Rypro 525

Original Air Date: April 11, 2010

This is the episode many of us have been waiting for
and here's a great interview with the actor who plays Sledge (who was also the little boy in jurassic park, there are a few spoilers)
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-...-s-the-pacific

LickTheABCs

Isn't this the episode with

If it is..

can't wait!!!

Gunde

^ still only rumours. I guess we'll see.

thebunk

Who?

LickTheABCs

gglass4269

I hope someone with more of a history background then I can answer this, but in the begining of Eugene Sledges book, it says the Pelileu was the worst fighting the marines encountered during the whole Pacific campaign. Now, I had always thought Iwo Jima was the end all battle, and that Okinawa was usually remembered for all th carnage that was inflicted upon civillians. So was Pelileu hands down the worst battle?

sven

I still can't stand Anna Torv.

jpb07

I don't have a deep knowledge of the Pacific but there may be a simple explanation. As you said Okinawa is known by so many due to the casualties inflicted upon the citizens. It was used by many to illustrate the large number of fatalities if the Japanese mainland was invaded and as a justification for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Iwo Jima is known for the iconic photo of the soldiers hoisting the flag up after a violent battle. I would guess that his opinion of Pelileu is based on his own criteria. Enemy tactics, positions, geography, and terrian can factor into the actual experience of fighting. I'm sure some on Guadelcanal would argue that they had the roughest time in the war. Guys in the ET would likely argue D-Day/Battle of the Bulge were the toughest.

I've always found it funny that we were drawn into a war by a Japanese attack, had our largest naval battles in the Pacific, and were in more danger of invasion by the Japanese than the Germans; yet to this day Europe always takes centerstage. I'd argue that our anglo roots, the holocaust, and preexisting knowledge of customs/culture in Germany vs. our lack of knowledge of the Japanese customs/culture are most repsonsible for that.

gglass4269

Sledge described Pelileu really well and said the whole island was just rock. There was no dirt or grass or sand, just jagged stone that cut through theier boots, and he said that every time they had to drop when a incoming round was shot, it'd tear up their knees real bad. sounds fucking awful man.

Really glad they're spending 3 episodes on Pelileu because Ive never seen it brought to screen before.

Rypro 525

I loved that shot that showed Sledge go from the boat, to the beach, I believe that was one long full shot

TruGator

Peleliu was on a much smaller scale than Iwo Jima. There were over 28,000 Americans (17,000 Marines, 11,000 Army) on Peleliu compared to 110,000 on Iwo. The percentage of Americans killed in both battles was the same (6%), but the percentage of wounded was higher on Peleliu (28% compared to 17%).

Dr. DVD

That beach invasion scene with the boats leaving the ships and such kicked all sorts of ass. If nothing else this series proves that if Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are involved in a WWII themed project, it won't suck.

Snowmaker

Anna Torv showed nuttin!

Still, this episode is finally getting things back on par with what I expect from this series.

Osiris3657

Loved this episode, glad they are finally giving Sledge the spotlight. His book is an incredible and exciting read.

Thrush

Beach landing and subsequent battle were fantastic.


+1

She cant act and apparently wont get nekkid.

MrX

The way the series has gone I figured we'd get a half hour of Basilone selling war bonds to start off.

The battle scenes were great

gglass4269

my god that beach landing was intense.

Neeb

It will NEVER happen... but just imagine if those guys took up a series based on the Russian experience of World War 2.

Trout

I'm hoping for Korea sometime soon.

whoopdido

How bout WWI?

That war seems to have been ignored by Hollywood for quite some time.

arminius

WWII was fought between the Soviet Union and the third reich. Battles like D Day and the bulge would have been considered minor on that front. The vast majority of German forces fought in the east after Barbarossa started and all of the soviet forces until the German surrender. From Berlin to Moscow, the death and destruction was unparralleled.

jpb07

Actually I'd take either WWI or Korea since both of those are somewhat "forgotten" wars.

WWI has so much interesting material. Fun little bit of trivia....at the beginning of air combat they literally had sidearms as munitions and bricks as bombs. The idea of air combat wasn't even around at the start of the war. They used balloons for intelligence and decided that planes would be more efficient. At some point one of the pilots decided it would be fun to drop bricks on the enemy and pop off shots at the other side's planes. This of course escalated to guns being mounted and planes being used strategically. One of the epic failures at the beginning of mounted guns was that the pilots would inadvertantly shoot their own propeller's off on accident. Anyways, I doubt it'd be hard to fill a 10 show miniseries but two things are working against it...99.99999% of the combatants are dead and the fact that the US didn't get directy involved until the last months of the war.

Korea had the beginning of the jet age...they could do a whole miniseries on a few of those pilots. If Hanks wanted to tie it in to his other projects, a lot of the standout fighter pilots from that time moved on to test/fly the missions leading up to the moon landing. It would also be an opportunity to show that US commanders do make stupid decisions.

Dr Mabuse

Another good episode.

Yeah the Peleliu footage was good stuff. It was hell on our troops just getting to shore. Hundreds of yards of slow crawling over the reefs under direct fire the whole time.

joefrog91

Yes, I was very sad about that. I think she is one sexy lady.

Gunde

40 minutes!? What the fuck is that shit!?