My grandpa was 17 at Guadalcanal he went from the canal to Okinawa never wounded and would tell me about the battles and how it changed him as a Marine for when he got to Korea and how it meant nothing by the time he went to Nam 20+ years later the man did 27 years in his beloved Corps.
The fact your grandfather could go through this conflict and continue his service into an another nightmare conflict is incredible. He was a men among men
@@JeremyHannaford he loved the Marine Corps he lived and breathed it he was wounded at Inchon harbor during the amphibious assault and again at the battle of Chosin Reservoir. He took shrapnel in 1966-67 don’t know where or what battle unfortunately. He never left the 1st Marine Division.
I wouldn’t say servicemen are “men” at all. Those types of people as well as shows like this, band of brothers, saving private Ryan, gives people, boomers mainly, this sense of patriotism. It’s pure cringe. Patriotism is very outdated and thankfully is working it’s way out of modern society
I watched The Pacific first only because Netflix told me about it. My grandfather was a marine in some of those beach landings. I had totally different eyes watching this than most people for those reasons. It was eye-opening to see what my grandfather dealt with. He saw Saving Private Ryan and identified with the beach landing part but didn't identify with the rest if it. I wish he could've seen The Pacific.
Idk if the DVDs had the option but on the Blu Ray version there is an option to have historical intros like band of brothers with some of the veterans. Also narrated by Tom Hanks
In terms of not focusing on a platoon, viewers should also consider that several marine DIVISIONs of around 400 people were nearly wiped out in single battles. The average life span of a marine flamethrower on Iwo was 4 minutes.
That is a great point. The casualties for the Marines, especially for the latter islands was horrific. Sledge in the book doesn't even really try to keep track of names because they would die so quickly.
Thanks man! I was worried it wasn't good enough upon release but I'm starting to see people comment on it more and more and I think, maybe I did okay 😄
Using the tie between the characters as the 1st MarDiv you have to remember that they were actively deployed in combat operations from 1942-1945. While band of brothers saw combat 1944-45 and a much smaller unit. The 1stMarDiv was forward so long that Marines rotated out of the unit and the high casualty rate makes it hard to present a story as tight as Band of Brothers with out making a lot of artistic alterations to history.
I haven’t seen this yet. As someone who was in the Marine Corps during what was largely peacetime, I can’t imagine being in their shoes in the Pacific. Your life is changed forever there even more than in the European theater like you mentioned. No sense of normalcy.. by the time is over you no longer have any innocence left, it’s all gone forever.
You may find this interesting. It's a killer song by an Aussie band about the Australian girls who married US soldiers/sailors, and then came to the States after the war. Bridal Train - The Waifs (YT won't let me post the link)
@@JeremyHannaford GREAT band! Look for Crazy Train. Aussie accent? I'm a sucker too. I met Donna Simpson (the singer's sister and band member. harmony vocal on this one) in the New Orleans Tower Records store (remember those? sigh) while browsing CDs during the New Orleans JazzFest in the spring of 2002. Darlin' girl with an Aussie accent, asking me if Neil Young's, "Rust Never Sleeps", is good? "Yes, it's excellent. I saw the tour in '78." Yeah, I'm old. lol 10 minutes later, I'm watching The Waifs perform in the store. Completely smitten and blown away. And still am today... FYI & FWIW The guitar player, Josh Cunningham, is a luthier and he builds all of their wooden acoustic instruments. Cheers
@@richeaton5752 I had to come back to this comment cause I haven't gotten the song out of my head. I've suggested it now to a few people I know who liked the series. And that's an amazing story! So cool you got to have a moment like that with her and then get to see them perform right afterwards. Do they still play by chance? It kind of looks like they went their seperate ways in the late 2010s?
@@JeremyHannaford I dunno for sure, but this was last year. The Waifs - Highway One @ National Folk Festival, Canberra 2023. th-cam.com/video/oQaEkC1idr8/w-d-xo.html
That is how Marine officers sometimes end up with a live grenade or a a bullet in their bran. It's just to remind them it is a rank insignia, not a force field.
I’ve read the books written by the main characters. Do it. Bob Leckie wrote his book after seeing stage play South Pacific. He didn’t want anyone to think that it was like that. Sargent Burgin’s book is good.
Planning to re watch Glad I found the chanel, you definitely got a sub from me. Quality editing, sound and commentary. I was unaware of the books you mentioned. I'll have to give them a read. Solid video, thanks for the upload.
I would absolutely recommend the books. Both Leckie's and Sledge's are some of the best military novels I've ever read. Especially Sledge. He wrote that book quite literally as a means to tell his family what happened to him. It was only at the instance of his wife that he looked into getting it published.
Yeah same here on the favorite characters. I thought john's story was a bit rushed toward the end, but I understand they wanted it to be a limited series. And it still made me emotional during the last episode.
@Jeremy Hannaford If you liked Leckie's "Helmet For My Pillow" ... you might also like William Manchester's "Goodbye, Darkness" which is about *his* experiences as a Marine in the PTO. Like Leckie, you *might* say Manchester was a writer ... though his memoir consists of him recounting his own experiences while he interweaves it with him visiting the major battlefields of the PTO and recounting the overall history of the Pacific war. Well recommended. Also contains this pithy bon mot: never try and drown your sorrows, if they're real ... they know how to swim. p.s. ... Don't confuse actual officers with non-commissioned officers (NCOs). I believe you did that twice ... it was Lieutenant Shadow that Sledge couldn't stand ... not Sergeant (etc.) Shadow.
Thank you for both notes, the quote and NCO's. I don't have as much as a hands on military knowledge / background as I would like so I might make an error. So thank you for that. Also that quote about drowning sorrows is so good. It's brutual but so true.
Stands in the shadows? I think it portrays the difference in there mental health when returning home… exposing the night terrors…must’ve been different with the ambushes every night…then again Bastogne wouldn’t of been a walk in the park…very cold very brutal shelling
I think it was meant to be messy it was a mess in the pacific.. talking about “ Jon got it” and they just talked to him minutes before… it had to be rough meeting new names getting attached sharing all you had with each other to see them die in minutes and names get jumbled after a week or so… I bet it was hard to recount ANYTHING on those islands.
People who review the pacific constantly confuse “good” with “feel good”. Band of brothers was more fun to watch, but the pacific is just as good of a series. It’s just not as much fun.
@@user-dt6xo9pp4t very accurate to how I felt when I watched it the first time. I've come to appreciate it very much, especially for every way in which it is different to BOB
I feel it should be said that the narrative of the Pacific isn’t anywhere near as well put together as Band of Brothers. The fact that they focus on 3 characters in different circumstances at different times really messes up continuity. Eugene Sledge is easily the best part of the series, I wasn’t a fan of the episode that focuses on what the soldiers did when not at war (episode 3 mainly). Plus the ending felt a bit too fast
Not saying it doesn’t have good aspects to it. The portrayal of war, and the reactions to that is fantastic. (It’s why Eugene Sledges side of the story is the best of the 3). So it has plenty of good, but it definitely falls into problems that Band of Brothers doesn’t have.
You choose you'd go to Europe because you were never there and you're only taking conclusions from what you've seen on a tv show. What if you were in the german army, and they told you to go to StallinGrad??? Neither Germany, nor Japan were good - they were bad...
As I state, both theaters of war would have been awful. However, the Germans at the very least, followed the Geneva Convention (not in all cases of course, but in some) and surrendered. The Japanese barely ever followed the Geneva convention (if at all) and we're constantly fighting to the last man, even if defeat was all but assured. That maniacal kind of fanaticism is terrifying to me.
Your comment makes zero sense, what are you actually trying to say here? because you change topics three times, then you don't actually talk about the topics. Its like I'm reading a list.
@@JeremyHannaford Don't listen to weirdos like this, you read the books, you did your reasearch on the events portrayed on the show, that's more than people like him do on an average basis. You're allowed to hasve an opinion.
@@craig2196 Your reply makes even less sense, which would make it a negative one - since my comment makes zero sense. And I'm not a weirdo - you are a weirdo... Nobody said he couldn't have an opinion. Did I say that in the list??? Oh, by the way, I suspect you are the one who doesn't read any books - because you're the one that mentioned that. That was not even being discussed. So, why are u being like that???
Basilone was a highly decorated Marine, and a SuperMarine. If you are going do do documentaries on WW2 you might wat to learn the difference between soldiers (U.S. Army), and Marines. Not same-same. USMC Infantry Sargent here. Since you couldn't get this basic thing correct I didn't see any point in watching this and stopped watching it.
Woof. Sorry to mess in your cookies. I acknowledge the error, but I am Canadian and still went out of my way to read 2 of the 3 novels this series was based on. I may have made the error but I stil did my upmost to respect the veterans themselves for their service and sacrifice. Apologizes that an error like this would give you that kind of reaction Rank, unit, distinguishes, army, marines, Airforce, etc. I still try to give any vet the respect they deserve for their service.
Correct me please: For American troops, more got killed in europe than killed. But in Asia, Americans killed more than got killed. Ignoring other hardships, cold, humidity, lack of supplies and communication, locals welcoming Americans, morale, insider threat... Vietnam KIA: 58,000 (47000 combat deaths) Korea KIA: 36,000 but within 2.5 years.
NCO means non commissioned officer, that would be an enlisted marine such as the lead sergeant.
My grandpa was 17 at Guadalcanal he went from the canal to Okinawa never wounded and would tell me about the battles and how it changed him as a Marine for when he got to Korea and how it meant nothing by the time he went to Nam 20+ years later the man did 27 years in his beloved Corps.
The fact your grandfather could go through this conflict and continue his service into an another nightmare conflict is incredible. He was a men among men
@@JeremyHannaford he loved the Marine Corps he lived and breathed it he was wounded at Inchon harbor during the amphibious assault and again at the battle of Chosin Reservoir. He took shrapnel in 1966-67 don’t know where or what battle unfortunately. He never left the 1st Marine Division.
@@JeremyHannaford before him aswell my great grandpa was a Navy Cross recipient from the battle of Bellau Woods
I wouldn’t say servicemen are “men” at all. Those types of people as well as shows like this, band of brothers, saving private Ryan, gives people, boomers mainly, this sense of patriotism. It’s pure cringe. Patriotism is very outdated and thankfully is working it’s way out of modern society
@@lonniesmailman2896 no it isn’t at all 😂
I watched The Pacific first only because Netflix told me about it. My grandfather was a marine in some of those beach landings. I had totally different eyes watching this than most people for those reasons. It was eye-opening to see what my grandfather dealt with. He saw Saving Private Ryan and identified with the beach landing part but didn't identify with the rest if it. I wish he could've seen The Pacific.
Idk if the DVDs had the option but on the Blu Ray version there is an option to have historical intros like band of brothers with some of the veterans. Also narrated by Tom Hanks
In terms of not focusing on a platoon, viewers should also consider that several marine DIVISIONs of around 400 people were nearly wiped out in single battles.
The average life span of a marine flamethrower on Iwo was 4 minutes.
That is a great point. The casualties for the Marines, especially for the latter islands was horrific. Sledge in the book doesn't even really try to keep track of names because they would die so quickly.
Definitely one of your best reviews on the channel. So glad you're sharing this!
Thanks man! I was worried it wasn't good enough upon release but I'm starting to see people comment on it more and more and I think, maybe I did okay 😄
@@JeremyHannaford Always give yourself more credit before comparing yourself to others. The fact your making your own voice makes all the difference.
Using the tie between the characters as the 1st MarDiv you have to remember that they were actively deployed in combat operations from 1942-1945. While band of brothers saw combat 1944-45 and a much smaller unit. The 1stMarDiv was forward so long that Marines rotated out of the unit and the high casualty rate makes it hard to present a story as tight as Band of Brothers with out making a lot of artistic alterations to history.
I haven’t seen this yet. As someone who was in the Marine Corps during what was largely peacetime, I can’t imagine being in their shoes in the Pacific. Your life is changed forever there even more than in the European theater like you mentioned. No sense of normalcy.. by the time is over you no longer have any innocence left, it’s all gone forever.
Both theaters of WW2 fascinate me. Although given the choice, I would also choose to fight in Europe rather than the Pacific.
You may find this interesting. It's a killer song by an Aussie band about the Australian girls who married US soldiers/sailors, and then came to the States after the war.
Bridal Train - The Waifs (YT won't let me post the link)
Thank you for the suggestion. Really cool song / subject matter. The aussie accent really comes out in that song (in a good way 😄)
@@JeremyHannaford GREAT band! Look for Crazy Train.
Aussie accent? I'm a sucker too.
I met Donna Simpson (the singer's sister and band member. harmony vocal on this one) in the New Orleans Tower Records store (remember those? sigh) while browsing CDs during the New Orleans JazzFest in the spring of 2002. Darlin' girl with an Aussie accent, asking me if Neil Young's, "Rust Never Sleeps", is good? "Yes, it's excellent. I saw the tour in '78." Yeah, I'm old. lol
10 minutes later, I'm watching The Waifs perform in the store. Completely smitten and blown away. And still am today...
FYI & FWIW
The guitar player, Josh Cunningham, is a luthier and he builds all of their wooden acoustic instruments.
Cheers
@@richeaton5752 I had to come back to this comment cause I haven't gotten the song out of my head. I've suggested it now to a few people I know who liked the series.
And that's an amazing story! So cool you got to have a moment like that with her and then get to see them perform right afterwards.
Do they still play by chance? It kind of looks like they went their seperate ways in the late 2010s?
@@JeremyHannaford I dunno for sure, but this was last year.
The Waifs - Highway One @ National Folk Festival, Canberra 2023.
th-cam.com/video/oQaEkC1idr8/w-d-xo.html
@@JeremyHannaford They were touring last year.
Good review, but you keep referring to soldiers. Soldiers serve in the Army. Marines consider it an insult to be called soldiers.
That is how Marine officers sometimes end up with a live grenade or a a bullet in their bran. It's just to remind them it is a rank insignia, not a force field.
I’ve read the books written by the main characters. Do it. Bob Leckie wrote his book after seeing stage play South Pacific. He didn’t want anyone to think that it was like that.
Sargent Burgin’s book is good.
I absolutely enjoyed this miniseries I watched it when it was airing definitely a brilliant piece of work
Planning to re watch
Glad I found the chanel, you definitely got a sub from me.
Quality editing, sound and commentary.
I was unaware of the books you mentioned. I'll have to give them a read.
Solid video, thanks for the upload.
I would absolutely recommend the books. Both Leckie's and Sledge's are some of the best military novels I've ever read. Especially Sledge. He wrote that book quite literally as a means to tell his family what happened to him. It was only at the instance of his wife that he looked into getting it published.
Thank you.
Snafu and Sledge were my favorite characters.
Basilone's story might be the weakest but damn is ending is just too sad
Yeah same here on the favorite characters.
I thought john's story was a bit rushed toward the end, but I understand they wanted it to be a limited series. And it still made me emotional during the last episode.
This aint no STARSHIP TROOPERS
@Jeremy Hannaford
If you liked Leckie's "Helmet For My Pillow" ... you might also like William Manchester's "Goodbye, Darkness" which is about *his* experiences as a Marine in the PTO.
Like Leckie, you *might* say Manchester was a writer ... though his memoir consists of him recounting his own experiences while he interweaves it with him visiting the major battlefields of the PTO and recounting the overall history of the Pacific war.
Well recommended.
Also contains this pithy bon mot: never try and drown your sorrows, if they're real ... they know how to swim.
p.s. ... Don't confuse actual officers with non-commissioned officers (NCOs).
I believe you did that twice ... it was Lieutenant Shadow that Sledge couldn't stand ... not Sergeant (etc.) Shadow.
Thank you for both notes, the quote and NCO's. I don't have as much as a hands on military knowledge / background as I would like so I might make an error. So thank you for that.
Also that quote about drowning sorrows is so good. It's brutual but so true.
I’ve read this book. It’s very good.
Stands in the shadows? I think it portrays the difference in there mental health when returning home… exposing the night terrors…must’ve been different with the ambushes every night…then again Bastogne wouldn’t of been a walk in the park…very cold very brutal shelling
I think it was meant to be messy it was a mess in the pacific.. talking about “ Jon got it” and they just talked to him minutes before… it had to be rough meeting new names getting attached sharing all you had with each other to see them die in minutes and names get jumbled after a week or so… I bet it was hard to recount ANYTHING on those islands.
Why is this under Band of Brothers?
People who review the pacific constantly confuse “good” with “feel good”. Band of brothers was more fun to watch, but the pacific is just as good of a series. It’s just not as much fun.
@@user-dt6xo9pp4t very accurate to how I felt when I watched it the first time. I've come to appreciate it very much, especially for every way in which it is different to BOB
I feel it should be said that the narrative of the Pacific isn’t anywhere near as well put together as Band of Brothers.
The fact that they focus on 3 characters in different circumstances at different times really messes up continuity. Eugene Sledge is easily the best part of the series, I wasn’t a fan of the episode that focuses on what the soldiers did when not at war (episode 3 mainly). Plus the ending felt a bit too fast
Not saying it doesn’t have good aspects to it. The portrayal of war, and the reactions to that is fantastic. (It’s why Eugene Sledges side of the story is the best of the 3).
So it has plenty of good, but it definitely falls into problems that Band of Brothers doesn’t have.
John Basilone wasn't a soldier. He was a Marine. You don't call Marines soldiers.
You choose you'd go to Europe because you were never there and you're only taking conclusions from what you've seen on a tv show. What if you were in the german army, and they told you to go to StallinGrad??? Neither Germany, nor Japan were good - they were bad...
As I state, both theaters of war would have been awful. However, the Germans at the very least, followed the Geneva Convention (not in all cases of course, but in some) and surrendered.
The Japanese barely ever followed the Geneva convention (if at all) and we're constantly fighting to the last man, even if defeat was all but assured. That maniacal kind of fanaticism is terrifying to me.
Your comment makes zero sense, what are you actually trying to say here? because you change topics three times, then you don't actually talk about the topics. Its like I'm reading a list.
@@JeremyHannaford Don't listen to weirdos like this, you read the books, you did your reasearch on the events portrayed on the show, that's more than people like him do on an average basis. You're allowed to hasve an opinion.
@@craig2196 Your reply makes even less sense, which would make it a negative one - since my comment makes zero sense. And I'm not a weirdo - you are a weirdo... Nobody said he couldn't have an opinion. Did I say that in the list??? Oh, by the way, I suspect you are the one who doesn't read any books - because you're the one that mentioned that. That was not even being discussed. So, why are u being like that???
@@craig2196 Oh, and one more thing - it´s not my fault that you don't understand my comment - maybe you should read more books...
I’ve actually always appreciated the pacific more then band of brothers
They did have those introductions by veterans.
Is band of Brothers is a war story The Pacific is a horror movie
I enjoyed this video alot
Its not as good as band of brothers, its better
ooo interesting take. You don't hear that too often. I like both equally for different reasons, but I would definitely say BOB is more rewatchable.
Basilone was a highly decorated Marine, and a SuperMarine. If you are going do do documentaries on WW2 you might wat to learn the difference between soldiers (U.S. Army), and Marines. Not same-same. USMC Infantry Sargent here. Since you couldn't get this basic thing correct I didn't see any point in watching this and stopped watching it.
Woof. Sorry to mess in your cookies. I acknowledge the error, but I am Canadian and still went out of my way to read 2 of the 3 novels this series was based on.
I may have made the error but I stil did my upmost to respect the veterans themselves for their service and sacrifice. Apologizes that an error like this would give you that kind of reaction
Rank, unit, distinguishes, army, marines, Airforce, etc. I still try to give any vet the respect they deserve for their service.
The pacific had a couple pointless BORING episodes. Disappointing
I disagree
What episodes do you mean, it's all very interesting.
@@PixelOfChaos what is interesting on killing people , poetin , zelinski , americans al the killing is never interesting
Correct me please:
For American troops, more got killed in europe than killed. But in Asia, Americans killed more than got killed. Ignoring other hardships, cold, humidity, lack of supplies and communication, locals welcoming Americans, morale, insider threat...
Vietnam KIA: 58,000 (47000 combat deaths)
Korea KIA: 36,000 but within 2.5 years.