In 1940, Roy H. Elrod joined the Marine Corps. His unit, the 8th Marine Regiment, went into the fight at Guadalcanal. On D-Day at Tarawa his platoon waded their 37mm cannons ashore through half a mile of bullet-laced surf. At Saipan, Elrod commanded a platoon of 75mm halftracks. Fred H. Allison interviewed Elrod, drew on wartime letters, and provided annotations to his narrative to tell his story.