields of Tinian, to the hell of Iwo Jima where more than half their number became casualties. If not for the atomic bomb, they would have been fated to lead the assault to recapture Wake Island.

Their history is more than deployment dates and casualty figures: it is the experiences of individual Marines, both before and after the war, that bring the battalion to life. College students and high school dropouts, lawyers and CCC workers, football stars and teenage runaways served side by side: some developed into Marine Corps legends, some betrayed their comrades, and some died before having a chance to truly live. They were photographed by W. Eugene Smith for LIFE Magazine, filmed by Hollywood for Guadalcanal Diary, and profiled in newspapers. After the war they became career Marines, doctors, professors, politicians, family men, alcoholics, recluses, and criminals; their legacies encompass heroism, perseverance, loss, anger, and acceptance—the full spectrum of human experience.

This immersive account of their experiences pairs previously unpublished personal accounts with meticulous research in an intensely detailed, foxhole-eye view of the Pacific War from a new perspective.