They Were Expendable

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Videodisc release of a 1945 motion picture.
For special features see interactive menu.
Based on the book by William L. White.
Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond.
They were expendable: Two PT-boat skippers defend the Philippines and give the U.S. war effort time to regroup after the crippling losses at Pearl Harbor.
DVD, region 1, Dolby digital mono.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Must See For A WWII Buff submitted by GJBarnett2 on August 26, 2016, 8:31pm Loosely based on fact, a rare film based on the biggest US defeat of WWII. The good guys don't win this one. The "happy ending" is just a few survivors of PT Squadron 3 getting on the last plane out of the Philippines while tens of thousands stay behind to be killed or captured by the Japanese. No false heroics here, just the real stuff, stoic resignation in the face of inevitable defeat. And yes, there was a John Bulkeley who actually commanded PT3 and did evacuate General Douglas MacArthur and his family and staff from Bataan and safely on the way to Australia where MacArthur famously said, "I Shall Return." And he did. Bulkeley was awarded the Medal Of Honor, served throughout WWII and Korea, and retired in 1988 as a Vice Admiral. A