The conclusion of HBO’s The Pacific depicts E.B. Sledge — who went on to write With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa decades later — returning to the States and having trouble readjusting to civilian life in Mobile, Alabama. In a postscript it mentions that he eventually went on to get a Ph.D. in biology.
What it does not mention is that he finished off his military career as a China Marine:
After the fighting stopped, Sledge went to China, where everybody and his faction from Szechwan was struggling to fill the power vacuum left by the Japanese surrender, and where armed Japanese awaiting repatriation were frequently vital to keeping order. Sledge’s regiment was the first marine unit to return to Beijing, and he saw the last of the old China as well as the vanguard of the Communists. His local acquaintances were more numerous than the average marine’s and included middle-class professionals, his houseboy, and a Belgian priest. While on duty he rescued Chinese staff from dogs and tried to rescue fellow marines from their alcoholism. He was finally released to go home, long after many rear-echelon types.