TV: The Pacific

I just completed watching HBO's newest mini-series, The Pacific. I was a big fan of Band of Brothers and I think the World War II era was perhaps the most terrifying and an extremely influential time in American History. The war, the men who fought, and the outcome shaped our global relationships and domestically established what we consider "modern America". After finishing the ten part series I cautiously state that enjoyed it more than Band of Brothers. I felt a closer relationship to the characters and the pride, sense of duty and ruggedness of the Marines shapes all the young men in the series. It is humbling to watch these 18 year old boys develop into adulthood through a pivotal point in American history.
The Pacific highlights a group of Marines fighting on the Eastern front of the war on small islands around Japan. It was a lot of jungle warfare and reminded me of what many troops faced in Vietnam. Describing the conditions as miserable does a gross disservice to the Marines who fought there. They fought in unimaginable jungle thicket, rain, disease, even rotting bodies because the med evac could not get in through all the mud. A horrific place to be before adding the virtually insane Japanese soldiers into the picture. The Japanese were relentless and "kamikazes" that would gladly give their life to kill one American. There is a particular scene when John Basilone returns home to train Marines. In response to a trainee ignorantly stating that he wants to "slap a Jap", Basilone goes off on a tremendous monologue about the ferocity of the Japanese soldiers that "he knows". He says "the Jap has been training to be a warrior since you were in diapers....the Jap I know can survive for three months on a sack of rice in the jungle..."
The most attractive part of this series is the attachment to a particular Marine, Eugene Sledge. Eugene entered the Corps as a skinny 17 year old from Mobile, Alabama. His father was terrified that Eugene would lose his soul and a perspective on the fragility of life. Eugene developed into a killing machine in the Pacific. The transformation of this skinny southern boy from a scared shit-less 17 year old to a valuable Marine and ruthless killer is fascinating. As he sees civilians die he begins to soften in Iwo Jima and his transition back to normal life at the end of the war is heart wrenching to watch. Eugene published his journal years later and I plan on reading it this summer. It is titled, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Eugene is a thought provoking person and questioned why he made it back while others didn't. Many of the battle scenes made me look at survival as a crap shoot. Running across an airfield it was almost completely random if you or your friend would survive and I find that a difficult concept to understand.
The series gave me a better perspective on the massive death toll in the war and helped me overcome to immunity to the term "World War". The war encompassed the globe and it is like nothing our generation has come close to and hopefully never will. I strongly urge anyone interested in history, military and the psychological impact the war has on the home front to watch this 10 part series.

Here is an HBO short on Eugene Sledge including his father's speech to Eugene about the worst part of war.