HBO's "The Pacific"

I agree on Leckie's and Sledge's books. I read Leckie's right before the HBO series started, and part of Sledge (I didn't want to get too ahead of myself on Sledge, so I will pick it back up now.) I thumbed through Ambrose's book and I was not very impressed.

In Leckie's book, he describes a Coastwatcher and his native scouts that were attached to the Marines for a short time. Since I was only vaguely familiar with the Coastwatchers in the Solomons, I picked up Lonely Vigel: Coastwatchers of the Solomons by Walter Lord (Annapolis. MD: Naval Institute Press, 1977; Bluejacket Book Edition, 2006). I was hooked from the first page. A very good read that tells the Guadalcanal campaign from the interior jungle perspective of a small group of Coastwathers. I highly recommend it.

Greg C.

 

Don't need a thread. We landed right on the beach via LCVP (Mike Boats) bow ramp dropped: "holy Sh*t!!!........hitting this beach would suck A**" Walking up the beach is like trying to walk in a pile of rocksalt, running is almost impossible and there was no one shooting at me.

Night time was even worse. Imagine standing in a room with no windows at night with the lights off and your head in a bag with your eyes closed and blindfolded.......that's how dark it was. You could only determine which way up was by looking at the stars.

To say that it is an awe inspiring hallowed place that you feel unworthy to step foot on would be an understatement.

 

Another point that interested me was the MOH Citation of Maj Gen Vandergrift.

No one doubts that Sgt John Basilone deserved his MOH, probably twice over, but i worry that a Maj Gen gets a MOH for what is in fact doing his job! - (Determined) Leadership!

Same with Gen MacArthur for his 'effort' on Bataan.

Any agree with that view?


John.

 

I agree about MacArthur's MOH. He screwed up the defense of the Phillipines, then left his troops behind in an untenable situation, surrender was inevitable. Yes, he was ordered off, but he did leave his men screwed because of his failings. I think that's one order I would have had to disobey. The worst part is, on 12 March 42 he left the Phillipines for Australia leaving "Skinny" Wainwright in command. There was no doubt when he left what the ultimate result would be, surrender. Wainwright held out until 06 May before being overwhelmed and forced to surrender and entered captivity with his troops. He remained a prisoner of the Japanese until the end of the war. After the war when he was considered for the Medal of Honor, MacArthur opposed it because he'd surrendered the Phillipines, WTF. Fortunately he recieved the award anyway. Contrast MacArthur's nickname "Dugout Doug" with Wainwright's "the fighting General".
from Wikipedia:
"He was the highest-ranking American POW, and despite his rank, his treatment at the hands of the Japanese was not pleasant. . . . Dubbed by his men a "fighting" general who was willing to get down in the foxholes, Wainwright won the respect of all who were imprisoned with him."​

Vandergrift is the exact opposite of MacArthur. When the navy was forced to sail off and leave the Marines, he was in a position just as screwed as MacArthur had been in. He was fully aware that the no one knew when or even if, he and his men could be reinforced and resupplied. His superiors from Ghormly all the way up to the highest officials in Washington feared the worst. All he would have to do was say the word, and it would be over. They'd try to extract he and his troops. His decision to keep his division in the fight and to keep his Marines morale up was one of the primary factors in the victory.​

 

USMC,

We have a similar thing with the VC, though I cannot give examples off the cuff, I am certain they are there. Grp/Cpt Leonard Cheshire possibly.

To my mind, a senior General/Commander carries the demands on his shoulders alone and no matter how inspiring his performance, that is what is expected of him, it is his JOB!

Maj Gen Vandergrift had the choice of surrender or continue the fight. I would have expected nothing less from the USMC or any other US force, or any Commander.



John.

 

formerjughead wrote:

Dude, I envy you! Loved the story and description. Did you go when you were still in the "Crotch"? My boys and I have talked about doing the whole WWII Marine Corps Pacific Island Tour. When the younger one gets back from Afghanistan, I think I'll take a month or so off and do it. I've been to Okinawa, Guam and Tinian when I was in, but I didn't do the historical tour thing, wish now I had. Iwo would be the ultimate!
One thing I must point out though, for the sake of historical accuracy, a "Mike boat" is an LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) is a different creature. In WWII the Navy generally referred to them as "P" boats.

 

Greg Canellis wrote:

Thanks for the recommendation, sounds good. I think I'll try and find it.

 

I know....."Mike" Boat is also a generic term for any small boat with a bow ramp that puts Marines on the beach. I also know that LCVPs are much larger and have crew quarters on them. I know this. My only point was to illustrate that we did not ride in Amtracs.

 

More development for Leckie tonight, I still cant get a truly human sense of emotion from him though, i'm not sure why but he doesn't seem to be presented in a "round" manner but rather a "flat" one.

 

He's just a regular guy like everyone else. Atleast the next three episodes are all combat on Peleliu.

 

Nice series. Not as good as Band of Brothers though.

 

I have come to the conclusion that I need to just sit down and watch it; without reading too much into the mechanics and charecter development. Watched the previuos 3 episodes and they weren't too bad at second glance. That being said the series, thus far, has not reached my expectations.

 

I think I know where you're coming from. I expected something different initially also. I've been awaiting this series for several years now. I expected the stories of the battles to be told. Having just reread "Helmet for my Pillow" and "With the Old Breed" before the first episode, I realized that I hadn't grasped the perspective the filmmakers had adopted. They wouldn't be telling the stories of the battles, or even the units the Marines belonged to like "Easy" Co. in Band of Brothers. They were going for an even lower level, the experiences of the individual Marine so you don't get the bigger picture of what else occurred in the battle, just his little slice of it. Once I changed my expectations the series became better, and they are closely following the books. Leckie's description of the 'canal was surreal. He didn't mention Al Schmidt getting a Navy Cross a few yards further down Alligator Creek, blinded by a hand grenade he continued firing his machine gun all night and held his position. (btw, formerjughead have you seen the old John Garfield move "Pride of the Marines" about Al Schmidt? What did you think of it?)
I found something else the other day and thought that you'd enjoy it, I've been meaning to post it but keep getting sidetracked. It's a series of articles by Bill Gallo a writer for the NY Daily News . He was a 4th Division Marine and served at Saipan, Tinian and Iwo, he gives his impressions of the series, episode by episode.
HBO's 'The Pacific' is real deal for veterans of World War II

HBO's 'The Pacific' goes to hell and back - and brings back WWII memories

later Devil Dog.

 

IN the show they mention briefly : "Schmiddy's blind" the next morning after Alligator Creek.

Here is a well written account of the actions of Albert Schmid and Leroy "Lew" Diamond.......Schmid lost his sight and Diamond, his loader, was unable to use his hands; so he spotted targets for Schmid.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/schmid.htm

 

is there even a war going on in this series??? Very little battle time, more drama than anything. Another wasted episode... I am losing my patience with the Pacific. What a shame, so much more could have been done with this series.

doesn't compare to Band of brothers (at least up to this point)

 

I am an idiot....here is the link I meant to add to my above post #156:

Albert Schmid, Sergeant, United States Marine Corps

 

formerjughead wrote:

Yeah, I noticed that also, but other than people that are familiar with the Al Schmid story who would have known what it referred to. My original point was that the focus of the story is extremely narrow. It doesn't even cover something that happened within a couple hundred yards of Leckie's position.

NO you're not, say that again and I'll be forced to order you to choke yourself. I enjoyed the link, good stuff. Thank you!
I need to apologize also for screwing up Schmid's name, I originally posted it as "Al Schmidt".
Btw, have you seen "Pride of the Marines"? It's not available on DVD but I've recorded it on my DVR. If not, and if I can ever figure out how to pull the recordings off of there I'll burn a copy on DVD and send it to you.