I had to kill the poor guy off. I had no choice. Jones solved the problem by deciding to change the names of the characters in each book of the trilogy. He gave the reincarnated characters names similar to the names they had in Eternity , so that in Thin Red Line Prewitt becomes Witt, Warden becomes Welsh, and Stark becomes Storm. The Thin Red Line begins with the unloading of men from transports at Guadalcanal and ends with men waiting to be loaded on to ships to be moved to an unknown destination.
Men transfer in and out of the company, and men are killed, but the company remains, and endures.
Sunday Tribune Seldom again would Jones enjoy such strong praise from reviewers.