December 8th
After the attack on Pearl Harbor fractures their California farming community, two inseparable friends are torn apart by history: Lorne, a vengeful Marine, endures the psychological and physical torment of the Pacific island campaigns, while Lonnie, a Japanese-American fighting for dignity, navigates the injustice of an internment camp to the bloody trenches of Europe with the segregated 442nd—both struggling to preserve their humanity and fulfill a sacred pact to return home for the harvest.
While Lorne feels the pull of duty and decides to enlist in the Marines , Lonnie and his family face immediate suspicion and racism. The Tanakas are soon ordered to evacuate to an internment camp. In a final secret meeting at their boundary fence, Lorne gives Lonnie a sack of peaches, and the two friends make a pact to survive and return to harvest the trees together. Lonnie keeps a single peach pit as a promise.
The War Begins
Lorne (The Pacific & Home Front): Lorne heads to boot camp in San Diego. On liberty, he meets and falls in love with Maria DeFalco, an Italian-American girl whose family is under FBI surveillance. Navy Intelligence forces Lorne to break Maria's heart to save her father from being arrested as a spy, a sacrifice he makes to protect her family. Lorne ships out to the Pacific, surviving the brutal landings at Tarawa and Iwo Jima. He transforms from a farm boy into a hardened sergeant, clinging to his grandfather’s pocket watch—kept on "Chowchilla time"—as his only tether to humanity.
Lonnie (The Internment & Europe): The Tanaka family is sent to Manzanar, a desolate camp in the desert. Refusing to wither behind barbed wire, Lonnie volunteers for the newly formed 442nd Regimental Combat Team (an all-Nisei unit) to prove his loyalty to the country that imprisoned him. He deploys to Italy, fighting through the Gothic Line. In a moment of supreme heroism, Lonnie single-handedly destroys a German Panzer tank to save his squad but is crushed by falling debris, suffering catastrophic injuries.
The Aftermath & Reunion
The war ends, but the scars remain. Lorne is sent to Sasebo, Japan for occupation duty. In a bombed-out warehouse, he confronts a starving Japanese officer. Instead of exacting revenge, Lorne chooses mercy, accepting the officer's surrender with dignity rather than violence. He later walks through the radioactive ruins of Nagasaki, witnessing the total devastation of the enemy. Meanwhile, Lonnie endures a long, painful recovery in a European hospital.
In the Spring of 1946, Lorne returns to the U.S. He reunites with Maria in San Diego, revealing that his rejection was a ruse to protect her. He then travels to Union Station in Los Angeles to intercept Lonnie. The two friends—one physically scarred, the other mentally haunted—return to Chowchilla together.
At the train station, they are met by their families but also by a local shopkeeper standing next to a "NO JAPS WANTED" sign. Lorne stands by his brother, and his father, David Crowder, tears the sign down. The townspeople, seeing Lonnie’s Silver Star and empty sleeve, welcome him home with a handshake. The film ends with the two friends driving their trucks into the golden dust of the orchards, finally home for the harvest they promised to finish.
Mackenyu
Simona Tabasco
Flags of our Fathers
Snow Falling on Cedars
Mark Carpenter is a screenwriter whose work is defined by a unique fusion of blue-collar authenticity and high-tech precision. A native of California’s Central Valley, Mark approaches storytelling with the same rigorous discipline he applied to a distinguished career in aerospace and information technology.
Mark’s professional background is as diverse as it is technical. He spent a decade as a Navy contractor for Lockheed, where he worked on some of the world's most advanced defense systems, including the Trident II SLBM, the P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, and the legendary SR-71 Blackbird program.
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After the attack on Pearl Harbor fractures their California farming community, two inseparable friends are torn apart by history: Lorne, a vengeful Marine, endures the psychological and physical torment of the Pacific island campaigns, while Lonnie, a Japanese-American fighting for dignity, navigates the injustice of an internment camp to the bloody trenches of Europe with the segregated 442nd—both struggling to preserve their humanity and fulfill a sacred pact to return home for the harvest.
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