Q:Build a movie plot around this: Where did Conway's father serve with Stryker? Guadalcanal
A:
1943. After his wife takes their son and leaves him, Sgt. John M. Stryker is an embittered man who takes his misery out on the men under his command. They're a bunch of green recruits who have a hard time dealing with Stryker's tough drills and thicker skin. Even his old friends start to wonder if he's gone from being the epitome of the tough Marine drill instructor to a man over the edge.One recruit in particular is a source of friction - Peter Conway. Conway's father was Stryker's CO at Guadalcanal and resented his son's seeming cowardice as a Marine, while Conway resents both Stryker's brutal leadership and seeming lack of sympathy for his men as well as the resentment he Conway feels is vented against him over his more relaxed conduct as a soldier. Another foe is Al Thomas, who was demoted by Stryker in previous action.The squad is assigned to take part in the November 1943 assault on the Japanese base at Tarawa. Stryker's brutal training regimen is now put to the test as the Marines must overcome a powerful underground bunker at the beach's edge; the bunker's machine gunners slaughter multiple Marines before Stryker succeeds in blowing up the position with satchel charges, and his bravery does not go unnoticed by his men. When Al Thomas and two other Marines, Charlie Bass and Hellenopolis, become separated from the main unit, Thomas runs to get fresh ammo for them - but rests for a moment when a Marine give him fresh hot coffee, a lapse that allows his two buddies to be jumped and bayoneted by Japanese Naval Landing troops.That night the beaten-up squad must guard the main approach to the beachhead, and they hear in the distance a man desperately calling for help. Stryker believes it to be a deception by the Japanese and he can't let anyone tip their position - which leads to an even grimmer dilemma when the voice calls out, "Stryker!" Peter Conway violently vows to find the man - but Stryker nearly shoots him dead to keep him from moving, and must sweat out the possibility of letting a fellow Marine...