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OT: How Did i Miss this one....Hanks and Speilberg at it again

BTW ‘The pacific’ is on history channel next weekend. If you liked band of brothers this is the war in the pacific sequel. It is a difficult watch but gives great perspective and respect for those who served in that theater
 
I’m sure it will be good. I think a more timely series would be about the Black and Japanese infantry divisions in the Italian theatre.

But, I’ll watch for sure. My Dad was 8th.

well, to me, The Pacific is a stark contrast to BoB. Some of it is that Hanks and Speilberg apparently wanted to make a less glorified version of WW2. On the other hand, fighting in the pacific was horrible. It was so different in language, culture, food, weather...etc. The diseases and bugs and lack of resources. No smiling blond gals kissing you and welcoming you. Instead, families committing suicide because they thought the Americans to be blood drinking monsters.
 
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well, to me, The Pacific is a stark contrast to BoB. Some of it is that Hanks and Speilberg apparently wanted to make a less glorified version of WW2. On the other hand, fighting in the pacific was horrible. It was so different in language, culture, food, weather...etc. The diseases and bugs and lack of resources. No smiling blond gals kissing you and welcoming you. Instead, families committing suicide because they thought the Americans to be blood drinking monsters.

Yeah, BoB was about the comradery of war. Pacific you could tell they didn't just want to rinse and repeat BoB so focused more on the individual. As such, it was a lot different. I was disappointed the first time I watched The Pacific, but the second time it got a little better. I still don't think it comes close to matching up to BoB as the storyline of Pacific was just not as enticing and the development was just not the same. Pacific just felt to disjointed at times with some parts of episodes just not adding anything to the story.
 
Yeah, BoB was about the comradery of war. Pacific you could tell they didn't just want to rinse and repeat BoB so focused more on the individual. As such, it was a lot different. I was disappointed the first time I watched The Pacific, but the second time it got a little better. I still don't think it comes close to matching up to BoB as the storyline of Pacific was just not as enticing and the development was just not the same. Pacific just felt to disjointed at times with some parts of episodes just not adding anything to the story.
totally agree. But BoB was about the 101st. I suspect, perhaps due to the challenges of the Pacific, there wasn't the long term engagement....the war department got you in and out due to the trama of it all. Perhaps someone else knows better. But I do agree, there wasn't the flow of a cohesive story but more like similar vignettes.

In the end, it gave me an appreciation of how much more difficult the pacific theater really was than the European theater. It also gave me a feel for how those men must have suffered.
 
Loved BoB. It's one of the few series or movies that actually lived up to the hype for me.

I had read the book the Pacific and thought it was fantastic. I was really disappointed in the tv series. I remember sitting there watching a love scene with John Basilone thinking who the hell came up with this storyline?
 
totally agree. But BoB was about the 101st. I suspect, perhaps due to the challenges of the Pacific, there wasn't the long term engagement....the war department got you in and out due to the trama of it all. Perhaps someone else knows better. But I do agree, there wasn't the flow of a cohesive story but more like similar vignettes.

In the end, it gave me an appreciation of how much more difficult the pacific theater really was than the European theater. It also gave me a feel for how those men must have suffered.

yeah, haven't watched in many years but i remember the Australia episode and was thinking that the entire episode was a waste. i guess they were trying to portray how these guys ended up getting some RnR on occasion, but it seemed that to dedicate one of 10 episodes to it was overkill.

I do agree that europe theater was so much different than pacific. in europe, you were liberating 'Europe' which everybody knows what that is, people all look like you, weather and terrain are familiar, civilian population that saw you as heros. Then pacific is island hopping on boats and fighting asian people in jungles which was all foreign to 99% of the soldiers.

sounds like they are making a miniseries on WWII air force, wonder if they ever basically complete the circle and make a min series on WWII and being on a Navy ship.
 
yeah, haven't watched in many years but i remember the Australia episode and was thinking that the entire episode was a waste. i guess they were trying to portray how these guys ended up getting some RnR on occasion, but it seemed that to dedicate one of 10 episodes to it was overkill.

I do agree that europe theater was so much different than pacific. in europe, you were liberating 'Europe' which everybody knows what that is, people all look like you, weather and terrain are familiar, civilian population that saw you as heros. Then pacific is island hopping on boats and fighting asian people in jungles which was all foreign to 99% of the soldiers.

sounds like they are making a miniseries on WWII air force, wonder if they ever basically complete the circle and make a min series on WWII and being on a Navy ship.
Agreed. I was hired by the guy who was the lead navigator of the Bloody 100th when the war ended. He was about 3/4 of the way through but participated in many of the bombings late in the war. He grew up in Jeannette PA. He has a lot of personal stuff in the 100th bomb group restaurant which recently went out of biz due to COVID. He was such a great guy and on rainy days would get him to pontificate. He was one of the first to see a jet, thinks he was the only Nav to shoot down an enemy fighter, recount many of the last raids of the war, visit to a concentration camp, etc. He used to tell a story about meeting a woman that lived in Dresden and she physically tried to fight him when she learned he was a B17 crew member. People had to step in and he left to not cause any more problems. He hired me out of college and I owe him a lot. A great, great man.
 
BTW ‘The pacific’ is on history channel next weekend. If you liked band of brothers this is the war in the pacific sequel. It is a difficult watch but gives great perspective and respect for those who served in that theater
I have it in blue ray...I personally think it is better than band of brothers
 
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T
totally agree. But BoB was about the 101st. I suspect, perhaps due to the challenges of the Pacific, there wasn't the long term engagement....the war department got you in and out due to the trama of it all. Perhaps someone else knows better. But I do agree, there wasn't the flow of a cohesive story but more like similar vignettes.

In the end, it gave me an appreciation of how much more difficult the pacific theater really was than the European theater. It also gave me a feel for how those men must have suffered.
Having read both sledges and lecky's books the pacific did a decent job....the series is gruesome because Sledge wrote about the horrors he experienced....remember it took him 40 years to be able put pen to paper...he was the poster child for PTSD. Band of brothers was presented as heroic and glorifying....the Pacific was presented as horrifying depressing. I felt worse the further I got into the series...Cpt Haldane's death was particularly depressing. But I think that is what hanks was shooting for. So many younger generations take for granted what that generation did. The pacific reminds you how awful it really was.
 
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BTW ‘The pacific’ is on history channel next weekend. If you liked band of brothers this is the war in the pacific sequel. It is a difficult watch but gives great perspective and respect for those who served in that theater

Band of Brothers was on last weekend.

The best actor in The Pacific series was Rami Malek.
 
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yeah, haven't watched in many years but i remember the Australia episode and was thinking that the entire episode was a waste. i guess they were trying to portray how these guys ended up getting some RnR on occasion, but it seemed that to dedicate one of 10 episodes to it was overkill.

I do agree that europe theater was so much different than pacific. in europe, you were liberating 'Europe' which everybody knows what that is, people all look like you, weather and terrain are familiar, civilian population that saw you as heros. Then pacific is island hopping on boats and fighting asian people in jungles which was all foreign to 99% of the soldiers.

sounds like they are making a miniseries on WWII air force, wonder if they ever basically complete the circle and make a min series on WWII and being on a Navy ship.
Keep in mind the marines spent more time in Australia than the 101st spent in Europe. So it was a very real part of their war experience.

I agree with others here that the Pacific is better after multiple viewings. I just recently finished rewatching it.

Can’t wait for the Air Force miniseries. Great book by Donald Miller.
 
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Keep in mind the marines spent more time in Australia than the 101st spent in Europe. So it was a very real part of their war experience.

I agree with others here that the Pacific is better after multiple viewings. I just recently finished rewatching it.

Can’t wait for the Air Force miniseries. Great book by Donald Miller.
That book is eye opening. The brutality of the air war is often overlooked. Most people do not comprehend the difficulty of simply flying the mission for hours in minus 20 degree temperatures.
 
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Keep in mind the marines spent more time in Australia than the 101st spent in Europe. So it was a very real part of their war experience.

I agree with others here that the Pacific is better after multiple viewings. I just recently finished rewatching it.

Can’t wait for the Air Force miniseries. Great book by Donald Miller.
It's 3 storyline going on at once it requires multiple views imo
 
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My dad was in the 15th, flew out of Italy.
My Dad had poor vision, which kept him off the front lines, if he lost his glasses, he was completely out of it. He was a P-47 propeller mechanic in Duxford, Cambridgeshire which is NE of London. There's a museum there now and I want to get over to see it but this virus is keeping travel on the back burner.
 
My Dad had poor vision, which kept him off the front lines, if he lost his glasses, he was completely out of it. He was a P-47 propeller mechanic in Duxford, Cambridgeshire which is NE of London. There's a museum there now and I want to get over to see it but this virus is keeping travel on the back burner.
My father was a navigator/bombardier on a B24. His plane flew missions from May till July of 1944 till they were shot down. Seven crew members survived. They flew missions from northern/central Italy into Germany, Austria Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. This production had been planned and talked about for some time. I feared that the plug had been pulled. Excited to see it.
 
My maternal grandfather was in war, infantry. Was captured in North Africa campaign and on the POW train through Italy to Germany he jumped off and ran away. Lived behind enemy lines in Italy for 6-9 months in the mountains off the land until the Allies finally advanced far enough into Italy. I cannot fathom what it is like to live in the wild behind enemy lines for 6+ months with no food, shelter (he lived most of the time in cave he found), and knowing if he was caught he would be shot on the spot. Only heard him talk about it one time.

My maternal grandmother had 3 brothers in WWII, all of them belly gunners on the bombers as they were little Italian guys that could fit in that pod beneath the plane. Two of them came back, one was shot down. It was until the late 1990's when all the records started to get computerized and the Internet started to be borne that the family finally found out where his gravesite was in a small French town in the countryside. Until that point, all the family knew was the plane was shot down and the bodies were never found. The one living brother went over to France to see the gravesite. At the following Christmas he brought back pictures and told the story of his trip, he was in tears as he explained how he finally got to say goodbye to his big brother 50 years later and that he was buried in a good Christian gravesite.
 
My maternal grandfather was in war, infantry. Was captured in North Africa campaign and on the POW train through Italy to Germany he jumped off and ran away. Lived behind enemy lines in Italy for 6-9 months in the mountains off the land until the Allies finally advanced far enough into Italy. I cannot fathom what it is like to live in the wild behind enemy lines for 6+ months with no food, shelter (he lived most of the time in cave he found), and knowing if he was caught he would be shot on the spot. Only heard him talk about it one time.

My maternal grandmother had 3 brothers in WWII, all of them belly gunners on the bombers as they were little Italian guys that could fit in that pod beneath the plane. Two of them came back, one was shot down. It was until the late 1990's when all the records started to get computerized and the Internet started to be borne that the family finally found out where his gravesite was in a small French town in the countryside. Until that point, all the family knew was the plane was shot down and the bodies were never found. The one living brother went over to France to see the gravesite. At the following Christmas he brought back pictures and told the story of his trip, he was in tears as he explained how he finally got to say goodbye to his big brother 50 years later and that he was buried in a good Christian gravesite.
By far, IMO, Greatest Generation.
 
By far, IMO, Greatest Generation.

My maternal grandmother's oldest sister was also a 'Rosie the Riveter'. She worked in a factory that built tank and howitzer turrets. I remember she got asked once what her job was in the factory and she was quality control measuring the diameter and length of the turret gun barrels. Crazy to hear an 80 year old grandmother instantly recite the exact specifications of tank and howitzer turret specifications from 50+ years ago for all the different guns she had to inspect.

My maternal grandmothers brother (belly gunner) married an English woman. She told a story one night of how she lived in London during The Blitz where Germany bombed London. Talked about the air raid sirens going off and everybody going down into the bomb shelters and coming out and wondering if your house was going to be there or not. Eventually they sent all women and children out to the British countryside to get away from the bombing where she worked on a farm to supply the troops. She talked how they were given one egg per week on Sunday as all the rest went to the soldiers. She had to eat cucumber sandwich everyday for lunch which was the reason that she hated cucumbers as an adult.
 
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By far, IMO, Greatest Generation.
Have you seen "The Pacific?" As much as I respect the people in the European theater, the pacific theater was substantially worse. The environmental, cultural and logistical considerations were all a step beyond what the guys in Europe had to deal with. If you haven't seen it, DVR it and watch every episode.

My father was a nurse in North Africa and Italy (he was blinded in one eye). But I had an uncle, by marriage, who was decorated at Tarawa. Recently I found a show specifically focused on Tarawa. It turns out this was the first time the Marines stormed a beach in the war. It was filmed extensively for lessons learned. And they learned a LOT. They started the assault first thing in the morning but didn't take into consideration the coral shelf and the tides. The landing vehicles could only get up to 700 yards. So they were dumping marines off who then had to wade through 3 feet of water 700 yards while taking rounds and mortars. A complete shit show. By mid morning, the commander in charge called a halt and told the marines who made it that they had to bunker down for a day/night, at least. They had two kinds of boats, the bigger ones that needed something like 4 feet of water and smaller ones that needed a foot or two. They took the bigger boats to 700 yards and then shuttled the guys into the smaller boats to reach shore. The family doesn't know the details but my uncle apparently pulled two wounded guys, while under fire, back to the landing vehicle, saving their lives.

Some islands were steaming jungles. Some islands were barren rock. The people hated the Americans. The Japanese fought until they died, there were few surrenders. Food was awful, lots of diseases and infections due to the hot and damp weather. Any supplies had to be shipped in. They didn't run into happy people in Caratan, Holland or Paris. They weren't given wine, cheese and bread. Instead, they witnessed women killing their kids and then committing suicide. Just horrific by any standard.
 
Have you seen "The Pacific?" As much as I respect the people in the European theater, the pacific theater was substantially worse. The environmental, cultural and logistical considerations were all a step beyond what the guys in Europe had to deal with. If you haven't seen it, DVR it and watch every episode.

My father was a nurse in North Africa and Italy (he was blinded in one eye). But I had an uncle, by marriage, who was decorated at Tarawa. Recently I found a show specifically focused on Tarawa. It turns out this was the first time the Marines stormed a beach in the war. It was filmed extensively for lessons learned. And they learned a LOT. They started the assault first thing in the morning but didn't take into consideration the coral shelf and the tides. The landing vehicles could only get up to 700 yards. So they were dumping marines off who then had to wade through 3 feet of water 700 yards while taking rounds and mortars. A complete shit show. By mid morning, the commander in charge called a halt and told the marines who made it that they had to bunker down for a day/night, at least. They had two kinds of boats, the bigger ones that needed something like 4 feet of water and smaller ones that needed a foot or two. They took the bigger boats to 700 yards and then shuttled the guys into the smaller boats to reach shore. The family doesn't know the details but my uncle apparently pulled two wounded guys, while under fire, back to the landing vehicle, saving their lives.

Some islands were steaming jungles. Some islands were barren rock. The people hated the Americans. The Japanese fought until they died, there were few surrenders. Food was awful, lots of diseases and infections due to the hot and damp weather. Any supplies had to be shipped in. They didn't run into happy people in Caratan, Holland or Paris. They weren't given wine, cheese and bread. Instead, they witnessed women killing their kids and then committing suicide. Just horrific by any standard.
Watched both the Pacific and Band of Brothers. Agree that the Pacific campaign was pure hell for the jar heads. The Japanese were relentless, ruthless and cruel. The Bataan march was about as nasty as it gets for a POW, other than the German extermination camps which murdered Jews and Slavs.

I am interested in the fly-boy series for obvious reasons as well as trying to get an understanding of the experiences the bombing crews had during WWII. Accommodations in the B17 and B24 were not exactly comfortable. Flying through anti air craft flak, fighter attacks trying to hit your target and making it back to base was not exactly a walk in the park for these crews. Thousands of planes were shot down, crew members had to parachute into enemy territory where they were either captured, shot or had to evade capture. My father was shot down in July. Four crew members died in the plane, Two were captured on the ground and sent to a POW camp, and five evaded capture living in and traveling by foot through the mountains of Northern Italy crossing into Yugoslavia where they were finally able to catch a ride back to allied lines on a plane that had been flying in supplies to Tito's anti German partisans. They were aided by anti fascist Italian partisans along the way that helped guide them. It took them three months to get back.
 
Watched both the Pacific and Band of Brothers. Agree that the Pacific campaign was pure hell for the jar heads. The Japanese were relentless, ruthless and cruel. The Bataan march was about as nasty as it gets for a POW, other than the German extermination camps which murdered Jews and Slavs.

I am interested in the fly-boy series for obvious reasons as well as trying to get an understanding of the experiences the bombing crews had during WWII. Accommodations in the B17 and B24 were not exactly comfortable. Flying through anti air craft flak, fighter attacks trying to hit your target and making it back to base was not exactly a walk in the park for these crews. Thousands of planes were shot down, crew members had to parachute into enemy territory where they were either captured, shot or had to evade capture. My father was shot down in July. Four crew members died in the plane, Two were captured on the ground and sent to a POW camp, and five evaded capture living in and traveling by foot through the mountains of Northern Italy crossing into Yugoslavia where they were finally able to catch a ride back to allied lines on a plane that had been flying in supplies to Tito's anti German partisans. They were aided by anti fascist Italian partisans along the way that helped guide them. It took them three months to get back.
you are right about the advantage
Have you seen "The Pacific?" As much as I respect the people in the European theater, the pacific theater was substantially worse. The environmental, cultural and logistical considerations were all a step beyond what the guys in Europe had to deal with. If you haven't seen it, DVR it and watch every episode.

My father was a nurse in North Africa and Italy (he was blinded in one eye). But I had an uncle, by marriage, who was decorated at Tarawa. Recently I found a show specifically focused on Tarawa. It turns out this was the first time the Marines stormed a beach in the war. It was filmed extensively for lessons learned. And they learned a LOT. They started the assault first thing in the morning but didn't take into consideration the coral shelf and the tides. The landing vehicles could only get up to 700 yards. So they were dumping marines off who then had to wade through 3 feet of water 700 yards while taking rounds and mortars. A complete shit show. By mid morning, the commander in charge called a halt and told the marines who made it that they had to bunker down for a day/night, at least. They had two kinds of boats, the bigger ones that needed something like 4 feet of water and smaller ones that needed a foot or two. They took the bigger boats to 700 yards and then shuttled the guys into the smaller boats to reach shore. The family doesn't know the details but my uncle apparently pulled two wounded guys, while under fire, back to the landing vehicle, saving their lives.

Some islands were steaming jungles. Some islands were barren rock. The people hated the Americans. The Japanese fought until they died, there were few surrenders. Food was awful, lots of diseases and infections due to the hot and damp weather. Any supplies had to be shipped in. They didn't run into happy people in Caratan, Holland or Paris. They weren't given wine, cheese and bread. Instead, they witnessed women killing their kids and then committing suicide. Just horrific by any standard.
You are absolutely correct about the one big advantage soldiers and airmen had in the European theater. My father would not have made it without the aid of sympathetic Italian and Yugoslav civilians and partisans. Something the guys in the pacific did not have.
 
Watched both the Pacific and Band of Brothers. Agree that the Pacific campaign was pure hell for the jar heads. The Japanese were relentless, ruthless and cruel. The Bataan march was about as nasty as it gets for a POW, other than the German extermination camps which murdered Jews and Slavs.

I am interested in the fly-boy series for obvious reasons as well as trying to get an understanding of the experiences the bombing crews had during WWII. Accommodations in the B17 and B24 were not exactly comfortable. Flying through anti air craft flak, fighter attacks trying to hit your target and making it back to base was not exactly a walk in the park for these crews. Thousands of planes were shot down, crew members had to parachute into enemy territory where they were either captured, shot or had to evade capture. My father was shot down in July. Four crew members died in the plane, Two were captured on the ground and sent to a POW camp, and five evaded capture living in and traveling by foot through the mountains of Northern Italy crossing into Yugoslavia where they were finally able to catch a ride back to allied lines on a plane that had been flying in supplies to Tito's anti German partisans. They were aided by anti fascist Italian partisans along the way that helped guide them. It took them three months to get back.
Hero's stories.

My friend Norm didn't talk about a lot of that. He did have some hearing problems and blamed it on the high noise levels. He talked about using a slide ruler and compass to navigate while 100+ bombers were making evasive maneuvers while under attack by german fighters. Amazing. I have spoken to others that talked about the horrors of a gunner bleeding to death as they made their slow flight back to the UK or Italy. I recently read where a guy got his arm shot off and the crew wrapped his wound, put a parachute on him and pushed home out of the plane knowing his only chance was that someone would see hm and treat him quickly.

If you haven't read "A Higher Call" please do so. It is written by a PA kid and intertwines the true story of a Messerschmidt pilot and a B17 pilot during the war. It's a great book but also has a great subplot about a German pilot and what he went through during and after the war.

Amazon product ASIN B00BOA9MVI
 
Hero's stories.

My friend Norm didn't talk about a lot of that. He did have some hearing problems and blamed it on the high noise levels. He talked about using a slide ruler and compass to navigate while 100+ bombers were making evasive maneuvers while under attack by german fighters. Amazing. I have spoken to others that talked about the horrors of a gunner bleeding to death as they made their slow flight back to the UK or Italy. I recently read where a guy got his arm shot off and the crew wrapped his wound, put a parachute on him and pushed home out of the plane knowing his only chance was that someone would see hm and treat him quickly.

If you haven't read "A Higher Call" please do so. It is written by a PA kid and intertwines the true story of a Messerschmidt pilot and a B17 pilot during the war. It's a great book but also has a great subplot about a German pilot and what he went through during and after the war.

I don't really believe those guys considered themselves as heroes. They did what they did because they loved their country, enlisted or were drafted, and most believed that they really had no choice. My father never talked about it, we only knew bits and pieces and he died when I was 15 so I never had a real chance to question him about his experience when I was an adult. I learned a lot about what happened to him last spring after my mom passed and my brother and I were looking through his military records and papers. I was able to get in contact with his squadron historian who sent me copies of records, letters and interviews of crew members regarding his plane and crew.
 
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Great stories! I never heard of "The Pacific" before but I loved "Band of Brothers". The wife and I steamed Pacific last night. My first thought was that this was more brutal than Europe.
 
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Great stories! I never heard of "The Pacific" before but I loved "Band of Brothers". The wife and I steamed Pacific last night. My first thought was that this was more brutal than Europe.
As a definition, getting shot at is brutal regardless of the geography. But the soldiers and marines in the pacific had a much longer and physically brutal run than the guys in Europe. And I say that based on my Omaha beach veteran grandpa telling me the same thing. Although Bastogne was brutal for about 5-6 weeks.
 
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