The Pacific

[Kermit IV]

The episode that aired on Sunday April 25 was an hour of pure unadulterated hell.  It is difficult to comment.  Terror. Agony. Pain.  Remorse.  Yet I still can't imagine being there and doing what those young men had to do.  That anyone not only lived through it but came out of it as whole human beings is miraculous.  Using the young man from Alabama as an "everyman" is a great device.  The first five episodes showed him in his home, protected by his doctor father because of a heart murmur.  But when he reaches the age when he can sign up regardless of parental consent he does so under a sense of duty and responsibility.  Now, when he is not killing the enemy and on one occasion a fellow American, he just stares uncomprehendingly.  At one point he tries to emulate the cruelty of one of his colleagues by extracting the fillings of a dead Japanese.  That colleague warns him not to, and you think that finally some compassion and humanity is coming back.  But the colleague is warning him about disease, so instead he slices off a piece of the corpse's uniform as a token.  Yet he refuses to take a prized Japanese sword as booty in another scene.  We hope that he will never regret that decision.

I actually got the strong sense that his colleague (who is played creepily well) was actually trying to prevent Sledge from coming over to his "dark side," but that he still wanted to be a tough guy, so he couldn't just tell him, "You'll regret it."  At least that's how I interpreted that scene.  I felt like he was just making the disease part up entirely.

I saw it the same way. The image of Snafu throwing pebbles into that guy's exploded brain cavity was nightmare fuel.

I knew the plopping sound wasn't being caused by anything pleasant, but I was absolutely not prepared for that.

[Yeti]

I know the results of what happens to these guys can probably be found on Wiki, but I was resisting doing so. Goddammit, I just knew after having a full Basilone episode was going to end up that way.. Very tough to see.

[CBStew]

I know the results of what happens to these guys can probably be found on Wiki, but I was resisting doing so. Goddammit, I just knew after having a full Basilone episode was going to end up that way.. Very tough to see.

Go and rent "Letters From Iwo Jima" to see it from the other side.

[R-V]

I know the results of what happens to these guys can probably be found on Wiki, but I was resisting doing so. Goddammit, I just knew after having a full Basilone episode was going to end up that way.. Very tough to see.

Great episode though. The quick transition from pipe-laying to Iwo Jima was very cool.

Does it get any more badass than "Tell that tank to follow me"?

[CBStew]

I just got my monthly solicitation to join the History Book Club.  One of the books that they are featuring is a biography of John Basilone. 

[CBStew]

Next week is the final episode.  It has been a harrowing experience.   If they had showed us movies like this during WWII I know that we wouldn't have been so "Gung Ho". 

[CBStew]

The final episode concluded with a couple of sentences about the post war histories of some of the main characters whom we had been watching.  There were some surprises.  The main surprise for me was that Sledge not only did not eat his revolver but apparently went on to a distinguished normal life.  Second surprise for me was that Snafu (from his photgraph) appeared to be a light skinned African-American.  Third surprise for me was that Snafu didn't end up in prison or a mental institution.  It was a very touching scene when Snafu got off the train and decided to not wake Sledge to say goodbye.  He simply got off the train, and melted into the crowd. 

[CBStew]

The last episode made me think of Tommy Gardner.  Tommy was in his middle teens when my family moved into his neighborhood on the North side.  We were the only Jewish family on the block.  Whenever he saw me he and his friends would chase me, knock me to the ground and call me a dirty Jew.  I was five years old.  This went on for two years until Tommy got drafted.  I wasn't sorry to see him go.  Things improved after Tommy and his friends left.  I even got along well with his sister, who was about my age.  Then the war ended.  The first time I saw Tommy after the war I was around ten.  I expected the worst.  He was with his sister and she, showing off for Tommy, called me a dirty Jew.  Tommy grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around and poked his finger in her face.  "Don't you ever say anything like that to anyone ever again."  Even at that age I think I knew what Tommy had seen during the war.

[Yeti]

I teared up when Sledge broke down in the woods with his father. That was a tough scene to watch.

[Yeti]

As I was thinking about the differences between the series, I thought about what Stew said (BoB was about heroes and this was about guys surviving the war). One thing kind of struck in my mind, while war is, indeed, hell, the European front seems like it was the "Glorious" war compared to the Pacific. Obviously, the enemy was of a different breed. They were the first Americans had seen of guerrilla opponents. Anyway, the European war seems like it had more structure and was "cleaner". The Pacific side of things just seemed dirty, ruthless, and a bitch compared to the other. I may be wrong, but that is my gut feeling when comparing the two series.

[R-V]

As I was thinking about the differences between the series, I thought about what Stew said (BoB was about heroes and this was about guys surviving the war). One thing kind of struck in my mind, while war is, indeed, hell, the European front seems like it was the "Glorious" war compared to the Pacific. Obviously, the enemy was of a different breed. They were the first Americans had seen of guerrilla opponents. Anyway, the European war seems like it had more structure and was "cleaner". The Pacific side of things just seemed dirty, ruthless, and a bitch compared to the other. I may be wrong, but that is my gut feeling when comparing the two series.

Racist. This was a great series. It was inevitable that it would be compared to BoB, but I wouldn't say either one was "better" than the other. As you guys have pointed out they are both excellent, just in different ways.

Remember the episode of BoB where they were starving in the woods during the Battle of the Bulge, under constant artillery bombardment? The Pacific sustained that intensity for pretty much it's entire back half (from the landing at Peleliu to the end of episode 9). I felt like I didn't exhale until the end of each episode.

Anyone know if Hanks/Spielberg have any plans for another one of these series?

[Yeti]

As I was thinking about the differences between the series, I thought about what Stew said (BoB was about heroes and this was about guys surviving the war). One thing kind of struck in my mind, while war is, indeed, hell, the European front seems like it was the "Glorious" war compared to the Pacific. Obviously, the enemy was of a different breed. They were the first Americans had seen of guerrilla opponents. Anyway, the European war seems like it had more structure and was "cleaner". The Pacific side of things just seemed dirty, ruthless, and a bitch compared to the other. I may be wrong, but that is my gut feeling when comparing the two series.

Racist. This was a great series. It was inevitable that it would be compared to BoB, but I wouldn't say either one was "better" than the other. As you guys have pointed out they are both excellent, just in different ways.

Remember the episode of BoB where they were starving in the woods during the Battle of the Bulge, under constant artillery bombardment? The Pacific sustained that intensity for pretty much it's entire back half (from the landing at Peleliu to the end of episode 9). I felt like I didn't exhale until the end of each episode.

Anyone know if Hanks/Spielberg have any plans for another one of these series?

Slopes is cuhraaazzzeee

[Quality Start Machine]

As I was thinking about the differences between the series, I thought about what Stew said (BoB was about heroes and this was about guys surviving the war). One thing kind of struck in my mind, while war is, indeed, hell, the European front seems like it was the "Glorious" war compared to the Pacific. Obviously, the enemy was of a different breed. They were the first Americans had seen of guerrilla opponents. Anyway, the European war seems like it had more structure and was "cleaner". The Pacific side of things just seemed dirty, ruthless, and a bitch compared to the other. I may be wrong, but that is my gut feeling when comparing the two series.

Racist. This was a great series. It was inevitable that it would be compared to BoB, but I wouldn't say either one was "better" than the other. As you guys have pointed out they are both excellent, just in different ways.

Remember the episode of BoB where they were starving in the woods during the Battle of the Bulge, under constant artillery bombardment? The Pacific sustained that intensity for pretty much it's entire back half (from the landing at Peleliu to the end of episode 9). I felt like I didn't exhale until the end of each episode.

Anyone know if Hanks/Spielberg have any plans for another one of these series?

Springtime for Hitler?