Part Three

Melbourne
The 1st Marine Division arriving at Melbourne
Subject	1st Marine Division's furlough in Melbourne
Episode No.	3
Previous	Basilone
Next	Cape Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika

Melbourne is an episode taking place in Melbourne, Australia, which focuses primarily on Robert Leckie, but also has a side story centering on John Basilone.

Story

Leckie being greeted as heroes

1. After four months of combat on Guadalcanal, the 1st Marine Division is relieved and the men are transported to Melbourne, Australia. Shocked and befuddled by the heroes' welcome they receive, the men soon find that they are in something akin to paradise with plenty to eat, drink and an endless number of beautiful women to keep them company. Sid Phillips meets a young girl, Gwen, whose grandfather makes sure he understands the rules of behavior when it comes to his granddaughter.

Leckie's storyline

Robert Leckie meets a girl named Stella on a tram and is soon taken in by her family who see in him the son they never had. Robert and Stella are soon lovers but the war and the never-ending pall of death casts a shadow on their relationship, and eventually, Stella breaks up with Leckie for this very reason, leaving a very hurt and angry Leckie to drown out his sorrows in alcohol. He eventually comes across his friend Chuckler, who needed to take a piss, so he immediately gives his guard duties to Leckie without a second thought. This leads to trouble for both of them, as Leckie drunkenly insults and assaults Lt. Corrigan, leading them to be incarcerated for the night. Leckie is transferred to intelligence, while Chuckler is demoted back to Private First Class.

Basilone's storyline

John Basilone is awarded the Medal of Honor and soon realizes that he can no longer act like he did before. He also has to leave his men when he's asked to return to the US to help sell War Bonds.

Trivia

• Stella is an entirely fictional character.
• A story told by Stella's Greek/Australian mother says that the Turks "invaded" Smyrna (now called Izmir) in 1922 and pillaged it. This led to the episode suffering backlash from Australians and Turks alike, as well as other factors of the episode.
• This episode is by far the lowest rated in TV.com.
• The Turks should have been called "Ottomans" because Turkey didn't even exist in 1922.