HBO's The Pacific
It only takes the opening theme of Band of Brothers to make me cry. Now, I can add The Pacific to that list. I am not embarrassed to admit this, because anyone who is not brought close to tears when they think about World War II is guilty of either the grossest ignorance or the most unforgivable callousness. WWII (I won’t object to adding WWI as well, especially if you adhere to the ‘30 year war’ interpretation) was the most cataclysmic event of the 20th century and, arguably, of mankind’s entire history. And, personally, the Pacific theater of WWII is the closest thing I can think of when I try to imagine Hell.
With the Old Breed by Eugene B Sledge
I spent the majority of the last two years of my undergraduate degree studying WWII, specifically the Pacific theater. I have been reading books about the subject far longer than that. Yet, I have barely scratched the surface. I don’t even dare consider myself an amateur WWII historian; academics devote their entire careers to the subject. But, I know enough about the subject to be able to spot the annoying inaccuracies contained in nearly every movie ever made about the conflict…or to question the way filmmakers choose to portray it.
This is why I have tremendous respect for Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and everyone involved in Band of Brothers and The Pacific. More than attempting to produce cliché-ridden blockbusters that can be peddled off as commodities, they strive to bring historical accuracy and integrity to the filmmaking process. I believe that filmmakers have a personal responsibility to depict WWII as accurately and realistically as possible. And we, as the audience, have a personal responsibility to advance our understanding of the subject past whatever our high school US History class taught us. This applies not only to WWII, but to the subject of WAR in general. War is not cool. It is not glamorous or fun or badass. Even if it is necessary or unavoidable, it is still the single most unimaginably horrible and wasteful act that humans are capable of.
Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie
Past the accurate re-creation of battles, uniforms, environment, and technology, past the disturbingly realistic special effects, the makers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific never forget (and never let the audience forget) that they are depicting real events and real people, not fictional characters and exaggerated situations. Put simply, Band of Brothers and The Pacific represent simply some of the finest examples of historical and military filmmaking ever.
I have been anticipating the release of The Pacific for longer than I care to admit. I idolize Stephen Ambrose more than I care to admit. Now that it’s finally coming out, I am going to begin posting my thoughts on the miniseries as it airs.
Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald Spector
The Pacific is based on With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. It also draws on the books China Marine by Sledge and Iwo Jima: Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum. I have read all of these books and will be comparing them with The Pacific as I post about each episode, with the exception of Iwo Jima: Red Blood, Black Sand. It is currently out of print and since I am no longer near my university library, I won’t be able to reference it. I will also be drawing information from Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan by Ronald Spector, one of the finest and enjoyable pieces of historical scholarship on the Pacific War that I have ever read (despite its obnoxious cover). I highly recommend all of these books to anyone interested in modern history, military history, or WWII.
I hope that the people who read my blog will find these posts interesting and enjoy watching The Pacific as much as I will. The Pacific can be watched online at HBO’s website. As always, I encourage everyone to share their thoughts on the subject as well.
Tags: Band of Brothers, Eagle Against the Sun, Eugene Sledge, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese history, military, Pacific theater, Robert Leckie, Ronal Spector, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, Tom Hanks, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII
theandroid111000
No! constanntine’san
we’re sorry, this video is not available in your region!
Uk sucks!
constantineintokyo
Well, there are websites that stream it online. I think if you use google you can find it somewhere. =)
Stephen J. Haessler
Fascinating. We have HBO and will record the series, though Midori-san has difficulty watching graphic war scenes, as realistic as the artificial medium of film allows. Question: based on your study of WW II do you think it was a just war? Here’s criterion as I remember it: 1.) just cause, 2.) called by legitimate authority, 3. ) reasonable chance of success, 4.) destruction proportional to importance of cause, 5.) civilians not targets. This may be off on a few points, but I think it’s close. Thanks for bringing the series to our attention. Keep up the awesome work!
constantineintokyo
Of course, a thorough response to this comment would take a bit of time…so, in short I will just say that, Yes, I do think that WWII was a just war, especially when we consider what the world would now look like had we allowed Hitler’s Germany to establish an empire in Europe. The war in the Pacific is a little less clear-cut in my opinion (the outbreak had more to do with continued miscommunication and failed diplomacy). But, in general, I think that America’s decision to enter WWII was ultimately the correct one.
theandroid111000
Well i found it constanntine’san
My review, unfortunately the first part was a little slow however it picked up better in episode 2.
In part two around 44 mins into the doctor speaks to his son which i found the most pinacle point of the movie
“The worst thing was about treating those boys from the war was not that they had had their flesh torn but it was that they had their souls torn out – I dont want to look in your eyes someday and see no spark……..”
For me this speaks of the damage not to the loss of loved ones but to the damage of the actual men that survived, for me a truly great war film em compasses all aspects of war. For many men returning this would destroy their lives for years to come.
For me again this series looks again inspiring to look at the deeper aspect of war.
Im glad you have pointed me to this as not many people in UK are lucky enough to see it yet, Yet many are eagerly anticipating its release.
ありがとうございます。
I hope i got that right 🙂
theandroid111000
Anime
I don’t usually post but I enjoyed your blog a lot, thanks alot for the great read.
Bryan
I’ve been fortunate to walk both Guadalcanal (and some of the other Solomons), Peleliu (by the way, pronounced by the Palauans, who should know, as Pel -la-loo), and other battlefields of The Pacific. I was guided by the amazing narrative that the Archives in St. Louis provided me on my uncle. (then) Capt. Elmer Salzman (eventually Major General Salzman) who served with the 1st Marine Division from Guadalcanal to Okininawa.
I wrote to the Records Center, and after many months, was sent more than 50 PAGES of week by week accounts of my uncle’s service in The Pacific. I would encourage all to write, however, it is a lottery…there was a great fire in the 70’s which destroyed may records.
Peleliu: I was there in 2000. Few Palauans (those who enhabit the Palau Islands of the central Pacific) returned after the war (their beautiful island was blasted to resemble the surface of the moon, but covered with maggot infested, rotting corpses by THE THOUSAND). On “Bloody Nose Ridge” (“Umerbrogol Mountain”), human bones and live ordinance was everywhere. So much Stuff was laying around….both American and Japanese…. that a small fraction would clear 2 city blocks if found in Manhattan (I almost kicked a block of C4 plastic explosive, let alone the 500 lb bombs, unexploded mortar rounds, 20mm shells by the cartload….). The Japanese dug HUNDREDS of caves into Peleliu. I, along with local guide Tanji Jesus, ventured down a 25 yd. tunnel into one that HELD A THOUSAND MEN and was 1/2 the size of a football field… Few Palauans returned to Peleliu after the War, as you can imagine…. The juxtaposition of the indescribeably beautiful Rock Islands of Palau (Google that…) with what I saw. Words seemed futile…even 58 years after…….
constantineintokyo
Thanks for the comment, Bryan. I am fascinated by your description of Peleliu and when The Pacific reaches Peleliu, I’d like to repost some of this comment in my blog entry about it. What it must have been like to fight on Peleliu seems truly indescribable, I myself can barely imagine it.
My own family history in WWII is extremely well-documented, but so far it has only led to me getting embarrassingly singled out by my history professors. =P
Jack
Very surprised by their pnoidctiers that the EUR/USD rate will hit 1.4200 this year and that the USD/JPY rate will fall to 105.8. What were their pnoidctiers on these pairs in 2006, 2005 and 2004?
Hikosaemon
Thanks for the tips.
My wife’s grandfather was one of the unfortunates on the Japanese side to be sent to Iwojima, and so my Dad gets to go the island every few years when they allow open it to ancestors of people who perished there.
I’m from a military family myself (army brat) and only really learned about the Japanese side of that battle in the last few years. Humbling and eye opening. More to check out here, thanks.
Peace
constantineintokyo
Thanks, Hiko-san! My family has a strong connection to WWII, so I grew up watching war movies and talking about books with my father and grandfather. From that, the perspective I had on WWII was not only entirely centered around the experience of American soldiers, but was restricted solely to the European front. When I entered college and started seriously studying the Japanese experience, I too had an eye-opening experience. It’s only been a few years since then, and I am still shocked by the personal experiences of Japanese soldiers when I read them.
Hikosaemon
Have you ever been to the museum at Yasukuni? I think you’d really dig it. I know it gets a bad rap (I did double take at the accounts given of many famous events there – apparently the Manchurian Railway bombing is still considered there to be the work of KMT terrorists, followed by number of minor, barely mentionable incidents) but as a museum it is top notch. It kind of blew my mind to see weapons that look pretty much like muskets, that are dated from the 14th and 15th century before gunpowder had even arrived in Europe. In terms of military technology, Japan was 3-400 years ahead of Europe, and then just decided to ban it all, become vegetarian and close up shop for 400 years.
It’s like it got taken over by Sea Shepherd or something.
Anyway, just wanted to say again that I love your blog.
Peace
constantineintokyo
I actually just went to the Yushukan about two weeks ago and absolutely loved it. While the museum itself has gotten a lot of flak from its interpretation of the war, I have to say that it isn’t as bad as some of the criticisms I’ve read about it. I know that not everyone gets as excited as I do to see old military uniforms or read about Yamagata Aritomo, but I think that a lot of people would enjoy this museum.
The muskets also drew my attention and reminded me of an old paper I wrote about the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. In it, Oda Nobunaga employed the tactic of firing from behind stockades. Despite the fact that this tactic was used in Japan at least 50 years before it was used in the West, Wikipedia has this to say about the Battle of Nagashino: “The victory of Oda’s Western-style tactics and firearms over Takeda’s cavalry charge is often cited as a turning point in Japanese warfare; many cite it as the first ‘modern Japanese battle.” Hmm, perhaps modern technology didn’t just arrive with Perry after all…
I am insanely flattered that you like my blog, oh boy.
Treme
Hello, nice post.