The Pacific (TV Mini Series)
Peleliu Landing (2010)
Joseph Mazzello: PFC Eugene Sledge
Photos
Quotes
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PFC Robert Leckie : [in Leckie's 'library,' he sees Sledge picking up a Bible and chuckles] Now that explains it. You're a believer.
Eugene B. Sledge : Yes.
PFC Robert Leckie : OK, question: God created everything, right? The heavens, seven seas, Marine Corps...
[gestures to the sleeping Runner]
PFC Robert Leckie : Sleeping Beauty there...
Eugene B. Sledge : [chuckles] Even him.
PFC Robert Leckie : Land crabs, rats, mosquitoes...
Eugene B. Sledge : Mosquito's a little tough to understand, I guess.
PFC Robert Leckie : God created Japs too, right?
[Eugene's smile fades]
PFC Robert Leckie : Yellow slants who've tried to kill me on many occasions. Japs come from the garden of Eden too?
Eugene B. Sledge : Well, what we do is up to us. He gives us a choice.
PFC Robert Leckie : Free will, right. 'Cept he's God, of course, so he knows what we're gonna do before we do it.
Eugene B. Sledge : Predestination.
PFC Robert Leckie : So the whole game is fixed by the will of Gramps on his throne while we're down here for what? His entertainment? That makes us chumps, or God's a sadist and either way, I got no use for him.
Eugene B. Sledge : So what do you believe in?
PFC Robert Leckie : I believe in ammunition.
[Eugene chuckles]
PFC Robert Leckie : Tell you what, though - since I'm not on speaking terms anymore, next time you're havin' a chat with the old geezer, can you ask him to sink a few Jap transports and have 'em all fall on their bayonets so I can get the fuck out of here and go home? Sure would appreciate it.
[Eugene turns to leave and puts the Bible back]
PFC Robert Leckie : You go ahead and keep it. Don't know what I have it in the first place.
Eugene B. Sledge : No thanks.
[goes to the mouth of the tent]
Eugene B. Sledge : Got my own.
[holds it up and leaves]
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Eugene B. Sledge : Sid... what's it like?
PFC Sidney Phillips : [after a pause] I slept with a woman in Melbourne. I'm not braggin', but that's at one end, right?
[points down the beach]
PFC Sidney Phillips : And then way down there, as far as you can go, that's what it's like. And that... that you can never imagine.
Eugene B. Sledge : Okay.
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PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : [sitting and watching the other men scrubbing out drums] You assholes are gonna miss cleanin' out oil barrels pretty soon. You gonna be humpin' up some fuckin' hill...
[he lights a cigarette, despite being beside a 'no smoking' sign]
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : ... or across a beach, Japs pourin' shit for fire, pissin' your pants, cryin' boo-hoo, wishin' you were back here with nothin' asked of you but to scrub oil outta drums.
Bill Leyden : [angrily] Why don't you grab a brush and give us a hand?
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : Fuck that shit, I scrub drums for no man.
Eugene B. Sledge : Can we take a break?
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : Do whatever you want, this ain't my detail.
[the others look at each other incredulously]
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : I was supposed to dump y'all off here and report back to the C.P.
PFC Robert Oswalt : Then why're you still here?
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : [smirking] I like to watch the new guys sweat.
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[last lines, as Sledge and Oswalt look out over the burning Peleliu airfield at night]
PFC Robert Oswalt : Look at that. You ever been to the Grand Canyon?
Eugene B. Sledge : No.
PFC Robert Oswalt : My dad went when he was a boy. He was always goin' on about it when I was little. I'd ask him about it, he said I had to see it to understand. He finally took me when I was ten. We got there late at night to these cabins, couldn't see a thing on account of the dark. Next morning, we got up, went outside... ten yards from where we slept, the fucking Grand Canyon. A mile down. Colors I'd never seen before. My dad was right. Pictures don't show it. You have to be there... lookin' down into it.
PFC Merriell 'Snafu' Shelton : [trying to fall asleep] Shut the fuck up, you idiot.
Eugene B. Sledge : [softly] We have to go out there tomorrow.
[Oswalt doesn't answer]
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PFC Sidney Phillips : [sees Eugene, who has just landed on the island, wandering around. He grins] I don't believe it.
[he runs over and tackles Eugene]
PFC Sidney Phillips : Something's wrong! Something's very wrong if you made it through boot camp!
Eugene B. Sledge : Gimme a break, you old greaser, come on!
[they wrestle]
Capt. Andrew Haldane : [approaches with another officer] Get up off my deck.
Eugene B. Sledge : [the boys jump to their feet and stand at attention] Captain Haldane.
PFC Sidney Phillips : Sir.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : What's this about, marine? Some rite of greeting new to the corps?
PFC Sidney Phillips : [nervously] Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : [to Eugene] Who are you?
Eugene B. Sledge : Private Eugene Sledge, sir.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : You fellas know each other, or is this some kinda conflict resolution?
Eugene B. Sledge : Old friends, sir. From Mobile, Alabama, sir.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : Mobile?
PFC Sidney Phillips : Yes, sir.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : [amused] Old friends, huh?
Second Marine : That explains it.
Capt. Andrew Haldane : As you were. But try not to dislocate a shoulder or break an arm. We need both you men healthy.
Eugene B. Sledge , PFC Sidney Phillips : Yes, sir.
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Eugene B. Sledge : Have you heard the latest about the other war?
PFC Robert Leckie : There's another war?
Eugene B. Sledge : We invaded Europe. Landed last month in France.
PFC Robert Leckie : Well, unless you've got a brother over there, most guys don't give a shit.
Eugene B. Sledge : My brother landed in Italy, tank battalion.
PFC Robert Leckie : Well, I guess you get to give a shit.
[offers Sledge water]
Eugene B. Sledge : Thanks.
[picks up a Bible]
PFC Robert Leckie : Well, that explains it, you're a believer.
[Sledge nods]
PFC Robert Leckie : Okay, question: God created everything, right? The heavens, the seven seas, the Marine Corps,
[points to Runner]
PFC Robert Leckie : sleeping beauty over there?
Eugene B. Sledge : [laughs] Even him.
PFC Robert Leckie : Land crabs, rats, mosquitos?
Eugene B. Sledge : Mosquitos are a little tough to understand.
PFC Robert Leckie : [turns serious] God created Japs too, right? The yellow slants who've tried to kill me on many occasions? Japs come from the Garden of Eden too?
Eugene B. Sledge : Well, what we do is up to us, we're given a choice.