The Pacific

[SoonerP226]

IIRC, The Pacific was based on the memoirs Helmet For My Pillow and With the Old Breed, where BoB was based on Stephen Ambrose’s single cohesive narrative about a single unit. I wouldn’t expect to see the same kind of storytelling when you’re working from the memoirs of guys who participated in the fighting as you do when you’re basing it on the story compiled by a historian.

I’ve not read Helmet, but I have read Old Breed, and it is very definitely one man’s view of the war from down in the trenches. It’s a very different type of storytelling than Ambrose’s work.

 

[okcBob]

Anyone watch this? I watched the first episode last night when I could not sleep. Seemed awfully jumbled with no real story line to it. If you have seen it, does it get better? Right now I might watch one more to see if it improves and if not I will watch Band Of Brothers again.

It gets better. Basically, it follows the journeys of three different U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater -- Pfcs. Robert Leckie and Eugene B. Sledge and Sgt. John Basilone. So there are 3 story lines. Basilone won the MOH & the other 2 have best selling books about the Pacific. After you know who each protoganost is, it flows well. I enjoyed it as my dad & his brother were in the pacific theater.

 

[jackary]

I thought it was good not as good as band of brothers but still a good series

 

[SoonerP226]

It gets better. Basically, it follows the journeys of three different U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater -- Pfcs. Robert Leckie and Eugene B. Sledge and Sgt. John Basilone. So there are 3 story lines. Basilone won the MOH & the other 2 have best selling books about the Pacific. After you know who each protoganost is, it flows well. I enjoyed it as my dad & his brother were in the pacific theater.

Sledge is the author of With the Old Breed.

 

[red dirt shootist]

Stick with it, it gets better, not as good as BoB, but that is a very high bar. I hope someone does one on 'Nam.

 

[Jason Freeland]

There is a 8th Airforce version coming out, but it's on Apple TV only. Have to wait for it to hit disk if I want to watch it as I refuse to subscribe to anything Apple.

 

[Snattlerake]

Dad was in the Pacific in the 96th Infantry Division. We went to his reunions with him several years and I got to meet his battle buddies. Dad introduced me to Donald Dencker who wrote Love Company, Infatry Combat Against the Japanese, World War II. Dad always said, "If you want to know what I did in the war, read his book." Dad knew Donald as he was next to him in K Company. with the same job, Mortarman.
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Company-Infantry-Against-Japanese/dp/0897452577

 

[rawhide]

Pacific is definitely more difficult to enjoy than BoB for reasons already stated. A few years ago I watched it a second time on interactive bluray. There were timelines and narrative from historians explaining context. I enjoyed it much more.

 

[KOPBET]

Meh, F Tom Hanks.

 

[cowadle]

another real good read is----the last stand of Fox Company-----true Korean war