The opening of "The Pacific" still gets me
- Thread starter Jimmy McGill
- Start date
It’s pretty moving. I think Band of Brothers more so.
I remember The Pacific being much more gruesome than Band of Brothers.
It was at times. IMO the characters weren’t as developed and mostly blended together. I have seen BoB probably 20 times but The Pacific just twice.
The Pacific was true to its core. BOB is great. But the Pacific showed how bad war is.
Hey, I'm an Army guy, and the jarheads had to deal with most of that shit on all those islands.
I have said it before. Don't compare the two series. It is not fair.
Yes it does.
I wonder if any or many 16 to 35 year olds feel some type of sensation watching that video or if they even know much about the subject matter.
I am 73 so born just 6 years after WW2. My mom had a navy scrapbook of her two brothers that I would see her look at every now and then. I cant remember how old I was and if I asked her about her brothers who I had never met or if she told me when she thought I could understand but they both died while serving in the Pacific during the war. They both died early on in the fighting.
Of course the Pacific tv series is about the marines fighting battles for the most part. My dad was a Marine Raider during the war and they had the salutation or whatever you want to call it of "First to Land". The raiders were early commando units of the US military or what we think of as rangers, seals, etc. I am glad he made it out of there so I could write this. He landed at Guadalcanal and one other island campaign before he was injured and evacuated.
All the people living then sacrificed so much, so many dead, that sometimes it pisses me off when I see and hear what people complain about today.
Thanks for the story. I have talked to numerous veterans. The ones that didn't talk were from the Japan campaign.
I can't put my words together about it all.
BoB is a masterpiece. Good for a rewatch every year or two. Have only seen pacific once.. should probably do a rewatch
The Pacific soundtrack is outstanding.
This thread is timely as I was just listening to this score about 3 hours ago.
It's a slower version of the main theme.
This thread is timely as I was just listening to this score about 3 hours ago.
It's a slower version of the main theme.
I've told this story before on HBOT a few years ago.
My Uncle's Father-in-law was in the Marines in the pacific during WW2. He joined when he was 19 years old, I think.
I talked to him about his experiences in 2006 after a family funeral.
Apparently, he didn't like talking about his war experiences unless he had a beer or two, then he would open up.
I can't remember what battles he was in.
He told me he "got" at least a dozen Japanese soldiers in combat, meaning he killed them. He said he saw some Japanese soldiers come out of a cave unaware and he shot them all.
He also said a fellow Marine with a flamethrower who was "crazy" saw a hole in the ground and he put the flamethrower in there and a bunch of Japanese soldiers ran out of a tunnel and the Marines killed them.
He said the Japanese would drink sake and do bonzai charges and the Marines would mow them down in droves.
He said he was on an island for a month in the same uniform and it would break apart. I think he was also involved in hand to hand combat. He had a knife with brass knuckles attached to it that he saved. He may or may not have killed Japanese soldiers with it. I can't remember that part. I don't think he told me.
He told me an officer led a platoon of Marines into a disastrous ambush and was relieved of duty. He said he saw the officer a few years later in a "cushy job with the Navy."
After our conversation I said "Wow, I don't think I could do what you did" and he responded: "Yeah, you could. The Marines trained us how to do it."
He eventually moved back to Maryland and had a bunch of kids...maybe 10.
He died around 2012 aged 85 or so. Great guy.
Great story. My dad didnt like to talk about the war. I had a lot of buddies whose dads would take them camping and I asked my dad why we didnt do that. I was maybe 10 or 12 and he told me about being in foxholes for weeks at a time and being in your own piss and shit and that of your buddies. He said he didnt want to camp out. I understood.
In a rare mood he told us about a few battles/fights.
I can't imagine. I assume your Dad is in eternity now. I wonder if he knew my Uncle's Father-in-law?
You never know.
Thanks for that story. I love history and military history. If I had grant money, I'd be out video recording every Vet I could.
Hans Zimmer is just a great orchestrator of music.
BoB benefitted from being based off of one book. From what I remember the Pacific tried to blend a couple books into a single story. Also the experience of Easy Co. leant itself to a more streamlined story. At times the Pacific was sort of disjointed.
actually now that I think about it. Monday will be the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Wonder how many of those vets are still with us?
I’m 75 and we both grew up as Boomers when everyone of us had a Dad who served somewhere, at a very young age. It was just taken for granted that your Dad had been a soldier and had killed a “Jap” or a “Kraut” - and both terms were used everyday back in the 50’s because the feelings were still intense.
My Dad barely survived getting through France and not dying in the Battle of the Bulge, and I think there is a bit of disparity in the attention given the War in Europe. More Americans had European heritage on the more heavily populated East Coast, and reporting was easier from there as well. Lots of the very grim and horrific details of the war in the Pacific didn’t even become available until after the war when those young men started coming home.
Thanks, Jimmy, now I have the urge to watch it again. Maybe popcorn and movies tonight. I've been craving watching Schindler's List again.
Shitty weather and deep movies. Thanks Jimmy!
true but also substantially more Americans served in Europe than the Pacific. Additionally we had well over twice as many casualties {KIA, WIA, MIA, & POW} against the German than the Japanese.
My Dad would be 99 years old but he survived it - he nearly “bought the farm”and brought home nightmares that he suffered until the day he passed. Army Second Armored Division “Hell on Wheels”. He was a communications specialist who went out and secured the poles/lines that carried the info on the front lines back to HQ. He told us that the fighting in one little town was street to street and house to house. He and his partner went out to secure a line and the Germans were fighting back and they got within a block of where my Dad was - he had to hide under a bunch of rubble in a collapsed building to avoid being seen and shot on sight.
Love you Dad. 🩷🇺🇸 And thank you.
If BoB didn’t exist I think The Pacific would be held in higher esteem. It is a great series that just came second.
Another one from HBO that gets forgotten is Generation Kill. That one is also great and rewatchable.
Masters of the Air was just ok. They could have used another episode in the beginning establishing the characters in my opinion. Similar to the first episode of BoB establishing a large ensemble cast.
Another one from HBO that gets forgotten is Generation Kill. That one is also great and rewatchable.
Masters of the Air was just ok. They could have used another episode in the beginning establishing the characters in my opinion. Similar to the first episode of BoB establishing a large ensemble cast.
both my grandpas were in the Army during WWII. On my mom's side grandpa served in the Pacific towards the end of the war. While a WWII combat vet most of his time in the Army was in Japan & what became South Korea after the war.
Actually on Thursday I had a nice long conversation with my dad about his dad because Thursday was the 80 year anniversary grandpa was shot & captured on the Western Front {12/12/44.} Grandpa was on a chemical mortar crew {used for laying smoke screens} when his unit was overrun & he was shot twice in the stomach & captured.
I do think another point about the different perceptions of the Germans & Japanese is because of the conduct of those two militaries against us. For all the evil of the Nazi regime the Germans very much fought the war against us according to the Geneva Convention. The Japanese did not. As for my grandpa being a POW he & along with about 99% of American POWs held by the Germans survived captivity. Less than 1% of American POWs died in German camps. Around 40% of American POWs died in Japanese camps.
My grandpa who served in the Pacific passed away back in 2010 & my grandpa who served in Europe passed away in the late 70s before I was born.
why is this the case? do you think the way the war ended has anything to do with it?
The characters were mostly not memorable and the fighting was so frenzied there were many times you couldn’t tell what was going on. I also didn’t like all the romantic subplots.
