"You shitheads are here to learn to fight!" -- "Vandegrift, I have some very disconcerting news" -- "I'm beginning to doubt whether there's a Jap on the whole damned island" -- "May I retake Tulagi too?" -- "The bastards are in the trees!" -- "Was this going to be the real test?" -- "F--k Babe Ruth!" -- "Crying, praying, and cursing all at the same time" -- "Goddamn, they got me in the eyes!" -- "We aren't going to let those people lay up there all day" -- Epilogue -- Appendix A. Officers, 1st Marine Regiment, Combat Group B (Reinforced), Tenaru River Subsector -- Appendix B. Officers, 1st Marine Regiment, Combat Group B (Reinforced), South Subsector -- Appendix C. US Marine casualties, Battle of the Tenaru, August 21, 1942 -- Appendix D. Officers and staff, First Echelon, Ichiki Detachment.