Robert E. Lee Witt

Private Robert E. Lee Witt is one of the main protagonists of the 1998 epic-war film The Thin Red Line written and directed by Terrence Malick. He is a soldier serving in the 25th Infantry Division who became sad and disillusioned with the war around him and attempts to go AWOL and live peacefully amongst the Melanesian natives in the South Pacific only to be found and unwillingly sent to the island of Guadalcanal as reinforcements in the campaign to secure Henderson Field from the Japanese Army. 
He is portrayed by actor Jim Caviezel who also portrayed Jesus Christ in The Passion of The Christ.
== Biography ==
Robert E. Lee Witt served the United States Army as a private during WWII but at some point became disgusted and saddened by bloodshed and brutality of war, prompting him to go AWOL from his unit to live among the carefree Melanesian natives in the South Pacific. Witt is later found and imprisoned on a troopship by Sergeant Welsh of his company. Witt is deemed a coward and not allowed to rejoin his unit, and is instead punitively assigned to act as a stretcher bearer for the upcoming campaign.
However, he alongside the men of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division are soon sent to to the island of Guadalcanal as part of reinforcements in the campaign to secure Henderson Field from the Japanese Army and block off their route to Australia. As they wait in the hold of a Navy transport ship, they contemplate their lives and the upcoming invasion. During the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Tall who is abrasive and uncaring towards his unit, resulting in many casualties in his unit forces a small detachment of men to perform a flanking maneuver on the bunker to capture it. Among the men to volunteer for the mission are Witt, Doll, and Bell. Captain Gaff is given command of the detachment, and they proceed up the hill toward the bunker. A pitched battle ensues, but ultimately the American forces are victorious, and the hill is captured.
For their efforts, the men are given a week's leave, though they find little joy in the respite in the fighting: the airfield where they are stationed comes under frequent enemy artillery bombardment. While the company is bivouacked, Witt explores the island and encounters the locals there and notices that, unlike the idyllic life he'd shared with the Melanesian natives when he went AWOL, the villagers have grown distant and distrustful of outsiders, and regularly quarrel with each other, much to his dismay as he contemplates and reminisces of the brief happiness and peacefulness he felt living amongst the natives. He also sympathizes with the captured Japanese soldiers who are under physical, emotional and mental distress.
Weeks later, the company is sent on patrol up a river under the command of the inexperienced Lieutenant Band. As Japanese artillery fire falls close to their positions and with communications severed, Band orders Corporal Fife and Private Coombs to scout upriver. Witt, sensing danger, volunteers to go along. The three men encounter an advancing Japanese column, but as they attempt to retreat back to the company, they are fired upon and Coombs is wounded. In order to buy time for Fife to go back to inform the rest of the unit, Witt draws away the Japanese but is encircled by one of their squads, who demand that he surrender. Witt realizing that this is the end briefly remembers his time with the Melanesian natives and raises his rifle to provoke the squad and is killed, finally being at peace.
Not long after, Witt's body is discovered and is buried by his fellow soldiers as well as being deemed a hero. 
== Personality ==
Witt is a carefree and pacifistic individual, preferring to live a carefree and peaceful life amongst the Melanesian natives in The South Pacific rather than fight in the ongoing war with The Imperial Japanese Army due to his disillusion with the brutality of the war as well as the misunderstanding between both sides in the war. Despite being initially deemed a coward by his unit for going AWOL, he is actually a very brave, noble and selfless individual who doesn't participate in the bloodlust or cruelty during war and mainly kills the enemy to serve his country even though his is unwilling. 
Knowing that he could never return to The South Pacific to be with the Melanesian natives once more, he fell into despair and often reminisces his time there with them and becomes suicidal. Lastly, his selfless and brave attributes shine when he draws away the Japanese army to to buy time for Corporal Fife to escape and inform his unit of an incoming attack only to be cornered by the Japanese squad. During his final moment, he has finally found peace and sacrifices himself for his unit and rightfully deemed a hero for it. 
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