"The Pacific" miniseries features the 1st Marine Division's battles in the Pacific, such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, as well as Basilone's involvement in the Battle of Iwo Jima. It is based primarily on the memoirs of two US Marines: "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" by Eugene Sledge and "Helmet for My Pillow" by Robert Leckie. It also draws on Sledge's memoir "China Marine" and "Red Blood, Black Sand," the memoir of Chuck Tatum, a Marine who fought alongside Basilone at Iwo Jima.