San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U. S.–Mexico border. The bay, 12 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's entire 840 miles long coastline after San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay; the urbanized land adjacent to the bay includes the city of San Diego and four other cities: National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado. Considered to be one of the best natural harbors on the west coast of North America, it was colonized by Spain beginning in 1769, it served as base headquarters of major ships of the United States Navy in the Pacific until just before the United States entered World War II, when the newly organized United States Pacific Fleet primary base was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. However, San Diego Bay remains as a home port of major assets, including several aircraft carriers, of the United States Pacific Fleet, as a result of base closures beginning in the 1980s, facilities in San Diego Bay are the major naval base facilities still in operation in California.
The Port of San Diego has a cruise ship terminal. A second cruise ship terminal opened in December 2010; the port handles more than 3 million metric tons of cargo yearly. The cruise ship terminal hosted more than 250 ship calls a year totaling more than 800,000 passengers at its peak in 2008. General Dynamics' National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, the only shipyard on the west coast capable of building and repairing large ocean-going vessels, is near the San Diego side of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. San Diego International Airport is adjacent to the bay, across Harbor Drive from the Coast Guard Station; the bay is spanned by the San Diego–Coronado Bridge, built in 1969. The bridge curves and rises to a height of 200 feet above the water so that Navy ships can pass under it; the bridge was a toll bridge. Known as Commercial Basin and housing much of San Diego's sport and commercial fishing fleet, the small cove in the southern lee of Shelter Island was renamed in 1994 to America's Cup Harbor, in honor of the 1995 America's Cup races held in San Diego.
America's Cup Harbor has several boat yards and marinas for private sailing yachts, as well as a mooring field. Numerous resorts and the San Diego Convention Center are adjacent to the Bay. Several parks and nature preserves are found at various locations along the shoreline. Sightseeing boats depart from the downtown area. Commercial sport fishing and whale watching tours depart from Shelter Island. Ten museum ships call San Diego Bay home, they include the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier museum, the Star of India, the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship afloat and the world's oldest active sailing ship. The Star of India and eight other ships and boats on San Diego Bay are the floating collection of the San Diego Maritime Museum. In the northern part of the bay there are two commercial "islands" called Harbor Island and Shelter Island, they were built up from former sand bars and now hold hotels, restaurants and public parkland. Across from Harbor Island is a bayside park called Spanish Landing, a historic site which commemorates the meeting in 1769 of two expeditions from Spanish Mexico that made possible the European settlement of California.
Spanish Landing park is the site of San Salvador Village, where the San Diego Maritime Museum is constructing a full-sized functional wooden replica of the San Salvador flagship, in which explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay in 1542. Small boat sailing is popular, the bay is lined by dozens of marinas and nine yacht clubs, including the San Diego Yacht Club, the home of the America's Cup from 1988 to 1995. An inlet of the bay was renamed America's Cup Harbor to commemorate that occasion. An annual fireworks display called the Big Bay Boom is held on the Fourth of July over the waters of the Bay. Fireworks are launched from four barges in the Bay as well as from a pier in Imperial Beach, it is one of the largest annual fireworks displays in the United States and is viewed by half a million people each year. The Parade of Lights is a parade of more than 80 small boats with holiday decorations and lights on two Sundays in December; the parade has been held annually since 1972.
The parade starts off Shelter Island and proceeds past Harbor Island and Downtown, finishing at the Coronado ferry landing. A one-time special event was the "Parade of Flight" in February 2011, celebrating the 100th anniversary of naval aviation, it featured flights over San Diego Bay by more than 200 historic naval aircraft, concluded with a flyover by the air wing from the U. S. S. John C. Stennis; the western border of the bay is protected from the Pacific Ocean by a long, narrow strip of land called the Silver Strand. The northern end of the Silver Strand expands to become North Island, the location of Naval Air Station North Island and Coronado. Coronado is the site of the famous Hotel del Coronado; the U. S. Na
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border; as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea had been split into two sovereign states in 1948. A socialist state was established in the north under the communist leadership of Kim Il-sung and a capitalist state in the south under the anti-communist leadership of Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea, neither accepted the border as permanent; the conflict escalated into warfare when North Korean military forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—crossed the border and advanced south into South Korea on 25 June 1950. The United Nations Security Council authorized the formation and dispatch of UN forces to Korea to repel what was recognized as a North Korean invasion. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel.
After the first two months of war, South Korean and U. S. forces dispatched to Korea were on the point of defeat, forced back to a small area in the south known as the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Incheon, cut off many North Korean troops; those who escaped envelopment and capture were forced back north. UN forces approached the Yalu River—the border with China—but in October 1950, mass Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war; the surprise Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. In these reversals of fortune, Seoul changed hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel; the war in the air, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was signed, according to some sources the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen conflict. In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the demilitarized zone and agreed to work towards a treaty to formally end the Korean War. In South Korea, the war is referred to as "625" or the "6–2–5 Upheaval", reflecting the date of its commencement on June 25. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the "Fatherland Liberation War" or alternatively the "Chosǒn War". In China, the war is called the "War to Resist America and Aid Korea", although the term "Chaoxian War" is used in unofficial contexts, along with the term "Hán War" more used in regions such as Hong Kong and Macau. In the U. S. the war was described by President Harry S. Truman as a "police action" as the United States never formally declared war on its opponents and the operation was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
It has been referred to in the English-speaking world as "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War" because of the lack of public attention it received both during and after the war, in relation to the global scale of World War II, which preceded it, the subsequent angst of the Vietnam War, which succeeded it. Imperial Japan destroyed the influence of China over Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War, ushering in the short-lived Korean Empire. A decade after defeating Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan made Korea its protectorate with the Eulsa Treaty in 1905 annexed it with the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910. Many Korean nationalists fled the country; the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was founded in 1919 in Nationalist China. It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite nationalist groups, had a fractious relationship with its U. S.-based founding president, Syngman Rhee. From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean communists led internal and external warfare against the Japanese.
In China, the Nationalist National Revolutionary Army and the communist People's Liberation Army helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by Yi Pom-Sok, fought in the Burma Campaign; the communists, led by Kim Il-sung among others, fought the Japanese in Manchuria. At the Cairo Conference in November 1943, the United Kingdom, the United States all decided that "in due course Korea shall become free and independent". At the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe. Accordingly, it declared war o
History of San Diego
The written history of the San Diego, region began in the present state of California when Europeans first began inhabiting the San Diego Bay region. As the first area of California in which Europeans settled, San Diego has been described as "the birthplace of California."Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims to have discovered San Diego Bay in 1542 200 years before Europeans settled the area. A fort and mission were established in 1769, which expanded into a settlement under first Spanish and Mexican rule. San Diego became part of the U. S. in 1848, the town was named the county seat of San Diego County when California was granted statehood in 1850. It remained a small town for several decades, but grew after 1880 due to development and the establishment of multiple military facilities. Growth was rapid during and after World War II. Entrepreneurs and boosters laid the basis for an economy based today on the military, defense industries, international trade, manufacturing. San Diego is now the eighth largest city in the country and forms the heart of the larger San Diego metropolitan area.
The area has long been inhabited by the Kumeyaay Native American people. The first European to visit the region was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, his landing is re-enacted every year at the Cabrillo Festival sponsored by Cabrillo National Monument, but it did not lead to settlement. The bay and the area of present-day San Diego were given their current name sixty years by Sebastián Vizcaíno when he was mapping the coastline of Alta California for Spain in 1602. Vizcaino was a merchant. After holding the first Catholic service conducted on California soil on the feast day of San Diego de Alcala, he renamed the bay, he left after 10 days and was enthusiastic about its safe harbor, friendly natives, promising potential as a successful colony. Despite his enthusiasm, the Spanish were unconvinced. In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition founded the Presidio of San Diego, on July 16, Franciscan friars Junípero Serra, Juan Viscaino and Fernando Parron raised and'blessed a cross', establishing the first mission in upper Las Californias, Mission San Diego de Alcala.
Colonists began arriving in 1774. In the following year the Kumeyaay indigenous people rebelled against the Spanish, they killed the priest and two others, burned the mission. Serra organized the rebuilding, a fire-proof adobe and tile-roofed structure was completed in 1780. By 1797 the mission had become the largest in California, with a population of more than 1,400 converted Native American "Mission Indians" relocated to and associated with it; the tile-roofed adobe structure was destroyed by an 1803 earthquake but replaced by a third church in 1813. In 1821 Mexico ousted the Spanish in the Mexican War of Independence and created the Province of Alta California; the San Diego Mission was secularized and shut down in 1834 and the land was sold off. 432 residents petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote. Beyond town Mexican land grants expanded the number of California ranchos that modestly added to the local economy.
The original town of San Diego was located at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area, now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The location was not ideal. Imported goods and exports had to be carried over the La Playa Trail to the anchorages in Point Loma; this arrangement was suitable only for a small town. In 1830 the population was about 600. In 1834 the presidio was described as "in a most ruinous state, apart from one side, in which the commandant lived, with his family. There were only two guns, one of, spiked, the other had no carriage. Twelve half-clothed and half-starved-looking fellows composed the garrison, they, it was said, had not a musket apiece." The settlement composed about forty brown huts and three or four larger, whitewashed ones belonging to the gentry. In 1838 the town lost its pueblo status because of its dwindling population, estimated as 100 to 150 residents, it was considered a suburb of Los Angeles. During the Mexican–American War the control of the city was exchanged three times: once in July 1846 when the USS Cyane and the California Battalion took control, in October 1846 when Californio forces took control, again in October 1846 when the American flag was raised again over the pueblo.
By November 1846, American control was secured with the arrival of reinforcements from the USS Congress. Following events near San Gabriel in early January 1847, peace returned to California. Alta California became part of the United States in 1848 following the U. S. victory in the Mexican–American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The resident "Californios" became American citizens with full voting rights. California was admitted to the Union as a state in 1850. San Diego, still little more than a village, was incorporated on March 27 as a city and was named the county seat of the newly established San Diego County; the United States Census reported the population of the town as 650 in 1850 and 731 in 1860. San Diego promptly got into financial trouble due to overspending on a poorly designed jail. In 1852 the state repealed the city charter, in effect declaring the city bankrupt, installed a state-controlled three-member board
Historic districts in the United States
Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, properties, or sites by one of several entities on different levels as or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures and sites within a historic district are divided into two categories and non-contributing. Districts vary in size: some have hundreds of structures, while others have just a few; the U. S. federal government designates historic districts through the United States Department of Interior under the auspices of the National Park Service. Federally designated historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but listing imposes no restrictions on what property owners may do with a designated property. State-level historic districts may follow similar criteria or may require adherence to certain historic rehabilitation standards. Local historic district designation offers, by far, the most legal protection for historic properties because most land use decisions are made at the local level.
Local districts are administered by the county or municipal government. The first U. S. historic district was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931, predating the U. S. federal government designation by more than three decades. Charleston city government designated an "Old and Historic District" by local ordinance and created a board of architectural review to oversee it. New Orleans followed in 1937, establishing the Vieux Carré Commission and authorizing it to act to maintain the historic character of the city's French Quarter. Other localities picked up on the concept, with the city of Philadelphia enacting its historic preservation ordinance in 1955; the regulatory authority of local commissions and historic districts has been upheld as a legitimate use of government police power, most notably in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York; the Supreme Court case validated the protection of historic resources as "an permissible governmental goal." In 1966 the federal government created the National Register of Historic Places, soon after a report from the U.
S. Conference of Mayors had stated Americans suffered from "rootlessness." By the 1980s there were thousands of federally designated historic districts. Some states, such as Arizona, have passed referendums defending property rights that have stopped private property being designated historic without the property owner's consent or compensation for the historic overlay. Historic districts are two types of properties and non-contributing. Broadly defined, a contributing property is any property, structure or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make a historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Different entities governmental, at both the state and national level in the United States, have differing definitions of contributing property but they all retain the same basic characteristics. In general, contributing properties are integral parts of the historic context and character of a historic district. In addition to the two types of classification within historic districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are classified into five broad categories.
They are, structure, site and object. All but the eponymous district category are applied to historic districts listed on the National Register. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is governmental acknowledgment of a historic district. However, the Register is "an honorary status with some federal financial incentives." The National Register of Historic Places defines a historic district per U. S. federal law, last revised in 2004. According to the Register definition a historic district is: a geographically definable area, urban or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, structures, or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A district may comprise individual elements separated geographically but linked by association or history. Districts established under U. S. federal guidelines begin the process of designation through a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official recognition by the U.
S. government of cultural resources worthy of preservation. While designation through the National Register does offer a district or property some protections, it is only in cases where the threatening action involves the federal government. If the federal government is not involved the listing on the National Register provides the site, property or district no protections. For example, if company A wants to tear down the hypothetical Smith House and company A is under contract with the state government of Illinois the federal designation would offer no protections. If, company A was under federal contract the Smith House would be protected. A federal designation is little more than recognition by the government that the resource is worthy of preservation. In general, the criteria for acceptance to the National Register are applied but there are considerations for exceptions to the criteria and historic districts have influence on some of those exceptions; the National Register does not list religious structures, moved structures, reconstructed structures, or properties that have achieved significance within the last 50 years.
However, if a property falls into one of those categories and are "integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria" an exception allowing their listing will be made. Historic dis
Sports in San Diego
Sports in San Diego includes one major league professional team, several semi-pro and college teams, as well as other sporting events. The most popular sports team in San Diego is the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. Popular are the college sports teams of the San Diego State Aztecs, which play in NCAA Division I. San Diego has hosted two teams from the National Basketball Association: the San Diego Rockets from 1967 to 1971, the San Diego Clippers from 1978 to 1984. San Diego has hosted the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League from 1961 to 2017 until moving back to Los Angeles. San Diego has never had a National Hockey League franchise, but has hosted various minor league teams, including the American Hockey League's San Diego Gulls, which started play in 2015. San Diego is the home to the lacrosse team San Diego Seals, the spring football team San Diego Fleet, the rugby union team San Diego Legion, the soccer team San Diego 1904 FC, which will start play in 2019. San Diego has the longest championship drought in the nation amongst cities with at least two major-league sports franchises.
Some fans believe. While team tennis is not regarded as a major sport, the San Diego Buds did win the TeamTennis championship in both 1984 and 1985, the San Diego Aviators won the World TeamTennis title in 2016. Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres play in Petco Park; the semi-final and final games of the inaugural World Baseball Classic were played there in 2006, an earlier round of the second WBC was held there in 2009. Hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2016, the last All Star game to determine Home Field Advantage in the World Series; the San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team based in San Diego. The Chargers competed in the National Football League; the club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League, spent its first season in Los Angeles before moving to San Diego in 1961. The Chargers joined the NFL as result of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, played their home games at the venue now known as SDCCU Stadium. On January 12, 2016, the Chargers were given a one-year option to join the Rams in the Los Angeles area.
Team chairman and CEO Dean Spanos announced on January 29, 2016, that the Chargers would remain in San Diego for the 2016 season. In 2017 the Chargers moved back to their original city of Los Angeles, leaving San Diego without a professional football team for the first time since 1961. On May 29, 2018, the Alliance of American Football announced they will start a franchise in San Diego, the San Diego Fleet, for their inaugural season in 2019; the team plays their home games at SDCCU Stadium, while San Diego native and former St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz is the head coach. San Diego has a long history of minor league ice hockey teams, starting with the San Diego Skyhawks that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1948 to 1950. Hockey returned in 1966 with the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League, which were created by Robert Breitbard to have a tenant for his upcoming arena – now known as the Valley View Casino Center; the Gulls soon grew a fanbase with averages of over 9,000 spectators.
By 1971, the year Breitbard's National Basketball Association franchise relocated to Texas to become the Houston Rockets, the Gulls had attendances bigger than both the Rockets and the Californian National Hockey League teams, the Los Angeles Kings and Oakland Seals. The Gulls ceased operations in 1974 to give way for the relocated San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association, which folded in 1977. Another Mariners team was one of the charter teams of the short-lived Pacific Hockey League that same year, being renamed Hawks in the following and last PHL season; the arena remained without hockey until 1990, when another San Diego Gulls team was founded in the International Hockey League. After the IHL team moved to Los Angeles, another Gulls team played for over a decade in both the West Coast Hockey League and ECHL; the current San Diego Gulls, of the American Hockey League, started playing in 2015, are owned by the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. On August 30, 2017, the National Lacrosse League awarded an expansion franchise to the city of San Diego and owner Joseph Tsai.
The team will begin play in December 2018 with its home arena being the Valley View Casino Center. On October 24, the NLL and San Diego owners released the San Diego Seals. Released was the colors, gold and black, the logo. On October 24, 2017 the name was revealed as the San Diego Seals; the original North American Soccer League was awarded an expansion franchise known as the San Diego Sockers. The original Sockers indoor franchise played in the NASL indoor league, Major Indoor Soccer League, Continental Indoor Soccer League, World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League; the current Sockers play in the indoor Major Arena Soccer League. With the expansion of the minor professional league National Premier Soccer League, the San Diego Flash saw the addition of the North County Battalion and Albion SC Pros; the San Diego SeaLions play in the Women's Premier Soccer League, the San Diego Zest play in the USL Premier Development League with the SoCal Surf. Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber mentioned San Diego as an expansion candidate in February 2014.
Garber reiterated in April 2016 that San Diego is one of the expansion c
San Diego Public Library
The San Diego Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Diego, California. The San Diego Public Library was established on May 19, 1882, by an elected board of library trustees, one of whom was civic leader and philanthropist George Marston; the first location was rented space in the Commercial Bank building at Fifth and G streets, the new library opened its doors to the public for the first time on July 15, 1882. San Diego was the first city west of the Mississippi River to receive a Carnegie Library grant; the grant was received in 1899 and the library built in 1902. The library moved to E streets where the new Carnegie Library was constructed. A notable librarian during this period was Clara Estelle Breed, who served as children's librarian at the downtown branch and was appointed City Librarian in 1945, a post she held for 25 years, she founded numerous branch libraries and established the Serra Cooperative Library System, which allows users to borrow books from other libraries in San Diego and Imperial counties.
She maintained contact with many Japanese American children when they were interned with their families during World War II. Over the years, many branch libraries have been opened throughout the City. In 1952, the Carnegie Library was demolished and a new Central Library was opened at the same location on June 27, 1954; that library closed permanently on June 9, 2013, to begin the 10-week process of transferring its 2.6-million-item collection to the new library. In 2010, construction began on a new $184.9 million 366,673 square feet Central Library at 330 Park Boulevard in downtown San Diego. This 9-story structure was designed by San Diego architect Rob Quigley, it opened on September 30, 2013. The library displays numerous books and collections, including the second largest collection of baseball memorabilia in the U. S; the Central Library houses a new charter high school, e3 Civic High School, billed as the only school in the United States to be housed within a library. The school serves grades 9 through 12.
It opened on September 2013 with an initial student body of 260 ninth and tenth graders. Additional grades were added in 2014 and 2015 resulting in a student body of 500; the San Diego Public Library system consists of the Central Library, 35 branch libraries, an adult literacy program office. Library cards are free to applicants who reside within the state of California or own property in the city of San Diego, to men and women serving in the armed forces who are stationed within San Diego County. Library cards must be renewed every two years. There is a $30 annual fee for a non-resident library card. On the third floor of the Central Library is the new Innovation Lab, funded by a state Library Services and Technology Act grant in 2013, when the Central Library opened. Since thanks to donations from the community, the lab has expanded and added additional machines; the new space was funded in part by the California State Library. Available equipment and resources from the Innovation Lab include: 3D Printing & Scanning Silhouette Cameos/Vinyl Cutter Sewing & Embroidery Machines Milling Machine Laser Cutter Computers Maker Classes & WorkshopIn fiscal year 2006, the Library system had a circulation of more than 7 million and more than 6 million visits by patrons.
The San Diego Public Library was one of the first major library systems in the United States to offer free wireless Internet access at all of its locations, including the Central Library and branch libraries. While testing the Spirit of St. Louis airplane in San Diego, Charles Lindbergh used the resources at the San Diego Public Library to plot the course for his historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Renowned American sculptor Donal Hord bequeathed to the San Diego Public Library his lifelong collection of books and several sculptures in appreciation for the assistance he had received from library's staff over the years. Aside from the Central Library, the system includes the following 35 branches: Althea Warren, head librarian, 1916–26 Official website Carnegie Libraries in California
Battle Cry (film)
Battle Cry is a 1955 Warner Color film, starring Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore, Tab Hunter, Anne Francis, Dorothy Malone, Raymond Massey, Mona Freeman in CinemaScope. The movie is based on the novel by former Marine Leon Uris, who wrote the screenplay, was produced and directed by Raoul Walsh; the film was shot at Camp Pendleton and featured a large amount of cooperation from the United States Marine Corps. In January 1942, as many young men respond to the call for Marine Corps recruits, All-American athlete Danny Forrester boards a train in Baltimore, after saying goodbye to his family and girl friend Kathy; the train picks up other recruits en route to the Marine training camp near San Diego, including womanizing lumberjack Andy Hookans, bookish Marion Hodgkiss, Navajo Indian Shining Lighttower, troublemaking "Spanish" Joe Gomez, L. Q. Jones of Arkansas, Speedy of Texas, the Philadelphian Ski, eager to escape the slums, but upset to leave his girl friend Susan. Several weeks after the arduous training of boot camp, the men are accepted into radio school and assigned to the battalion commanded by Maj. Sam "High Pockets" Huxley.
The Marines continue their military training and receive rigorous communication instruction from Sgt. Mac, but on weekends they get passes to San Diego. In a sleazy bar there, Ski drowns his sorrows in alcohol and women to forget that Susan has married another man. Concerned about him and his fellow Marines go to the bar, believing they are coming to his rescue, get in a brawl with others there. Danny is saved from excessive drinking by the married USO worker Elaine Yarborough, begins a relationship with her, until Mac, noticing a change in his performance, arranges for him to call Kathy long-distance. Recognizing the young man's loneliness and Huxley grant him a furlough to Baltimore, during which Danny elopes with Kathy. Meanwhile, the meditative Marion, who hopes to write about his wartime experiences, meets the beautiful and mysterious Rae on the Coronado ferryboat. Although she meets him there and seems to admire him she will not share with him details about her life. Marion learns why she has been evasive, when she shows up with other B-girls ordered by Joe, at a party celebrating the regiment's orders to ship out.
The men are sent to New Zealand, where they are warmly received. Andy, who respects no woman, tries to woo the married Pat Rogers by suggesting that he fill the void left by her husband, whom he believes is fighting in Africa. After the offended Pat tells him her husband died in action, Andy apologizes for the first time ever. Pat invites the reformed Andy to visit her parents' farm, despite their attraction, they agree to remain friends only. After Christmas, the Sixth Regiment, now known as "Huxley's Harlots," is sent to Guadalcanal after the invasion to "mop up" a resistant band of Japanese soldiers. Afterward, the battle-weary men, minus Ski, killed by a sniper, return to New Zealand, where Pat nurses the malaria-stricken Andy and decides to risk a short-term romance with him. To restore the men's stamina, newly promoted to lieutenant colonel, orders them to compete in a brutal 60-mile hike, while other companies are trucked back to camp, Huxley has his men hike the whole way and near collapse, but in record-breaking time.
Aware that his men are special, Huxley is frustrated when they are not ordered to Tarawa with the main invasion, but held back to clear out remaining Japanese resistance afterward. Pat is afraid of losing another love to the war and tells Andy that she wants to break up, but Andy refuses and asks her to marry him. Although frightened, she accepts and only admits that she is pregnant. With Huxley's assistance in cutting through red tape and Pat marry, but two days when the men are to ship out, Andy considers deserting to stay with Pat. Instead of arresting him, Huxley asks Pat to convince Andy to return voluntarily. At Tarawa, Huxley's men fulfill their mission. Afterward, while standing by on reserve on a Hawaiian island, Huxley receives word that other battalions are being moved out for combat. Sensing the restlessness of his men, Huxley risks court-martial to convince Gen. Snipes that the talents of his battalion are being wasted. Although at first offended by Huxley's "impudence," Snipes assigns the battalion to the invasion of Red Beach, the most dangerous mission in the Saipan campaign.
The men are isolated from the rest of the division, suffer heavy casualties from artillery fired from the hills above them. Huxley is killed, Danny and Andy are injured. However, the battalion holds out until a Navy destroyer pins down the Japanese, freeing the Marines to complete their mission. At a rest camp, while recuperating from the loss of a leg, Andy becomes too demoralized to communicate with Pat or his concerned friends, but tough words from Mac make him realize that Pat still loves him. Andy returns to his baby son after completing rehabilitation. Danny is given a medical discharge and returns by train to Baltimore, accompanied by Mac, visiting the families of men killed in action. In Baltimore, they say goodbye and Danny reunites with the waiting Kathy, as fresh recruits board the train. Van Heflin as Major Sam "High Pockets" Huxley Aldo Ray as PFC Andy Hookens Nancy Olson as Pat Rogers/Mrs. Pat Rogers James Whitmore as Master Technical Sgt. Mac Tab Hunter as PFC./Cpl. Danny Forrester Anne Francis as Rae, party girl Dorothy Malone as Mrs. Elaine Yarborough, USO Manager Raymond Massey as Maj. Gen. Snipes Mona Freeman as Kathy, Danny's girl/Mrs.
Danny Forrester William Campbell as PFC.'Ski' Wronski John Lupton as Pvt. / C
