Rod Serling served in the US Army's 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division, during the liberation of the Philippines, where this episode is set.
The night of the planned air date, a plane carrying Richard L. Bare and William Reynolds crashed in the Carribean Sea, injuring both (though not seriously). It is believed that during their swim to land, they discussed the episode that night and Bare requested Reynolds not to look at him. He later admitted that he commended Buck Houghton's decision to reschedule rather than use the incident for publicity.
The title is taken from "Richard II," Act III, Scene III: "He is come to open the purple testament of bleeding war." However, Rod Serling incorrectly claims in his narration that the line comes from "Richard III."
Dean Stockwell was the initial choice for Lt. Fitzgerald but had to turn it down due to a schedule conflict. He eventually appeared in A Quality of Mercy (1961) which has a similar setting as well as another William Shakespeare-based title.
Near the end, a wounded soldier plays harmonica. The tune is from Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," second movement, a passage that is sometimes sung as "Going Home."