New HBO "Pacific" Series

[campperrykid]

Manila John was quite a guy. The video does not mention it , but when he was earning the MOH in the Solomons , Mussulini's Fascist forces were killing and crippling Americans & their allies in North Africa.

[ireload2]

I owe my avatar to my dad. He fought on 3 islands Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Saipan. He was in C Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was wounded on Saipan and put out of the war before he was 19.
His twin brother fought on Iwo Jima and was severely wounded. His war ended there.
Read William Manchester's Goodbye Darkness and Eugen B. Sledge's (aka Sledgehammer) book With the Old Breed at Pelelieu and Okinawa.

My dad is in this photo. He landed in one of the rubber boats with a flame thrower.

[jon_norstog]

I put this up at the other site but thought I would post it here too.


I read the reviews - I don't have TV, so I guess I'll just have to read about it, maybe get it on DVD. The 'views say it is pretty realistic and true to life from the marine's-eye view but also a little disjointed, you don't really get a sense for why these guys were being sent to fight over these rocks in the pacific.

When I was a kid we used to watch "Victory at Sea" on TV. I bought it on DVD a couple years ago to watch with my son. Well, it's not as good as I remember. In fact, it's kind of cheesy in that you see a lot of 16" guns go off, generic footage, U.S. airplanes shooting down Japanese airplanes, no context. But what Victory at Sea did pretty well was give you a big-picture narrative of the war in the Pacific. The Midway segment is pretty good. "Ring Around Rabaul" you can watch that and get a sense for why Rabaul mattered. Of course they left out a lot of things, like the battle off Samar. (Which rates its own movie IMHO).

Oh, yeah the series had a really great score by Richard Rogers.

I guess what I'm saying is yeah, watch this show, but go to your library and pick up the 5-DVD set of Victory at Sea for the big picture.

jn
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[campperrykid]

I talked with my sat TV provider last week and got a 3 month trial deal: Both HBO and Showtime for free.
Might not hurt to see what kind of deals are available.
I give the first program a B- . The biggest issue ( IMO , anyway ) was trying to cover too much in a single hour.
What they did cover was done very well.

[TDH]

I put this up at the other site but thought I would post it here too.


I read the reviews - I don't have TV, so I guess I'll just have to read about it, maybe get it on DVD. The 'views say it is pretty realistic and true to life from the marine's-eye view but also a little disjointed, you don't really get a sense for why these guys were being sent to fight over these rocks in the pacific.

When I was a kid we used to watch "Victory at Sea" on TV. I bought it on DVD a couple years ago to watch with my son. Well, it's not as good as I remember. In fact, it's kind of cheesy in that you see a lot of 16" guns go off, generic footage, U.S. airplanes shooting down Japanese airplanes, no context. But what Victory at Sea did pretty well was give you a big-picture narrative of the war in the Pacific. The Midway segment is pretty good. "Ring Around Rabaul" you can watch that and get a sense for why Rabaul mattered. Of course they left out a lot of things, like the battle off Samar. (Which rates its own movie IMHO).

Oh, yeah the series had a really great score by Richard Rogers.

I guess what I'm saying is yeah, watch this show, but go to your library and pick up the 5-DVD set of Victory at Sea for the big picture.

jn
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Hey Jon We know why they fought on those rocks. To kill Japs and to do it as quickly as possible. They learned a cruel lesson on the Canal. They meant to kill you so you better do it first. My humble Opinion and you know what daddy said about opinions.
We agree on Vistory at Sea. It is cheesy and historically incorrect. If you notice they showed the use of carbines on the Canal and they didn't have them. They didn't even have Garands until the Army showed up. What they did have was 03's, Thompsons, BAR's, and .30 cal and most of them water cooled. I had a foreman who was in the first wave on the Canal. He told me some stories but you had to get him drunk first.

[jon_norstog]

Well, TDH,

I kind of agree. The idea was to get possession of the rocks and if the japanese wouldn't leave peacefully, that's the way they had to leave. My own thought is that we really had TWO strategies for the Pacific: the Navy's strategy was to close japanese shipping routes, destroy japanese naval resources, and set the stage for an invasion from bases in the Marianas and westpac. MacArthur's strategy was to retake the Philippines and use them as a base for invasion of the home islands. I'm not convinced that was a strategy that was good for anyone but MacArthur .. but let history be the judge.

I don't know if anyone, outside of maybe Lindbergh and the America Firsters, ever proposed a negotiated peace with Japan.

jn

[TDH]

You pretty much got it Jon. Each set of islands taken were within bomber range of the last one and the subs helped on the shipping. The Navy got lucky with the Marianna's Turkey Shoot in two ways. While the main fleet was off shooting down almost all the Japanese planes a handful of Destroyers and destroyer escorts an jeep carriers held off a two prong attack by the rest of the Japanese Fleet off of Luzon. And I agree The P.I. was mainly for McAurther. He had to go back.

[campperrykid]

The first installment of "The Pacific ' seemed ( mostly ) well done to me. I have no problem with the focus on USMC units. The story is huge as it is.
Other units did quite well doing their share , as well.
Stanley Frankel of the 37th Infantry Division ( Ohio National Guard ) on the battle of Bougainville and the destruction of the Imperial 6th Infantry Division "of the Rape of Nanking fame ":

Frankel-y Speaking - Chapter 10 - Bougainville Mopup, and Ready for Phillipines

The 37th ID had an exchange rate of 33 for 1 on B-ville.

[TDH]

I beleive that one of the young men that fought and died there with the 37th went by the name of Roger Young. Roger Young grew up in the small town of Clyde Ohio. When war broke out he tried every branch of the service and was turned down because of poor eyesight. To get into the Guard he memorized the chart and snuck in. Young covered a grenade with his body to save his brother soldiers and was awarded the CMH. The local Cemetary is named in his honor.

[campperrykid]

Wiki isn't perfect but it can be useful. Here's the Rodger Young page.

Rodger Wilton Young - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia